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.

Log

08:45 AM: I’m up.

09:00 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 600 (up one). Fan count: 112 (unchanged).

11:45 AM: Walked and jogged for just over two hours on the treadmill, for walk 93 of 100 for 2011.  I covered roughly six miles.

01:00 PM: Dusted and cleaned here on the first floor, in preparation for [Emmy]‘s visit early next week.

04:30 PM: Put up ten more strings of Christmas lights, this time, on the two west-facing spruce trees in our front yard.  Yep, more like Christmas every day.

9:30 PM: Watched   Star Trek: The Animated Series   via Netflix;   the episodes:  Mudd’s Passion, The Terratin Incident,   and   The Ambergris Element.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:10 PM: I’m headed to bed.  Good night, and I’ll write more tomorrow.

12:05 AM: The daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell this time, and currently stands at 823, off from 850 at last check.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-11-12

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

08:45 AM: I’m up.

09:00 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 599 (unchanged). Fan count: 112 (unchanged).

09:30 AM: Leaving now for the weekly shopping trip, and we’ll visit Mom as well.  Back later.

03:40 PM: I’m back home, and all groceries have been stowed into their proper locations.

04:30 PM: Put up ten more strings of Christmas lights.  It’s beginning to look a whole bunch like Christmas around here now.

05:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

07:25 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:15 PM: Watched today’s episode of    Dr. Phil,    called    Dr. Phil’s Twin-Tacular with Adam Sandler.

10:45 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:00 PM: I’m headed to bed.  Good night, and I’ll write more tomorrow.

12:05 AM: The daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count fell this time, and currently stands at 850, off from 870 at last check.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-11-11

Brrrrrr. This month’s heating bills are chilling me! Gas: $428, Electricity: $266. I envy my brother-in-law, whose back yard adjoins a forest, and who thus, heats his house with two wood-burning furnaces and all that surplus wood. God, my teeth are chattering. Time to break out the long underwear.  This has been an unusually cold winter this year, and the power and gas consumption show it. We don’t like a cold house either.  So the heating costs tend to be elevated here.  But a thaw next week should give our bills some relief in March. 

Tom Hesley

Related Posts

• Today’s Business: 2011-02-11

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.

Log

10:50 AM: I’m up.  Today, I plan to take down and store all pavilion Christmas lights, per the    Christmas Lighting: 2010   project. The only lights left out there are the ones on the roof edges of the pavilion and the house.  Since there’s supposed to be some bad weather coming through over the weekend, I’m hoping to gather up at least the pavilion lights before it gets here. 

05:00 PM: The strings of lights I removed today required much repair (these were some of the older strings I purchased on eBay in the past couple months).  But I got them all working except for one, which will likely required some replacing of sockets. 

07:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR as well as the 2010-01-03 episode of     Hawaii Five-0. 

-7:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   The CBS Evening News. 

09:25 PM: Posted the   Mom’s Status: 2010-01-06   piece.  People were starting to call a lot to find out about her.  So a post on the subject was in order. 

10:20 PM: The Penguins lost 2 to 1 tonight in a shootout with Montreal Canadiens tonight.  This was one of those very disheartening games because the Penguins played so well throughout, only to lose it in the end.  But they held their own until the shootout anyhow. 

12:00 AM: Heading for bed.  Good night.  Sweet dreams.  I hope you come back tomorrow.  Take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• Mom’s Status: 2010-01-06
• Today’s Diet: 2011-01-06

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Wash all (4 loads of) pending laundry.   DONE.

Log

10:30 AM: I’m up.  Today, I plan to take down and stow all fence and shed Christmas lights, per the    Christmas Lighting: 2010   project. 

05:00 PM: Mary Kay is taking   [Emmy]   and I out to eat at an Sal’s Italian restaurant in Juniata.  Back later.

03:50 PM: Watched the 2010-12-16 episode of CNN’s   Larry King Live   talk show on the DVR.  This was his last episode and he had some very popular guests on, to wish him will and express their appreciation to him for his 25 years of service to CNN, and to the world.  The three major network news anchors were present along with Bill Maher, Regis Philbin, and Donald Trump et al.  I’ll certainly miss  “The King”  of talk.  

04:40 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.

07:00 PM: We’re back home, and both of us are full of steak Stromboli, and, we brought enough home in the doggy bag for a complete meal tomorrow. 

08:00 PM: Worked the   Christmas Lighting: 2010   project, hauling in over twenty extension cords, inspecting them, repairing any that required it, and putting them away.  There are still more cords out there.  But I’ll get those during the next couple days when I take down the last of the lights on the pavilion and house roofs. 

09:15 PM: Watched CNN’s   Taliban   documentary, that aired on 2010-12-12 on the DVR.

