New Project

Friday

As I was checking my emails Friday, there was one from Lowe's for 20% off selected in stock kitchen cabinets.  I mentioned it to Vera, she got her coat and was ready to go.  It is something we have been planning on doing for a long time.  As we were going out the door, we almost fell over a couple of UPS packages.  Debbie's shoes had showed up a couple of days early and a Christmas present for the twins had showed up.  We were going to deliver some presents Marie sent down with us, so it was a prefect time to take Debbie's.  We went to Lowe's first to check out the cabinets, it turned out the ones we liked were not on the special, so we decided to check out Home Depot.  Big surprise, they were 20% off all in stock cabinets, plus they had a style we liked.  I picked up their literature and we headed towards home after a short stop at Michelle's to drop off Marie's present, we had already done Bev and Debbie's on the way to Home Depot.  After an afternoon and evening of measuring and planning, I had a list ready for Saturday.

Saturday

Saturday morning I put the trailer on and we headed to Home Depot.  I got a cart and an assistant and started trying to find the things on my list.  Pretty soon we decided it was hopeless, he used to work in the tool department and did not know this area that well.  He took me over to Malinda who does the orders and we made out a will call list and I paid for it.  She got my number so she could call me when they had located everything.  We left there and I looked at counter tops at Lowe's for a few minutes before cruising around looking for something to eat.  I finally decided on Dairy Queen again today, before we were done eating they called and had located everything but one thing that was supposed to be in stock.  We do have two items on order that they do not normally carry.  We headed back over and they loaded it up for me.  We headed home and unloaded it and after studying the list for awhile, I discovered that I had forgotten two items that I had seen this morning, so we headed back down to pick them up.  I am glad we did because I found a dishwasher end panel I wanted that is not listed anywhere online.

Well this is what the living room will look like for a couple of days, because I can't start until the missing pieces come in.  I found time today to glue a couple more pieces on the Stinson and charge some batteries for tomorrow.

No Picture Thursday!

After Vera's walk this morning, we ran up to see Marie.  Vera had several little gifts for her and I printed out the last month of my blog.  She was in a great mood today and we had a nice visit.  After a quick stop at Dairy Queen and a fill up with gas, we headed for home to try and beat the rain.  Well, that did not work, it was really coming down most of the way home, lots of spray!  I spent some time paying bills and then researching a couple of things I wanted to buy before going out to the shop.  I got the laptop working with the airplane telemetry gear, so now I can record the flights on the laptop and play back the readings.  I can also sent the GPS data to Google Maps and it will show where the airplane went.  I did a little work on the Stinson, doing the reinforcing of the left side landing gear mount.  I took a look at fixing Vera's dust buster, the batteries are bad, but it looks hopeless.  They build the switch, motor and batteries into one unit that looks almost impossible to service.

New Project

Tuesday

Tuesday was pretty laid back around here, I did do my exercises again Tuesday and then marched down to retrieve the garbage can.  We got the item that is being exchanged sent off by UPS, I puttered in the shop, but never seemed to accomplish anything!  That evening I was watching TV, trying to think of something to write about and finally gave up.

Wednesday

Yesterday, I ran across a kit I have been wanting to build, so today I got it out and started planning.  After a few hours, I decided adding retracts was going to take a lot of modification.  I was feeling more like a project that would be done in a couple of days (that usually turns into a couple of weeks!), so I put the Bronco away and got out this one.

It is a Stinson Voyager with a 51 inch wing span.  It should go together pretty fast once I get done reinforcing a couple of areas.

This is what it should look like when I get done.  Boy did it rain the last two days, Tuesday we had 1.5 inches on the rain gauge when I went to bed.  Today we are at 1.5 inches at 9 PM.  There went the driest December on record.

Slept in today!

