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

08:15 AM: I’m up.

08:30 AM: Facebooked for perhaps fifteen minutes. Friend count: 625 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

12:30 PM: Balanced all five checking accounts under my management.

01:15 PM Vacuumed the first floor.

02:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

03:00 PM: Requested a disbursement from the    WPSBC Alumni Association’s   investment account.  Their checking account is getting low, and we must assure that we have sufficient funds on hand for the upcoming alumni convention this summer.  The amount I requested should not only stop those low-balance monthly service fees that the bank who hosts our checking account charges us, but should also provide enough liquid capital for all alumni business for 2012 and beyond.

04:15 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Starving To Death.

06:30 PM: Next long-running project: Phase out all cloth-insulated, two-wire fifteen-amp circuits here at my home; upgrading those still needed to three-wire twenty-amp circuits that employ state-of-the-art insulation.  This house really shows its age when you see its deteriorating original cloth-covered wiring.  I’m working on the first circuit now.  I don’t need a new box yet, as it was last replaced in 1997 with a 200-amp service.  I would however, love a 400-amp service, on MY OWN transformer !

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

08:00 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of    NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Listened to my iPod while watching tonight’s Florida Republican debate.  I’ll watch this again over the weekend via the DVR; this time, without the iPod, so I can pay full attention.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

12:30 AM: I inadvertently cut out the supply line for the first circuit I’m upgrading before realizing that that wire fed the overhead lights in the kitchen as well as those on the south porch.  See   [Emmy]?   I do indeed make mistakes.  So I spent some time upstairs in the crawlspace, looking for a new place to get power for those lights.  I found one.  I must say that I was surprised to find that clipping the old wires inside an outlet box in the living room, deprived power to lights so far away (in the kitchen).  But 65 years ago, they did not run as many circuits as they do now in houses.  I believe that before our service upgrade in 1997, this place only had six or eight circuits.  Now, we have roughly thirty-four.

12:55 AM: Listened to my iPod and facebooked for a couple hours, and fiddled around a bit more with the wiring upgrade project.

01:05 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: 2012-01-26

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

09:45 AM: I’m up.

10:00 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 620 (up four). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

11:30 AM: [Emmy] called to say that she misses being here, and I certainly miss having her around.  I just may have to visit her later this month.

12:00 PM: Took down the three strings of icicle Christmas lights on the south porch.  No repairs needed this time, and no bulbs were out.  Amazing how much longer the lights last when they’re not out in all the weather (these were situated under the porch roof, and so they got little rain exposure).

12:30 PM: Took down all lights on the west stoop.  Just two bulbs needed replacing in these. The strings themselves are still in very good shape, even though I bought these back in 2008 and have used them each Christmas holiday season since.

01:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of CBS’s  Face The Nation   via the DVR.

02:00 PM: Watched this past Sunday’s episodes of NBC’s   Meet The Press    weekly news broadcast via the DVR.

03:00 PM: Worked on getting this blog caught up; I’m perhaps ten days behind on these journal entries.

03:05 PM: Hmmm.  The DVR recorded no episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast last night.

04:00 PM: Heading for sister Christine’s house.  We’re going to watch the Steelers Vs. Broncos game.  Back later.

08:10 PM: I’m back home, with a heavy heart.  The Steelers lost to the Broncos in overtime play, 29 to 23.  Grrrrrr.

10:00 PM: Just added this week’s batch of 160 new songs to my DJ music library.  While I do not DJ much anymore, It’s sure nice having this stuff on the iPods.  Great treadmill music.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:50 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of CBS’s   60 Minutes   news broadcast via the DVR.

12:05 AM: The daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count for this run is 936, up from 927 at last check.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

12:50 AM: Watched the last two episodes of the 1970s children’s sci-fi show   Space Academy,   called   Star Legend,    and   Johnny Sunseed.

01:00 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 shipments delivered on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-01-08

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.
• Wash (3) loads of pending laundry for Mom and   [Emmy].  DONE.

