Leap Year

Yesterday morning I walked 3/4 of a mile down Hiawassee Road and waited for Fay at Westpointe Boulevard (across from Publix and the Metrowest Village Shopping Center). She came along to make a right turn, stopped, and I hopped in. That sure was better than walking!

The phones were moderately busy but I was able to easily keep up - I even had time to Internet surf. In the afternoon Evelyn came in and took over my computer - she had to install the latest version of AutoQuotes and import my email archive files. That took her about two hours.

I made an appointment for Buddy at Hiawassee Veterinary Hospital to get his bordatella vaccine at 12:30 pm on Saturday. I am sure he will not like that.

Fay gave me a ride back home in the evening but she warned me that she could not pick me up in the morning because she has a doctor appointment until 9 am.

After walking Buddy I went out to the garage and worked more on my wood project. I trimmed the ends of the finger pulls even with the front of the drawers and then started gluing up the drawers. I had to use four clamps on each drawer!

I trimmed down the filler pieces that go on the front of the box too, but did not glue them up because I need some of the clamps that are holding the drawers right now. I cleaned up as much of the glue squeeze-out as I could, but I will have to sand more of it off when I work on it again.

This morning I rode the bus to work. I got on the Number 21 bus across the street from my apartment at 6:26 am. It cost $1.75. I got a transfer ticket and rode down to the intersection of Conroy Road and Kirkman Road. I got off here and crossed to the 40 and 301 bus stop in front of Bank Of America. The transfer ticket is good for an hour and a half.

When the Number 40 bus came I got on it and rode down Conroy Road to Vineland Road. I got off here, stopped at 7-Eleven for some breakfast and walked the last two blocks to the office. I got to the office at 7:10 am - still better than walking!

Bob is picking me up after work this evening. I am not sure what we are doing. He said he got a turkey breast and carrots and potatoes for the slow cooker. I still have the bottle of wine he brought last weekend too.

We get paid tonight! Yay!

Orlando, FL

When the alarm sounded at 5 am I reluctantly got up and took Buddy for his walk. I put on sweatpants and yellow hooded sweatshirt (one I got in Detroit) because it was cool outside.

After we returned I had a bowl of hot oatmeal, took my shower, and dressed in black slacks, yellow FER button-down, thick white socks and my tennis shoes. I left the boots at home and lied when I told Fay I wore tennis shoes because my boots were wet - the real reason is because I have a blister on my right heel!

I walked to work in the cool breezy morning in my black raincoat and black knit cap. I actually got pretty warm and opened the coat. Several times I took the cap off, but then got too cold and had to put it on again. The walk to the office took 1 hour and 10 minutes. Craig was on his way out when I walked up at 7:20 am.

Work was very light. The phones were moderate, but I was able to get everything caught up and had time in the afternoon to goof off. Fay and I ordered pizza delivery for lunch and paid for it with the office petty cash. We got a great deal from Dominoes when they learned it was delivered to a business - the total went from $22.29 to $10.02! So we doubled the order!

In the evening Fay took me home, but we went to Pep Boys to get the needed master clutch cylinder. Tracy at Pep Boys did not have it instock and she said that their warehouse had it on backorder - it would take a couple weeks to a month to get one in! So Fay took me down the street to AutoZone. To my amazement AutoZone had it instock and I bought it then.

Buddy was glad to see me. He was good all day and was laying in his bed when I walked in. After changing into warm casual clothes again I took him out for his walk. I spent the evening reading the rest of Beyond The Zonules Of Zinn and got within 10 pages of the end!

Bob called shortly after 9 pm and I took the call in bed with the ear plug microphone. I was very tired - my legs and back were sore from my walk to the office!

Diem Horribilis

Uggh... What a shitty day!

After walking Buddy I returned to the apartment to smell the familiar hot-wiring smell that I thought was coming from the air conditioner. I noticed the computer going "click, click, click, click" and its lights flashing. I could not get it to turn off so I un-plugged it. When I pulled the computer out of its spot in the desk I could smell the burned insulation smell heavily -- the power supply burned up because it was full of dust.

On the way to work the clutch in the truck became harder and hard to disengage. I was "pumping" the clutch to get enough pressure to de-clutch and change gears. By the time I reached the office it would not disengage at all.

Work was okay enough. The phones were moderately busy and I kept up with work easily. At lunch I walked over to the local cafeteria because I did not want to drive the truck.

In the afternoon the winds picked up and clouds blew in. A storm warning was issued for our area. A tornado watch was issued until 11 pm too.

After work I started the truck and attempted to go home, but I could only get it into first gear. When I had to stop I could not disengage the clutch and then when it was time to go again I had a very hard time getting it back into gear. You can't drive all the way home in first gear. I pulled the truck back into the parking lot.

