Friday 6-5 Boating and Mowing

Doing the happy dance

We had a super day.

We spent the morning doing some housework. We did more detail than I usually do because it has been a couple of weeks since I cleaned the house.

After lunch we went to the lake. The lake was very nice because the wind was low. While there we did a set of wake boarding  and wake surfing. This was the first time we wake-boarded this year. I surprised myself because I got up the first time. We saw a few boaters enjoying skiing, tubing, fishing and boating. After taking the boat out of the lake we wiped it down. We had a super time at the lake.

Look at Larry wake-boarding

Wake-boarding down the lake

Wake surfing behind the boat

Playing with the wake while wake surfing

   

When we got home we relaxed for a bit. I tried to take a nap but ended up laying down for 45 minutes and couldn't get to sleep. Larry read. When I got up from laying down I worked on my puzzle. We watched YouTube videos.

After dinner I mowed the frontyard and half the backyard. It took me an hour. When I finished I was drenched with sweat and exhausted. Then we finished watching Carnival Row. I watched the second season of Trail & Retribution. I did 24,000 steps. I did my daily challenges. We had a hot humid day.

Thursday 6-4 Generator Back in The Minnie and Square Dancing

A hot day in Belton

We started the day by going outside to work on the generator. Larry wanted to beat the heat. We spent a couple of hours putting the generator back in its cubby hole in the Minnie. First we lifted the generator off the table and put it on a dolly. The dolly made it easy to roll but when it is on the dolly it is too high to fit under the Minne. We lifted it off onto some 1x4's and then slid it under the Minnie. Larry then used a board to lift one side of the generator while I pushed a wood block under it, then he switched sides and we did it again, then back to the other side, when we had it high enough we put a floor jack underneath it. We slowly jacked the generator up until it was high enough to bolt it back in. Once it was bolted in we removed the jack and blocks. It took a bit to reconnected the wiring, Larry also replaced the fuel line. When Larry tried to start the generator it wouldn't start, he discovered a wire had been disconnected, he connected the wire and it started right up. We turned on the AC and let the generator run for about an hour. The generator runs perfect. Thank you Larry for all your hard work.

We could have taken the Minnie or the generator into a shop to have it repaired but Larry thought he could fix it himself, he had the time and it would save us some money. According to what he read it would cost about $1000 to have a shop fix it. The part cost us about $100. We did spend a bit more on the fuel filter, air filter, oil and exhaust gaskets. In case you are wondering the new model of this generator is about $4200.

Reconnecting wires

Wood blocks

Generator back where it belongs

Installing the fuel line and the exhaust

In the afternoon I did my daily challenges and The Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 37 minutes and 11 seconds. It put me in 12th place in my group.

We relaxed the rest of the day. I didn't have to water my flowers but I checked them out. Everyday we see more and more flowers growing. We watched our YouTube videos.

We haven't square danced since March 12, because of the coronavirus all square dancing stopped. Some of the callers around the country have started doing Virtual Square Dancing through Zoom. Larry found some of the virtual square dancing on YouTube and thought it would be fun. Michael Dusoe was the caller and each session was about a half hour long. You could see all of the other dancers via Zoom. The sessions were designed so that one couple could complete all the moves, they were very challenging. We moved all of our rugs out of the way and danced two sessions. I didn't realize how rusty I was after not dancing for three months. The link below will open in a new window and show you how it works, to miss everyone getting ready skip ahead about 7 minutes.

Link to Virtual Square Dance

Square dancing is slowly opening back up, Waco had their first dance tonight, a club in Dallas, one in Oklahoma and one in Arkansas have started back up. We have no idea how many people feel safe enough to participate but we will be waiting for a bit. It will be interesting to see how many dancers go back to dancing and how long it will take to get the dancers back up to speed.

Afterwards we watched an episode of Carnival Row. I finished watching The Brief. I started watching Trial & Retribution. It a British version of Law & Order. I did 24,000 steps.     

Wednesday 6-3 Moen Smart Faucet

Awesome Day

Larry had a busy day doing projects around the house.