Log

09:30 AM: We’re up.

09:40 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 601 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Watched the 2011-11-14 episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   The Mysterious Death of Rebecca Zahau.

11:15 AM: Watched the 2011-11-15 episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Rebecca Zahau: The New Autopsy Results Revealed.

12:00 PM: Watched the 2011-11-16 episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called    Imperfect Justice?

01:30 PM: Scheduled three upcoming van rides; visit to Mom this week, eye exam — also this week, and a dental exam for next week.

02:15 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

09:00 PM: Downloaded all pending new music from Promo Only; approximately 150 songs.

09:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

09:55 PM: Washed, folded, and put away all laundry.

11:00 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   Hawaii Five-0.

11:00 PM: we’re heading to bed.  More tomorrow.

12:05 AM: The daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count for this run is 792, up from 777 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: 2011-11-28

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked a bit.  Friend count: 576 (up two).  Fan count: 111 (unchanged).

09:30 AM: Listened to   Dr. Joy Browne   on the iPod.  Now, I’m at 2008-11-25 in my collection.

09:30 AM: This, my oldest iPod (the iPod video) has a 30 GB hard drive.  As such, it’s better for podcast listening, where you’re not typically skipping around very much.  Unlike the flash memory in the newer iPods, each skip forward or skip backward operation draws significant battery power to reposition the heads in the hard drive.  With these Dr. Joy Browne shows, I just let ‘em play, without much skipping around.  So, I probably get fifteen hours of play time per battery charge.

09:40 AM: Leaving now for my physicians’ appointment.  Back later.

11:30 AM: I’m back home.  They want me to take blood pressure readings every day for a week and report those back to them.  No medication at this time, and the doctor felt that my BP was not terribly high.  They also drew blood to check cholesterol and triglycerides.  I’ll get those results when I return.

02:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

03:00 PM: I’m awake.

05:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

05:35 PM: Heading out to the yard to cut the grass (the lawn tractor portion of it).  This is cutting #6 for 2011.  Back later.

07:35 PM: I’m back.

09:00 PM: Downloaded today’s batch of fifteen new songs from Promo Only’s Express Audio online music subscription service.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

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

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count rose this time, and currently stands at 1176; up from 1171 at last check.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

12:10 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Membership offer in Triple-A.  No thanks.
• 1 get-well card for Mom.
• Coupon mailer.
• Promo Only’s Modern Rock Radio music series; the 2011-09 edition.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-09-13

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.

Log

08:45 AM: I’m up.

09:50 AM: Got caught up on the blogs and Facebook.

11:00 AM: Leaving now with nephew Garrett for Grant’s graduation party.  Back later.

01:00 PM: Hung out around sister Christine’s pool for a couple hours, just shooting the breeze with family and friends.  Kind of reminded me of that song last year from Nickelback, called   This Afternoon,  that talks of spending the afternoon, the evening, and well into the next morning just chilling with fond friends and relatives, and how much fun that can be.

01:15 PM: I ordered 56 pieces of square pizza (two big flats of it).  I was hungry and so apparently, were all the kids.

01:45 PM: Nephew Grant went to pick up the pizza and upon his return, he was mobbed by us folks with the big appetites.  Yep.  The pizza was a big hit.  They may have even liked it more than the sounds of my music.

01:45 PM: Set up the DJ equipment in the lower yard, under the trees near the fire pit.  So far, everything is working well.  This is the first time I’ve used Windows 7 at a gig.  So I’m a bit nervous.  However, I’m not anticipating any problems, as I’ve worked it pretty good on my bench at home and found no bugs.  Just in case the main computer experiences non recoverable difficulties, I’ve brought two iPods.  I can play from them in a pinch.

02:00 PM: I began music play; a mix of mostly new dance tunes but interspersed with numerous classic rock pieces so that the older folk among us (including me) would not grow bored.

