Sunday 7-30-23 Just Having Fun!!!

 

Just having fun

We had a relaxing day.

Today started a new weekly pinball challenge, The Simpsons Pinball Party. Larry downloaded the game and installed it on the pinball cabinet. It took him a bit but it works great. It has a lot of things going on and is a lot of fun. Larry played it a couple of times to make sure it works. I played it a few times and my high score of the day was 14,934,660. Last weeks pinball challenge of Congo had 51 participants and I came in 32nd place in the group. For me it's a great position.

High score in The Simpson Pinball Party

The guy (Ian) who runs my weekly pinball challenge league has a YouTube channel where he puts up videos of newly released pinball games. Sometimes these are brand new games and sometimes they are games that have been recently updated. Yesterday he put up a video on Cirqus Voltairo, it looked like a super fun game. Today Larry downloaded it. Then he installed it on the pinball cabinet. As is normal there were a couple of issues he had to work out to get it to run correctly. There is so much going on in the playfield that you don't have time to watch the screen and play pinball. Larry played the game and then I did. While I played Larry read what was going on and what to do to score. It's a lot of fun. 

Top two screens in cabinet

Playfield

 

Cirqus Voltairo

I also played a couple more pinball games; Congo and Medieval Madness. Because my weekly challenge of Congo is over Larry changed the ball count from 3 to 5. I had fun playing pinball.

Medieval Madness

I did a few Sudoku games. I did the Daily Challenge of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Klondike Mini of 5 games. It took me 11 minutes and 44 seconds, which put me 34th place in my group. I thought I was doing very well but I guess I didn't. Then I moved over to play Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

I took a two hour nap.

Our new solar panels arrived the other day. Larry waited until the sun came up today and it got hotter outside to play with the solar panels. They work very well but our two year old panels works just as well, maybe better. This was a surprise because Larry thought after two years the solar panels would have improved. Larry is very happy with the way both sets of panels work.

New solar panels

While we were outside experimenting with the solar panels our neighbor was out washing his golf cart. We walked over and visited with him for a bit. We mainly talked about his new house that is being built next to us.

In the evening we watched an episode of Poirot and an episode of The Librarians. Then I watched Rampage. It's a scientific movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Naomie Harris. It was good if you're into scientific movies. Then I watched a couple of episodes of The X-Files. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group for the week with 126,602 steps.

 

 

Saturday 7-29-23 Errands, Games & Battery Box Project

 

Just having fun

I woke up to freshly baked cinnamon rolls by Larry. 

After breakfast we went to town. Larry was finished working on the Minnie so we took it back to storage. Next stop was Aldi, then the UPS Store to check our mail. While there we walked to Walmart. 

Doing errands

We hadn't been in Aldi for a long time. Before our trips we go there and buy food items to take with us. We were in the neighborhood so we decided to pick up a few things. Our fall trip is only a few weeks away.

Every day Larry uses a tablet, he reads news, does research for our camping trips and uses it for other stuff. We also use it for our car GPS when we travel. It is quite old, we bought it eight years ago. Due to limited storage and memory it is completely full, if you want to add something new then something must come off. Many web sites have gotten more complicated and the tablet can be slow to load them. Larry wants to purchase a new one but unfortunately no one (other than Apple) builds an 8 inch tablet with decent specifications. Walmart has just came out with a 11" tablet that is really inexpensive, $159.00. The tablet has 4 gig of ram and 128 GB of storage vs. the 2 gig and 16 gig of our current table, it also has a much faster processor. It is getting great reviews. We stopped by Walmart and looked at it but Larry thinks it's too big for us to use for traveling. He will continue shopping for a tablet.  

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 30 minutes and 19 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. Then I moved onto solving a few Sudoku games. I also played Angry Birds.

