Tom's Diary

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  I’m taking care of my cats once more now that I’m back from my mini vacation.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

09:00 AM: Unpacked from my Pittsburgh trip, that concluded yesterday with my return home.

09:15 AM: Returned a call that I received Friday from the county assistance office, WRT Mom’s Medical Assistance application status.  The case worker left no details in her message, except to say that she had a couple of questions that required answering before she could move forward with the application.  However, the case worker was out of the office.  I’ll attempt to raise her again this afternoon.

10:30 AM: Talked with [Emmy] about our new computers.  We’re both learning and it’s nice to have a learning buddy; one that is learning the same computer as I am.

12:00 PM: Wrote some content for future posts to the   Tom’s Views blog.

01:00 PM: Got another buzz cut this weekend.  I like not having to use a comb.  So this could be the second in a row, in a string of many buzz cuts.

01:20 PM: The only thing I dislike about buzz cuts is that they require so little beautician time to complete.  The hair technicians move me in and out in under five minutes.  So I just barely get relaxed and into deeply enjoying them fiddling with my hair, when it’s time to wake up already.  Maybe I should have them first cut it with  a  #4, then when they’ve finished that, tell them that I changed my mind and want #2.  Then when that’s done, opt for a #1 shaving.  Doing that wouid give me the duration of a scissor cut but the convenience of a buzz cut.  Of course I’d likely anger hair dressers profusely in the process. 

02:00 PM: Talked to Mom’s case worker at the county assistance office.  All is well with the paperwork I submitted last week.  Now, Mom’s application for Medical Assistance goes to Harrisburg for final authorization.  The representative expects no problems, and that Mom will be authorized quickly.  We’re expecting to hear back from them this week.

04:00 PM: Tonight for supper: Mrs. Paul’s Fish SANDWICH fillets, but without the bread.  Also, I found what looks like a bowl of chilly in the freezer.  So gonna devaur that as well.

06:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless via the DVR.

09:30 PM: Watched today’s rerun episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   Spoiled and Entitled Girls Return! I saw this already but watched it again because I did enjoy Josie.  I couldn’t believe how easily the bigoted and condescending insults just rolled off her tongue.  However, though this was quite amusing, it’s also the reason why I’d never have anything to do with besides laughing at her on TV. 

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  We figured out how to open port 3389 in her McAfee personal firewall so that I now can get onto her computer from here.  I love Remote Desktop.  We also disabled the Dell Stage program since it seems to not be readable by the default JAWS software.  Then, we attempted a Windows Remote Assistance connection so I can watch what she’s doing in Outlook and help her with interpreting what’s on the screen.  However, we kept receiving a connection timeout.  Not sure what that’s about.  But I’ll delve more into that tomorrow.

12:00 AM: Ordered some BNC twist-on connectors so I can construct some signal probes for the new function generator I purchased last week.  I’ll use this equipment to test out some home-grown switching power supply circuits.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count stopped falling, and rose a little, and now stands at 1756; up from 1744 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

01:10 AM: Facebooked some more.  Nothing earth-shattering read tonight.

01:20 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Misc. bank papers.
• State ID card renewal form.
• Offer from Maytag for us to extend the warranty on the Maytag Bravos washer we purchased last January.  I think I’ll risk not doing this, with this appliance.  However, I do plan on installing a surge protector, to guard the sensitive computer electronics within.
• Coupons from Dell, as reward for buying a computer from them.
• Free checking account offer from First Commonwealth Bank.  Not at this time, thanks.
• Offer from PNC Bank to set up automatic bill paying through a debit card.  Not at this time, thanks.
• A couple of get-well cards for Mom.
• Credit card balance transfer offer from Citi.  No thanks, for I have no balances to transfer.
• Monthly sewage bill.
• Offer to participate in First Energy’s CoolRewards program, where they replace our existing thermostat with a programmable model to help us save on summer cooling costs.  Not at this time, thanks.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-18

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  Sister Jojo is checking in on my cats while I’m here in Pittsburgh.

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up.

10:30 AM: Finished up configuring   [Emmy's]   new computer. We took a system recovery backup (took three DVD discs).  In the event that her computer fails, once it’s repaired, she can restore it to as it came from the factory with these discs.

11:15 AM: Finished packing for my return trip to Altoona, which I’ll be taking this afternoon.

11:40 AM: Leaving now for the Pittsburgh Amtrak station, and eventually, home.  Back later.

12:00 PM: I’m now here at the train station and have walked upstairs to the “boarding platform.”  I’m early, as they do not begin boarding until 1:00 PM.  So I’ll just sit just outside the doors that I just came thourgh, and listen to my iPod.