Wow, 8:30 this morning before I woke up!  I got back to doing my exercises this morning, so it was 10:00 before I had breakfast.  I have managed to stretch out breakfast almost two hours by watching Blu-ray videos, checking emails and checking out the after Christmas sales.  We will see what the rest of the day holds.

I did not take any pictures today, so I thought I would include this one of Megthedawg checking out the presents we had just brought.  That was it for her, she got sent downstairs.  I got one present that needs exchanged ready to ship out via UPS.  Brikenstock is a great company to deal with, they pay the postage to and from on Exchanges.  We ran down to the Castle Rock UPS drop off place and they were closed, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I did a little cleanup in the shop and got the garbage can down to the road this afternoon.  We made some awesome hamburgers for dinner.  After Vera's Jeopardy was over, I watched my recording of Monday Night Football.  It was a pretty relaxing day.

Christmas Day

Vera and I started the day out by going to church.  It was a very nice service today, the highlights were the choir and the chime choir.  Afterwards we stayed for the social time, then came home and got the last of the food we were taking to dinner ready. Going down to Mik, Michelle and James' Christmas Day has become a tradition for us.  Mik cooked another great prime rib today, Vera took rhubarb crisp and Cocoa Mounds, Kim brought some great corn casserole and cheese bread.  There were lots of other things to eat, I am not sure who brought what, but it was all good.  Below is Chef Mik and his helper Michelle.

After dinner, we had our gift exchange, Vera was really surprised by the Kindle Bev, Debbie and Josh got her.  We had a very nice day and came away with some more great memories.

Christmas Eve

What a beautiful day, after we got the mail where I scored again, 3 more Blu-ray's, I decided to pick up the oak leaves that had fallen since the last mowing.  I worked on the Super Cub and got the lights working the way I wanted.  I spent the rest of the time until the Christmas Eve party watching the Seahawks recording, good game, but they managed to lose it in the last few minutes.

As it always is, it was lots of fun watching the kids.  We had a great time, lots of great food and visiting.  The White Elephant gift exchange was great, I laughed so much my cheeks were aching!  Vera drew number 1 and I drew number 22, the last pick.  I ended up with a laminator and Vera got a selection of body and bath products and a set of Decorative Plaques.  I let Vera open the secret thing that came the other day, a set of folding tables for her knitting at the flying field.

Blu-ray is Great!

I got 4 Blu-ray discs this morning in the mail, I played the first one while I had lunch and it is sure a great picture, beats DVD's by a mile.  I worked on the Super Cub this afternoon, I found a piece of trim that I forgot to put on, so I did that, plus I tried a couple of different props and decided to use the 13 X 10.  I did a bunch of cleaning in the shop, enough that I had to empty both waste baskets.  I even found time to get on Xbox and play, James was on also, so I got to visit with him.  He is excited about tomorrow night and Christmas day.  Playing Xbox must be helping me figure out the controller, because I did not run into nearly as many trees today.

I got on RC Groups today and put a picture of my Super Cub's landing lights on the forum.  There had been a discussion on where to get reflectors, so I told them about mine from the Dollar Store.

UPS

UPS showed up again today, now all my Christmas preparations are done.  One present is not going to make it on time, so someone is going to get an extended Christmas.  UPS is coming Friday also, but it is a present for me from me!  We got word that Jackie was in the hospital, so we were anxious to hear how she was doing.  We did not do much today, I made one trip over to visit the twins, I wrapped the present that came, we made a mail run, I worked on the Mustang, took a nap and watched Thursday night football.  Of course, the nap made it so I was not sleepy, so I stayed up until midnight.   Vera made turkey, mashed potato's and gravy for dinner, that sure tasted good!

More Fedex and UPS visits!

We had more Fedex and UPS visits today, that just about takes care of our Christmas shopping.  After Vera got home from bible study, we had another wrapping session.

