Toms Diary

Today’s Business: 2011-08-20

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Wash (1) load of pending laundry. DONE. 124 loads done in the washer now.

Log

08:55 AM: We’re up. It’s a sunny but intensely foggy morning with temps in the mid 60s.

11:00 AM: Facebooked throughout the morning.

12:00 PM: Tried out my new Rival 2-waffle waffle maker. I liked its compact size but disliked having to pour the batter into it so many times in order to make two adult-sized breakfasts for [Emmy] and myself. Cleanup was also difficult, as the batter found its way into nearly every crack and crevice on this machine. But for only $10, I suppose I have no room to complain about the device. I’ll be on the lookout for a bigger, easier-to-clean model in the coming weeks.

03:50 PM: We visited the pavilion for much of this afternoon, and listened to the field crickets and birds, that appear in healthy supply around here.

04:00 PM: Nap time. Back later.

05:00 PM: We’re awake again.

06:00 PM: Watched the KDKA TV local news at 5:00 PM.

06:45 PM: Leaving now for walk 54 of 100 for 2011, to Main Street in Bellwood, and then to the south cemetery. Back later. [Emmy] decided to join me this time.

08:00 PM: I’m home.

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

11:55 PM: Facebooked at various times throughout today. Friend count: 558. Fan count: 111.

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs. The monthly keyword hit count dropped significantly, and currently stands at 1446; down from 1473 the last time I checked. 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.

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.

Log

08:10 AM: I’m up.

10:30 AM: Posted the Tom’s Views –> Giving Away Copied Music Is Stealing! piece.

12:25 PM: Posted the Tom’s Views –> Music Piracy Thoughts piece.

01:00 PM: Cooked two grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, using pumpernickel bread and Kraft cheese singles. Two slices of each, for each sandwich. Delicious.

01:30 PM: Leaving now for friend Pink’s place to help her fix her Wifi network. Currently, she’s unable to log in wirelessly with any of her wireless devices. Back later.

03:00 PM: I’m home. I just reset the access point’s login password and that corrected all of Pink’s woes.

04:05 PM: Identified some 27 rather long and insufficiently focused posts in the Tom’s Views blog. Now, I’ll set to work on refactoring that content to get more tightly focused, smaller, and right-to-the-point pieces.

04:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of The Young and the Restless via the DVR.

05:20 PM: Skimmed the 2011-06-20, 2011-06-21, and 2011-06-22 rerun episodes of Dr. Phil via the DVR.

05:30 PM: Paid the mechanic for his services on my Cub. $150.

05:30 PM: Heading out to finish cutting the grass with this newly repaired lawn tractor. Back later.

06:45 PM: Finished cutting the grass (the 4th cutting this year). I’ll weed whack later this week.

06:50 PM: I’m finished now with rough-cutting the entire lawn. However, it still requires weed whacking around the fence, pavilion, and shed. Ah yes. Work for another day.

07:49 PM: Spent the past hour tidying up the office. However, this place is so messy that it will require perhaps ten more of these hours to get it really looking spiffy.

07:50 PM: Leaving for walk 26 of 100 for 2011, over to Logan Valley cemetery again. Back later.

08:50 PM: I’ve returned. Nice walk but quite warm. Mostly sunny and calm. Again, I broke a healthy sweat.

09:00 PM: Looks like I missed President Obama’s speech about the troop draw-downs he plans on implementing in Afghanistan. Oh well. I’m sure CNN or NBC will cover this subject thoroughly in the coming days, given its extreme importance to our national security.

09:30 PM: Today I finally found someone to take this old lawn mower off my hands. That, thank you, gave me as much thrill as thirty-seven years ago, when I finally saved enough to buy that CB radio I’d been lusting after for years. Back then, I dreamt of getting things. Now, getting rid of them thrills me relentlessly. Hmmm. Guess I’m gettin’ old.

11:00 PM: Talked with [Emmy]. She’s feeling a little better but still quite out of sorts. Her doctor thinks it’s just a bad cold

12:05 AM: Reviewed the daily traffic stats from yesterday for my blogs. The monthly keyword hit count moved way up again this time, and now stands at 1557; up from 1501 yesterday. The new record high is now 1557 key phrases therefore. The next goal: 2000.

