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 (1) load of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

07:00 AM: I’m up.

07:15 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

07:55 AM: ‎2.2 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (unchanged), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 390 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 8 of 130 in 2012.

08:30 AM: Leaving now for shopping with sister Jojo.  Normally we do this on Friday.  But this week, we’re going on Thursday because Jojo has other things to do tomorrow.  We’ll still visit Mom tomorrow.  But to shorten the usual Friday outing, we’re doing the shopping part of that, today.  Back later.

09:00 AM: We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for our usual coffee.

10:40 AM: We stopped at the Verizon Wireless store so nephew Tyler could decide which smartphone he wants.  However, we found the initial cost of most any of the phones, not to mention the expensive data plans for them, to be objectionable.

11:00 AM: I took those brush wood colored curtains that I received yesterday back to JC Penney.  They accepted the return without question.  I then ordered the blue-gray slate colored curtains that I thought I had ordered the last time.  They should arrive at home sometime early next week.

12:00 PM: Unfortunately, nephew Tyler could not purchase the smartphone that he so much wants.  Currently, a (virtually) unlimited data plan for said phones costs $30 per month, and that’s in addition to the normal cell phone rates.  Jojo says she can’t afford that expense at present.  But, she might help Tyler if he gets a job and still wants a smartphone.

01:30 PM: We enjoyed lunch at Applebee’s in the Logan Valley Mall.

03:30 PM: I’m home.

04:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:00 PM: I’m awake again.

07:00 PM: Installed the other Honeywell RLV310a thermostat that I purchased at Lowe’s yesterday in the upstairs office.  No unusual difficulties encountered.

07:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

08:10 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

09:00 PM: Tried lubricating all the metal-on-metal joints in the upstairs bedroom electric baseboard heater, in an effort to reduce the clanking, pinging, and squeaking that occurs each time the heater comes on and goes off.  I noted some improvement.  However, none of the oils and greases I tried seemed to last very long before these noises returned.  So I’m looking for a more effective and permanent solution.

10:00 PM: Again, tonight, I hung out in the upstairs bedroom, iPodding, and observing the heater operation under the control of the new Honeywell RLV310A thermostat that I installed yesterday.  I may have to replace the heater with a quieter unit.  The only question is: Which heaters are in fact quieter?  Which baseboard units hum less, and ping and bang less?  Recent reading indicates that a hydronic heater just might be what I’m looking for.

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

No mail or other deliveries today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-16
• Tom’s Views –> Honeywell RLV310A Non Programmable Digital Thermostat Review

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

08:35 AM: I’m up.

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

10:30 AM: Leaving now for Lowe’s home improvement center.  Back later.

03:30 PM: I’m home from Lowe’s.  I bought two trowels, an edger for smoothing out the corners around the basement windows I replaced last month, a couple of Honeywell RLV310A line voltage thermostats to replace those old units upstairs with, and some shellac-based primer for the plaster repair work on the north wall in my workout room.

05:00 PM: Replaced the ten year old mechanical line voltage thermostat in the 2nd floor bedroom with the   Honeywell RLV310A digital thermostat.  This new unit does not make those pesky clicking noises as it turns the heat on and off, and it more tightly controls the room temperature (within one third of a degree).  The drawback of this precise control however, is that the heater come on and go off much more frequently (every fifteen seconds now as compared to every several to ten minutes).  This means that they ping, pang, and pop more often.  So while I got rid of one source of noise (the thermostat), it appears that I’ve increased another (the warming and cooling of the heater).  Hmmmm.  I’ll investigate how to overcome this problems over the next few days.

05:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:05 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Hung out in the upstairs bedroom, iPodding, and observing the heater operation under the control of the Honeywell RLV310A.  Generally, I’m pleased with this thermostat upgrade.  Here’s what I wrote on Facebook about it earlier:  Replaced these two electro-mechanical thermostats upstairs tonight that control the electric baseboard heaters I have up there.  I installed these ten years ago, but have since found that the rooms got very hot, and then very cold (large and uncomfortable temperature swings).  Plus, these antiquated units click loudly each time they turn the heaters on and off.  No more of THAT either.  And, most offensively, sometimes, they’d get stuck in the ON position, which would send the rooms up to a sweltering 85 degrees in short order, not to mention the electricity bill into the hundreds of $$$.  So, as of tonight, these are GONE.  I replaced those old thermostats with two of this Honeywell computerized one.  This unit features silent operation and very TIGHT temperature control.  This thermostat replaces those “clicky” micro switches with an all-electronic triac.  So it is much quieter.  The temps in the rooms now hold within a half of a degree of the set temp.  Nice.  They claim that these new units will save energy.  Well, we’ll have to see on that one.

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

• Received a batch of drapes from the catalog department of JC Penney.  However, they’re the wrong color (brush wood brown).  I actually wanted slate gray.  Oh well.  We’ll take these drapes back and order the correct ones later this week.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-15
• Tom’s Views –> Honeywell RLV310A Non Programmable Digital Thermostat Review

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 (5) 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: ‎2.2 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (unchanged), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 390 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 7 of 130 in 2012.

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

12:30 PM: I’m home early.  Mom contracted a stomach malady, and felt neither like lunch, nor even getting out of bed.  She suggested I go home early and come back Friday.  Will do.

12:35 PM: Scheduled another trip to Lowe’s for tomorrow.  I need more supplies for the plaster repairs of the north wall in my workout room.

01:30 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

03:30 PM: I’m awake again.

04:15 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil,   called    Cut the Cord.

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

06:15 PM: Worked more on the plaster repairs to the north wall in the workout room.  I just sanded and scraped any loose debris off the wall tonight.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Watched the   Star Trek   original series   episodes:  A Private Little War,   Arena,   and   Patterns of Force   via Netflix.

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

No deliveries of any sort today.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-14

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 (5) 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: ‎2.2 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (unchanged), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 390 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 151 BPM for walk / workout 6 of 130 in 2012.

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

04:00 PM: Skipped today’s episode of   Dr. Phil,   called   The Dr. Phil Family Returns: Alexandra Inside Rehab.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:15 PM: Watched the 2012-02-12 episode of CBS’s   60 Minutes   weekly in-depth news broadcast via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Watched the   Star Trek   original series   episodes:  The Deadly Years   and   Friday’s Child   via Netflix.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy], and tonight, 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: 2012-02-13

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

08:00 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Watched   Star Trek: The Original Series   via Netflix. Episodes:   Errand of Mercy   and    This side of Paradise.

12:30 PM: Blog catch-up.

12:30 PM: Learned that   Whitney Houston   died late yesterday.  Wow!

01:15 PM: ‎2.2 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (up 0.5%), 68 degrees F room temperature, for 33 minutes, 390 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 152 BPM for walk / workout 5 of 130 in 2012.

05:00 PM: Repaired two deep cracks in the plaster on the north wall in my workout room.  I filled them with cement and they seem to be drying nicely.  I’ll wait a week or so to prime them, to be sure that they’re thoroughly dry.

06:00 PM: Made approximately 40 buckwheat pancakes on the griddle for future meals.  I packaged them up, three pancakes to a ZipLoc bag and put them in the freezer.  I ate six of these for supper tonight.  Yum!

08:00 PM: Studied YouTube videos on how to apply the plaster surface and skim coats to the north wall in the workout room once the repair of all the deep cracks in the plaster there are repaired.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Posted a picture of this battery-operated black light on Facebook, that sister Jojo bought me for my birthday in 2011.  It’s cute and I thought others would enjoy it.

08:50 PM: Watched the   Star Trek   original series   episodes:  A Taste of Armageddon   via Netflix.

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

No mail or any other deliveries on Sundays.

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-12

Today’s Activities

• Shower. DONE.
• Cat duty.  DONE.  Cat duty involves cleaning the litter boxes, bagging the excess, feeding, and house cleaning cat dirt of all types.