10:15 PM: Watched the 2010-12-13, 2010-12-14, and 2010-12-15 episodes of    NBC’s Nightly News   news show on the DVR. 

12:30 AM: [Emmy] and I watched the 2010-11-28 airing of Hallmark’s   November Christmas   movie on the DVR.  Good movie.  A bit slow-moving perhaps.  But good nonetheless.  It brought a tear to my eye at the end when Vanessa comes home from the hospital in time for Christmas. 

12:35 AM: Finished up the laundry; our bedding. 

01:00 AM: We gabbed a bit about the upcoming year and our plans for it.  But it’s off to bed now.  Have a great night, and as usual, I’ll have more to say here later.  Take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Weekly coupon mailer.
• Garbage collection bill.
• 1 credit card offer.
• 1 hospital transportation bill for Mom.

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• Today’s Diet: 2011-01-05

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Process at least ten grocery and other store receipts.  IN PROGRESS.

Log

07:45 AM: I’m up, and it looks like I beat Mom.  She’s still sleeping.  So I’m off to a shower.  Sister Jojo will be coming shortly, and she’ll help Mom do whatever while I’m getting clean.   

08:30 AM: Jojo got Mom up and about.  She’s now sitting in her easy chair.  I dispensed morning meds.

08:45 AM: Sister Jojo and I are headed   shopping.  Back later.

01:00 PM: We’re back home, and I’ve put away all groceries and other supplies.  We helped Mom into her wheelchair so she could buzz around the house with us as we took care of various domestic tasks. 

05:00 PM: I assembled Mom’s new dining set throughout the afternoon. Assembly went well, although I have four extra wood screws left over.  Hmmmm, did I not put them where I was supposed to, or did they just give me extras?  I think, they gave me extras.    I’ll look into it a bit more later to be sure. 

05:30 PM: Vacuumed the kitchen, to pick up those little Styrofoam bits that were shed from the dining set packing materials.   A few of the attachments on her vacuum cleaner were hard installing and removing.  So I sanded off the rough spots on the mating metals and sprayed a little white lithium grease on the joints.  That fixed it.  Now, the pieces snap on and off quite easily. 

05:45 PM: Replaced the bulb socket in Mom’s lamp in the sitting room.  The light would cut out often with the old one, and this new one seems to have eliminated the trouble. 

06:00 PM: Mom cooked some sloppy Joes for supper. 

07:00 PM: Dispensed Mom’s evening meds and got her back into her easy chair. 

07:30 PM: Sister Jojo just called to say that they need help relocating their Internet router.  They require some RG-6 cables with F fittings, and a splitter.  I have all that stuff.  So she’s coming to take me to her house to change the cabling.  Back later.

08:15 PM: We got her telephone working again.  Now we’re heading back home, but taking the long way, to look at peoples’ Christmas lights. 

08:45 PM: We’re back home again. 

09:10 PM: I watched the rest of   Frosty The Snow Man   with Mom and part of   Frosty Returns. 

09:20 PM: Now, I’m on the phone with   [Emmy],   watching the rest of    Frosty Returns. 

12:00 AM: Worked the   DJ Gig: 2010-12-31   project; just processed more 2010 music.

12:15 AM: Helped Mom to bed and dispensed her night time meds.  Now, I’m headed there as well.  More later, and take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• DJ Gig: 2010-12-31
• Shopping Trip: 2010-12-17
• Today’s Diet: 2010-12-17
• Weight Loss: 2010

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Process at least ten grocery and other store receipts.  IN PROGRESS.

Log

09:15 AM: I’m up.  Sunnier today, and 26 degrees at present on the east porch.     

09:30 AM: Got Mom up and dispensed her morning meds.  

09:35 AM: I’m dedicating myself today to applying all the grocery and other store receipts that we’ve accrued over the past month to Mom’s and my checking accounts. I’ll also hang a few Christmas lights too. 

02:45 PM: Mom’s physical therapist visited for the last time in this set of visits.  However, Mom didn’t feel up to exercising today.  So the PT just went over all the exercises and how to perform them that she would like to see Mom do.  Hopefully, Mom will pick up that ball and do them, once she feels more motivated. 

03:30 PM: Change of plans.  With the weather so sunny and warm today, I decided, instead of processing the pending grocery receipts,  to work the    Christmas Lighting: 2010   project outside.  I’ve now put up all the C9 blue light strings I have.   

06:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   on the DVR.  Now, it’s nap time.  Back later.

06:30 PM: I’m awake again. 

06:45 PM: Dispensed Mom’s evening meds. 

09:30 PM: Watched yesterday’s and today’s episodes of   Dr. Phil   on the DVR. 

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy]   about this and that. 

