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

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.  I’ve 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

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

06:30 AM: I’m up.

06:45 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 627 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

07:15 AM: The fellows from   Window World   just arrived to replace seven more windows here on the first and second floors.

09:30 AM: So far, the Window World technicians have finished replacing one window; the one in Mom’s old sitting room.

10:00 AM: Just heard from Mom’s cardiologist.  They want her to run a test of her pace maker. So I’ll take the kit up to the nursing home later this week to do that.  Hopefully, this test apparatus will work on their phone lines up there.  I have concern that those lines are not analog ones.  However, they tell me that there are some analog lines available.  We just have to find them.

10:40 AM: Posted the   Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe   piece.

10:45 AM: The two bedroom windows on the second floor have now been replaced.  Also, the first of three windows in the living room is done as well.

11:15 AM: The second of the three living room windows has now been replaced.

11:55 AM: The bathroom window has now been replaced.

12:10 PM: All seven windows in this project installment have now been replaced.

12:00 PM: While the Window World technicians busied themselves with the above-mentioned project, I worked on administering and catching up on this blog.

01:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

03:30 PM: I put approximately 50 more pounds of cement in the hollow columns between windows 1 and 2, and windows 2 and 3 here in my first floor office.  This should add lots of mass to that wall and thus, stop it from vibrating and thereby transmitting more road noise from the west yard into here.  However, I won’t know just how effective this strategy will be until I completely fill those columns and completely seal the extra piece of inner glass I’ve added to these windows.  Lots of sound can enter through very small holes, and with this glass not being sealed entirely, there are many gaps.  I’m sure that the traffic noise is finding its way in here through each and every one of those gaps.

05:00 PM: Listened to my iPod Touch while walking around the house, checking out the new windows.  Love them.

05:45 PM: Watched the 2012-01-30 episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   Unforgivable Acts?

06:35 PM: Watched the 2012-01-31 episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   What Were You Thinking?

07:25 PM: Watched the 2012-02-01 (today’s) episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   Double Trouble: Violent Twins.

10:00 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

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 yet.

Related Posts and Links

• Easy Spaghetti Squash Recipe
• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-01

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: 627 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Leaving now to visit Mom at the nursing home.  Back later.

11:15 AM: I just arrived at the nursing home.  Mom is up already and in fact, greeted me at the elevator.  She wants to arrange flowers.  The local nurseries, funeral homes, churches, and such, donate their old stock flowers to the nursing homes in the area.  Some of the so-skilled residents (like Mom) then arrange them into pretty bouquets.  The staff then places them around the facility to make a more cheerful environment.  Nice.  Mom often mentions how she looks forward to the flowers shipments arriving.

12:30 PM: I got us both a cheese steak sub for lunch at Mom’s favorite Mexican restaurant, and we ate them while watching today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless.

01:30 PM: After that show, we went to the lobby to await my ride home, and just talked about this and that all the while.

02:30 PM: My ride home arrived.  I bade Mom good-bye and told her that I’d come back again to visit her later this week.

03:00 PM: I’m home, and it’s nap time.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m awake again.

08:00 PM: In an effort to more evenly distribute the electrical load here at home across all the available circuits as well as to replace the old cloth-style insulated wire, I moved the kitchen chandelier and south porch lights off of the old wiring over to some new circuits I ran upstairs ten years ago.  I actually want to run brand new circuits up there for the first floor overhead lights exclusively so that varying loads on the outlets cause less fluctuation in the brightness that said lights emit.  But temporarily, I’ve tied those lights in with the same circuit that feeds outlets on the 2nd floor.  I’ll move the lights to their final home-circuit whenever I run the new lights-only circuits from the basement up to the second floor.

09:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy]   and we listened to tonight’s Penguins hockey game via Internet radio on her computer.

10:00 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  She filled me in on the rest of the hockey game.  The Pens beat the Maple Leafs in an overtime shoot-out, 5 to 4.

12:30 AM: Watched some Misc. TV.