03:00 PM: Mom and her friend Jeff arrived in the wheelchair van about ten minutes ago; both of them smiling ear-to-ear.  Getting them through the breezeway out to the patio proved a bit of a challenge; but probably more for them than for us who were assisting.

06:00 PM: Lots of people have come; near a hundred I think.  I left the music table for a while to mill among them and catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while.  I sure miss [Emmy] being here.

08:00 PM: One lady asked if I’d be interested in DJing her Halloween party in a few months.  I told her that I’ve all but stopped DJing professionally. But I invited her to give me a call and see what exactly she has in mind.  I might do it if I could pay for a significant part of this year’s music subscriptions withe the proceeds.

10:00 PM: I began gradually lowering the master volume on the music; that’s how I ramp down from an evening of fun-filled dancing in the volleyball field.  I also switched over to softer music of the adult contemporary variety, to further cement my message that there will be no more loud music tonight from this point on.

12:00 AM: I’m back home.  Too late to chat with   [Emmy]   tonight.  So I’ll call her in the morning.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count moved higher again this time, and now stands at  1691; up from 1669 yesterday.  The new record high is now 1691.  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: 2011-07-02

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  Sister Jojo is taking care of my cats this week.

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up.  Some sewer work here at [Emmy's;   building woke us up a bit early.  It sounds like an electric jackhammer or a very big drill. 

10:00 AM: Watched KDKA TV's   Pittsburgh Today Live   variety and local information show with    [Emmy].

11:00 AM: They’re working on the first floor, drilling through the concrete to get at the pipes.  My, how that sound carries. 

12:30 PM: Watched KDKA TV’s local news broadcast at noon. 

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

02:45 PM: Walked down the Baum boulevard to KFC, to try out their grilled chicken for lunch.  It tasted pretty good, although I felt a bit guilty eating chicken with the skin still on.  I suppose all the warnings about the high levels of saturated fats that chicken skin contains are finally beginning to sink in such that now, I feel an aversion to the skin.  I still ate it today though, and it tasted enjoyably flavorful.  But I wouldn’t make a habit of skin indulging though. 

03:20 PM: We’re back home.

04:00 PM: Watched the remainder of  today’s rerun episode of   Dr. Phil.

05:45PM: Talked with sister Jojo and had her reboot my home computer, that became unresponsive on Monday morning as I remotely copied files to my music drive.  Upon restart that computer once again responded, though quite slowly.  It turned out that Microsoft release fifteen high priority updates in the past couple days that began downloading as soon as the computer came back up.  This plus a pending Avast virus database update really bogged things down for a half hour or so.  But it’s running nicely now.

06:50 PM: Watched KDKA TV’s local news broadcast with   [Emmy].

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. 

09:00 PM: We listened to some more new music from my 2011 collection I just updated last week.  There’s some pretty neat dance stuff in there that should make for some great walking music. 

10:00 PM: Watched CNN’s   Piers Morgan   show.  I like this guy. He’s proven to be a pretty decent Larry King replacement; though no one could ever really take the place of Larry King.  I miss his shows.  But he periodically does CNN specials.  So us Larry King fans still get to watch him every so often. 

11:00 PM: Watched CNN’s   AC 360   newscast.

12:00 AM: iPodded and listened to Internet radio for an hour, awaiting the daily blog traffic stats. 

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count is up a little again, and now stands at  1388; up from 1354 yesterday.  The record high is now 1388 key phrases.  Next goal: 1500. 

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

Tom Hesley 

Received Mail and Shipments

• None today

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-06-15

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Wash (1) load of pending laundry for Mom.  DONE.  83 loads done in the washer now.

Log

07:05 AM: I’m up.

11:00 AM: Finished adding all pending current music from Promo Only to my music library.  I now have roughly 1000 songs from 2011.

12:00 PM: Synced all hard drives with the updated music library.  Now, the library occupies 389 GB.