This month The Home Depot Seeds Program offered Larry a special selection. They needed people who use Alexa or Google Home (we have both) to review a new smart faucet from Moen, it arrived yesterday.  Last night before I went to bed I took everything out from under the kitchen sink so it would be ready. First he had to take out our old faucet. It took him a short while because when we built the house the faucet was installed by the plumbers and they did not leave us the special tool that came with it. Once the old faucet was out it was time for the Moen Smart Faucet. Larry followed the instructions. I held the faucet as he bolted it in from below the sink. He used the tool that came with the faucet. Next he installed the box that communicates with the faucet. Power is provided by a box that came with 6 D cell batteries, Larry didn't like the idea of batteries and since we have a plug under the sink he used a AC adapter he had laying around. Then he connected the hoses and calibrated the water temperatures using the app on the phone. Now it was ready to play with. To issue it a command you say: Alexa ask Moen faucet to do whatever the command is. You can ask Alexa to turn the faucet on or off, turn on the hot or cold water, to dispense a specific amount of water (2/3 cup, etc.) or a specific temperature and many more commands. I probably won't use these commands but this is also a sensor faucet and you can simply wave you hand over the faucet to turn it on and off, this works really well and I will use it most of the time. The faucet also has a pull down that will either spray or stream water and there are two speeds for either one. I like it so far.

The Moen Smart Faucet parts

Our old faucet

Moen Smart Faucet

The faucet on the stream position

The faucet on the spray position

      

After lunch we went to the storage center to pick up the Minnie. Then Larry finished reassembling the generator, he installed the new exhaust gaskets, fuel filter and air filter. Tomorrow we plan to reinstall it back in the Minnie.

While Larry was working on the generator I did my daily challenges and The Event: Easy Street Mini of 10 games. It took me 23 minutes and 15 seconds, which put me in 23rd place in my group.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos and a documentary on Amazon called Shackleton's Captain. The documentary was about a two year journey to Antarctica and the hardships the crew went through. Then we watched an episode of Carnival Row. I started watching the second season of The Brief. I did 24,000 steps.  

Tuesday 6-2 Home Project

We had a beautiful day. The temperature got up to 90 degrees.

Larry started the day by going to the dentist to get his teeth cleaned. He was very impressed with his visit. When he arrived in the parking lot he called to let them know he was there, the receptionist came out to the car to take his temperature and ask him questions related to Covid 19. Everyone was wearing masks and his hygienist was also wearing a face shield. Larry wore a mask whenever he could. 

Larry got his teeth clean

While Larry was at the dentist I did my daily challenges and Event: Two Game Tango. The event had 10 games of Klondike and 10 games of Spider. It took me 2 hours, 40 minutes and 21 seconds, when I finished I came in 19th place in my group.

When Larry got home he replaced the last three rotating sprinkler heads.

In the afternoon I watered my flowers. Then I worked on my jigsaw puzzle.

Flowers are still doing great

After dinner we watched our YouTube videos. Then we streamed an Amazon movie called Seberg, it was based the true story of Jean Seberg, she was an upcoming French actress in the 1960's. She was targeted by the FBI because of her civil rights movement and her romantic involvement with Hakim Jamal. It wasn't the great of a movie. Then we watched an episode of Carnival Row. Then I finished watching the first season of The Brief. I did 23,000 steps.   

Monday 6-1 Boating in The Rain

Boating on Lake Belton

I woke up early this morning, 7:30. I surprised Larry, he asked why I was up. I told him I woke up at 7:00 and couldn't get back to sleep.

After breakfast Larry went outside to work on the irrigation system. This year when Larry was starting up the irrigation system he noticed that the top rubber protector on most of the backyard rotator heads were badly deteriorated and needed replaced. He ordered a dozen heads, this morning he decided to replace them. He ended up replacing 10 of them. It took him all morning. After lunch he went back out and adjusted all of them. There are three heads he didn't replace, they work but they also need to be replaced. 

While Larry was working on the irrigation system I updated our monthly expenses spread sheet.

I did my daily challenges, I didn't have an event so I only had 5 games. Microsoft Solitaire anniversary celebration is over so the points are back to normal.

The weather was nice and cool and there was very little wind so we decided to go to the lake and boat awhile. By the time we got to the lake the wind came up a little. The lake was a bit choppy so we ended up doing a set of Air Chair and floating. While Larry was breaking down the Air Chair a small rain front came through. It start out just sprinkling and then it came down hard. We slowly went back to the dock. Larry got the trailer and the rain stopped. Then I put the boat on the trailer. We usually wipe the boat down at the lake but we decided that the wet roads would cause the boat to get filthy so we waited until we got home. While at the lake we saw a few boats, people were fishing, skiing and tubing. We also saw a couple of cranes. We were at the lake for about an hour. 