12:35 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: 2012-01-31

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.  DONE.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 627 (up one). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

02:15 PM: Washed all pending laundry; most of which is for Mother this time.  I’m visiting her tomorrow and will take her a clean batch up then.

03:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

05:15 PM: Moved a glider rocking char in front of one of the only windows on the first floor that has enough space in front of it for such a chair.  My grandfather used to watch the traffic going by through another window on this same wall, in this same room, in this same house.  Now, I see why he enjoyed it although he used just a plain chair; not a rocker.  He used to listen to baseball and football games there.  Now, I listen to music on my iPod Touch in a similar fashion, by the window.  I guess I’m getting older and adopting some of Grand Dad’s older ways myself.   It’s quite fun.  I’ll have to try this with talking books sometime.

05:30 PM: Talked with sister Christine.  Made plans to watch the first half of the super-bowl with she and her family.  I’ll come home for the second half, as they all must work early the next day, and so, do not want to drive me home after the entire game is finished.

06:30 PM: Continued basement cleanup and organization efforts after the replacement of all ten windows down there with glass block.  Man, I just love these new glass block windows.  Very quiet and warm.

07:30 PM: Cooked a spaghetti squash for supper tonight for the first time.  I put spaghetti sauce on it, along with Parmesan cheese, and it made a quite delicious, low-calorie alternative to grain pasta.  Plus, its texture was much like spaghetti (the strings).

10:00 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

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

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: 2012-01-30

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

09:30 AM: I’m up.

09:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps fifteen minutes. Friend count: 626 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

11:00 AM: Examined the wiring in the basement in order to decide how best to tackle a new upcoming project; getting rid of most of the old cloth-insulated wires and replacing them with current wire technology.  I also want to add more outlets and circuits throughout the first floor.

12:00 PM: Watched today’s extended episode of CBS’s   Face the Nation    news broadcast via the DVR.

12:15 PM: Leaving now with sister Mary Ann to visit Mom and for a bit of shopping for   [Emmy].  Back later.

12:40 PM: We arrived at the nursing home.  Mom was still in bed, saying that she had trouble sleeping last night.  So we just sat alongside her in her bedroom and talked.

01:50 PM: Leaving Mom’s now for Sam’s Club.  Sister Mary Ann has some things to pick up there.  I need nothing however but love walking around in that huge place checking out the many thousands of different items they sell there.  I’m considering going halves on a membership with sister Jojo at some point.

02:15 PM: Then, we stopped at Subway for lunch.

03:00 PM: Finally, we stopped at Bed Bath & Beyond, where I quickly found the soap dispenser for    [Emmy].

03:30 PM: I’m back home.  I bought a   Simply Human   liquid soap dispenser for   [Emmy]   much like the one here in the kitchen that she likes so much.  Hers is a little taller, and unlike mine, comes with an additional holder dish for a small sponge.

04:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:00 PM: I’m awake again.

07:10 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of    NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Watched some live news about the 2012 general election and the Republican nomination process that is happening right now.  Nothing surprising.   However, the negative rhetoric among the Republican candidates is heating up to feverish levels.  But this too, was not unexpected.  It happens that way every election cycle that I’ve observed over the past few decades.

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

No mail on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-01-29

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

08:15 AM: I’m up.

08:30 AM: Facebooked for perhaps fifteen minutes. Friend count: 626 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

08:45 AM: Beginning the upgrade / replacement of the last two of ten windows in the basement to glass block units.  This should keep me busy most of the day.

10:00 AM: Removed the lattice work under the south porch just now.  Unfortunately, it was nailed in place, and so I had to break a bit of it to gain access to the windows inside.  But repairing it should be no big deal once the weather warms a little.

11:00 AM: Both of the old windows 9 and 10 have been removed.

12:00 PM: I’ve chiseled out the loose old mortar in both windows.

01:00 PM: Both of the new glass block window units have been set in the window wells, leveled, and positioned for straightness.  Now, I’m applying the new mortar.