01:05 PM: I’m on the train now, and as I was one of the first ones to board, got an excellent window seat in the middle of the car; well away from the smells and sounds that you hear near each end of the car.  Yippee!

01:20 PM: The train just pulled out now; it’s departing on time.

02:00 PM: I walked one car back to the cafe’ car and boughtt two garden burgers with mustard for a combo breakfast and lunch, and a bag of peanut M & Ms for desert.  This “meal” cost just over $12.  Yum!  I ate my food in the cafe’ car instead of taking the food back to my seat, as they provide nice and roomy tables to sit at while enjoying their food.  Crowds there were light as well.

02:05 PM: Surprisingly, the cafe’ car opened immediately upon our departure from Pittsburgh; normally they wait until the train passes Greensburg (the next stop after Pittsburgh on this eastbound train, and some 45 minutes into the trip).  Waiting so long for food service can be a real pain.  But at least for this trip, that pain did not exist.

03:50 PM: We arrived on time at Altoona, and Kay picked me up.

04:30 PM: I’m back home, and the house is cool.  I guess I forgot to turn off the central air before leaving Thursday.  Oh well.  I’ll have a premium electricity bill to pay this month.  But at least, the cats were comfortable I’m sure.

04:40 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

07:00 PM: I’m up again, and working on obtaining access to   [Emmy's]   computer from here via the Windows Remote Desktop feature.  However, her machine is not responding to my request to log on.  All my hardware firewall settings look correct, as do hers.

08:30 PM: I got   [Emmy]   on the phone and had her disable the McAfee firewall software on her machine, just to see if that’s what is causing the remote desktop connection failures.  Sure enough, the requests were answered once that firewall was deactivated.  Looks like the Remote Desktop port (3389) has not been properly opened on   [Emmy's]  computer.  I’m looking into how to do that now, as I have the same firewall software on this computer.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  We worked through some issues she encountered on her computer.  She’s struggling a little with the new user interfaces, as am I.  But I’m certain that in a few weeks, we’ll both be Windows 7 and Outlook 2010 gurus. 

11:15 PM: Just letting everybody know that I’m home.  Things at   [Emmy's]   went well and her new computer is up and running.  We copied all the stuff from her other machine to this one and configured all the software she needs.  All seems to work well.  Back to work here tomorrow.  Got a call from the welfare office on Friday.  They have a couple more questions about Mom’s medical assistance application.  Hopefully this week, we can wrap all this up.

12:00 AM: Read through the entire   Dell Data Safe Online Backup product manual, and I’m so impressed with how much work and worry over data loss that this software saves.  I just might subscribe in a paid fashion once my free subscription runs out next year.  I may even do this before then, if I require more than the 2 GB of online storage that my free subscription comes with.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell a little more, and now stands at 1744; down from 1745 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

01:10 AM: Facebooked some more.  Nothing earth-shattering read tonight.

01:20 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail delivered on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-17

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  Sister Jojo is checking in on my cats while I’m here in Pittsburgh.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

12:00 PM: Worked on configuring   [Emmy's]   new computer throughout this morning again.  Set up her iTunes, Winamp, and we further fine-tuned her Outlook email reader.

01:00 PM: Leaving now for lunch at Subway.  Back later.

01:30 PM: Let’s see.  I paid just over $22 for two pulled pork subs (one for [Emmy] and one for me).  Wow.  That seemingly high amount surprised me; particularly since at Sheetz back in Altoona, one can buy a similar sub for roughly $15 for two of them.  Oh well.  Prices are going up.

02:20 PM: We’ve returned to   [Emmy's]   apartment, and it’s nap time again.  Back later.

05:45 PM: I’m awake again.  Yes.  Once again, that was quite the long nap.  But I was again on a roll with [Emmy's]   new computer last night, and ended up staying awake quite late. So I just ran out of steam this afternoon with all that good food from Subway.

05:50 PM: Beginning our supper preparations tonight. We’re having t-bone steaks, vegetables, and pomegranate fruit juice.  Mmmmmmm.

07:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of    NBC’s Nightly News broadcast.

07:50 PM: Steaks and vegetables have been cooked and consumed.

08:00 PM: Leaving now to get some dessert, for walk 29 of 100 for 2011, down to Starbuck’s on Forbes Ave again.  I really liked those berry smoothies, and must do a retake therefore.    Back later.

09:25 PM: We’re back home at   [Emmy's]   apartment.  Those Starbuck’s smoothies were delicious again, same as per usual.

11:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of CNN’s   AC 360 news show in the background, while continuing to configure   [Emmy’s   new computer.

