Busy day yesterday.

Location, Home, CA

Yesterday was a busy day!!! The tree trimmers came and started early. Before they arrived I pulled the 5th wheel out into the street which along with all the other vehicles made for a very cramped street for a few hours. As if we didn’t have enough vehicles on t he street, two of the neighbors had gardeners working at the same time.

All of the branches were piled on the slab where the RV normally sits until they had all the trimming done then they ran it all through the chipper. It took about 5 hours all told until they were done and gone.

Here are some before and after pictures of the tree. The first one is the tree with all its leaves on taken a month ago. The rest were taken yesterday. It is a lot less work when the leaves are off.

In the meantime, I took the truck in to have a safety recall done on it. They put a fuseable link in the cruise control circuit. I guess there have been some fires from leaking fluid. I tested it and the cruise still works for which I am thankful. I use it whenever I can to relieve the strain on my sciatic nerve in my right leg.

I picked the truck up in the afternoon and stopped at the hardware store to buy some galvanized bolts for the new woodshed door I am working on. This is another “gold plated” project. Prices are just “sky-high” on hardware.

I started prepping the new door jam for paint. I need to get at least a coat of primer on it before we leave.

Not everyone is as happy with the new front door color as I am. It is called "Hollyberry".

Today I worked more on the shed door, bought some pressure treated 2x4s, redid some of my earlier work around the door when I had no idea how I was going to build the door, and mounted 2 hangers in the woodshed for the long ladders. It takes more time to get out all the tools than it does to do the job. I told Clyda I am sure glad I don’t do physical labor every day as it would kill me. I am really out of shape I guess. What else is new?

Lots going on.

Location, Home, CA


Lots of things got done today. The installers came and replaced the front door with a new one. The door had been installed in November but had several flaws. The big box store decided to just replace it. This one has a different sweep on the bottom which is adjustable and closes so nice. I need to fill the screw holes and then prime and paint the jamb.

We also got a call that the gas log for the fire place I had ordered before Christmas was in so I picked it up while doing errands this afternoon. It took about 2 hours to install. It really looks good and the logs are made out of ceramic but look very real.

We got a call that the tree trimmers will be here tomorrow to trim our large Chinese Elm in the back. It really needs it. I will move the RV from the side of the house into the street so they can drag limbs out to the curb to grind them.

Tomorrow morning I will take the truck down for a safety recall. I will just drop it off. I think it takes about 15 minutes to do the work but they want it for a half day. I suppose they will charge Ford for that amount of time.

Frustration with a scanner.

Location, Home, CA

A whole week gone by and no entry to this journal. There hasn’t been a lot to write about.

We did have rain this week, about 3 inches worth I guess. It all helps. Everything is getting green already and of course the weeds are growing also.

I have spent way too much time playing with a new slide scanner I picked up at Costco the other day. It is a very small unit, which I like, but there are some problems with the scanning software. I have determined that for certain slides the copy gets changed which renders them unusable. It has to do with the predominant background of the slide. I have tried slides with different backgrounds but they still are not satisfactory.

A test using neighbor Paul’s scanner showed no problems copying the same slide.

I think I am going to bite the bullet so to speak and buy a good flatbed scanner that will also do slides. I really don’t need another flatbed scanner but if that’s what it takes to get good copies, so be it.

Neighborhood tree.