Thursday 5-30-24 Jukebox Project, Games & Workout

 

Smile and have fun

We had a great day of relaxing around the house.

Larry spent the day working on his jukebox project. He is the process of rebuilding the jukebox and making the final touches. He took the jukebox completely apart and is making a few changes to his original design. He built a new mounting board and a couple of duplicates. He is now working on building stands for the electronic parts that go into the jukebox. He also completed the painting of the bezel on the front glass. It's a long process but he's having a great time doing it.

 

The jukebox

I spent the day playing games. I started by doing the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Event. The event was Event: Hard Road Mini of 10 games. It took me 59 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, which put me in 10th place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds.

I worked out using the Synth Riders for an hour. I played three different pinball games, which were Big Buck Hunter Pro, Cactus Canyon and Black Rose.

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

Black Rose

Cactus Canyon

In the evening we watched a movie on Tubi called The Space Between Us. It was about a boy, who was raised on Mars and came to earth for the first time to find his father. It was a good movie. Then I watched a few episodes of the first season of Hidden Assets on Acorn. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

Wednesday 5-29-24 Dance Day, Games & Jukebox

 

We had a wonderful day.

I attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00 for an hour. Di and Terry took turns calling five tips to 12 participants. Di worked on Spin Chain The Gears. They worked on any calls we were having trouble with. Di and Terry cued the moves, which made it easier to get in the right place. I had a super time dancing with friends. 

Second was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour. She called four tips to 17 participants. She worked on All Four Couple Concept, Alter The Wave Left/ Right and anything we needed help on. She is very challenging because she doesn't cue. I had fun dancing with friends.

Third was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:00 for an hour and a half. Karin Rabe and Greg Moore helped call the dance. The format was three tips of C1 to 10 participants and three tips of A2 to 10 participants. Karin and Greg called the first tip of each session, Dave called the second tip of each session and all three called the third tip of each session. This week all the participants were C1 level dancers so Dave called his A2 tip at the C1 level. During the A2 session in between the tips we did a trivia question. I had a great evening of dancing with friends.

 

Grab a partner and dance

 

While I danced Larry worked on his jukebox project. 

After Ett's dance I worked out for 45 minutes with Synth Riders. I also played three different games of pinball. They were Big Buck Hunter Pro, James Bond 60th Anniversary and Attack From Mars. I had a great time playing pinball even though I did get a high score.

 

 

Attack From Mars

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

James Bond 60th Anniversary

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Event. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 5 games. It took me 12 minutes and 28 seconds, which put me in 37th place in my group. 

After Dave's dance we watched The Fifth Element on Tubi. Then I watched Armageddon from our movies. Afterwards I started watching a detective series on Acorn called Hidden Assets. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group. 

 

Tuesday 5-28-24 Lab Appointment, Clean Up , Mowing & More

 

 

 

We had a very nice Tuesday. It was cooler with the high in the mid 80's and humidity at 50%. A front came through around 10:00am, which bought high winds. We were on severe storm watch. We were suppose to get rain this evening but at 5:00 the National Weather Report had lowered the chances. The wind died down around the same time.

 

We started the day out by going town for a lab appointment for my annual wellness check up. My appointment was at 7:30 am. It didn't take long. We were in and out within fifteen minutes. On the way home we stopped by Jack 'n' Jill Donuts for breakfast. 

 

When we got home I changed clothes so we could start some yard clean up. Larry and I both started picking up rocks and debris from the downed trees. Larry went next door and borrowed Jason's wheelbarrow to put the debris in it. Then he started to mow the backyard.The mowing will help mulch up all the leaves and many of the small sticks. As he mowed I continued picking up debris. Larry ended up mowing the backyard and frontyard. He also helped Jason by mowing part of his rental house frontyard. A front came in about 10:00 with a strong wind. The wind felt good because we were sweating. Jason came out and dumped our debris that was in the wheelbarrow. He also got rid of the pile of debris next to the wheelbarrow. Larry started to blow the leaves out of the gravel. He stopped when the wind came up. We worked outside for three hours before calling it a day.

 

 

 

Larry mowing

 

 

Backyard after it was mowed and debris removed

 

 

Wheelbarrow full of debris

 

 

While we were resting our neighbors Dana and Rose came over to thank us for taking care of their generator while they were camping the other day. We talked for a bit. 

 

After the neighbors left we went inside and had lunch. We stayed inside for the rest of day relaxing. 

 

I took a nap and Larry worked on his jukebox project. 

 

When I woke up I did the Daily Event, which was Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 12 minutes and 45 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. Then I played some Angry Birds. Before I went to bed last night I played the Daily Solitaire.