12:05 AM: Facebooked a bit. Friend count: 556.  Fan count: 112.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell a good bit, and now stands at 1745; down from 1758 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

01:50 PM: Facebooked some more, read about the 64-bit version of Internet Explorer 9, and found that I could only get a beta version of the 64-bit Flash player for it. I installed that, and it seems to work just as well as the 32-bit version does on previous editions of Internet Explorer.

02:00 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-16

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  Sister Jojo is checking in on my cats while I’m here in Pittsburgh.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

12:00 PM: Worked on configuring   [Emmy's]   new computer throughout this morning.  Set up her free subscription to the   Dell DataSafe online backup product.

12:30 PM: Watched the local news on   KDKA TV.

01:00 PM: [Emmy] visited a friend’s horse farm this morning in Greensburg.  While she did not ride the horse, she got to pet him and the barn cats there as well.  She just got back.

01:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless.

01:35 PM: Leaving now for lunch at our favorite Indian restaurant.  Back later.

03:00 PM: After lunch, we walked down to CVS Pharmacy to pick up some writable DVDs that we’ll use in creating the system recovery discs for   [Emmy's]   new computer.

03:30 PM: We then stopped in at SuperCuts, where I got another buzz cut with a #2 clipper, all over my head.  I like this style, as I no longer have to carry a comb around (hair is too short to get messy now).

03:45 PM: We’ve returned to   [Emmy's]   apartment.  Now, it’s nap time.  Back later.

06:00 PM: I’m awake again.  Yes, I know.  That was quite the long nap, and I’ll probably have trouble getting to sleep tonight as a result.  But I was on a roll with [Emmy's]   new computer last night, and ended up staying up very late.  So I had some sleep to catch up on.

06:30 PM: Watched the KDKA TV evening local news broadcast.

07:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of    NBC’s Nightly News broadcast.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of    The CBS Evening News.

07:35 PM: Leaving for walk 28 of 100 for 2011, down to Starbuck’s on Forbes Ave.    Back later.

07:45 PM: On this occasion, Starbuck’s did not half any decaffeinated coffee.  So they offered me a decaffeinated espresso. Didn’t like that though; too strong.  Plus, I spilled some of it all over myself.  Now, I must set out the rest of the time here at the store as well as the walk home, looking real “bummy” and dirty.  Grrrrrrrr.

09:00 PM: We’re back home at   [Emmy's]   apartment.

09:20 PM: I spilled a good deal of hot coffee on my green St. Patrick’s day shirt.  So, worried that the stain would become permanent, I spent the last fifteen minutes hand-washing it in   [Emmy's]   small bathroom sink.  It was definitely harder to keep the water in the sink than to actually get the stain out. 

11:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of CNN’s   AC 360 news show in the background, while continuing to configure   [Emmy's   new computer.

12:05 AM: Facebooked a bit. Friend count: 556.  Fan count: 112.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell a bit, and now stands at 1758; down from 1775 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

02:00 AM: Copied additional data from [Emmy's] old Dell computer to the new Dell computer.  I found tonight that I had not gotten it all; her Internet Explorer favorites were missing.  But we got ‘em transferred now.

02:00 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-14

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

07:15 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked a bit.  Friend count: 555; Fan count: 112.

10:40 AM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> American Socialism Attracts Immigrants Too piece.

01:15 PM: Leaving now to visit Mom, and then later this afternoon, to take a train trip to Pittsburgh to help   [Emmy]   set up her new computer.

02:00 PM: I’m here at the nursting home.

03:00 PM: Walked over to the Texas hot dog place to a late lunch / snack for Mom.

03:30 PM: We sat outside while she ate, and gabbed with some of her friends.  One of them had a little boom box, playing a hit song collection from the 70s.  Not the original recordings, but still enjoyable just the same.  In fact, I find myself more accepting these days of those RE-recorded hits, as it’s fun to hear how the artist’s performance skill levels have advanced (or declined) in the time between the original recording and the remade one.

03:35 PM: I gave blood at a blood drive being held at the nursing home this afternoon.  Much less discomfort than I remember from the last time I gave some fifteen years ago, and virtually no immediate bruising.  Plus, that little prick they do on a middle finger hurt far less than in decades past.  The needles are smaller, and the techniques of extracting the blood have advanced markedly it seems.

04:15 PM: Mom and I visited for a while more in the front lobby, until It was time for me to walk on over to the train station.

04:20 PM: I arrived at the train station and got my ticket which I had reserved yesterday.

05:10 PM: I’m on the train now.

08:00 PM: Arrived at Pittsburgh and got a cab quickly this time.

08:30 PM: I’m at   [Emmy's]   now, and tearing into her still-packed new computer.