I made a trip over to visit Steve and Dianne, I had a nice visit with them, I found out the twins were coming later to spend the night, so I planned a visit for later.  I hunted all over for my snap ring pliers this afternoon so I could work on the Mustang's motor.  After Vera came home, she came out to help me.  She double checked all the spots I had looked in before with no luck, then I happened to look at the peg board and there they were.  I had hung then there so they would be easy to find, maybe they will be next time!  Then, I got the motor shaft reversed and planned out where it would be mounted.  After dinner, I made another trip over to see how the twins were doing.  It was a no nap day so they were a little needy.

Harper came running in to Grandma saying "Owie", it turned out she had written on her knuckle with a ball point.  Dianne got a wash cloth, then Harper insisted on doing it herself.  Later she was back with her thumb marked up.  When I left there, I stopped at the shop and worked on the Mustang some more,  before calling it a day and going in to watch some TV.

Only 6500 Minutes until Christmas!

It was time to get serious about the Christmas presents today!

We wrapped all the presents we have so far, then went to town for my exchange gift and the brushes for the vacuum.  Our first stop was the vacuum cleaner shop, no brushes, but they did have a new motor for $29.  Sounded good to me, I did not have to get the lathe out and turn the armature or fit the new brushes, just mount the pulley, put in two screws and hook up the wires.  That will probably save me a couple of hours.  Then it was off to 3 Rivers Mall for my shopping, we found that in about 5 minutes.  We were not so lucky with the second gift we were looking for until one sale clerk gave us a hint as to where to look.  Once we got there, they had a pretty good selection, so it was just another 5 minute stop and we were done.  We came home and wrapped the newest presents and then I did the vacuum job.  Here it is all ready for the last cover.

UPS showed up with some secret Christmas stuff I couldn't show Vera, I will probably have to wrap it while she is at bible study tomorrow.  I worked on the Mustang this afternoon.   I got the new firewall made and installed temporarily. Then I got the motor out, fitted it's mount and prop driver.   Now I need to do some measuring so I can mount the motor in the right spot.   No football tonight, so I may get back out to the shop and get that done later.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me, I got my birthday present early!  With us having all HD TV's, and with the Christmas sales, Vera said I should look into getting a Blu-ray player.  It did not take me long to find one, and it arrived today.  It is a little thing, probably 1/4 the size of the DVD player it is sitting on.  I added an arrow pointing to where it is, because it does not show. It is playing a regular DVD, which it made look pretty good.  Now, I have ordered some Blu-ray discs (more birthday presents?)   Earlier, I got another Christmas present ordered with 2 day delivery, then I made a trip over to Steve and Dianne's, no twins this week, so I visited with Steve for a bit.  Vera had made a treat, so I headed home to test it, it is pretty good!   I was messing around on the computer, when Vera's vacuum quit!  It turned out the brushes in the sweeper motor were bad, so I made a run to town, but there is nothing like that in Castle Rock, so I guess it will have to wait until our next run to Kelso.  I am on my second video as I do this, next is Monday Night Football which is recording, once Jeopardy is over, I will start watching the game.

Football and Basketball

Boy did I sleep in this morning, it was 10:30 before I had breakfast.  I gave the recording of the Seahawks a couple of hours and started watching about noon.  I sure enjoyed seeing them win.  James had a 5:50 basketball game at Cascade. We had dinner and dropped off a charger to another modeler on the way to the game.

James had lots of rebounds tonight!

He also got fouled quite a few times and made most of his free throws.

On the way home after the games, we made some detours to look at Christmas lights.  This is the house on 3rd. in Castle Rock with the animated lights.
Here is a link to a short video of the lights. http://vimeo.com/33926879

Our last stop was a picture of Bob and Cathy's lights, they look great!  I spent the rest of the evening watching Sunday Night Football.

Basketball

I spent the day until James' basketball game working on the Mustang.  I got the scoop installed and working before we left.  The team got beat pretty bad the first game, it was like there was a lid on the basket.  The second game went much better, they started out with a 10 point run and ended up winning 50 something to 27.

