Tom's Diary

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.
• Wash (2) loads of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 634 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

09:00 AM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> WD-40 Specialist Silicone Lubricant Review   piece.

10:00 AM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> Fixing Noisy Electric Baseboard Heaters    piece.

11:00 AM: Paid all pending bills.

12:00 PM: Installed the Honeywell RTH7600D programmable thermostat on the central heating system here at my home, that I bought at Lowe’s yesterday.  So far, it works great.  I’ll spend some time with it this afternoon to learn how to program it and optimize it for the particular heating situation here.

03:00 PM: Familiarized myself with the new central climate control programmable thermostat mentioned above.  But I’m feeling flu symptoms coming on; achy joints and spasmatic stomach pains.  So I think I’ll just take it easy for the rest of the day to try and beat this thing quickly.

07:20 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

08:10 PM: Watched yesterday’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Parental Abuse.

08:55 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Braxton Family Values.

09:50 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:10 PM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-03-01
• Tom’s Views –> Fixing Noisy Electric Baseboard Heaters
• Tom’s Views –> WD-40 Specialist Silicone Lubricant Review

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

12:00 PM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> Honeywell RLV310A Non Programmable Digital Thermostat Review   piece.

01:00 PM: ‎2.3 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 4.0% incline (unchanged), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 36 minutes, 4000 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 152 BPM for walk / workout 10 of 130 in 2012.

03:00 PM: Worked to get this diary blog caught up.

06:00 PM: Hung new curtains on the three side-by-side windows here in the first floor office.  Hopefully, these will further reduce the traffic noise from the road just outside that gets into this room.

06:55 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   A Most Unusual Love Triangle.

07:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

08:10 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Watched   Star Trek: The Original Series   episode   Omega Glory   via Netflix.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

12:15 AM: Watched CNN’s post-debate coverage of tonight’s republican presidential nomination debate.  I’ve recorded the actual debate with the DVR, and will watch it later this week.

12:30 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No deliveries of any kind received today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-22

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.
• Wash (1) load of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.

07:15 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

07:55 AM: ‎2.2 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (unchanged), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 390 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 8 of 130 in 2012.

08:30 AM: Leaving now for shopping with sister Jojo.  Normally we do this on Friday.  But this week, we’re going on Thursday because Jojo has other things to do tomorrow.  We’ll still visit Mom tomorrow.  But to shorten the usual Friday outing, we’re doing the shopping part of that, today.  Back later.

09:00 AM: We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for our usual coffee.

10:40 AM: We stopped at the Verizon Wireless store so nephew Tyler could decide which smartphone he wants.  However, we found the initial cost of most any of the phones, not to mention the expensive data plans for them, to be objectionable.

11:00 AM: I took those brush wood colored curtains that I received yesterday back to JC Penney.  They accepted the return without question.  I then ordered the blue-gray slate colored curtains that I thought I had ordered the last time.  They should arrive at home sometime early next week.

12:00 PM: Unfortunately, nephew Tyler could not purchase the smartphone that he so much wants.  Currently, a (virtually) unlimited data plan for said phones costs $30 per month, and that’s in addition to the normal cell phone rates.  Jojo says she can’t afford that expense at present.  But, she might help Tyler if he gets a job and still wants a smartphone.

01:30 PM: We enjoyed lunch at Applebee’s in the Logan Valley Mall.

03:30 PM: I’m home.

04:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:00 PM: I’m awake again.

07:00 PM: Installed the other Honeywell RLV310a thermostat that I purchased at Lowe’s yesterday in the upstairs office.  No unusual difficulties encountered.

07:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

08:10 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

09:00 PM: Tried lubricating all the metal-on-metal joints in the upstairs bedroom electric baseboard heater, in an effort to reduce the clanking, pinging, and squeaking that occurs each time the heater comes on and goes off.  I noted some improvement.  However, none of the oils and greases I tried seemed to last very long before these noises returned.  So I’m looking for a more effective and permanent solution.