 

I worked out for an hour using Synth Riders. Then I played for games of pinball, which were Big Buck Hunter Pro, The Get Away, Mustang and NASCAR. I didn't get a new high score in Big Buck Hunter Pro but had a lot of fun trying. I had a great time playing the other three games also.

 

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

 

Mustang

 

NASCAR

 

 

The Get Away

In the evening we watched a movie on Amazon called The Boys In The Boat. It is an American biographical sports drama. It was about the University of Washington rowing team, and their quest to compete in the 1936 Summer Olympics. It was a very good movie. After Larry went to bed I watched Aladdin and Men in Black II from our movies. I ended up doing 17,500 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group.

 

 

 

Monday 5-27-24 Memorial Day, Clean Up Continues & Wildlife

Memorial Day

 

Happy Memorial Day. I'd like to say thanks to all the people who have served and defended the U.S. 

We had another hot and humid day with the high of 96 degrees. 

Larry woke up to see a fantastic surprise. A fawn and mom triggered the trip wire on our security camera on the garage. The fawn followed close to mom across the driveway and around the house. 

The other day after some of the trees were cleared away we saw a lot of deer on our cameras going through the backyard late at night. I also saw the fox walking by the porch. Our security cameras have a function that detects when motion happens in a path of the camera. When this occurs we are notified by the computer saying "Trip Wire". This catches our attention so we can check the camera out to see what's going on.  I love this function.

 

 Fawn and Mom

 

In the morning Eddie and his crew out of Houston showed up to finish the tree clean up. Eddie first gave us an estimate on how much it would cost to trim, grind the tree stumps and haul the trees away. Eddie had all the equipment he needed. They had a chipper, stump grinder, trailers and ropes to get a person up the tree. The crew had four guys in the morning and afternoon the crew had three guys. One wore a hard hat and used ropes to get him up the tree he was trimming. One ran the grinder and ground the stumps. Another one ran the shredder and hauled the branches and trees to the shredder. After everything was trimmed one guy sprayed the tree where the branches were removed with a sealant to prevent Oak wilt. They didn't have any so Larry and I went to The Home Depot and bought some. The crew was here for six hours and did an excellent job.

The crew came back around 6:00 to do a little touch up and make sure everything was gone completely.

 

Trimming the tree in the frontyard wearing harness and rope

 

Trimming high branches

 

Shredder and trailer

 

Trees all cleaned up and stumps ground down

 

Grinding the tree stump

 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire. I thought the event was only for one day but it was for two days. The event was Event: Solitaire Celebrates. I was successful in doing the last game. The event was 30 games. It took me 5 hours, 28 minutes and 3 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

In the afternoon I worked out with Synth Riders for 45 minutes.

I played three different games of pinball in virtual reality. They were Big Buck Hunter Pro, Black Rose and The Flintstones. I got a new high score in Big Buck Hunter Pro, which was 48,324,160. This score put me in 5th place in my group of 14 participants. I did very well in the other two. The Flintstones I got a new high score #3.

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

 

Black Rose

The Flintstones

 

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television. We watched a couple of episodes of Northern Exposure. When Larry went to bed I watched the 5th episode of the 10th season of The Brokenwood Mysteries and the 4th episode of the 3rd season of Harry Wild. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group. This is a good beginning for a new week of stepping.

 

    

Sunday 5-26-24 Clean Up Continues, New Weekly Challenge & More

 

Hot humid day

We had a hot humid day with the high of 94 degrees and humidity 58%.

After being without power for three days it was hard to get back into our normal routine. We still have cleanup to do. Today the crew, who were here yesterday showed up in the morning to continue cutting up and and removing the damaged trees. They worked on the trees in the backyard and the tree that fell on Jason's fence. They were here for five hours or so. 

 

Tree on the fence

Crew cutting up the tree at the planter

 

The stump of the oak that was on the fence

 

Cutting up the tree to remove from the fence

 

Larry had ordered a chainsaw through Amazon and it came in yesterday. He assembled it just in case the crew needed another chainsaw. They didn't need it because today they had two. Jason helped the crew clear the trees. When they were almost finished Jason asked if we wanted the tree where the planter was to be taken down because there wasn't much left of it. We removed the planter and the crew cut it down. The trees they worked on today were huge oak trees and it took them some time to cut them up. The crew didn't have the equipment or the know how to trim trees or grind the stumps so we have another company coming tomorrow. After they were finished they blew off the driveway. The crew worked very hard and did a great job. 

 

Larry putting the chainsaw together

 

The chainsaw all assembled

 

Today is the beginning of a new week so I have a new weekly challenge in pinball. This week the game is Big Buck Hunter Pro. We already have the game so Larry didn't have to download it he only had to change the balls from five to three. Before playing the game to get my first high score for this week I played The Flintstones to try to get a new high score. I was unsuccessful but I did get very close. I ended up coming in 50th place out of 73 participants in The Flintstones. My first high score in Big Buck Hunter Pro was 22,967,390. This put me in 4th place out of 7 participants for the first day.