James is going in for a basket.

I don't know if he made this shot, but the picture turned out so good that I had to include it.

Lawn Mowing

Thursday

Thursday was pretty laid back around here, I worked on the Mustang until Vera told me the small pond pump was making weird noises.  The water was low and it was sucking air, so I filled it.  I have been meaning to clean the bigger pond ever since the leaves started falling, so that was my next project.  My arm was getting pretty tired by the time I got all the leaves out, well most of them!  Then it was back to the Mustang trying to get the radiator outlet right.  I finally gave up and went in and watched Thursday Night Football.

Friday

What a nice day, it got off to a good start when UPS showed up with that missing Christmas present, now all we have to do is wrap them.  I worked on the Mustang for a little while, then I took a break for a mail run and lunch at BK, it was so nice that we sat in the car with the windows down and ate while we watched people and cars come and go at BK.  When we got home, I decided to mow and pick up the last of the leaves.  Boy are the baskets of wet leaves heavy!  The lawn looked great when I got done!

After dinner, I went back out and worked on the Mustang some more.  Things went great this time and all the basic construction is done.  Tomorrow, I hope to get the servo mounted that moves the outlet scoop.  I also need to order a roll of covering to refinish it with.  I am planning on mixing the throttle and landing gear channels to operate it.  My plan is to have it open as the throttle opens when the landing gear is up.  That way it will be closed with the gear down and will not be in the way on the ground or when I am handling it.

Wednesday

As I headed over to see the twins this morning, the Fedex truck pulled in.  I walked over and got the package from him and we started talking about how cold it was, a first, normally they are heading out for the next stop so quick they hardly say anything.  When I got over to Dianne's, the twins headed into the playroom to show me their tree and how they could turn it on and off.  I sat on the floor and played with them until they headed into the living room.  It was fun watching them in there, they played with lots of different things.  Then Harper went in and wanted to play with the Play Doh.

They showed me how they could use the play scissors, then Ava got a ring of Play Doh as a bracelet.

Pretty soon, Dianne had made another, plus a necklace and rings for her fingers, funny to watch, because as soon as Dianne put the first ring on, the other finger came right out for one.

Of course, Harper wanted all the same things!  Funny thing, when I left, they got mad and would not look at me or say Good Bye.  Maybe they knew it was nap time.

Vera had an appointment this afternoon, after it I went to see about getting the Blazer aligned, it turned out they had an opening right then, so we went to Fred Meyer and did some window shopping, I did end up with a couple of magazines.  Then after a quick stop at Lowe's to get some LED lights, we went to dinner at KFC.  When we got home, I spent a couple of hours working on the Mustang before coming in to do this and watch a little TV.

More Modifications

First thing this morning, I had to call and get the order for one of this year's Christmas presents straightened out.  It got lost in their system, they called back several hours later, they are sending it Second Day, so we will have it in plenty of time for Christmas.  I made a trip over to Dianne's, but the baby sleeping sign was up, so I spent most of the rest of the day working on the Mustang.

Fedex delivered the new struts for the Mustang's landing gear today.  I got them mounted and checked out the left gear to make sure everything cleared.  I have been looking at pictures of the Mustang thinking about adding a servo operated cooling door.  Today, I started measuring and before long, I was committed because I had cut the opening.

 I will add sides to the opening and the door and tie a servo into the throttle channel so it opens as I add power.  It should help keep the motor, speed control and battery cool.  It looks like another cold night, it was 29 when I left the shop.

Sunday and Monday

Sunday

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day, I surprised Vera by showing up at church.  The choir put on a very nice Christmas Cantata program.  The rest of the day was spent watching football and puttering in the shop.  I also found the camera charger in the desk drawer.

