Thursday 6-6-24 Day of Having Fun

 

Fun Day

Today we had a high temperature of 97 degrees. It's not officially summertime until June 20th. It's already in the high 90's, it looks like we're going to have another hot summer.

 

  

Keeping cool under the air conditioner

Larry is finished building the jukebox now he is working on documentation. He spent the day drawing a wiring schematic. He still has to work on documenting how he built the jukebox.

Wiring Schematic

 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Spider and 5 Free Cell). It took me 2 hours and 4 seconds, which put me in 23rd place in my group. I played some Angry Birds.

I worked out on the Synth Riders for an hour. I played three games of pinball, they were Lethal Weapon 3, Red & Ted's Road Show and The Lost World Jurassic Park. I didn't get a new high score but had fun.

 

Lethal Weapon 3

 

The Lost World Jurassic Park

 

Red & Ted's Road Show

 

In the evening we watched a movie on Tubi called Brotherhood of the Wolf. It took place in France in the 18th century, a couple of men were hired by the king to investigate killings of people in the area. It was originally in French and was translated to English. It was very well done and you didn't have to read subtitles. It was a good movie. Then I watched The Dark Knight from our movies collection. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

For the last week or so we have had a new visitor in our back yard, it is a gorgeous hawk. It appeared again today.

Perched on the neighbor's fence

 

 

Wednesday 6-5-24 Dance Day, Games & Mammogram

 

Have fun with friends

We had a muggy day. We started out with rain and wind.

We started the day out by going to Temple for my appointment to get a mammogram. The appointment was at 7:45 so I had to be there at 7:30. 

Larry took me to the appointment. It was raining and very windy. It was so windy that it almost turned the umbrella inside out. We were glad we have a heavy duty golf umbrella. Larry checked me in via the website so it was easy to check-in. When we got to Baylor, Scott and White Hospital we had to show identification to get a visitor pass, this was new, the last time we were here this was not required. Larry asked where the imaging room was, we were told it was on the ground floor. Good thing he asked, the room had moved since we were last there. The lady working the desk in the imaging area said they moved in September. She liked it because it was quite. Once I was checked-in I was told to go and put a hospital gown on and wait. I didn't have to wait but a few minutes. Nancy did the exam and did an excellent job. I was in and out in fifteen minutes. 

On the way home we stopped by Jack 'n' Jill Donuts for breakfast. It was more money at this location then the Belton location. 

We have a number of security cameras mounted on the exterior of the house. One of the older cameras has been a bit hazy for quite awhile. During the tornado it got moisture inside of it and while it cleared up over a few days Larry decided it was time to replace it. Over Memorial day there was a sale on the cameras he used on the front of the house and he ordered one. Today he installed it. Since he was replacing an already installed camera the installation was fairly easy, it was the software configuration that was difficult. It took hours and a YouTube video for him to get it the way he wanted. 

When Jason started building his house next door he asked if Larry could point this camera so it would see his house. Larry repositioned it but to see all of the neighbors house we then couldn't seen down the side of our house. When Larry ordered the new camera he got one with a wider field of view, now we can see the side of our house and all of the neighbors house. He does not live in this house, he rents it out via Airbnb.

New Security Camera

Usually on Wednesdays I attend three virtual dances but for the next two weeks I will attend two because Di Green and Terry McCann are out of town. First was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour. Ett called five tips to 18 participants. She cued the first two tips. She concentrated on calling Alter The Wave. I had a fun time dancing with friends.

Second was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:00 for an hour and a half. Karin Rabe and Greg Moore helped called the dance. They called three tips of C1 and three tips of A2. During the C1 tips we had 9 participants and A2 had 10 participants. In between the A2 tips we did a little trivia. This week Karin and Greg danced with two other ladies so it was easier to follow them. Dave, Karin and Greg cued moves through out the dance which was very helpful. The C1 dancers stayed after the A2 tips because Dave wanted to called four more sequences. We had a fun time with the sequences because they were a little more challenging. I had a super time dancing with friends.