12:00 PM: Helped Mom to bed.  Her room is surprisingly warm given that tonight is the coldest night of this winter season; currently 20 degrees on the east porch. 

12:10 AM: Worked the   DJ Gig: 2010-12-31   project throughout the evening, adding more music to the library from Promo Only’s EA DFF series. 

01:00 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• 2 Christmas cards for Mom. 
• Cardiology co-payment bill for Mom.
• Analog Science Fiction magazine; the 2010-12 issue.

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• DJ Gig: 2010-12-31
• Today’s Diet: 2010-12-09
• Weight Loss: 2010

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Wash all (2) pending loads of laundry.

Log

09:30 AM: I’m up.  Today looks overcast with occasional bursts of sunshine, with temperatures ranging in the low thirties this morning.  No rain or snow is falling at present.

10:30 AM: Sister Mary Ann called to say that she’s coming to visit Mom later today and that she may have found some cheaper alternatives for some of Mom’s meds.  Hey, we’ll take any help we can find.    These meds are quite costly at present. 

11:15 AM: Updated all blogs (including:  Tom’s Diary,   Tom’s Love Quest,   Tom’s Views,   and   WPSBC Alumni Association)   to   WordPress 3.0.2.  No problems with either the installation or subsequent blog behavior noted. 

11:45 AM: Posted the   Disabling Post Revisions: WordPress 3.0.2   piece. 

01:00 PM: Completed the weekly web site backups.  Details   here.

05:00 PM: Worked the   Christmas Lighting: 2010   project. 

05:45 PM: Sister Mary Ann arrived, bearing a very tasty supper gift; lasagna.  Mmmmmm!

07:00 PM: Sisters Christine and Diane arrived as well and sister Jojo came later on, and we all hung out in the sitting room with Mom for an hour or so, until it was time for sister Mary Ann to take Catie and Jess to a Christmas show at the Mishler Theater in Altoona.

07:05 PM: Now,   [Emmy]   and I are listening to the Penguins hockey game.  They’re playing the Columbus Blue Jackets this evening. 

07:30 PM: Washed all linens on Mom’s bed (we do this each Saturday). 

10:00 PM: The Pens beat the Blue Jackets, 7 to 2.  I napped a bit during the game in the front room (our new spare bedroom. 

12:35 AM: Watched the 2010-11-14 episode of CBS’s   60 Minutes   news show on the DVR.  I most enjoyed the story about the pros and cons of extracting natural gas from shale here in the US and how this could potentially solve our energy problems for the next twenty years or more.  But they also explored some of the risks of this process, including contaminated drinking water.  Good show. 

01:30 AM: Sat with Mom for an hour in her sitting room to keep her company.  I worry about her back there all by herself for so much of the time, just sitting and watching television.  But she had lots of company today.  So perhaps she considered her solitude afterward pleasurable. 

02:00 AM: Helped Mom to bed.  I’m now going to bed as well.  So good night.  More tomorrow. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• Disabling Post Revisions: WordPress 3.0.2
• Today’s Diet: 2010-12-04
• Weekly Backups: 2010-12-04
• Weight Loss: 2010

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.  Checked on Mom.  She’s needs nothing at the moment. 

10:30 AM: Talked to Mom’s lawyers about transferring title of her home to me; the objective to get all of Mom’s assets out of her name. 

11:00 AM: Got Mom up to the bathroom and gave her her morning meds.   She decided to go back to bed, so I’ll check on her again in four hours. 

11:05 AM: Worked the   DJ Gig: 2010-12-31   project throughout this morning, adding more 2010 music to my digital library of recordings. 

03:00 PM: Good friend Pearl has agreed to drive [Emmy] to the train station this weekend for her return trip to Pittsburgh.  She’ll join me once again in a couple weeks for the Christmas celebration.  I just love the holidays! 

03:30 PM: Mom still in bed.  Fortunately, sister Jojo stopped by to cheer her up and get her up. 

04:00 PM: Sister Jojo helped Mom get a shower and got her dressed and into the kitchen for some grub. 

06:00 AM: Worked the   DJ Gig: 2010-12-31   project throughout this afternoon, downloading all back issues of Promo Only’s EA DFF music series.  Further, while waiting for the downloads to finish (which took several hours by the way), I worked the   Christmas Lighting: 2010   project, putting up more lights around the exterior of the house.   

08:00 PM: Watched today’s episodes of   The Young and the Restless   and   Dr. Phil   on the DVR.

11:00 PM: While   [Emmy]   watched KDKA TV’s   Pittsburgh Today Live   variety show, I continued working the   DJ Gig: 2010-12-31   project.  Copied all back EA DFF issues from either disc or Internet to my music library hard drive. 