Angry Birds

Larry continued working on modifying the solar generator box. The box will be stored under the table in the Minnie. To check the battery level or current draw he would have to look under the table at the battery monitor. He thinks this will be difficult so he decided to build a box with a monitor that he can put it on the table or perhaps the wall. It will connect via an ethernet cable. He had to install and wire ethernet connectors in both boxes.

Installed meter

 

Making a box to hold the meter

After lunch I took a nap for three hours. When I woke up I played pinball. I played five games on the pinball cabinet: Congo, Dr. No, James Bond 60th Anniversary, Great Houdini and Tales of the Arabian Nights. I didn't get the #1 high score on the games but had a great day playing.

James Bond 60th Anniversary

 

James Bond Dr. No

 

Great Houdini

 

Tales of the Arabian Nights

In the evening we watched an episode of Poirot. Then we finished the first season of Secret Invasion on Disney. 

The other night I was going to watch the fourth James Bond movie we have called Skyfall but it didn't work correctly. After watching Secret Invasion Larry checked it out and fixed it. After Larry went to bed I watched it. Then I watched an episode of The X-File. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

 

Friday 7-28-23 Minnie Project, Dancing & Games

 

Doing the happy dance

By the time I got out of bed at 8:00 am Larry had already completed a Minnie project. He was outside by 6:45 because he wanted to beat the heat. Today's project was to change the oil and filter. We will be going on our fall trip at the end of August, Larry likes to start the trip with fresh oil so he doesn't have to change it on the road. On two long trips we did need to have it changed, once in Maine and once in Oregon (might have been Washington). Now if we want to we can take it back to storage. Larry prefers to keep it stored indoors as much as possible.

Changing the oil in 2022

When I got up I made cinnamon french toast sticks for breakfast. We buy Great Value frozen cinnamon french toast sticks. It was easy, heat up the oven to 400 degrees, cook for four minutes, flip over, cook another four minutes and serve. They were good.

Larry continued playing with the new solar charger.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. Before doing the event I did a few Sudoku puzzles. The event today was Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Free Cell and 10 Tri Peaks). It took me 3 hours, 14 minutes and 3 seconds, which put me in 14th place. I spent most of the afternoon completing the event because I got stuck on the last Free Cell game. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends. 

After playing Angry Birds I moved onto the pinball cabinet, where I played five pinball games. They were Congo, Godzilla, Attack From Mars, Playboy and Strip Joker Poker. Last but not lease was playing games on the arcade cabinet. I played three pinball games (Batman, Spider-Man and The Six Million Dollar Man) and Pac Man. I love playing games on both the pinball cabinet and arcade cabinet. I'm not very good on any particular game because I don't play one too long maybe a couple of games.

Attack From Mars 

 

Batman

 

Godzilla

 

Spider-Man

 

 

The Six Million Dollar Man

In the evening I attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 dance at 6:30 for an hour. She called four tips to 13 participants. I had a super time dancing with friends.

After the dance we watched an episode of Poirot. Then I watched Let Him Go on Freevee. It was a movie about a grandfather, an ex-sheriff and grandmother, who go get their grandson back from his step father. It was slow moving and the script wasn't very good. It starred Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. The movie was based off a book by Larry Watson. My Larry has read two of his books including this one and did not rate either of them highly. He thinks the author is very talented but he does not like how the books end, he says he will not be reading any more Larry Watson books. Then I watched a couple of episodes of The X-Files. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.

 

 

Thursday 7-27-23 Minnie Project, Dancing, Housework & Games

 

Awesome Day

Today it got up to 101, this makes 20 days in July of 100 or above. The average high temperature for the month is 96 degrees. Looks like we will beat that this year.