 

Before Ett's dance I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Klondike and 3 Tri Peaks). It took me 12 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 16th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds. 

After Ett's dance I worked out with the Synth Riders for an hour. I played Lethal Weapon 3 and The Flintstones. I did get a new high score in Lethal Weapon 3 but came close. I had fun playing The Flintstones also.

Lethal Weapon 3

The Flintstones

 

After Dave's dance we watched a movie on Pluto called The Time Machine. It was an ok movie, where a gentleman travels in time to change an accident from happening. While doing so he finds himself. Then I watched Batman Begins from our movie collection. I ended up doing 17,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

 

Tuesday 6-4-24 Dancing to Mike Sikorsky & Having Fun

 

Mike Sikorsky

We spent the day in Corsicana dancing to Mike Sikorsky. Most Tuesday's a group of us meet in Corsicana to dance A2 and C1 when there's enough people for a square. Dale Smith calls the A2 dance and Glen Martin calls the C1 dance. This week we had a special caller come and call the A2 dance. We didn't have enough dancers for C1. The A2 dance format was two hours of dancing from 9:30 to 11:30, an hour lunch from 11:30 to 12:30 and two hours of dancing from 12:30 to 2:30. We had a full square plus three extra people. The dance was run by computer so everyone got a chance to rest. Larry and I danced to Mike back in October of 2015 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is a very good caller. He put us in positions we weren't use to. When we broke down he would cue us and walk us through the move. We had a super time dancing with friends.

 

Friends dancing to Mike

We left the house at 7:30 and were back at 4:30. It was a long day but we had fun. When we got home I heated up leftovers for dinner. 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 17 minutes and 47 seconds, which put me in 4th place in my group. Then I played some Angry Birds. 

I played three different games of pinball. They were Lethal Weapon 3, Monster Bash and Metallica. I got a new high score in Lethal Weapon 3. It was 82,387,440, which put me in 30th place out of 35 participants. I'll have to continue playing to move up. I hadn't played Monster Bash or Metallica in a very long time and had a super time. 

 

Lethal Weapon 3

 

Metallica

 

Monster Bash

 

 In the evening we watched a movie on Paramount + called Cloud Atlas. It was a science fiction movie based on a novel. It was very hard to follow because it kept going back and forth in time and three different worlds. It was a good movie and was loaded with a lot of big stars Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant and many more. Then I finished watching the second season of Hidden Assets. I watched Finding Nemo. 

I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group. 

While we were watching television the squirrel came back and drank out of the hummingbird feeder. A hawk flew into the oak tree in the backyard. 

 

The squirrel enjoying the hummingbird nectar

 

 

Monday 6-3-24 Wellness Appointment, Pinball, Puzzle & Wildlife

 

Windy Day

We had an overcast day with wind. It got up to 92 degrees with the humidity at 58%.

 

Temperature at the house

We started the day out by Larry taking me to Salado, Texas for my yearly Wellness Checkup. at 8:45 am. I had to wake up early, about 7:15 to get ready and to make breakfast. I made pancakes. We left at 8:00 to ensure we got there in time. The checkup went very well. Dr. Smith is very friendly and explains the lab results. If you have any questions he is more than willing to answer them.

 

Wellness Checkup

On the way home we stopped by Walmart to pickup some salads. Then we went to the credit union to get cash for our square dancing tomorrow.

 

While we were eating lunch we had a pleasant surprise. Our lawn mowing crew didn't come last Thursday but they came today instead. We were happy to see them considering the yards were getting high. 

 

After lunch Larry went outside to put bleach in the septic tank. He saw my hummingbird feeder, which is a sour cream bowl in the yard. We have been having a squirrel coming on the porch and climbing the railing to see if it can get in the bowl. It usually knocks the bowl off the railing and make a mess. We figured it was the squirrel. So I felled the bowl once again. 