10:00 PM: Again, tonight, I hung out in the upstairs bedroom, iPodding, and observing the heater operation under the control of the new Honeywell RLV310A thermostat that I installed yesterday.  I may have to replace the heater with a quieter unit.  The only question is: Which heaters are in fact quieter?  Which baseboard units hum less, and ping and bang less?  Recent reading indicates that a hydronic heater just might be what I’m looking for.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail or other deliveries today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-16
• Tom’s Views –> Honeywell RLV310A Non Programmable Digital Thermostat Review

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

08:35 AM: I’m up.

08:55 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Leaving now for Lowe’s home improvement center.  Back later.

03:30 PM: I’m home from Lowe’s.  I bought two trowels, an edger for smoothing out the corners around the basement windows I replaced last month, a couple of Honeywell RLV310A line voltage thermostats to replace those old units upstairs with, and some shellac-based primer for the plaster repair work on the north wall in my workout room.

05:00 PM: Replaced the ten year old mechanical line voltage thermostat in the 2nd floor bedroom with the   Honeywell RLV310A digital thermostat.  This new unit does not make those pesky clicking noises as it turns the heat on and off, and it more tightly controls the room temperature (within one third of a degree).  The drawback of this precise control however, is that the heater come on and go off much more frequently (every fifteen seconds now as compared to every several to ten minutes).  This means that they ping, pang, and pop more often.  So while I got rid of one source of noise (the thermostat), it appears that I’ve increased another (the warming and cooling of the heater).  Hmmmm.  I’ll investigate how to overcome this problems over the next few days.

05:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:05 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Hung out in the upstairs bedroom, iPodding, and observing the heater operation under the control of the Honeywell RLV310A.  Generally, I’m pleased with this thermostat upgrade.  Here’s what I wrote on Facebook about it earlier:  Replaced these two electro-mechanical thermostats upstairs tonight that control the electric baseboard heaters I have up there.  I installed these ten years ago, but have since found that the rooms got very hot, and then very cold (large and uncomfortable temperature swings).  Plus, these antiquated units click loudly each time they turn the heaters on and off.  No more of THAT either.  And, most offensively, sometimes, they’d get stuck in the ON position, which would send the rooms up to a sweltering 85 degrees in short order, not to mention the electricity bill into the hundreds of $$$.  So, as of tonight, these are GONE.  I replaced those old thermostats with two of this Honeywell computerized one.  This unit features silent operation and very TIGHT temperature control.  This thermostat replaces those “clicky” micro switches with an all-electronic triac.  So it is much quieter.  The temps in the rooms now hold within a half of a degree of the set temp.  Nice.  They claim that these new units will save energy.  Well, we’ll have to see on that one.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Received a batch of drapes from the catalog department of JC Penney.  However, they’re the wrong color (brush wood brown).  I actually wanted slate gray.  Oh well.  We’ll take these drapes back and order the correct ones later this week.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-15
• Tom’s Views –> Honeywell RLV310A Non Programmable Digital Thermostat Review

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.

07:10 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 628 (up one). Fan count: 113 (down one).

07:50 AM: Leaving now for shopping and to visit Mom with sister Jojo.  Today’s shopping schedule: Wal Mart, Dunkin’ Donuts, JC Penney for more drapes for Mom’s house, Gabriel Brothers to see if they have any more cheap iPod accessory cables, and we will stop at Lowe’s to pick up a bag of setting type joint compound for a new plaster surface coat on the north wall, around the window in the workout room.  Back later.

10:15 AM: We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for our weekly coffee, and met there one friend of sister Jojo’s.  The two of them used to work together twenty years ago.  There were also others that Jojo’s friend knew there.  Apparently there’s a whole group of them that meet at Dunkin’ Donuts each week (or more often perhaps).  I sure miss dining with my Philly friends each weekend.  It was such a pleasant, rejuvenating tradition.

11:00 AM: We then went to Gabriel brothers. Jojo wanted to check out some furniture and any bargains on snack foods they might be offering today, and I wanted to check out the low-priced iPod accessory cables I’ve seen there often.

