Archive for March 19th, 2010

Today’s Business: 2010-03-19

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Today’s Activities

  • Shower.  DONE.
  • Cat duty. DONE.
  • Pay all (4) pending bills.

 

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up. My weight dropped 1/2 pound from yesterday; it’s now 174.5 Lbs.    See   here   for a summary of the progress on this goal so far in 2010.

09:05 AM: Still nursing this latest   cold,  that appeared yesterday.

10:30 AM: Began the   Adventures of Tom Sawyer   book.

11:30 AM: Heading out  shopping,   to pick up some hardware for the sump pump and outdoor spouting.

03:15 PM: We’re back home again.  Another beautiful day it is; clear, calm, sunny, and the thermometer says 66 degrees; the warmest day of 2010 so far. 

05:25 PM: Spent the past couple hours organizing the   Projects Page,   adding dates to all entries under the   Finished Projects   heading.

07:50 PM: Worked the   Gutter Maintenance: 2010   project.

08:55 PM: Worked the   Audio Journal Information Page    project.

10:15 PM: Talked with [Emmy] on the telephone.  Our new phone services became a little choppy this evening; when the Internet’s very busy, the quality of communications suffers.  However, we’re hopeful that this will go away over time, as networking companies expand and speed up the links carrying Internet signals. We never experienced this with Verizon.  However, it’s probably worth a little cutout now and then for all the money we’re saving.  But to those of you in the Altoona and Pittsburgh, PA areas who are considering switching to cable TV-based telephone service, be aware that it’s not quite as reliable as “Ma Bell” lines.  

12:25 AM: Read more of the   Team of Rivals   book.

12:30 AM: Bed time.  So until tomorrow,…,  good night.

Tom

Received Mail and Shipments

  • Spring catalog from some place called:   The Shoe Fly.  Yep.  They sell shoes. 
  • Discover credit card offer.  No thanks.

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Diary Revisions: 2010-03-19

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Today, I either added or modified the following posts in  the   Tom’s Diary   blog for improved brevity, clarity, categorization, decreased spelling errors, appearance,  and search-ability:

  • Shopping Trip: 2010-03-19
  • Gutter Maintenance: 2010
  • Adventures of Tom Sawyer
  • Today’s Business: 2010-03-19
  • Today’s Diet: 2010-03-19
  • Today’s Business: 2010-03-18
  • Storm Cleanup: 2010-03-13
  • Projects Page
  • Gutter Maintenance: 2009

    • Tom

    Posted in Revisions | No Comments »

    Shopping Trip: 2010-03-19

    Friday, March 19th, 2010

    First, sister Jojo, Mom, and I hit Wal Mart, where we purchased the following items:

    • Diet Pepsi, caffeine-free (16 liters)
    • Great Value bleach (4.5 gallons) (for the upcoming cellar scrubbing)
    • Dannon Light & Fit vanilla yogurt (4 Lbs.)

    Total cost: $20.72

    Next, we met friends at a Chinese restaurant for a lunch buffet. 

    Total cost: $5.00 (I left the tip, they bought my lunch).

    Then, we stopped by Lowe’s and picked up these pieces:

    Total cost: $8.32

    Grand Total: $34.04

    Tom Hesley

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    Gutter Maintenance: 2010

    Friday, March 19th, 2010

    Yep, with the weather warming once again, it’s time to begin the repair of the gutters from the storms this winter.  This time, we got away with light damage; several downspout straps broke and some spouts came undone.  I’ll track these repairs and those to come later this year in the comments below.  I make this a project because every year, some significant work must be accomplished to keep our gutters and downspouts working efficiently.  So, enjoy.  :-)

    Tom Hesley

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    Posted in Home Maintenance | 4 Comments »

    Adventures of Tom Sawyer

    Friday, March 19th, 2010

    I began reading the book: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain overnight. 

    I read some of this 1876 classic back in the late 1960s, though I remember very little of the story.  However, images of the white-washed fence that Tom’s aunt Polly made him paint for fighting with a neighbor boy, came back vividly along with the fight itself. 

    I’m also reminded of certain highly expressive phrases that I’ve routinely used through the years, which I learned from this book even though I understood not it’s deeper meanings and themes as an eight year-old.  Phrases stuck with me, such as ”used for style, rather than service, ” which Twain wrote to describe the role of Aunt Polly’s spectacles.  Though as a boy I did not get what this meant in regards to her glasses, I’ve nonetheless encountered numerous opportunities to appropriately write or utter this idea myself.  So, though I’d have never guessed it back in second and third grades, reading this book made me into a more astutely expressive person. 

    In fact, I’m always so amazed over the knowledge I later discover that I picked up from an initial reading of a book such as this, so many years ago.  Though I was typically bored the first time through and telling myself that I wasn’t learning a darn thing, I invariably discover later that I was wrong, and that I had learned much more than I first estimated. 

    So boredom with a book does not necessarily mean that I’m getting nothing from it.  Sometimes, the more boring it is, particularly if it’s classic literature, the better.   Boredom could be thought of as an invitation to read the work again, and fill in the gaps in understanding that the first reading produced.  Sometimes, I find myself saying, “Come on, book.  Bore me some more.” 

    However, this Tom Sawyer book, the second time around, has bored me not a trifle, because I get so much more of it now.  So I’m eager to finish this and to read the companion volume, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.   

    Tom Hesley

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    Posted in Books | 4 Comments »

    Today’s Diet: 2010-03-19

    Friday, March 19th, 2010

    Today, I consumed the following items:

    • Peppermint tea and diet caffeine-free Pepsi  throughout the day. 0 calories.
    • 12:00 PM: 1 bag of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups.  1540 calories.
    • 01:00 PM: Chinese buffet – chicken, spinach and cheese, mixed fruit, mushrooms, and onions.  700 calories.
    • 03:35 PM: Multivitamin.  0 calories.
    • 09:00 PM: 2 cups Cheerios.  300 calories.
    • 09:00 PM: 1 cup organic skim milk.  80 calories.
    • 09:00 PM: 1/2 cup raisins.  260 calories.

    Total calories: 2880.

    Tom

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    Posted in Food, Food Diary, Journal, Today's Diet, Weight Control | No Comments »