02:30 PM: About half-way through the new mortar application to the glass block windows, I’m checking both windows again for proper level and “plumness” and correct measurements around the edges.  Sometimes, these can shift a bit once the mortar begins to set.  A few minor errors found.  So I used a rubber mallet to bump them back into the proper locations.

04:00 PM: New mortar has been applied to both windows, shims have been removed, and the holes left behind by the shims after removal have been filled in.

05:00 PM: I’ve wiped any excess mortar off the windows both inside and out.  Now, to cleaning up the basement from today’s installation.

06:30 PM: All ten windows in the basement have now been replaced with much quieter and more energy-efficient glass blocks.  I love them.  This project was therefore, well worth the effort, and it really wasn’t that bad.  I’ll fix the lattice work on the porch outside on an upcoming warmer day.

07:10 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of    NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Watched the 2012-01-27 episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called    Coming Clean.

09:00 PM: Facebooked for an hour and shared info about the basement window replacement project that I’m so pleased to report now, is finished. 

10:00 PM: Listened to my iPod Touch while unwinding with a couple shots of Ice 101 peppermint schnapps.

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: 2012-01-28

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 perhaps fifteen minutes. Friend count: 626 (up one). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

08:10 AM: Leaving now with sister Jojo for shopping and visiting Mom.  Back later.

08:30 AM: First, we grabbed some coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts.

09:35 PM: Our first stop was Wal Mart, to try and beat the crowds; although crowds were building as we checked out.  In addition to the usual weekly fruit and milk, I picked up some electrical supplies in preps for wiring upgrades and replacement at home.

10:30 AM: Next, we stopped at Gabriel Brothers, where I found a couple more iPod home wall chargers and iPod data cables for under $5 apiece.

02:00 PM: I’m home and all groceries have been put away, and additional cement for the windows carried down to the basement.

03:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:00 PM: I’m up again.  Hmmm.  Guess I did not sleep as well last night as I thought.

06:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

07:10 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of    NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Moved shelves, washer, and storage bins around in the basement to prepare for the upgrade of the last two windows there to glass block tomorrow.  I also swept up lots of accumulated dust, dirt, and cobwebs down there to make the work experience this weekend a bit less tedious.

10:00 PM: Watched the 1967 version of the movie   Bedazzled   via Netflix,   starring Dudley Moore, Eleanor Bron, and Raeuel Welch (as lust).  Not bad.  But I think I like the remake of this movie in 2000 better, where the devil was played by a woman.

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: 2012-01-27

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

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 625 (up one). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

02:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

03:15 PM: Brought in, inspected, repaired, and put away all outdoor extension cords from my 2011 Christmas lights display.

03:30 PM: Brought in, inspected, repaired, and put away all Christmas lights from the west fence.  No major problems found.  Just one bulb came apart and cannot be repaired.

04:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   17 and Out of Control.

04:30 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:45 PM: I’m awake again.  Still really sore and played out from this past Monday’s basement window upgrade work.  I’m either really out of shape, or I’m getting old.  Probably a combination of both.  Yep.

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

08:30 PM: Watched the 2012-01-23 Republican debates via the DVR.

09:30 PM: Watched the 2012-01-23 episode of NBC’s    Rock Center   news show via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy]   as I wrapped up and put away some more Christmas lights.

11:05 PM: I’m heading to bed.  Good night and do stop back tomorrow for more content.     Good night.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

• Latest edition of   The Yellowbook   telephone directory.
• 2011 Tax document for one of Mom’s pensions.
• Rebate for $100 of the cost of the new eyeglasses I purchased last month.  Nice.
• Newspaper-style coupon mailer.
• Free month coupon for Snap Fitness.  Not at this time, thanks.
• Offer to Mom for information on a state-regulated program that pays one’s final expenses.  No thanks.  All Mom’s final expenses we have covered.
• Mom’s monthly prescription drug coverage report from her medical insurance carrier.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-01-25