01:00 PM: While Mom was being cleaned up and dressed, sister Jojo and I ate lunch at Jack and George’s restaurant.  She had a Buffalo chicken salad while I munched on a Philly cheese steak sub.  Yum.

02:15 PM: After lunch, we returned to the nursing home and sat with Mom for an hour or so.  Her spirits were normal to high, and she felt pretty good over all today.

02:30 PM: I’m back home.  Got all known-to-be-needed supplies for the plaster repair project in the workot room, as well as groceries for the upcoming week.

03:15 PM: I bought twelve more panels of Light Shield drapes for the first floor office (requires six panels), the workout room east door (requires four panels) from JC Penney, along with rails from which to hang them.  I also bought two panels for the last window requiring drapes in the downstairs bedroom. Ten of the twelve panels they did not have in stock.  So we placed a catalog order for them.  They’ll be delivered to my door sometime next week.

03:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m awake again.

05:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

06:35 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR,   called   Inside the Powell Family Tragedy.

07:20 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News    broadcast via the DVR.

09:00 PM: I ironed and then hung the two panels of drapes on the last window that requires them in the first floor bedroom.  No unusual problems encountered.  However, I wish they’d make the wall anchors that came with the curtain rails a little stronger; they often become compressed when driving them into the specified sized hole drilled for them.  Either they should fashion them out of metal (like the old-time toggle bolts), or specify a bigger hole.  Fortunately, I was able to straighten out both of the ones that bent on me.

09:15 PM: Installed one of the surge protectors I bought this week on the microwave oven to reduce the size of any voltage spikes that this appliance might be injecting onto the power line when turned on and off.

10:00 PM: Recorded in my audio journal for the past 45 minutes.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-10

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.
• Wash (2) loads of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

12:30 PM: ‎2.01 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3% incline, 68 degrees F room temp, for 30 minutes, 360 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 3 of 130 in 2012.  Instead of one or two very long workouts each week, I’m shortening the duration of each workout session so I can execute more of them (4 or 5) throughout the week.  I’m hoping that this will enable me to jog more miles each week than I’ve been able to manage with the longer workouts.

02:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

04:00 PM: Scraped debris off of the freshly primed portions of the workout room north wall between the window there and the ceiling.  This they say is necessary to help ensure maximum bonding when the new surface coat of plaster is applied to the primed areas.  I discovered a couple of deep cracks in the plaster substrate (the layer closest to the backing wood – the laths).  These must be repaired before the surface plaster coat can be applied.

04:15 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Beauty Queen Hits Rock Bottom.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Measured remaining windows for drapes.  We’ll pick up said drapes tomorrow.

08:10 PM: Also, I made a grocery list for tomorrow.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:20 PM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-09

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 632 (up one). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

09:30 AM: ‎2.01 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3% incline, 68 degrees F room temp, for 30 minutes, 360 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 151 BPM for walk / workout 2 of 130 in 2012.

10:30 AM: Leaving now for my Lowe’s shopping trip to pick up some joint compound, tools, and any other supplies needed to repair the plaster on the north wall in the workout room.  Back later.

03:15 PM: I’m back home.

04:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

04:15 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Donny Osmond.  Stevie Wonder also appeared on the show and he and Osmond performed a couple of duets as Wonder accompanied with the keyboard.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Puttered some more in the basement, organizing my tools, screws, nuts, bolts, and other hardware that I’ve accumulated over the years.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:20 PM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-08

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

09:30 AM: I’m up.

09:45 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 630 (up one). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

12:00 PM: Continued the cellar organization effort.

