Thursday 7-23-26 Hot Day, Mowing, Jukebox & More

High temperature today at the house

We had a beautiful day of sunshine. The morning temperature was 80 degrees and the high was 99 but it felt like 116 degrees because the humidity was 39%. It's hot and we're only halfway into summer.

Before I got up Larry worked on the laptop he uses for crafting and other things. You might recall he replaced the keyboard on it. A couple of weeks ago the fingerprint reader quit working and while it is not totally necessary Larry had gotten used to using it and hates it when something is not working correctly. He suspected it was the cable that runs from the reader to the motherboard. He found a used cable and reader on Ebay for $6.50 shipped to him. This morning he took the computer apart and replaced the cable, sure enough that fixed it.

We started the day by going outside and doing a little yardwork. It was comfortable. Larry mowed the frontyard and the northside of the house between Marcos and our backyard. I felt guilty so I went outside and got the weedeater out and weedeated. I trimmed around the landscaping around the oak tree and around the block wall. I also weedeated around the edge of the driveway. I didn't finish the brick wall in the backyard because I ran out of line. I asked Larry if he would replace the line. He did and then he finished out the weed eating. After mowing Larry washed out our trash can because it was starting to smell. We were outside for a hour and a half.

Larry mowing

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 games. It took me 18 minutes and 57 seconds to complete, which put me in 35th place in my group of 50. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

One of the Jukebox guys (Jay) that Larry has worked with on software and hardware issues surrounding the software they use for their jukeboxes has now written his own jukebox software. One of the major differences is it works on Windows computers instead of Raspberry Pi's. Larry is really excited about this, Raspberry Pi's work via Linux based operating systems and he really dislikes this.

This new software is called Jukecab. Jay released it the other day and Larry purchased it. He wanted to play with it right away, but first he needed to finish the frontend loader paper project. Today he installed it Jukecab on the old Dell computer he uses for testing things. He spent the afternoon learning what it does and how it works. He then sent Jay a couple of suggestions and asked for his help on converting a skin he uses on Fruitbox to Jukecab. They traded a few messages back and forth, Jay is thrilled that Larry is really getting into Jukecab, he liked his suggestions and is happy to help.

Before he worked on the jukebox project he worked on a shelf that he has a few crafting projects on. Yesterday, we moved his crafting projects around to have his frontend loader, dump truck and excavator close to each other. Last night when we were in bed the shelf fell off the wall. The shelf was held on the wall with Command Strips. This morning he found out why the shelf kept falling off the wall. The wall wasn't flat it had a bow in it. He decided to move the shelf above the dining room window, where the wall was flat. The shelf looks great there. Once he relocated the shelf he removed the Command Strips by pulling their tabs. The strips came off clean. 

The truck projects on their shelves

Relocation of the shelf

I worked out with the Wii Fit for 45 minutes. I used the Strength Training, Training Plus and Yoga menus. I worked out with the Strength Training menu for 19 minutes using six exercises (Balance Bridge of 10 reps for 3 minutes, Sideways Leg Lift of 20 reps for 2 minutes, Single-Leg Extension of 20 reps two times for 6 minutes, Single-Leg Twist of 20 reps for 2 minutes, Torso Twist of 6 reps for 3 minutes and Tricep Extensions of 20 reps for 3 minutes). I worked out with the Training Plus men for 14 minutes using three exercises (Obstacle Course for 4 minutes, Perfect 10 four times for 5 minutes and Table Tilt Plus two times for 5 minutes). I worked out with the Yoga menu for 12 minutes using five exercises (Chair for 2 minutes, Half-Moon for 2 minutes, Palm Tree for 2 minutes, Standing Knee two times for 4 minutes and Warrior for 2 minutes). I had a great workout.

Strength Training (Balance Bridge, Sideways Leg-Lift, Single-Leg Extension, 

Single-Leg Twist, Torso Twist and Tricep Extensions)

Training Plus (Obstacle Course, Perfect 10 and Table Tilt Plus)

Yoga (Chair, Half-Moon, Palm Tree, Standing Knee and Warrior)

I worked out with Just Dance 2016 for 40 minutes to 10 songs. The songs were Hangover (Ba Ba Ba), Gibberish, Stadium Flow, Teacher, Heartbeat Song, Stuck On A Feeling, Let's Grove, Uptown Funk, You Never Can Tell and Copacabana. I had fun dancing to these songs.

Just Dance 2016 songs

While I played games and worked out I did laundry.

Doing laundry

I played eight games of pinball. I played four on the mini cabinet, which were Batman Forever, Elvira Scared Stiff, No Good Goffers! and Red & Ted's Road Show. I played four games on the big cabinet, which were Big Trouble In Little China, Medieval Madness, Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom and Willow. While playing Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom I got a new high score and became high score #1. I moved into 27th place out of 79 participants in the weekly challenge. I had fun playing pinball.

Batman Forever (Mini)

Elvira Scared Stiff (Mini)

No Good Goffers! (Mini)

Red & Ted's Road Show

Big Trouble In Little China (Big)

Medieval Madness (Big)

Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom (Big)

Willow (Big)

While I played pinball we watched YouTube videos.

In the evening we watched Captain Marvel from our movies collection. When Larry went to bed I watched Mission Impossible II from our movies collection. 

I end ups doing 5,000 steps. I worked on my puzzle when I had time.

  

    

     

     

Wednesday 7-22-26 Three Virtual Dances, Crafting & More

 

Hot summer day

We had a very hot day. The high was 106 degrees and it felt like 119 degrees. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Temperature on our Echo Show

Larry spent most of the day finishing his crafting project of a frontend loader. After he finished he said it was the hardest project he has done because of all the small pieces and all the detail the pieces had. The wheels were so complex he modified them to make it easier. The frontend loader came out great.