Log

08:00 AM: I’m up.

08:15 AM: Facebooked for a bit. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

12:00 PM: Spent the morning processing all pending mail received over the past couple of weeks.

01:00 PM: ‎2.01 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3.5% incline (up 0.5%), 68 degrees F room temp, for 30 minutes, 370 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 4 of 130 in 2012.

05:00 PM: Cooked a seasoned pork tenderloin all day today in the crock pot for supper. It’s delicious.

05:10 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

07:00 PM: I’m awake again.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News   via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Posted a picture of this battery-operated black light on Facebook, that sister Jojo bought me for my birthday in 2011.  It’s cute and I thought others would enjoy it.

10:00 PM: Watched the   Star Trek   original series   episodes:  The Savage Curtain, The Naked Time,   and   Spectre of the Gun   via Netflix.

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

• Newspaper style coupon mailer.
• Offer to subscribe to AT&T cell phone service.  Not at this time, thanks, though the pot-sweetener of two free smartphones did tempt me just a little.
• Weis food market coupon.
• Misc. bank papers.
• Invoice for my current medical insurance premiums.  Already paid these last month.
• Offer for some sort of final expenses insurance policy.  No thanks.
• Request from the Red Cross to donate some of my platelets.  They say I have an abundant supply, based on my last blood donation.  I may.
• A $100 AdSense advertising credit from Google.
• Misc. medical bills for Mom.
• Balance transfer offer from Chase Freedom bank.  No thanks.
• Address change confirmation from the company that issues my pension.
• Sewage bill.
• Yearly mailing from Beacon Lodge camp.  I’m not attending this year.
• Gas bill.
• Offer of a $100 loyalty credit from Verizon for any smartphone they carry.  Not at this time, thanks.  But perhaps later.
• Coupon fro Window World.  Hmmm.  Wish I would have had this before my new windows were installed.
• Offer from Triple A (AAA) for an auto membership.  No thanks.
• Annual statement of account for my savings assets.
• Credit card bill from JCP for the drapes I purchased this month.  Haven’t had a credit card bill in almost a decade.  But I’m paying this one off in full.  So it won’t be around for long. 

Related Posts and Links

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-11

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 more drapes for Mom’s house, Gabriel Brothers to see if they have any more cheap iPod accessory cables, and we will stop at Lowe’s to pick up a bag of setting type joint compound for a new plaster surface coat on the north wall, around the window in the workout room.  Back later.

10:15 AM: We stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for our weekly coffee, and met there one friend of sister Jojo’s.  The two of them used to work together twenty years ago.  There were also others that Jojo’s friend knew there.  Apparently there’s a whole group of them that meet at Dunkin’ Donuts each week (or more often perhaps).  I sure miss dining with my Philly friends each weekend.  It was such a pleasant, rejuvenating tradition.

11:00 AM: We then went to Gabriel brothers. Jojo wanted to check out some furniture and any bargains on snack foods they might be offering today, and I wanted to check out the low-priced iPod accessory cables I’ve seen there often.

01:00 PM: While Mom was being cleaned up and dressed, sister Jojo and I ate lunch at Jack and George’s restaurant.  She had a Buffalo chicken salad while I munched on a Philly cheese steak sub.  Yum.

02:15 PM: After lunch, we returned to the nursing home and sat with Mom for an hour or so.  Her spirits were normal to high, and she felt pretty good over all today.

02:30 PM: I’m back home.  Got all known-to-be-needed supplies for the plaster repair project in the workot room, as well as groceries for the upcoming week.

03:15 PM: I bought twelve more panels of Light Shield drapes for the first floor office (requires six panels), the workout room east door (requires four panels) from JC Penney, along with rails from which to hang them.  I also bought two panels for the last window requiring drapes in the downstairs bedroom. Ten of the twelve panels they did not have in stock.  So we placed a catalog order for them.  They’ll be delivered to my door sometime next week.

03:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:00 PM: I’m awake again.