High today

When I got up at 8:00 am  Larry was already outside working on the Minnie, he wanted to beat the heat. Our Minnie has its original awning. We have never used it. The only time we even opened it was when we first got it to make sure it worked. Over the years the sun has deteriorated the material along the roof line. Six years ago Larry used Gorilla Tape to completely cover that strip. Yesterday he noticed a couple of places where the tape was starting to come loose. This morning he got out a ladder and inspected it. He found the tape adhesive has gotten hard and was starting to fail. He took off all the old tape and then used Goof Off to get off the old adhesive. Then he cleaned the area with alcohol. He finished by putting on new tape. As he put the tape on he rolled it so it would stick better. It took a bit less than 3 hours and by the time he was done it was hot, fortunately there was a small breeze. The tape job came out great.

To get up high enough he had to get out his big step ladder, also made by Gorilla. It is one of those ladders that you can extend up and you can articulate it into an extension ladder. It is a really well made ladder but it is very heavy and he seldom uses it.

Larry replacing the tape on the awning

 

Gorilla Tape

 

Fixing the awning

We attended Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 dance at 11:00 for an hour. He called four two couple tips and one four coupled tip with 11 participants. He put us in challenging positions and did a great job walking us through them. We had a super time dancing to Dayle and with friends.

 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 17 minutes and 15 seconds, which put me in 20th place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds.

I played four pinball games on the pinball cabinet: Congo, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings and Creature From The Black Lagoon. 

Creature From The Black Lagoon

 

Star Wars

 

The Lord of the Rings

On the arcade cabinet I played three pinball games (Cactus Canyon, Pirates of the Caribbean and Bugs Bunny Birthday Ball) and three poker games (Poker King, Big 40 Poker and Red Hot Poker).

Bugs Bunny Birthday Ball

 

Cactus Canyon

 

Pirates of the Caribbean

 

Poker King

After Dayle's dance I did my housework. I cleaned the bathrooms, dusted and vacuumed the house and washed the kitchen floor. I also did some laundry.

Housework

The original filter on my battery operated vacuum is made of washable foam. When Larry ordered the new battery he also ordered some new filters, they were described as washable but when they arrived they were made of paper, certainly not washable but I think they work better, the vacuum seems to have better suction using them. Of course if I washed the original one more frequently maybe it would work better.   

In the evening we watched an episode of Poirot and an episode of The Librarians. Then I watched John Wayne and Glenn Campbell in True Grit. Then I watched a couple of episodes of The X-Files. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

 

Wednesday 7-26-23 Dance Day, Discount Tires Visit & More

 

Hot Summer Day

It got up to 101 degrees.

We started the day out by going to town. Larry tried to add air to the inner dual tire on the passenger side of the Minnie and it was very slow to take air. This morning we decided to take it to Discount Tires. I got up at 7:00 am so we could be at Discount Tires when they open. On the way we stopped by Shipley Donuts for breakfast. We hadn't been there in a long time. 

When we got to Discount Tires there were 10 people in front of us. They open at 8:00 and they always have a line of people to check in. They check you in at entrance and put you in the cue. Because we had the Minnie and it's an oversize vehicle they had us park it on the side of the building. They had us in and out within a half hour. We're always impressed by how well the workers work together and gets the customer in and out in a reasonable time. They tell you how long the wait will be. We were lucky we didn't have to wait. Last time Larry had to wait and hour and a half. They checked the tire for a leak and couldn't find one. They thought they could fix the problem with it not taking air by replacing the valve stem core but Larry asked them to replace the entire valve stem. The stems for the inside dual are really long and no tire store has them but Larry always keeps some on hand. He gave them one and they replaced it.

Minnie at Discount Tires

After getting the Minnie done we drove to Academy Sports. I found some shirts and shorts that I liked. Larry also bought some shirts and shorts. Now I'm set for a long time with clothes.

Larry's new shirts

 

New shorts

My new shirts

By the time we got home it was time to start dancing.

I attended four virtual dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 at 11:00 for an hour. He called two two couple A1, two two couple A2 and one four couple A2 to 10 participants. Larry danced with me. We had a great time.

Second was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour. I danced to four of the tips. There were 18 people participating in the dance. I struggled a bit because she didn't cue much. I had fun.

