Good morning!!!!

   / Good morning!!!! #114,361  
covid reports worrisome, particularly Texas. Not a good time to visit Houston it appears.
Nor a good time to slack off on being careful.
The young have always felt indestructible, but not so with this virus. Even if 80 percent come out fine,
must scare the heck out of those infected. Worst thing is to pass it around by being careless or selfish.
Have a close friend with a 99 year old Mother, just trying to visit her is a real stress producer for him.
I've now been tested four times, averaging about once every two weeks. One reason why this place is on lockdown, they are
really nervous about someone from outside bringing it in.

Sure hope they come up with effective vaccine. But we all know flu vaccines change every year, so how long will the effective one lasts
until some new strain comes in? Doesn't seem like any reassuring answers out there. Meanwhile we mostly spend time with family and try to avoid our friends.
Can only imagine the discussions to come before kids go back to school in August.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,362  
Our weather guy this morning forecasted beautiful sunsets next few days thanks to that Saharan dust.

IMG_5170.JPG
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,363  
The next few days sun rises and sun sets will be amazing with the Sahara dust.
Drew, they are already talking about schools being required to all wear face mask. The bubble is next, just google COVID bubble.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,364  
RNG, I have shelves and drawers full of recipe books and files. My wife liked to cook. Nobody wants them. They use the internet for recipes today.

Buckeye, hope your son got title transferred.

.

My wife has lots of recipe books, and of course the 3x5 cards. I wonder if my moms recipes are still sitting on the counter? My dad got rid of her clothes, but all her Knick knacks still sitting around.

Once son got his number called, it went quick. Was a $100 charge in addition to the 2 yr registration charge. He was only able to find an appointment for this month down in beltsville md. I haven’t been down that way in years. My first apartment when I moved to MD, just out of college was not too far up the road. The area has changed a lot in almost 40 years.
Went by my first house I owned, the middle brown townhouse. IMG_5168.JPG

Backed up to woods and a creek, nice little area.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,365  
Good morning to all! Some nearby passing showers last evening dropped the temps into the low 60s, which was a lot nicer than the 92 daytime high. No rain hit the ground. Today is going for 94, only a slight chance of an isolated t-storm.

Yesterday ‘ s errands were a success, got almost everything we had on the list. They get another truck in today, so might try to go later and get those couple of items. I have to make another trip into Costco for some more storage containers, they limit to 15. I have to get 5 more for us, and the son wants six. Then back to HD, a ceiling fan we ordered should be available for pickup.

Drew, glad you are able to settle into somewhat of a routine, even though it is probably only a small percentage of what used to be your normal. Nice that the staff is trying to lighten everyone ‘ s spirits.

Speaking of spaghetti, I really enjoy the wifeys Italian gravy, makes it from scratch every time. She will not allow any canned or jarred stuff in the house. But, on the flip side..... she says making the pasta from scratch is way too much work.... At least usually some homemade bread / rolls accompanies it.

RNG, you would probably rave over wifeys chicken noodle soup... all from scratch... except the egg noodles... I can eat it for days it is so good!

Ok, enough talking about food....

I hope Jay surfaces soon... I am becoming concerned....

Everyone have a great day!
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,366  
61°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 91° today. Humidity has remained pretty low this week, but a voice on the radio today suggested that will end tomorrow, and we'll settle into our normal hot and humid summer weather for awhile.

Weather and news people around here have been talking nonstop this week about the Saharan dust apocalypse this weekend. One weather guy chuckled about it, saying it actually happens about twice a year, and he has no idea why this one is getting so much press time.

Glad your farm transition is going smoothly for you, Drew. One less thing to worry about while you should be directing your energies towards healing. It's always a good thing to have reliable and trustworthy people who have your back.

Hope all is well with Jay.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,367  
70 going up to 86- Good morning all

Picked up Chainsaw from service center-new plug and carb adjustment - Gee I coulda done that-guess I was too tired when I did trouble shooting. Only $25 so not bad at all.

Got some pool time in, might be a leak so will start the search for a liner hole or , hopefully not, plumbing issue.

Frogs are starting to multiply, they are so off tune at night :)
No idea what this one is:yel2_20200624_174034.jpg

Drew sounds like you are settling in- Drinks on the house!

Jay is still missing? Hope all is ok.

Yesterday was a long day job day-hope to get a break to work on the spacers for the tractor today.

Stay safe and be well
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,368  
Garden club lady came by with wreath she made for the "summer wreath" contest they are having here.
She really did a nice job, all nautical so right up my alley. Calling it my North Carolina beach wreath.
 

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   / Good morning!!!! #114,369  
Good Morning!!!! 80F @ 8:00AM. Sunny. Hot. High 106F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

I like your new sig line, Ted. Only wish I could. Last night I woke up at about 1AM to a dark, stuffy room, and realized that the power was off! Grabbed a flashlight out of the headboard and went out into the garage, dark as a tomb on the solar power system control panel. I bypassed the solar power system to get the house powered back up, then noticed that somehow the main breaker on the battery had popped. No battery, no power, even though the grid was still connected to the system. Couldn't fall back to sleep, so wrote up my findings and sent them off to the contractor for his opinion. Sure doesn't inspire confidence, but at least I was able to get things online again. Hope you get some rain soon. There is none in the 10-day forecast here, but then I would be surprised if there were. We should be dry through September, and maybe even October the way things have been going the past few years.

I found this story on the big dust cloud interesting. It seems Florida and the Caribbean islands would be much the worse for wear without Africa's dust.