The frontend loader finished

The front of the the frontend loader

The back of the frontend loader

I attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's weekly plus at 10:00 for an hour. Di called 5 tips to 11 participants. Terry called the first tip, It was short because he had a hard time breathing and calling at the same time. Di called the other four tips. She called, cued and danced at the same time. Larry danced with me. He was a great help to me and other dancers. Di worked on the moves, that were added to the plus program. They were Quarter Thru, Left Quarter Thru, Partner Hinge, Pass The Sea and 3/4 Thru. She walked us through moves we were having problem with. We had a great time dancing to Di and Terry and with friends.

Second was Ett McAtee's weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour. She had original schedule the dance cancelled because she was in Denmark at their Nationals. She said she had a great time. She called four tips to 13 participants from the United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany and Canada. I get frustrated at time because she doesn't cued or watch the squares to see if the dancers are having problem. I continued dancing to her because I want to keep up my skills. 

Dancers who attended Ett's dance

Third was Dave Eno's weekly C1/A2 at 6:00 for an hour and a half. Karin Rabe and Greg Moore helped Dave call the dance. Dave Hutchinson was there but he didn't call. The format was three tips of C1 to 7 participants, three tips of A2 to 10 participants and two trivial questions in between the A2 tips. I had a great evening dancing to Karin, Greg and Dave and with friends. 

Dancers during the A2 session of the dance

In between the dances I played games and worked out.

I worked out on the Wii Fit for 30 minutes, I did my own routine, which was 12 minutes with two exercises from the Aerobics menu (Rhythm Boxing for 8 minutes and Super Hula Hoop for 4 minutes) and 18 minutes with five exercises from the Training Plus menu (Balance Bubble Plus two times for 3 minutes, Island Cycling for 3 minutes, Obstacle Course for 4 minutes, Perfect 10 four times for 4 minutes and Table Tilt Plus for 4 minutes. I had a good workout.

Aerobics

Rhythm Boxing

Super Hula Hoop

Training Plus

Balance Bubble Plus

Island Cycling

Obstacle Course

Perfect 10

Table Tilt Plus

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 6 minutes and 27 seconds to complete, which put me in 14th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

I played eight games of pinball. I played four on the mini cabinet, which were Big Buck Hunter Pro, Fish Tales, Michael and The Big LeBowski. While playing Fish Tales I became high score #2, Michael I became high score #1 and The Big LeBowski I became high score #1. I played four games on the big cabinet, which were Beetlejuice, Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom, Star Fox and The Beach Boys. While playing Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom I got a new high score, which put me in 43rd place out of 74 participants. I had a great time playing pinball.

Big Buck Hunter Pro (Mini)

Fish Tales (Mini)

Michael (Mini)

The Big LeBowski (Mini)

Beetlejuice (Big)

Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom (Big)

Star Fox (Big)

The Beach Boys (Big)

After Dave's dance we watched Hotel For Dogs. It was a cute movie about two orphans (brother and sister), who are trying to stay together. They open a hotel for abandoned dogs. After Larry went to bed I watched the fifth episode of the fifth season of Harry Wild on Acorn. Then I watched Mission Impossible from our movies collection. I ended up doing 2,000 steps.  

  

 

Tuesday 7-21-26 Liberty Hill Dancing

 

Awesome Day

We had an awesome day of sunshine. It was hot with the high of 102 degrees at 4:00 pm and the morning temperature of 73 degrees.

We spent the day in Liberty Hill dancing A2 with  John Kephart. 

We left the house a few minutes early because we swung by the UPS Store.

We arrived in Liberty Hill at 11:15 am and parked the car in a parking lot by a convenient store to have lunch. After lunch we continued to the Ski's house.

We arrived at the Ski's house at 11:40 am. We visited with Bob and Kay for bit. Susan, Lynn, Brenda and Mike showed up a few minutes before noon to dance C1 via tape for an hour. We danced to Johnny Preston. We took turns dancing a few tips because we had three couples and the tape was for two couples. We had a great hour of dancing.

At 12:45 pm the A2 dancers started to show up for the two hour dance at 1:00 pm. We had enough dancers for exactly two squares. We used the computer to designate which square the dancers should be in. It was hot so after a couple of tips we went to dancing only one square so dancers could rest. We still used the computer. Larry and I danced with each other until the last tip, where Larry danced with Sharon. We had a great afternoon of dancing.

John Kephart

Dancers waiting for the next call

John having fun calling the dance

Larry dancing with friends

After the dance we stayed behind because Bob wanted Larry to help him check out the problem he has been having with his fifth-wheel. While Larry and Bob were working on the RV Kay and I visited. Baily, their dog kept us company. Larry and Bob narrowed it down, that the fans weren't working. Afterwards we visited a little longer. We didn't get home until 5:30 pm.

I heated up leftovers for dinner. While eating dinner we watched YouTube videos. 

After dinner I played six games of pinball and Larry watched more YouTube videos. I played three games on the mini cabinet, which were Elvira Scared Stiff, No Fear and Red & Ted's Road Show. I played three games on the big cabinet, which were Blizzard of Ozz, Dracula and Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom. I didn't get on the board but had fun trying.

Elvira Scared Stiff (Mini)

No Fear (Mini)

Red & Ted's Road Show (Mini)

Blizzard of Ozz (Big)

Dracula (Big)

Sponge Bob's Bikini Bottom (Big)

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 32 minutes and 10 seconds to complete, which put me in 18th place in my group. I played Angry Birds Friends and Angry Birds 2.

In the evening we watched Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 from our movies collection. After Larry went to bed I finished watching the 12th season of The Brokenwood Mysteries on Acorn. Then I started watching the second season of Inspector Ellis, which is another detective series on Acorn.

I ended up doing 2,000 steps.