12:45 AM: Dispensed Mom’s night meds and helped her to bed.  Sister Mary Ann is planning on visiting tomorrow afternoon, and Mom is looking forward to that. 

12:55 AM: LED Christmas lights may use a mere tenth of the power of the traditional incandescent bulbs, and still give equivalent light in fact. But they’re certainly NOT more reliable, and they’re harder to repair besides, as polarity must be observed when replacing LEDs, though not so with incandescents. If you connect an LED backwards, you’ll probably destroy it. I have. Grrrrrr. Merry Christmas!!!

02:00 AM: [Emmy]  rubbed my back and combed my hair while I copied some old-time radio shows into my media library.  We talked as well about the holidays, past and future.  She may go visit her parents this Christmas.  But she’s worried that I’ll be hurt if she does not spend Christmas here.  But I encouraged her to go.  After all, she’s come here every Christmas since 2007 and so, I certainly wouldn’t mind “sharing” her this year.  She may spend Christmas day with them and then spend New Years with us.  We’ll see.  In any case, I want her to do what she’s most happy and comfortable with. 

03:00 AM: [Emmy]   gave me a 2-hour back and head massage.  It was wonderful.  She really gives good ones.  When I think of her massages past, I can induce very contented and sleepy feelings, even while fully awake and outside in the cold.  Remembering her massages is a great way to seriously reduce stress.   

03:15 AM: Heading to bed.  Good night, and I’ll write more of my life adventure tomorrow.  Take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• 1 credit card offer.  Not at this time, thanks.
• Letter from Mom’s PCP providing news of changes that Eli Lilly has made to their insulin pens.  She does not use these pens currently however. 
• 1 Christmas / get-well card for Mom. 

Related Posts

• Christmas Lighting: 2010
• DJ Gig: 2010-12-31
• Today’s Diet: 2010-12-03
• Weight Loss: 2010

Today’s Activities

• Shower.  DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

08:45 AM: I’m up.  Mom wants to wait until noon to take her morning meds.  She’s none too eager to get up today.   No wonder.  It’s a dark and dreary morning here in central PA, and I hear that it’s supposed to rain all day steadily.  Grrrrrrr.   I had hoped to hang some Christmas lights today.  But as wet as it is, that effort will probably have to wait a couple days at least. 

09:20 AM: Mom’s home nurse arrived to check her overall health status and to take blood to measure its clotting ability; very important for heart patients like Mom. 

09:45 AM: Mom’s physical therapist arrived.

10:00 AM: Mom’s nurse asked me numerous questions about Mom for her files.  Mom is “down in the dumps” today but nonetheless, her strength continues to improve. 

10:30 AM: I assisted Mom’s physical therapist (and she taught me to)  help Mom perform her exercises. 

11:00 AM: The physical therapist left.  Now, I’m blogging to get all of this down. 

12:30 PM: Helped Mom into and out of the shower.  She got lots of water on the floor (the whole floor) and a good deal of it ran down into the heat duct work.  I worry about the furnace.  So we must devise a better shower solution to prevent the sort of  “flood”   from occurring again. 

02:00 PM: Mom’s foot doctor arrived to trim her toenails.  [Emmy]   is in the shower now, and I’m washing the load ot towels Mom used in her shower. 

02:10 PM: [Emmy]   just emerged from her shower, looking for the bathroom trash can.  Oh yes, I had to move it elsewhere while Mom showered. 

02:15 PM: Mom’s occupational therapist just arrived.  He’s having her do arm exercises with an elastic band; she stretches that repeatedly with her arms and hands in various positions.

02:50 PM: The occupational therapist just left.  He’ll make his last visit this coming Thursday. 

04:35 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   and yesterday’s episode of   Dr. Phil   on the DVR.

04:45 PM: Debbie arrived.  We’re going   shopping   tonight.

08:15 PM: We’re back home, and all groceries have been put away.  I also replaced all burned-out three-way light bulbs in our lamps throughout the house. 

10:00 PM: Watched   Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer   TV special on CBS tonight; always an effective way to stoke those good feelings of the holiday spirit. 

11:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of    Dr. Phil   on the DVR.

11:45 PM: Wow, it’s really warmed up outside, to around 56 degrees, and the wind is howling and spattering the window in the office here with raindrops.  Minus thunder and lightning, it’s still going to be a stormy night. 

12:05 PM: Helped Mom to bed and dispensed her night meds.  Now, we’re going.  Good night, and I’ll have more tomorrow. Take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Christmas card for Mom.
• Weekly coupon mailer.
• Toyota advertisement. 

Related Posts

• Shopping Trip: 2010-11-30
• Today’s Diet: 2010-11-30
• Weight Loss: 2010