 

A little later we saw the squirrel come back, he climbed the railing to get to the bowl I use to feed the hummingbirds. We watched it. Squirrels are very smart, it took it's feet and removed the lid. Then it drank the nectar unit it was full. It climbed down and flattened itself on the porch to cool off. After the squirrel left I put the lid back on the bowl and a hummingbird came to get a drink.

 

 

Squirrel climb off the railing

In the evening when were relaxing in front of the television a doe and her fawn showed up in the backyard. The fox has been showing up in most of the evening. Each evening we have live entertainment in our yards.

I played three different pinball games. I played Lethal Weapon 3, The Lord of the Rings and Medieval Madness. I didn't get a new high score in any of the games but had fun playing.

 

 

 

Lethal Weapon 3

 

 

Medieval Madness

The Lord of the Rings

I worked out with the Synth Riders for a half hour because I took a couple hours nap.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I played the event, which was Event: Klondike Adventure of 20 games. It took me 55 minutes and 27 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds.

 

I watched some YouTube videos

 

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television and watched a movie on Paramount +, which was The Island. It was a scientific action thriller about cloning people. It staring Djimon Hounsou, Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson and Sean Bean. It was very good. Then I watched the 6th episode of the 10th season of The Brokenwood Mysteries and the 5th 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 the week. 

 

 

Relaxing in front of the television

 

 

  

Sunday 6/2/24 New Challenge, Games, Jukebox Project & Puzzle

 

Beautiful Day

We had a beautiful day of sunshine. The high was in the low 90's.

Yesterday was the beginning of the month so Larry did his monthly backup of the computer.

Today was the beginning of the week for the weekly pinball challenge. This week the challenge is Lethal Weapon 3. The version of the game chosen was developed on the newest version of the pinball software and will only work with that version or newer. That version of the software is still in development and labeled as beta code, it is being constantly updated. Since the code is still in development Larry has avoided it. While he was not thrilled about it he backed up the pinball machine and installed the beta code. Some folks have had trouble with some games using this version but so far it works fine for us. Larry did run into a problem with VR, but he remembered having this problem when he first installed VR. He went back to his notes and found out what he did to fix it. He also installed the new weekly challenge table. You never know how long it will take to install a table but at a minimum it will require 30 minutes, many times more. Installing all the new code and the new game took over 2.5 hours.

Before playing the new challenge I played Big Buck Hunter Pro a few times before it's challenge ended at 2:00. I didn't get a new high score but I had fun. Big Buck Hunter Pro had 65 participants and I came in 24th. I played the new challenge Lethal Weapon 3 and got my first high score of 65,467,640, which put me in 10th place out of 11 participants, I have another 6 days to move up.  

Big Buck Hunter Pro high score

Lethal Weapon 3 high score

Larry continued working on his jukebox project. Other than writing documentation he feels he is done. He is very happy with the final results. He made two short videos and sent an email with links to the gentlemen he developed this for. He also asked them where they want to go from here. Should he send them what they would need to build one or would they prefer to send him a second machine that he would convert and send back to them.

Links to the videos..... once the video shows click on the arrow to play it, you can turn up the volume to hear Larry. After playing the back arrow on your browser will return you to this page.

 Wallette Working

 Wallette Internal

 

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I played the event, which was Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 games. It took me 14 minutes and 16 seconds to complete, which put me in 28th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds 2 and Angry Birds and Friends.

I worked on my jigsaw puzzle. II worked out using Synth Riders for an hour.

 

Working out

The other day Louise had gone into virtual reality and rode on a roller coaster. Lots of folks get dizzy or ill feeling riding roller coasters in VR, it made her dizzy. She thought I should give it a try. After dinner I decided to try it out. I couldn't figure out how to get a roller coaster program so Larry joined me in the store to find a roller coaster program. He found the program Epic Roller Coasters on Meta Quest and I road a few of them. It made me dizzy when going down a big drop but I recovered when I went back up the track. Larry read reviews on Epic Roller Coaster. He found that most of the games weren't free but he also found there were virtual reality roller coasters on YouTube that were free. I logged in and road a few of them. I had fun riding the roller coasters.