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

The Flintstones

 I also did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Event. Today's event was Event: Solitaire Celebrates of 30 games. I only did 29 of the games. I played the games for 4 hours, 15 minutes and 53 seconds before giving up. I got stuck on one of the experts Free Cell games. I played some Angry Birds.

I worked out with the Synth Riders for an hour. 

Afterwards we took the Minnie back to storage. On the way home we swung by Freddy's to get dessert only to discover their building had lots of tornado damage and they were not open.

In the evening we watched The Physician on Freevee. It was a 2013 German historic drama about an orphan boy from an 11th-century English town, who's mother dies of an illness and he vows to learn medicine. It was taken from a novel by Noah Gordon with the same name. It was very good. Then I watched National Treasures: Book of Secrets. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group for the week with 124,717 steps.  

 

 

Saturday 5-25-24 Clean Up Begins, Power On & Wildlife

 

We had a wonderful Saturday with the high of 94 degrees.

We started the day out by driving around Belton and Temple to see what was going on. We started off at Walmart in Belton, we bought breakfast and a couple of salads. Most of Belton did not appear to have much damage, there were some damaged houses and some downed trees but for the most part it looked mostly normal, power had been restored so businesses were open. We saw Oncor hard at work. 

Next we drove over to Temple where things were much worse. We started on Addams and saw some businesses were destroyed. One taco restaurant was completely gone, a bank was gone, a strip shopping center had lost all of its roof and part of the building. Many homes were severely damaged. We drove by a friend's (Lynn) house and saw she had trees down and one on her roof. There were tarps on lots of roofs. Many of the areas was still without power, however, there were a huge number of trucks and workers trying to clear trees and get things back working.

We drove to Morgan Point to see if their brush dump was open, it was. The sign on the gate said it was only open on Saturdays 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. It was very busy. On the way home we stopped and Larry asked a police officer about the hours of the dump. He said it was going to be open everyday until the clean up from the storm is finished.

A landscaping crew, that Jason had asked to work on the trees showed up at 10:30. Before they arrived Jason and Larry had talked on the phone so we knew they were coming. Out lot provides better access to the damaged trees. Larry moved the Minnie over to the other side of the drive so they could back in with their trailer, this also allowed them to use their small skidder to load logs into the trailer. They worked on removing the trees until 4:00. They will be back tomorrow to do some more work. They moved the trees from the side of the house and cut a tree down. They continued to move towards the back of the yard. They got rid of the pieces of the downed trees at the back of the yard along the fence line. Jason came home for a couple of hours and helped the crew. They made three trips to the brush dump. 

 

Tree down on Jason's air conditioner 

 

Tree down on the side of the house

 

The skidder used to move the big pieces of the trees

Trailer they put the trees in

 

Using a chainsaw to cut tree down 

Sawing a tree down

 

Knocking the tree down with the skidder

The crew working on removing the tree

 

The side of the house with the trees gone, a few years ago there were so many trees that you could not see the side of our house from the road.

Trees gone from the back of yard

Our neighbors across the street from us wanted to take their grandchildren camping so we told them we would keep an eye on their generator. Today we went to their home at 2:30 and changed out the generators. Larry changed their extension cord from the gas generator to the propane generator. Now their ok while they're camping.

 

Larry changing generators out

Gas generator (red) and propane generator

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and the Event. Today the event was Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 42 minutes and 42 seconds to complete, which put me in 16th place in my group. Then I played some Angry Birds.

In the evening the power came back on at 7:00. We had been without power for almost exactly 3 days. Just to be sure we waited a bit before plugging everything back into the home power and putting all the extension cords away. We also plugged the extension cord that is running to Jason's house into in our home power and shut off the generator. Jason and his family had gone out of town, he came back for a few hours but had left. They will be home late tomorrow.

Larry had texted a couple of our neighbors to let them know the power was back on. Jason called and asked Larry if he could go next door to his bed and breakfast rental and get some things going. Larry was happy to help. The house had been rented out for this weekend. Even though there was no power the renters had still wanted to come and use the place. Much of the house can be controlled remotely but the systems to do that were not working. Working with Jason via the phone Larry was able to get everything back running.

After getting everything back to normal we watched an episode of Northern Exposure. After Larry went to bed I watched a movie on Amazon called A Million Miles Away. It was based on a true story about a migrate work, who became an astronaut. It was good except there was some subtitles because it was in Spanish and English. Then I watched Men In Black from our movies. I ended up doing 17,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group. 

The power went out again about midnight but fortunately it was only off for about 10 minutes.