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

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

None today.

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.

Today’s Activities

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

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up, and Mom beat me this time. She requires assistance.

08:30 AM: I got Mom up and about. She’s now back in her easy chair; she slept there overnight. I dispensed morning meds as well.

10:45 AM: Heading out for a very small shopping trip to pick up some medical supplies for Mom. Back later.

01:00 PM: Heated up some leftover sloppy Joes from last night, for Mom’s and my lunch today. They tasted just as good as the first go around yesterday. Leftovers can be quite tasty as long as they’re not left over too long.

02:30 PM: Worked the Christmas Lighting: 2010 project. Today, I decorated the pavilion.

02:45 PM: Repaired a second lamp (in addition to the one fixed yesterday). Same problem with this one. It required a new socket.

03:15 PM: Helped Mom move furniture around in the living room so she could vacuum.

05:55 PM: Worked the DJ Gig: 2010-12-31 project on and off throughout today. Converted more of the M4A files in Promo Only’s EA DFF music series to MP4. I’ll tag these files later.

06:00 PM: Dispensed Mom’s evening meds.

06:30 PM: Watched the 2010-12-16 episode of The Young and the Restless on the DVR.

08:00 PM: Napped a bit. I’m not getting good, unbroken sleep these days as Mom often requires middle-of-the-night assistance.

10:00 PM: Watched the 2010-12-14 and 2010-12-15 episodes of Dr. Phil on the DVR.

12:00 AM: Got Mom to bed and I’m not far behind. I’ve got this pesky toothache however. Had it examined last month by the dentist. He says that it’s okay; just sensitive. If I want to permanently stop the periodic pain in it, I must have a root canal done. These aren’t so bad. Indeed, the bill for them daunts me more than the work itself, which is precisely why I’ve taken no action on it yet. When it does ache, I find that Tylenol or equivalent pain relievers work well.

12:05 AM: Started the weekly backups. Details here.

12:15 AM: Good night. More tomorrow.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

Sewage bill.
Bill from foot doctor (Mom).
1 balance transfer offer. No thanks.
Certified mail notice. Not sure what that is as the handwriting on the slip isn’t very legible. We’ll find out either Monday or Tuesday.
Misc. bank papers.
Letter from a neighbor that contains Misc. information she wanted Mom to have.
4 Christmas cards for Mom.

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Do all pending laundry. IN PROGRESS.

Log

10:00 AM: I’m up. Another hot one today; probably even warmer outside than yesterday. So, we’ll probably stay indoors during the bright part of today as well.

10:15 AM: Discovered that the Audio Journal Information Page was missing some content. Not sure how this happened. However there was some very slow responses a few weeks back for a couple days from my web sites, and I did update that page during that period. This problem has since been resolved. However, it’s possible that during the slowdown, some posts that I saved were truncated. I’ve restored the page from backup, and hopefully there aren’t too many more chopped ones like it in my collection.

10:20 AM: [Emmy] just rose. I’m heating up a pot of water for mint tea now.

12:40 PM: Took the garbage out, made a big bowl of lime flavored cream cheese jello, and got the mail. Hot!

02:55 PM: Just returned from a Sheetz shopping trip, to pick up lunch.

03:00 PM: Watched today’s episode of The Young and the Restless on the DVR. Laundry is in progress.

05:00 PM: [Emmy] watched some older episodes of The Young and the Restless and Pittsburgh Today Live while I napped. 93 degrees on the east porch as of a few minutes ago.

07:00 PM: We just awoke from a nap. We sure do like the air conditioners here, because despite the 93 degrees and blazing sun today, the indoor temperature never went above 73. Good thing too because it’s too bright and hot to even go swimming. So my pale complexion and I will just languish here in this wonderful AC, and remain pale and wrinkle-free forever. I’ll worry about the electricity bill tomorrow.

08:15 PM: Went down to the pavilion with [Emmy] now that the sun’s down. Still though, it’s 82 degrees; but comfortable though on the warm side of comfortable.