10:00 PM: Got through the initial setup of the operating system on   [Emmy's]   new Dell XPS 8300 computer.  Now I’m downloading the JAWS screen reader software.

12:00 AM: Set up her new copy of Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Business edition software (configured her Outlook to function with her existing Internet email account).

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell a bit, and now stands at 1775; down from 1788 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

12:15 AM: Enjoyed a midnight snack of Cheerios, raisins, and skim milk.  This was perhaps too late to be eating.  But I was famished, and they did say at the blood drive earlier to eat and drink a little extra over the next few days, in order to restore blood volume.

02:00 AM: Copied some of the data from [Emmy's] old Dell computer to the new Dell computer.  Hope I got it all.

02:15 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-14
• Tom’s Views –> American Socialism Attracts Immigrants Too

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up.

10:30 AM: Spent part of a second morning configuring and playing with my new computer.

10:35 AM: Leaving now to visit Mom at the nursing home.  Back later.

12:15 PM: I went and got some Texas hot dogs for Mom.  I had none myself because for some reason, I was feeling a bit woozy; probably from the bumpy ride up.

01:30 PM: After lunch, Mom and I watched   The Young and the Restless on the plasma TV in the lounge.  Nice.

02:30 PM: Then I wheeled Mom outside to the little gazebo area she so loves, with all its trees and flowers around that she helped to arrange.  Mom was sad and tired for most of this visit.  Not sure why.  However, her male friend was at an all-day appointment with a specialist in Lancaster.  Perhaps she was missing him.  She said she felt okay.  But I gathered that today was one of those “bad days” that Mom says she has now and then.  Anyway, I restocked her laundry and brought a few things down here, which I’ll wash and leave in the kitchen for whoever next goes up to visit her.  She was very quiet.  Hopefully she’ll get out of this latest funk soon.

03:00 PM: I’m home.  Nap time now.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m awake again.

09:00 PM: Today I completed Mom’s application for VA benefits, and finished gathering all information requested by Medical Assistance.  I get to walk both large envelopes to the post office in the morning.  Yippee!  I so want to finish up with all this paperwork!  This is worse than those numerous college-relaed forms I had to fill out in the eighties, and you KNOW how much I HATED college.  Grrrrrr. 

10:00 PM: Watched the 2011-07-09, 2011-07-11, and 2011-07-12 episodes of   NBC’s Nightly News broadcast via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  We wathed tonight’s rerun epoisode of   Hawaii Five-0, although I just listened while continued working the USB device not recognized problem.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count rose once again, and now stands at 1774; up from 1773 the last time I checked.  The record high for this dimension is now 1774.  The next goal: 2000.

12:15 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Coils, MOSFETs, and Schottky diodes from eBay.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-12

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Wash (2) loads of pending laundry for Mom.  DONE.  103 loads done in the washer now.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

12:30 PM: Spent the morning configuring and playing with my new computer.

01:00 PM: Discovered that the new computer also does not recognize my music drives; just like my Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop.  So I’ll spend the rest of today investigating.

03:00 PM: Made sure the chipset drivers for my new computer’s motherboard were up-to-date.  This did not solve the USB device not recognized problem however.

05:00 PM: Spent a couple hours Googling around for answers to this.  Nothing definite found, but I did harvest lots of great suggestions to try.

06:00 PM: Washed laundry throughout today.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  We wathed tonight’s rerun epoisode of   Hawaii Five-0, although I just listened while continued working the USB device not recognized problem.

11:10 PM: One fellow said that instead of connecting his USB storage device to his computer directly, that he connected it through a USB hub.  This he said, solved his problem, and his computer recognized his drive immediately.  He hinted that changing cables around might have solved his trouble.  So I thought I’d give that a try.  I had been using some cheaper USB cables I had purchased online a while back.  So I replaced one such cable with one that originally came with my Seagate FreeAgent external hard drives.  Immediately my problem disappeared from my new computer (the Dell XPS 8300)!   So, I tried the original cable on the laptop where I first noticed this error.  The cable switch fixed the error there as well.

12:00 AM: With my music drives now working correctly on the new computer, I set Winamp’s Media Library piece to index my collection on the new computer.  That went very well; no errors or hangs whatsoever.  Terrific!

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count rose once again, and now stands at 1773; up from 1745 the last time I checked this a couple days ago.  The record high for this dimension is now 1773.  The next goal: 2000.

03:00 AM: As a sort of reward to myself for getting the external drives going on Windows 7 (with much help from the Internet I must say), I spent a few hours perusing some of the new 2011 music I recently added to my music library.  I found perhaps 60 great dance and rock tunes to add to my Walking 2011 playlist.