 

A big crane flying over our boat

A crane sitting on a log

Larry air chairing down the lake

A rain storm on the lake

We spent the evening relaxing in front of the television. We watched our YouTube videos and an Amazon documentary called Vamos Cuba. It was about a gentleman from Germany, who went to Cuba and toured the country. It was very good. Then we watched the second episode of Carnival Row. Then I finished watching DCI Banks and started the series of The Brief. This series is about a criminal law barrister. I did 27,000 steps. 

Sunday 5-31 Fly By

Laid back day

Yesterday, Larry read that at 10:00 this morning a group of 30 to 40 pilots from all over Texas were going to fly over the local health centers in support of the health care workers taking care of coronavirus patients. The planes were homemade by the pilots. We drove by the airport and saw people parked to see them. As we were driving towards Baylor Scott and White Hospital and the VA Hospital, we saw a group of planes flying overhead. Larry stopped and took a few pictures, down the road we saw more planes. They were close enough that I saw the paint jobs on a few of them, they were bright yellow and blue. We parked at Temple College, there were a few other cars there. The fly by wasn't too long but it was nice to see.

A group of a dozen planes flying around town

The same group in a nice formation

On the way home we stopped by West Temple Community Park to take pictures of the beautiful field of wildflowers. 

Having fun in the field of wildflower

A closure look of some of the flowers

More flowers

Gorgeous wildflower

 

When we got home it was time for lunch. After lunch I worked on my daily challenges and The Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 53 minutes and 52 seconds, which put me in 7th place in my group.

Afterwards I took a nap. When I awoke I worked on my puzzle. Larry did a little reading. We watched the weekly episode of GizWiz.

In the evening we watched an Amazon movie called Tater Tot and Patton. It was a very slow movie about a young girl and her uncle coming to term with their problems. Then we started watching an Amazon series called Carnival Row. This series is a neo-noir series starring Orlando Bloom. Then I started watching the fifth season of DCI Banks. I did 25,000 steps, which put me in fourth place in my group with 180,000 steps for the week.

Saturday 5-30 Generator Runs

With the exception of a couple of exhaust gaskets that should arrive on Tuesday we have everything we need to reassemble the generator. Larry decided to go ahead and assemble the generator and we will install the new gaskets when they arrive.

I helped Larry when he needed me, I had to hold the generator while he torqued the screws and he certainly needed my help in moving it in and out of the garage. In order to assemble the generator Larry had to reverse the order from when he disassembled it. First he installed the new magneto, then he assembled the flywheel to the generator. Afterwards we put the generator back into the tray and bolted it down. He moved on to assembling the housings, exhaust system and finally the electronic components. After this we took a lunch break. 

New magneto installed

The generator after the housings were assembled

The generator after it was put back together

After lunch we put the cover on the generator, then we moved the table with the generator outside. Once outside we connected a gas container and battery and then we started the generator. Larry was excited, since it started giving us trouble it has never run more than 10 minutes without shutting off, we let it run for 20 minutes and turned it off. Larry restarted the the generator and it started right up. It looks like the problem is fixed. Now we're waiting for the new exhaust gaskets to complete the project.

Video of generator pieces

Video starting generator

 

Video of generator running

Later I worked on my daily challenges and The Event: World Tour Mini of 8 games. I had a pleasant surprise when doing the event, all month the points have been doubled for Microsoft's 30th Anniversary but for today and tomorrow the points will be tripled. It took me 19 minutes and 48 seconds to complete the games, which put me in 20th place in my group. Then I took an hour nap.

When it was time for dinner I made pizza using Great Value Pizza Crust, mozzarella cheese and salami. The pizza came out great.

Homemade Pizza

Larry called his sister Louise. He hadn't talked to her in a couple of weeks.

 In the evening while watching TV I did a few loads of clothes. We watched an Amazon movie called The Legend of Five Mile Cave. It was a good movie about a drifter, who gets close to a boy. The drifter tells the tale of the west, past and present and the legend of lost gold. Then I finished watching the fourth season of DCI Banks. I did 24,000 steps, which put me in third place for the day in my group.