09:30 PM: We didn’t stay long however, as the bugs were biting big and the carcases of skunks, squirrels, and groundhogs were smelling strong. We’ve had a lot of dead animals this year around the property. This sort of comes in waves; some years, we have none. But this year, we’ve got plenty.

10:00 PM: Put away two loads of clean laundry. We’ll get to the rest tomorrow.

11:00 PM: Watched CNN’s AC 360. Now, to bed. So good night, and brace yourselves for another hot day tomorrow. Take care.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

Wolf Furniture 50% off coupon.
Promo Only’s EADFF music series; the 2010-07-01 issue.
Promo Only’s Country Radio music series; the 2010-07 issue.
Promo Only’s Modern Rock music series; the 2010-02 through 2010-07 issues.

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Balance all checking accounts. IN PROGRESS.

Log

08:45 AM: I’m up.

11:00 AM: Facebooked a while this morning. Friend count is now 163.

02:00 PM: Brainstormed on the sorts of AdWords ads I should create to advertise the Tom’s Love Quest blog. I’ll make actual ads from some of those this week.

02:30 PM: Created audio journal episode AJE-2010-06-20-11-38, where I captured my current thoughts on advertising the blogs on social media hot spots.

03:00 PM: Attempted to power wash the pavilion patio and swings. However, the power washer itself would not power up; no hum or anything. I verified that the outlets are live down there. So it looks like this thing has finally bit the dust. Next trip to Altoona, and I think I’ll purchase a gas-powered power washer this time. These offer more pressure than the electric one I’ve had since 2004, and there’s less danger of electric shock, as the gas units do not plug into AC power.

04:30 PM: Continued reading the Happiness Now book. Finished chapter six this afternoon at the pavilion.

05:00 PM: Nap time.

06:00 PM: I’m back up again.

08:00 PM: Watched the 2010-06-13 and the 2010-06-20 (today’s) episodes of NBC’s Meet The Press news show on the DVR.

09:40 PM: Talked with [Emmy] on the phone. In a week, she’ll be here again, and we were just planning her stay. We’ll hit the Bellwood pool a few days, visit my sisters, and take a hike or two.

09:50 PM: Upgraded the Tom’s Views blog from WordPress 2.9.2 to WordPress 3.0 and played with the site for a few minutes. So far, no problems found; everything seems to work correctly.

10:53 PM: Watched today’s episode of CBS’s Face the Nation news show on the DVR. Skipped tonight’s episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes because it appeared to be a rerun. Now, we’re definitely into the rerun season.

01:15 AM: Facebooked a while and iPodded too. But I’m off to bed now. So have a stupendous night, and I’ll see you right back here later on.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

No mail or deliveries on Sundays.

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Balance all checking accounts. IN PROGRESS.

Log

09:00 AM: I’m up.

09:50 AM: Heard from [Emmy]. She’s at her dentist’s now, after having arrived a half hour early; she hates being late and so leaves her place to bus it there earlier than perhaps is necessary. But that Negley bus is often so crowded and the route it travels is so traffic-laden, that it’s hard to predict just how long a particular trip will take. So she heads out early; just to be safe.

11:00 AM: Nephew Garrett arrived a little while ago to drive Mom to an eye specialist in Johnstown, PA. Apparently, her right eye has developed some issues; though I have no details on Mom’s specific concerns yet.

12:00 PM: Added more linkage in the Tom’s Love Quest blog. The Goal: All posts need a ‘Related Posts’ section that lists links to other similar or relevant content in that blog.

01:40 PM: Worked the Facebook Suspension: 2010-06-15 resolution.

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

03:15 PM: Nap time.

05:00 PM: I’m back up.

07:10 PM: Just walked down to the pavilion and nibbled a few ripe mulberries. They’re moderately sweet this year; though I’ve seen sweeter back in 2008. There are still many more to come that at this moment are still very green. So we’ve not yet seen them peak this year yet.

08:10 PM: Just finished blogging and accounting for all pending shopping receipts. See the shopping trip posts here. Now, I can finally balance the checking accounts.

08:40 PM: Watched President Obama’s speech about all the government is doing to recover the gulf region from the oil spill. I’m satisfied that he’s doing what’s reasonable to move things along down there and to provide ample pressure to BP, so they compensate the people who lost their business incomes along those shores.