01:00 PM: I recently learned at my last blood donation that my blood pressure is still on the high side at 140 / 86.  So I’m cutting back on my sodium intake, and will probably resume logging my daily readings in a couple weeks.  I’m scheduled for a doctor’s appointment in March to further evaluate this disconcerting situation, and if I can’t

04:15 PM: Worked on the peeling and cracked plaster problem on the window in the workout room (formerly Mom’s sitting room).  I removed more loose plaster around the bottom half of the window and noticed a couple of deep cracks in the plaster substrate.  Those must be repaired before applying a new surface coat over the “brown and sand” layer of plaster underneath.  The cracks appear to be due to normal shifting of the whole house; none of the plaster has come loose from the laths (wood strips behind it).  This week, I plan on removing the remainder of the loose plaster, and to buy some setting type joint compound, tools, tape, and any other supplies required to repair this wall.

04:20 PM: Heading to sister Christine’s with nephew Garrett to watch the Superbowl.  Back later.

10:15 PM: I’m home again.  The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots this time, 21 to 17; quite an upset given that the Patriots went into the Super Bowl with a 13 and 3 record while the Giants barely made 500 on the season at 9 wins and 7 losses.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 PM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail or other deliveries on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-05

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.

07:10 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 628 (up one). Fan count: 113 (down one).

07:50 AM: Leaving now for shopping and to visit Mom with sister Jojo.  Today’s shopping schedule: Wal Mart, Dunkin’ Donuts, JC Penney for some drapes for the house here, and the last stop will be Lowe’s to pick up a couple 40-pound bags of cement for filling in the hollow window columns here in my office.  Back later.

03:00 PM: I’m back home.  Got the tools and a couple surge protectors besides.

03:15 PM: I bought four sets of Light Shield drapes for the living room and workout room from JC Penney, along with rails from which to hang them.  I’m going to spend much of the rest of today installing the drapery rails, ironing the new curtains, and hanging them.

07:00 PM: Thawed and enjoyed the last of the buckwheat pancakes I made last Monday.  Delicious.

08:30 PM: I’ve put up three of the four curtain rails, ironed the curtains, and hung them up.  They look very good, as the match well the rest of Mom’s decor in the living room.  Unfortunately, the window in the sitting room has some plaster damage around it.  So this must be repaired before putting up the rail on this window.  Therefore, I’ll put this rail and the curtains that go with it in my bedroom.  Then once I fix the plaster in the sitting room, I’ll buy some curtains and a rail for in there.

Posted a picture of two of the newly decorated windows on Facebook; the windows beside my television.

10:00 PM: Listened to my iPod Touch in front of one of the newly decorated windows in the living room while enjoying a couple ounces of gin.  Pleasant.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe
• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-03

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 627 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Leaving now for Lowe’s home improvement center to purchase a few items for the electrical wiring upgrades I’m planning and some commonly-used tools to keep around the house.  I’m getting low on screw drivers and needle nosed pliers.  Back later.

03:30 PM: I’m back home.  Got the tools, some weather stripping for the basement door, and a couple surge protectors besides.

04:25 PM: Calked up a couple holes in the basement where copious amounts of cold air was entering the house.  Every little bit of leak-sealing indeed helps.  It feels warmer back in that corner where the leaks were found.

04:30 PM: Investigated weather-stripping the basement door; another large source of winter air in the house.  However, I cannot apply the weather stripping yet, as the door does not close flush against the door jamb lip.  There’s close to a quarter-inch gap between the door and this lip, and the weather stripping I purchased is not fat enough to fill this space.  So, I’ll probably pry off the lip and reposition it closer to the edge of the closed door.  Then, I’ll fasten the weather stripping to it.

04:45 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:45 PM: I’m awake again.

06:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

06:35 PM: Skipped the 2012-02-02 (today’s) episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   The Dr. Phil Family Returns: Alexandra Goes To Rehab.

07:15 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

09:30 PM: Watched the Republican presidential debate that aired on 2012-01-26 via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Spent some time reading articles on the Internet, involving some of the do-it-yourself household projects I’ve been contemplating.  So far, I have one major project completed in 2012; that’s the basement windows upgrade project.  In that effort, I replaced ten rusted and broken basement windows with glass block units.  Much quieter and warmer too.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:15 AM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe
• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-02