05:45 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

06:35 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR,   called   Inside the Powell Family Tragedy.

07:20 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of   NBC’s Nightly News    broadcast via the DVR.

09:00 PM: I ironed and then hung the two panels of drapes on the last window that requires them in the first floor bedroom.  No unusual problems encountered.  However, I wish they’d make the wall anchors that came with the curtain rails a little stronger; they often become compressed when driving them into the specified sized hole drilled for them.  Either they should fashion them out of metal (like the old-time toggle bolts), or specify a bigger hole.  Fortunately, I was able to straighten out both of the ones that bent on me.

09:15 PM: Installed one of the surge protectors I bought this week on the microwave oven to reduce the size of any voltage spikes that this appliance might be injecting onto the power line when turned on and off.

10:00 PM: Recorded in my audio journal for the past 45 minutes.

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

• Today’s Diet: 2012-02-10

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 (2) loads of pending laundry.  DONE.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 632 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

12:30 PM: ‎2.01 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3% incline, 68 degrees F room temp, for 30 minutes, 360 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 150 BPM for walk / workout 3 of 130 in 2012.  Instead of one or two very long workouts each week, I’m shortening the duration of each workout session so I can execute more of them (4 or 5) throughout the week.  I’m hoping that this will enable me to jog more miles each week than I’ve been able to manage with the longer workouts.

02:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

04:00 PM: Scraped debris off of the freshly primed portions of the workout room north wall between the window there and the ceiling.  This they say is necessary to help ensure maximum bonding when the new surface coat of plaster is applied to the primed areas.  I discovered a couple of deep cracks in the plaster substrate (the layer closest to the backing wood – the laths).  These must be repaired before the surface plaster coat can be applied.

04:15 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Beauty Queen Hits Rock Bottom.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

08:00 PM: Measured remaining windows for drapes.  We’ll pick up said drapes tomorrow.

08:10 PM: Also, I made a grocery list for tomorrow.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

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: 2012-02-09

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: 632 (up one). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

09:30 AM: ‎2.01 miles on the treadmill today, at 4.0 MPH, 3% incline, 68 degrees F room temp, for 30 minutes, 360 calories burned, with heart rate peaking at 151 BPM for walk / workout 2 of 130 in 2012.

10:30 AM: Leaving now for my Lowe’s shopping trip to pick up some joint compound, tools, and any other supplies needed to repair the plaster on the north wall in the workout room.  Back later.

03:15 PM: I’m back home.

04:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   The Young and the Restless   via the DVR.

04:15 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

06:15 PM: I’m awake again.

07:10 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Donny Osmond.  Stevie Wonder also appeared on the show and he and Osmond performed a couple of duets as Wonder accompanied with the keyboard.

07:30 PM: Watched tonight’s edition of   NBC’s Nightly News   broadcast via the DVR.

10:00 PM: Puttered some more in the basement, organizing my tools, screws, nuts, bolts, and other hardware that I’ve accumulated over the years.

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

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: 2012-02-08

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.

Log

08:30 AM: I’m up.

08:45 AM: Facebooked for perhaps ten minutes. Friend count: 631 (unchanged). Fan count: 113 (unchanged).

10:30 AM: Leaving now to visit Mom.  Back later.

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

02:50 PM: I’m back home.

03:00 PM: Nap time.  Back later.

05:30 PM: I’m awake again.

06:15 PM: Watched today’s episode of   Dr. Phil   via the DVR, called   Teen Mama Drama.

08:00 PM: Picked and chiseled out more of the damaged plaster on the north wall in my workout room.  The garbage can I’m depositing the pieces into feels like it weights perhaps five pounds more than it did before I started, which means that I’ve removed five pounds of water-damaged plaster from that wall.  Hmmm.  If I keep track of the total weight of the stuff I remove, that should be a fairly accurate estimate of how much new joint compound I should buy to replace that surface coat of plaster.

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

11:00 PM: Talked with   [Emmy].

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: 2012-02-07