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 (3) loads of pending laundry.   DONE.

Log

08:35 AM: I’m up.

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

09:45 AM: ‎2.3 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 4.0% incline (up 0.5%), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 4000 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 151 BPM for walk / workout 9 of 130 in 2012.

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

03:00 PM: Sister Mary Ann arrived with her children and Jojo’s daughter for a visit.

03:45 PM: I showed them the basement windows that I installed and the curtains I’ve put up recently.  They were impressed.  Now, we’re heading to Meadows for some ice cream.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m back home and sister Mary Ann is on her way back to Happy Valley.

05:20 PM: Watched last night’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

06:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Deadbeat Dad?

07:00 PM: Watched the 2012-02-15 episode of NBC’s   Rock Center   in-depth news broadcast via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Spent a couple hours surfing the Internet and listening to my iPod Touch.

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

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 deliveries of any sort today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-20

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.
• 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.

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

09:00 AM: We’re up.  [Emmy]   decided to stay in bed a bit longer and read a book on her Victor Reader Stream   portable media player device.  I on the other hand, came out here to the computer, to catch up on my blogging.

09:15 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 608 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

10:15 AM: I’ve finished added the blog entries that I’d fallen behind on over the past couple days.

10:00 AM: Worked out on the treadmill for 46 minutes, walking and jogging approximately 2.67 miles and burning off roughly 344 calories, for walk 109 in 2011.

01:00 PM: Watched today’s episodes of NBC’s   Meet The Press   and CBS’s   Face The Nation   weekly news-in-depth broadcasts, via the DVR.

07:30 PM: Watched last night’s and tonight’s episodes of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

11:00 PM: Watched several more episodes of   The Secrets of Isis    with   [Emmy]   via the DVD player.

11:55 PM: Tagged, normalized, added, and updated approximately 56 songs from this and previous years to my music library from Promo Only throughout today.  Additionally, I found and removed some duplicates.  I now have 4713 songs from 2011 cataloged, and 37 songs for the year 2012.

12:05 AM: The daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs.  The monthly keyword hit count for this run is 850, down from 852 at last check.  The record high for this dimension remains at 1788.  The next goal: 2000.

12:10 AM: I’m heading to bed.  More tomorrow.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-12-18

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.

09:40 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 603 (unchanged). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

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

07:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR,   called   Desperately Seeking Attention.

07:50 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: I noticed that after unplugging the Explorer 8300 DVR in order to rearrange the cables behind my entertainment center, that the DVR “forgot” some of the scheduled future recordings I had programmed it last week to make.  This is likely not a problem unique to this particular machine, as I’ve observed this phenomenon in the last DVR I had.  So, I’ll just have to remember to check the upcoming events list after power to the DVR has been interrupted, and make sure it’s complete.  If it’s not, reprograming sets it to rights.

10:00 PM: Tagged, normalized, and added approximately 365 songs from this year to my music library from Promo Only.  I now have 1449 songs from 2011.  Though I do not DJ professionally anymore, I still love music and enjoy immensely, keeping my library up-to-date.  The total library song count is now 61992.

10:30 PM: [Emmy]  says that she successfully downloaded and extracted last night’s hockey game from my web site.  She has placed the .3gp audio file onto an NLS DTB cartridge, since it sounds better on the NLS DTB player than it does on the Stream.  The Player is louder and has a much fuller sound than the Stream in loud-speaker mode.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

11:10 PM: I’m 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 796, up from 791 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: 2011-11-30

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.

Log

09:30 AM: We’re up.

09:40 AM: Facebooked for several minutes. Friend count: 603 (up two). Fan count: 114 (unchanged).

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

03:30 PM: Heated up some left-overs for lunch for the two of us, and we spent the past hour or so talking lightly and saying good-bye.

03:45 PM: Leaving now to accompany   [Emmy]   to the train, for her return trip to Pittsburgh.  Two new friends are driving us.

05:10 PM: [Emmy's]   train was on time and just left, and we’re now driving home.

05:30 PM: I’m home, all by myself.  Our friends commented in a complimentary fashion on my Christmas lights.  They like all that blue.

07:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR,   called   Marriage Meltdown, Part 3.

07:50 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:30 PM: Set up my artificial holiday tree in the living room on the west wall, right beside the television.  I’ve got the lights on it working and have placed a few decorations (ribbons, bells, and balls)  on it.

10:30 PM: Recorded tonight’s hockey game on the Victor Reader Stream for   [Emmy],   as she was unable to listen to the game while traveling.  I just sat the Stream next to my Internet radio in a quiet room, using its built-in microphone.  The recording came out surprisingly good for this sort of equipment configuration.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].  She made it home, safe and sound, and has unpacked.  She has a sleep study appointment tomorrow, which is why she had to return to Pittsburgh today.  Hopefully, they’ll approve her for the third phase of this study, where she actually begins to receive, for certain, the drug that they’re studying.

11:15 PM: Uploaded the recording of the game and sent an URL to it to   [Emmy].  I put it into a zip file first and uploaded that, as doing this with audio file as the original .3gp format caused download problems for Internet Explorer.  Internet Explorer would attempt to play the .3gp file when following the URL to this file (undesirable behavior), while zipping the file caused the file download window to pop up (preferred behavior).  At any rate, once I determined this, I zipped up the file and uploaded it to my public storage site and sent an URL to it to   [Emmy].  All done.

11:20 PM: I’m 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 791, down from 792 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: 2011-11-29

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.
• Wash (1) load of pending laundry (blue jeans).  DONE.  148 loads done in the washer now.

Log

07:30 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked a bit.  Friend count: 581 (up two).  Fan count: 111 (unchanged).

11:00 AM: Attempted to set up my HP 3300 combo printer on my Dell XPS 8300 computer. However, I encountered an error message during the software installation process that said that the file copy operation had failed.  I got this message at the same place in the installation process.  So, thinking that the software CD was scratched or finger printed, I tried cleaning it.  No luck however.  The error persisted.  So then I attempted an install on my much older Windows XP machine.  This installation went fine. So this version of the HP printer software I have apparently will not install on Windows 7.  I checked around for a revised version on the HP web site but could find nothing conclusive.  Hmmmm.  I do hope I’ll be able to print from my new computer.  I’d hate to be forced to buy a new printer.  HP does have a universal printer driver that can be downloaded.  I’ll try that soon and see if I can at least get basic printing functionality on this computer.

12:00 PM: Posted the   WPSBC Alumni Association –> Bylaws 2011    piece.  In this revision, I’ve added the current slate of officers’ names.

01:30 PM: Packed for my upcoming Pittsburgh trip.

01:40 PM: Leaving now to visit Mom and to travel to Pittsburgh.

03:55 PM: Visited with and had a Mexican lunch with Mom.  Now, I’m leaving the nursing home for the train station.

04:30 PM Arrived at the train station.  The train to Pittsburgh is running roughly a half hour late.  So I’m listening to Dr. Joy Browne on my iPod to pass the time.  I’m well into the December, 2008 episodes now.

05:45 PM: Leaving Altoona now on the train that just arrived here.

08:40 PM: Arrived at Pittsburgh.  Listened to Dr. Joy Browne the whole way.  I’m smarter as a result.

09:15 PM: Arrived at   [Emmy's].

09:30 PM: Started the music drive sync process to copy my latest additions to my music library, to the satellite drive.

10:45 PM: Made my bed of blankets and quilts on [Emmy's] bedroom floor.  For the past hour and a half, we watched some TV and talked about everything and nothing too. 

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 1081; down from 1091 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

None today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2011-09-22
•  WPSBC Alumni Association –> Bylaws 2011

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