08:50 PM: Gathered up and took out the garbage; it’s garbage night. You know?

09:50 PM: Talked with [Emmy] on the phone for an hour. Didn’t discuss much, really. Sometimes, it’s just nice to know that some one’s on the other end of the line; even when they’re not saying much.

11:40 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of NBC’s Nightly News on the DVR.

12:15 AM: Headed to bed. So have a great night, and I’ll write again soon. Take care.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

Weekly coupon mailer.
Notice of new minimum payment calculation terms on one of Mom’s credit cards.

Today’s Activities

Shower. DONE.
Cat duty. DONE.
Balance all checking accounts.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m awake.

09:00 AM: Headed shopping with sister JoJo.

11:30 AM: We were going to stop at Lowe’s to pick up some hardware with which to secure my ladders. But Jojo just received a call from my sister Christine. Apparently, a group of them are waiting on Jojo’s porch for her to get home. So, we’ll defer this purchase until next trip, which will likely be this coming Friday.

11:45 AM: On the way home, we went to JoJo’s house. Some of the family and a few friends are there, checking out the puppies. Nephew Trey and niece Catie enjoyed their new cell phones we got for them, and my twin sisters came also and were looking at Pictures on Trey’s computer. A most pleasing gathering that was.

12:25 PM: We’re home now, and all groceries are put away. Jojo and Mom just left. Mom is dropping Jojo off at her place, and then Mom is using her car to go and get her hair done. I’m here, and probably going to blog and perform admin tasks on all my blog sites this afternoon. I won’t do much outside in the yard, as the temps are well into the eighties, and it’s quite humid to boot.

03:25 PM: Processed around 60 messages in my email inbox; can’t believe I got so far behind with them. Also, I read the WPSBC Alumni Association Bulletin for 2010. Lots of great stuff in it; though most of it consisted of excerpts from other sources. It’s regrettable that we don’t write more of our own stuff. But the bulletin was very informative nonetheless.

04:00 PM: Just took a walk down to the pavilion with the iPod Touch. But I didn’t stay long though because with temperatures nearling 90 degrees in the back yard and the humidity elevated, I found myself getting quite dizzy as I swayed on the swings, jamming to Internet radio tunes. The new version of the AOL Radio app indeed encounters far fewer dropped stations and lockups. In fact, I experienced not one this time, and I listened for nearly a half hour. The night crawlers have obviously been scouting out the place down there as well, as they left behind numerous and widespread tell-tale, transparent but shiny traces on the concrete that shone in the bright sunshine. Plus, the first of the mulberries are ripening; there’s a big bush full of them on the north side of the pavilion. I munched a few. they’re sweet indeed; but not as sweet as in 2008, when [Emmy] and I discovered how much fun it was to spend an hour in conversation while we picked and ate them. I will have to get the power washer after the cement, as I’ve not scrubbed it in over two years, and the bright gray luster of the limestone-based concrete that I so loved when it was new, has become muddled with black, brown, and green hues of moss, dirt, dust, and other debris. So, when it’s cooler, I’ll take on that task.

04:40 PM: Completed the SSA disability report for this year.

06:00 PM: Posted the Shopping Trip: 2010-05-25 and Shopping Trip: 2010-06-12 pieces.

06:40 PM: Took the weekly system backups. Details here.

06:45 PM: Posted some interesting site statistics here.

09:10 PM: Revised and added approximately 600 words to the Last Time In Bed With Emeebee piece on the Tom’s Love Quest blog.

01:05 AM: For the past four hours, I switched between iPodding, Facebooking, tea drinking, Googling, and considering how to get the stuff I post into search engines faster. No solution is apparent yet.

01:10 AM: Facebook friend count: 303.

01:11 AM: Well, I’m out of energy for this cycle. So, it’s bed for me, right now. Have a great rest-of-the-night, and I’ll post more in less than twelve hours. Good night now.

Tom Hesley

Received Mail and Shipments

Misc. bank papers.
Balance transfer offer from Chase Bank. No, not at this time, thanks.
SSA disability report; time to do one of these again.

May 2012
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