Monday

I cleaned the computer desk in the house today, it was getting to the point where I had nowhere to set my pop can.  I spent the afternoon working on my new P-51 Mustang, it has a little design error (up thrust instead of down thrust) that requires some mods to correct.  I took pictures of each step so I can post them on a thread about that plane.  We left just before 5 for the model club meeting in Centralia so we could have dinner at Skipper's.  After dinner, we did a little shopping at the Christian Book Store until it was time for the meeting.  I had taken some video tapes and magazines to give away at the meeting and several tapes got taken along with some magazines.  I was reelected Safety Officer, no big surprise there, no one else ran for any of the offices.  After the meeting, Vera and I ran home and watched the recorded Seahawks game and Jeopardy.

A good day to work inside!

There was lots of frost this morning, so I had no desire to go out to the shop very early.  When I finally went out, I decided to finish up the laptop hookup.  The first thing to go was the old monitor, it works great (16 inch Sony Trinitron), but takes  up a ton of space.  When I moved it, I was reminded it also weighs a ton.  After getting all the cables hooked up, and changing the laptop wireless over to the directional antenna I have a good signal out there.  I spent the rest of the day cleaning and rearranging.

It has been a long time since I could see that much of the top of the desk!  Now I have to see if I can find the charger for that video camera.

I had time this evening to sit there and watch a DVD on the laptop.

Bye Alan!

I went to see the twins this morning, they were having their bath when I got there.  They did a little showing off by swimming and blowing bubbles.  Later when I left, they both hollered "Bye, Alan", that's the first time they have done that.  Normally, it is wave or say "Bye".

After I got home, I decided it was time to do Christmas cards.  I looked at our left overs, but I did not like any of them, so I fired up Greeting Card Factory and made our own.  After I printed them out and addressed the envelopes, I could not find the stamps, so I picked out these at the Post Office.  It was nice to get that job all done in one day.  When I mailed them, I had a notice of a package with our mail.  It turned out to be a replacement part for one of my model  electric motors.

I had gotten a couple of new motors and one had a bad prop shaft adapter, one hole was drilled in the wrong place and the prop shaft threads were so bad the nut would hardly stay on.  I had it packed up to send back and decided to call them and explain what was wrong.  I talked to a very nice person at the Hobby People service department and in a couple of minutes arrangements were made to send me a new one.  That saved me postage, and they got it here in a couple of days.  I also got the parts so I could use the old laptop in the shop.  After I installed them and their software, I took it to the shop and tried it out.  It works great!

Time Lapse

I read the directions of the GoPro camera this morning and got it set to take time lapse pictures.  I set it up in the kitchen window taking a picture every 2 seconds.

It took 2852 pictures and got the Fedex driver delivering some Christmas presents.  We made a trip to Costco today, it was a great day for a drive.  While we were down in Vancouver, I went over to Wheel Masters and picked up a couple of new center pieces for the motor home's wheel covers, I noticed the other day one was missing, now I have a spare.  After filling our cart at Costco, Vera picked up hot dogs and pop from their deli.  It is a great buy, a big hot dog and a refillable 20 oz. drink for $1.50.  After we unloaded at home, I downloaded the GoPro pictures and tried to make a video out of them, today's attempt was better, but still not what I want.  Thursday Night football and Wipeout finished up my evening.

It's beginning to look like Christmas

After Vera went to bible study this morning, I headed over to see what was new with Ava and Harper.  Harper wasn't feeling good, but Ava was in a good mood.  She started bringing me food from their play kitchen and by the time she was done I had just about every toy food they have.  I went into the shop to see what project would interest me today and decided to put up Christmas lights.

I got everything out to do the shop, then ended up doing the house first.  One of my garage sale buys last summer had a bunch of brass cup hooks in it.  I used most of them today as I had removed all the old ones last summer.

I had all the lights up by the time Vera got home, so she got a little surprise.  The little snowmen on the deck had some burned out bulbs, and of course we had everything but clear ones, so it was off to town.  Vera picked up some electronic candles for the hearth while we were in the store, they look pretty nice!  By the time I got all the tools and such put away, my leg was getting a little tired, so I settled into my recliner for dinner, which led to a nap after dinner.  When I went out to take these pictures, I discovered it is a beautiful night for looking at the lights, the sky is clear and the moon is really bright.