Third was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 2:00 for an hour. They took turns calling five tips to 10 participants. Di and Terry did an outstanding job of calling and cueing. I had a super time dancing with friends.

Fourth was Dave Eno C1/A2 at 6:30 for two hours. Karin Rabe and Greg Moore helped Dave call the dance. The format was two C1 tips with 9 participants, five A2 tips with 10 participants and one C1 tip with 7 participants. In between the A2 tips we did a little trivia. The fifth A2 tip Dave, Greg and Karin took turns calling. I had great evening of dancing with friends.

Having fun dancing

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 5 games. It took me 25 minutes and 40 seconds, which put me in 32nd place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds.

I played the weekly challenge pinball Congo and got a new high score of 926,136,040. I also played Who Dunnit. I played three pinball games on the arcade cabinet: Junk Yard, Diner and Elvis.

 

High Score

 

Who Dunnit

 

Diner

 

Elvis

Junk Yard

After Dave's dance we watched an episode of The Librarians. Then I watched James Bond in Quantum of Solace. Then I watched a couple of episodes of The X-Files. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

 

Tueday 7-25-23 Dancing, Project, New Product & More

 

Just having fun

We started the day working on the Minnie project. Larry installed the DC to DC charger under the dinette seat where I usually sit. Then he moved onto installing the solar generator box under the dinette. The box came with a strap and brackets to keep it in place. Using screws he attached the brackets to the floor, then he put the strap through the brackets and strapped down the box. It worked out great. During this process I held the table up so he could work under it. Our Minnie is very small so everything is a tight fit. Once he had everything hooked up and in place he started the Minnie and sure enough the battery box started charging at 20amps. Perfect.

Solar Generator Battery Box

 

The charger under the seat

Larry also experimented with the solar generator and our portable solar panels. Both sets are 120 watts and each of them was putting out about 90 watts, Larry was happy. However, he found the new set didn't work well in the shade, in fact they wouldn't produce at all if two of the panels had partial shade, even with a small amount of shade the numbers fell significantly. Our old panels work much better. We purchased the new one a couple of weeks ago so we decided to return it. 

We seldom return anything to Amazon but they have made the process very easy. Simply go to their website, select the item you want to return, choose the reason for the return, then a code is generated that you can print out, they also send the code to your email. You really don't have to print out the code, simply show it to the UPS Store folks via your phone, they will scan it in and normally in a few hours your refund is processed. Amazon doesn't actually refund money to your credit card, they put it in the form of a gift card on their system and as you purchase other items they deduct it from the balance. Works great for us.

I attended Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A2 dance at 2:00 for an hour. We had a special guest at the dance, Dave Eno. Di called three tips, Terry called one tip and Dave called a tip. We had 15 participants at the dance. All three callers did a great job of calling and cueing us through the dance. I had a super time.

Dave Eno

After the dance we went to town. We stopped by the UPS Store to pickup a package that was waiting for us. It was a small inexpensive switch that Larry ordered from China. He was beginning to give up on receiving it, but he was glad it arrived. We also dropped off the solar panels to be returned to Amazon. Then we went to Walmart to pick up a few things. While there Larry bought oil and a filter for the Minnie. 

While we were walking around Larry spotted an end cap with boxes of Cracker Jacks, except it wasn't Cracker Jacks, it was Cracker Jill. the company is celebrating girls and women in sports. The box came with 28 bags of five different characters. I like Cracker Jacks. To control portions Larry and I normally split a bag of whatever snack we have. These will make a nice change.

  Cracker Jill characters

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Tri Peaks Adventure of 20 games. It took me 1 hour, 19 minutes and 23 seconds, which put me in 11th place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

Today I only played the weekly pinball challenge Congo. I didn't get a new high score but I had fun trying.

In the evening we watched an episode of Poirot and an episode of The Librarians. Then I watched Casino Royale, which is a James Bond movie. Then I watched an episode of The X-Files. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.