01:00 PM: Listened to some of the new music on my 3rd generation iPod Nano.  Still sounds great.

01:05 PM: Today’s repeater song:  You’re Not My Daddy   by   Eva (Featuring Baby Bash).

03:35 PM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> Definition: Offensive Dating Double Standard   piece.

05:15 PM: Power outage occurred due to strong thunderstorms in the area.

07:15 PM: Power just came back on.  I spent the off-time journaling and iPodding.

09:25 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless  via the DVR.

09:55 PM: Check out the guitar strings on the Google home page today, in memory of Les Paul. Move the mouse over them, and they play! Neat.

10:00 PM: Losing my mind? Two keys on ring.One for south door, other for east. But I often forget which is which. Is the dull one east or south? Just when I got the pattern, the dull key would not open the right door. It turns out both keys have a shiny side and a dull side. I was just looking at the wrong sides when picking the key to use. Grrrrrrr. I’m not nuts, though perhaps most disagree. 

10:45 PM: 2-hour power failure this afternoon from 5:15 to 7:15 PM. Almost two hours exactly. Lightning bolt knocked it out, and hit close enough that I heard it snap in the air conditioner here in the office, followed a quarter second later by a THUNDEROUS crash.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count decreased a bit, and now stands at 1294; down from 1300 yesterday.  Well, once I start posting again now that I’ve finished updating my music library, the hit count should resume its upward climb.  Next goal: 1500.

12:10 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-06-09
• Tom’s Views –> Definition: Offensive Dating Double Standard

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.
• Pay all pending bills.  DONE.

Log

07:30 AM: I’m up.

09:00 AM: Added all 45 songs from Promo Only’s EA DFF music series to the music library; the 2011-05 week 2 edition.

11:00 AM: Added all 46 songs from Promo Only’s EA DFF music series to the music library; the 2011-05 week 3 edition.

01:40 PM: Paid (13) pending bills.

03:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

04:00 PM: I’m awake once again. 

06:00 PM: Added all 47 songs from Promo Only’s EA DFF music series to the music library; the 2011-05 week 4 edition.

06:30 PM: Talked with Mom.  She was out and about this afternoon.  I guess that’s why she didn’t answer when I tried calling her a couple times earlier today.  It’s good that she’s feeling much better than a couple months ago. 

07:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

08:30 PM: Synced all my 2011 music to one of my iPods.  There are 886 songs so far for this year at 3.01 GB.  I think I’ll designate one iPod for new music, another for older stuff, and another for podcasts.  Then I’ll take which ever one I’m in the mood to listen to on my walks.  Though the iPod Touch would hold all my playlists I have currently, I worry about taking that one out and about for fear of losing it. 

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy]   and we watched tonight’s rerun episode of   Hawaii Five-0.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count jumped up significantly, and now stands at 1259; up from 1233 yesterday!  Looking great.  Next goal: 1500. 

12:10 AM: Bed time.  More tomorrow.  Good night.

Tom Hesley 

Received Mail and Shipments

• Weekly coupon mailer.
• Kohl’s Dad’s Day sale and $10 gift card.
• Misc. bank ads.
• Balance transfer offer from Chase Bank.  Not at this time, thanks.
• Misc. bank papers.
• Offer to investigate the Foxdale Village retirement community.  Not yet. 
• Bill from Apria Healtchare for Mom’s wheelchair rentals and supplies during last summer.
• Analog Science Fiction magazine; the 2011-06 edition.
• Bill for recent medical transportation provided to Mom by Med Van.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-06-06

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.

Log

09:30 AM: I’m up. 

10:10 AM: Posted the   Bandwitth Usage: 2011-03   piece.

10:15 AM: Posted the   Weekly Backups: 2011-04-02   piece.

10:50 AM: Talked with Mom’s financial planner, and liquidation of her investment account is now in progress.  We’ll need this money to pay for her ongoing nursing home care. 