03:15 AM: Now, finally, I’m pooped.  The adreneline joy rush of solving the USB device not recognized problem is slowing way down, and has left me extremely sleepy and tired.  Of course the fact that it’s well past three AM probably is more to blame for this than anything.  So I’m off to bed.  Good night.  Take care, and do come back later as my life saga continues.  See you.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Bed Bath & Beyond catalog.
• Balance transfer offer from Chase Freedom.  No thanks.
• Another offer from our electricity company to “lock in” our electricity supply rates for the next two years.  No thanks.
• Kohl’s $10 gift card.  Thanks very much!

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-11

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up.

12:30 PM: Spent the morning configuring and playing with my new computer.  Love it. It’s significantly faster than that 2 Ghz. machine I’d been using up until now.

12:45 PM: Leaving now for sister Christine’s place to spend most of the rest of today.  I’m taking my laptop and music drive with me, in case they want me to play.  Back later.

03:00 PM: Nap time, in Christine’s garage, with hits from the 70s playing in the background.

10:30 PM: I’m back home.  Discovered problems playing music on the Dell Inspiron 9100 laptop.  Interesting that this same computer with the same drive, same power supplies, same cables, and the same software worked great last week.   Now, it does not recognize the music drive when I connect it, and displays an error message balloon in the notification area.  Hmm.  Will have to investigate that.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 PM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-10

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.

08:00 AM: I may go shopping today.  That will depend on when my new computer arrives.

10:20 AM: I’m still coughing, but very little.  I feel almost fully back to normal.

10:50 AM: Filed perhaps 15 papers of Mom’s in the front office.  Almost done with this project.

10:55 AM: The new computer arrived, finally.  The delivery woman said she had no problems finding my place.  Hmmm.  I wonder why the people who tried to deliver this on Thursday couldn’t find me.  Oh well.  It’s here now, and that cancelled any irritation I might have been feeling.

12:30 PM: Spent the past hour and a half setting up my new Dell XPS 8300 computer.  No difficulties encountered so far.

12:35 PM: Leaving now to go shopping with sister Jojo and to visit Mom later this afternoon.  Back later.

04:00 PM: I’m back home.  Light grocery load this time (less than $50 worth).

04:15 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

07:00 PM: I’m awake again.

10:00 PM: Spent much of this evening installing software on my new computer (Quicken 2011, MS Office 2010 Home and Business, Winamp, et al), and customizing MS Outlook the way I like it.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count dropped again this time, and now stands at 1745; down from 1746 yesterday.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1747.  The next goal: 2000.

12:30 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-09

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Pay (3) pending bills.  DONE.
• Wash (2) loads of pending laundry.  DONE.  101 loads done in the washer now.

Log

07:50 AM: I’m up.

09:15 AM: Facebooked a bit.  Friend count: 553; Fan count: 112.

10:20 AM: I’m still coughing, but a little less today than yesterday.  All that’s left of the cold now is the cough and a bit of a stuffy nose.  My energy is coming back little by little.  Perhaps within the next week, I’ll be my spunky self once more.

11:00 AM: Balanced all checking accounts.

12:00 PM: Paid all pending bills for today and started the laundry.

02:35 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

02:45 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

04:45 PM: I’m awake again.

06:00 PM: Skipped today’s rerun episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR.

09:00 PM: Spent some of this day reading about switching power supplies.  I’m interested in building a couple for my WiFi access point (the store-bought ones keep burning out).  I’ve not dabbled in power electronics for some years.  I’m amazed at how much I remember.

09:55 PM: Ordered some inductors, schottky diodes, and power MOSFET transistors, to pay around with the power supply circuit on a breadboard.  Conceptually, switching power supplies seem pretty straight forward,  but are definitely more complicated than the linear power supplies I used to build in the early eighties.  They contain more active parts, but are much more efficient than those supplies of yester decade.  I also might try my hand at building an iPod wall charger.

10:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

10:15 PM: Laundry done.

11:30 PM: Stripped down my old Micron Pentium 2 computer, circa 1998.  It stopped working a couple years ago but still has some good parts (5 port USB 2.0 card, 3 port FireWire card, a good power supply albeit dusty, a Yamaha CD ROM drive, a zip drive, and an Adaptec 2940 SCSI card).  The rest, including the motherboard, modem, graphics card, and floppy drive, I’m putting with my recyclable electronics.

12:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count rose a fair amount this time, and now stands at 1747; up from 1745 yesterday.  The record high for this dimension is now 1747.  The next goal: 2000.

12:30 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Travelers auto insurance offer.  No thanks.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-07-07