Another 8 cases of CV19 discovered in the county yesterday, bringing the total to 111. Still only one death. Part of that is through increased testing, something like 150 tests per day. At least they're quarantining the sick ones instead of having them run around loose and infecting more people.

Shovels make good snake medicine too, Buppies. Hope you get that one before it gets you!

Beautiful lily, Ron. Looks like an escapee from a garden! I think my mom's noodle recipe came from her mother, not gonna find that in a book. Also sure she used eggs and maybe even lard or Crisco, not something I'd use these days. Yet another "they don't make 'em like they used to" things.

Is your starter working better now, Don? Will they start up a water volleyball league once CV19 restrictions ease? Hope you can get to the root of that leak. I had a saw once that had a leak in the chain oil tank. Left a mess wherever I parked it.:muttering:

Hope your A/C troubles are an easy, and inexpensive, fix, Mike. Not the time of year to be going without A/C!

Glad your financial picture is settling out, Drew. Try not to be so anxious during the last days before closing, but it's hard not to worry even though there's little to be done if things go sideways. In Ohio, where I had to liquidate the family estate, they can get ALL of their deposit money back, seemingly no matter what the excuse. The staff at your facility sound very nice. You are lucky to have each other.:thumbsup: Clever wreath, Drew. Did she win first prize?

Those spaghetti westerns are still favorites, Eric. They're what made Clint Eastwood a star!

The inspector wouldn't sign off on the building permit without the placards, Bruce, so they'll have to come out for another inspection.:confused2: And PG&E won't let me hook the system up to the grid without doing their own inspection. It already is, but they punish you by charging you if you export any of your solar power onto the grid. The contractor explained that for power to go into the grid, the electricity going out has to be boosted to a slightly higher voltage than the electricity coming in from the grid. Makes sense, since voltage is the electrical equivalent of pressure. But problems crop up if more than one power exporter are on the same line. Once the first guy bumps his voltage up, the second guy has to bump his up more for his power to go out. Then the first guy has to bump his up again, and you get a runaway situation. :confused2:

I'm not sure there are any shunts monitoring current anywhere in this system, David. It seems like they're depending on the battery management system built into the battery bank to just take care of itself. After watching the battery voltage readings for a while now, I realize that they don't correlate very well to the data I posted yesterday, either. I suppose once I get the Tri Metric thingy, I can do my own battery characterization. But don't you have to do that anyway as the battery ages and looses capacity? Time for another round of Q&A with the contractor; it seems the more I learn the more I have to learn...

That fancy scrubber of yours does a real nice job on the concrete, Rick. What sort of brush is under that housing, and how long does it last?

Went up into the attic to see if I could find a start capacitor in the furnace blower motor yesterday, but didn't have any luck. I wonder if there is even a capacitor up there, as the only electricity going into the furnace housing is via a 120 VAC cord that plugs into a standard wall outlet that's been nailed to a 2x4. It's a York furnace, which google told me is now part of Johnson Controls, but due to CV19 they're not answering their phones these days. I left a message, and this morning shortly after 7, a real nice lady called to try to help me. I did find the model number inside one of the furnace doors, so I gave her that and in a few minutes she emailed me operator's and installation manuals. Haven't looked at them yet, but fingers are crossed. I had more luck out at the compressor, and got more make/model info and a GE part number off of that big fat capacitor. But I hit the jackpot when I found a place in town that had a replacement in stock that was on Carrier's list of blessed vendors, for less than I could find one for on the internet. I'll swing by there this afternoon while I'm in town chasing groceries.

It's already too hot for anything strenuous outside, so after breakfast I think I'll put the sprayer on the Kubota buggy and ride around squirting weeds.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!:dance1:
 
   / Good morning!!!! #114,370  
77F, mostly sunny, and breezy @ 12:30, high for the day expected to hit 79F. Expecting warmer temps (80's) for the 10 Day.

Big Orange Cat scratching at door to get in, now laying on the pull-out shelf next to me, happily purring away. Squeak has taken to demanding to be let out in the garage (with door down) every morning ... must be some little rodent fragrances out there ... :laughing:

Threw loader back on Kubota yesterday and got most of the downed branches picked up around the house - two loads placed on back brush pile and one on burn pile in upper field. Then got most of it mowed with the deck all the way up.

Also mowed some more on the front and have cut down about 1/2 of the "wood yard"

Even did some trimming with the Stihl FS 66 around back. The move to non-ethanol gas seems to be working very well.

Ran out to Subway to pick up lunch and swung by Dollar General and picked up a plastic container with lid for the grease gun. Hopefully that will keep it from drooling all over the place.

Have not seen much activity at the bird feeders - with the exception of the suet feeders where a Northern Flicker regularly visits. Hear the Phoebe calling almost constantly though ... it may have made its nest on top of the siren on the back of the house.

Kubota dealer called yesterday, seal kits for the lift cylinders are in and need to be picked up.

Called R. C. Musson Rubber yesterday and got a price on new hose for the lawn vacuum, need to swing by and pick that up - once I figure out how many feet I actually need.

Menards has extended their 11% rebate sale until June 27th, so need to swing by there as well and grab a few things I overlooked before that ends.

50% chance of a thunderstorm today, so might get to some of that if anything develops.

Also need to call and order that stinkin' coupling plate for the Simplicity Commercial Front Cut today ... as much as it will pain me to do it, at what I consider to be an utterly outrageous price.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day.
 

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