Then we watched a movie on Freevee called Washington's Armor. It was a good movie but had a cliff hunger at the end. Then I watched Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. I ended up doing 17,000 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group for the week with 124,120 steps.

 

Saturday 6/1/24 New Month, Errands, Games & Pinball Project

 

Hot Day

Today was the beginning of a new month. The high today was 90 degrees.

Happy June

We started the day going to town. Larry needed to get a few items for his next project. It's to add a temporary sprinkler between Jason's house and our house. First stop was The Home Depot. He was able to get everything he wanted except for a couple of very small screws. We went to Keith's Ace Hardware but they also didn't have what he needed. When we got home he ordered them from Amazon. The items should come in tomorrow.

Doing errands

When we got home I played games. I started by doing the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Event. The event was Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 18 minutes and 30 seconds, which put me in 37th place in my group. I also did the Daily Challenge of Mahjong. I hadn't done any of these games in a very long time and had fun. Then I played Angry Birds.

I continued assembling the puzzle Majestic Winter Refuge. 

I worked out using the Synth Riders for 45 minutes. I played three games of pinball. The games were Big Buck Hunter Pro, Fun House and Fish Tales. 

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

Fish Tales

Fun House

Yesterday when we went grocery shopping we picked up a rack of baby back ribs, I barbecued them for dinner.

 

Pork Ribs

In the evening we watched Ghost In The Shell on Paramount +. It was a science fiction movie about making humans into robots. It was a weird movie. Afterwards I watched Fantastic Beast: The Crimes of Grindelwald. Then I started watching the second season of Hidden Assets. I ended up doing 17,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.

 

 

Friday 5-31-24 Errands, Jukebox, Dance & Games

 

Doing the happy dance

We had a gorgeous day with the high of 86 degrees. 

We started the day out by going to town to do a few errands. First stop was The UPS Store to check our mail and to return switches to Amazon. The switches were too large for the jukebox project. Next we went grocery shopping at Walmart. Then we went across the street to HEB to finish up the grocery shopping. On the way home we stopped by the Pentagon Credit Union to get some money.

 

Shopping at HEB

When we got home we did our everyday stuff. Larry continued working on his jukebox project and I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Event. The event was Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 12 minutes and 10 seconds, which put me in 12th place in my group. Then I moved onto playing Angry Birds.

I played three different games of pinball. I played Big Buck Hunter Pro, Blood Machines and Creature From the Black Lagoon. I haven't played Blood Machine since I had it as a weekly challenge of March 17th to March 23rd. I didn't do as well but had fun.

Big Buck Hunter Pro

Blood Machines

Creature From the Black Lagoon

For the next two weeks Di Green and Terry McCann are going to be in Sweden for their National Square Dancing Convention so they won't be calling virtually. This means I won't be dancing as much. I dance to them three times a week, on Monday C1, Tuesday A2 and Wednesday Plus. I decided to assemble another jigsaw puzzle. The puzzle is a Majestic 2000 piece puzzle called Winter Haven Refuge hivernal. I did the frame and a little more. The size is 39 inches X 27 inches.

Winter Haven Refuge frame

Winter Haven Refuge box

 

I worked out using Synth Riders for an hour.

In the evening I attended Ett McAtee's Weekly A2 dance at 6:30 for an hour. Ett called five tips to 13 participants. We just danced and redid sequences when necessary. It was a fun hour dancing with friends.

 

After the dance we watched a movie on Pluto called Miss Willoughby Haunted Bookstore. It was a cute movie starring Nathalie Cox and Kelsey Grammer. Then I continued watching Hidden Assets first season and finished it. It's a detective series on Acorn, where the Irish detectives work together with Berlin detectives to solve murders caused by terrorist bombings.Then I watched Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. I ended up doing 18,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.