11:55 AM: Talked with Mom’s lawyer.  He’s completed the title transfer documents on her house.  However, we’re going to hold off on the actual deed transfer until I gather more information about medical assistance and nursing home care for Mom. 

01:05 PM: Watched the 2011-04-02 and 2011-04-03 episodes of   NBC’s Nightly News    broadcast via the DVR.

01:30 PM: Determined that none of my income is taxable for 2010.  Hey, I’m poor, what can I tell you? 

01:50 PM: Balanced Mom’s checking account.

02:35 PM: Posted the   Tom’s Views –> Tough Love For Addicts?   piece. 

06:30 PM: Posted the    Tom’s Views –> The Bonds Of Manifest Destiny   piece.

08:00 PM: Today’s repeater song:  Neutron Dance   by   The Pointer Sisters. 

08:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy]   on the phone.  Experienced several small power failures tonight that endured for perhaps fifteen minutes.  It seemed to be wide-spread as during the outage, I could see no lights from Bellwood. 

12:30 AM: Bed time.  Have a great night and I’ll have more to write tomorrow.  Take care. 

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

Related Posts

• Bandwitth Usage: 2011-03
• Today’s Diet: 2011-04-04
• Tom’s Views –> The Bonds Of Manifest Destiny
• Tom’s Views –> Tough Love For Addicts?
• Weekly Backups: 2011-04-02

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty. DONE.

Log

10:40 AM: I’m up. 

11:00 AM: Finally finished yesterday’s system backups.  The database backups finished during the night. See the details of that backup   here.

01:00 PM: iPodded in the front (Den) room.  The song   Up In A Puff Of Smoke   by   Polly Brown   is today’s repeater song.  This has been a big repeater song for me in the past; I practically wore out the 45 RPM single in 1975.  I still love that tune, nearly 40 years later. I remember my sisters (the twins) liking this song a lot as well, as they’d often set it to play over and over on our Zenith stereo record player.

01:05 PM: Now, I’m listening to the matinee Penguins hockey game with   [Emmy]   on the phone. 

02:00 PM: Sister Jojo stopped by to pick up Mom’s clean laundry and cell phone.  She’s visiting her later today and taking two of her children with her. 

02:30 PM: By the way, that New York Strip steak I had for lunch last Saturday was actually 12 ounces, NOT 16. I know that because today I ate its twin, and THIS time, I weighed it first; 12 Oz. No wonder I got hungry just six hours later last week. Those 4 ounces make all the difference between irksome hunger later today, and satisfied  fullness until tomorrow.

03:47 PM: The Penguins just won against the Panthers, 2 to 1. 

04:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m awake once more.

05:35 PM: Sisters Christine and Diane stopped by to pick up a couple coats for Mom.  Hmmm.  Did I ever tell you about the spelling bee that I lost by spelling the word coat as  COTE?  True story.  If I didn’t, I’m sorry.  But shame kept me quiet for some thirty five years, until now.  I was too embarrassed to mention it before.

05:45 PM: Added the   Homosexuality   category to the   Tom’s Views   blog.

09:00 PM: Watched the CNN special:   Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door  with [Emmy].   Another excellent, balanced CNN presentation.  But I don’t have to be balanced like them.  So, I opposed anyone who denies the Muslim community the right to build mosques where it deems fit.   SPOILER: Did that lawyer for the plaintiff really think the judge would deny the building permits for the mosque, due to his “Islam is NOT a religion” argument?  Yea right. Feeble and desperate I’d say. 

12:10 AM: Reviewed today’s traffic stats on my blogs.  The thirty day unique keyword hit count has risen from 822 up to 823; yet another high record. Skimpy, but appreciated just the same.

02:05 AM: Watched the 2011-03-15 through 2011-03-27 episodes of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

02:10 AM: Bed time.  Good night.  More tomorrow.  Come back then.  Later.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail on Sundays. 

Related Posts

• Today’s Diet: 2011-03-27
• Weekly Backups: 2011-03-26