Getting Better

Monday

I had an early appointment to check on my leg this morning.  My doctor was happy with the way it looked and I am to continue what I have been doing.  I got a hair cut before heading home.  I got the garbage can loaded and down to the road after I got home.  Puttering in the shop and Monday Night football finished my day.

Tuesday

After Vera's walk and when I was done playing on the computer, we made a recycling run and did some grocery shopping.  This afternoon, I started looking at my next project, a P-51B Mustang.  James had a choir concert this evening, so we headed down to that about 7.

It was a Christmas concert and James was one of a trio that did a solo and then had a solo part at another point in the program.  The kids did a great job and we really enjoyed it.  Afterwards, James, Michelle, Vera and I went for a treat at Coldstone.

Here is a link to a short video from the concert.

http://vimeo.com/33267227

Foggy Flying

It was a cool foggy day of flying, the forecast called for clearing in the afternoon, but it never happened, in fact, it got worse!  This picture was as good as it got, there were times when the tree in the background was hard to see!

The first thing I did when I arrived was set up the propane heater, that turned out to be a really popular spot all day.  I got 2 flights on the new Super Cub, the lights showed up pretty good in the fog.  I ended up getting 6 flights in before the fog got really bad.  I was part way home, when I remembered the GoPro camera was still at the field.  I was trying to take a time lapse video with it, but ended up with one picture.  I guess I will have to read the directions some more.  Shortly after I got home, we got a call from Michelle that they wanted to stop by and were bringing pizza, Yum!

They brought up a poinsettia for Vera and rice crispy cookies, another Yum!  Sunday Night football and popcorn finished our day until it was time to do my blog.

Another one ordered!

8 hours sleep again last night!  Boy, does that feel good.  Right after breakfast, I ran down to the Country Cousins Bazaar and bought this center piece.  Lots of nice things there, they will donate all the money to charities, my nieces and nephews are a good bunch of kids.  I got another present ordered today, then I spent the day charging batteries for flying tomorrow and puttering in the shop.  I got a wing repaired that has been sitting around for quite a while, I also repaired and made a couple of improvements on a balancer that I had knocked off a shelf and broke.  It will not break in those spots again!  We had a nice sunset this evening, so I went out on the deck and took some pictures.  It is sure nice to feel good again!

Almost back to normal!

Well as normal as I ever get!  It was great to sleep in our bed last night, instead of on the couch with 2 cushions and a couple of pillows under my leg to keep it elevated, I slept great also!  I made a trip over to see the twins this morning, Dianne was heading for a bazaar with Taylor, so Steve was in charge of the twin's bath.  Things went great until it was time to get out.  It seems grandma always does that and she was gone.  They were not happy campers for a bit, but they got over it and started playing.  When I got home, we made a mail and grocery run to town, the first one since my trip to Kaiser.  I hauled wood pellets this afternoon and since I had the 4 wheeler out, I ran Laury's pie tin back.  I got our first Christmas present sent off this afternoon, that felt good!  I spent the evening puttering on the computer and watching Top Gear.

Cyber Thursday

8 hours of sleep last night sure made me feel good today.  The swelling is down in my leg and the redness is going away.  I made one trip outside, I took some recycling out, filled and started the shop stove before heading back in.  I did notice it was pretty nippy out there.  I was just going to give money for Christmas, but decided to have a Cyber Thursday, I got online and did a whole bunch of shopping.  By the time I was done there are only two more gifts to get!  I spent the evening with my leg propped up, watching the Seahawks win and eating brownies that Vera made.  There is nothing better than warm brownies fresh out of the oven.  Maybe I will go online tomorrow and look for a good white elephant for Christmas Eve.