Craig came outside and asked me if I was stuck and I told him I was. He went back inside to continue a phone call. I called Bob, but then remembered that he had class on Tuesday evenings - actually, his phone picked up and I could hear conversations in the class around him. I called my old friend Ron, but he was over in Clermont driving in the storm that was on its way here.

I started out walking it home. The winds were picking up and the sky looked very threatening - it got so dark the street lamps came on! I got about 1/3 of the way home (it is 4 miles) when the rain started. I hid in a building door way waiting for the rain to let up and debated calling a cab with myself, but I only had $6 on me.

Eventually it did lighten up and I continued walking. I got a blister on my right heel from walking in the thin dress socks. I stopped at 7-Eleven and got cash from the ATM and a cup of hot coffee. Then I continued walking.

It was 7:10 pm when I got home. It took me two hours! First thing I did was get all of the wet clothes off and into the dryer, next I unloaded my messenger bag and put the contents out to dry. Then I got Buddy harnessed up and outside for a quick walk.

When I came in I called Pizza Hut to have a pizza delivered. I figured I could eat some for dinner and wrap the leftovers in foil and take it to the office for lunch the next day. The wait time I was told was 1 hour 15 minutes. It was never delivered. "I was told the wait was 1 hour 15 minutes, but I ordered the pizza two hours ago!" "Yes Sir, we've been running about 1 hour 15 minutes to an hour and a half... I don't see your order on the computer, so it must be out on the road somewhere."

The hot shower felt good.

Fay and Craig called looking for me. They were worried. Fay kept offering a ride to work in the morning and she said she would take me to Pep Boys and back home after work.

I called Dad and talked to him about the clutch. He said it sounded like I was doing everything right. Either there is air in the line or the master cylinder is bad too. I am going to order a new master cylinder this evening. He laughed at my bad luck and said, "Yup, there's gonna be days like this."

Bob wanted to drive me to/from work too, but I told him not to worry about me. He said that we can easily replace the power supply on the computer - it will only cost $10 - $15. We are still planning to clean my carpet this weekend and take Buddy to the vet for his bordatella vaccine.

Orlando, FL

The phones were not very busy on Friday. We were able to get some work done. All of the order entry was caught up. The total for the week was $291k... not a bad week at all. Hollywood had around $130k in orders.

When I got home I stopped at the garage to talk to Amy Lien about my frigid trip to Michigan. I noticed a black stitched up incision across her throat and remembered John saying something about her having a thyroid operation. I didn't mention it because I did not want her to feel self-conscious about it.

After a couple of minutes Bob drove up and got his stuff out of the car and started up the stairs. I went out calling after him. When we got into the house the first thing I did was start getting stuffed peppers ready. Bob mixed up the meat and oats mixture by hand while I chopped onions and cleaned the peppers. Right after we got the peppers into the oven we got Buddy harnessed up and out on the street for his walk.

The peppers had to bake for about two hours. We had a nice dinner of stuffed peppers, cottage cheese, French bread and butter, and a chilled merlot. We watched one of the movies Bob brought over on DVD.

My plans for the weekend included changing the clutch slave cylinder and bleeding the hydraulics and perhaps working on my wood project more.

On Saturday morning we got up and walked Buddy down to the Wal*Mart store. I got a few personal items, foil loaf pans, a package of chicken steaks, some milk, and some waffles. When we got home I made breakfast of Canadian bacon and waffles from the toaster oven. I used the last of the FER maple syrup too.

I put the steaks to marinate in a gallon Ziploc bag and laid them in the bottom of the refrigerator.

Around 10 am we went out to work on the truck clutch. It was raining so I pulled the truck half way into the garage and jacked it up off of the floor. I slid back under it on my back and started to take the old cylinder off. I only spilled a few drops on the floor. I caught most of the fluid in a foil loaf pan. Incredibly, only a few tablespoons of fluid came out. I put the new cylinder on and hooked the hydraulic line up, but I did not want to bleed the clutch in the garage on the floor with the truck frame heavily sitting on my chest.

We pushed the truck out and set the brake. I rolled my jack under it and jacked it back up and then crawled up under it on my back - in the rain. We started to bleed the hydraulics. Bob was inside the cab pumping the pedal and I was under the truck opening the bleeder nipple. As we did this I could see the output cylinder pushing more and more and the fluid started to come out steadily.

After pumping and bleeding about 10 times we put everything away and carefully took the truck out to test it. The clutch disengaged normally and we went around the neighborhood streets. The clutch operates normally when you push down quickly, but if you just lightly touch your toe to it the pedal drops from your foot. I figured air must still be in the system. The shop manual said to bleed into a clear jar with a length of tubing submerged in fluid. I guessed the system was sucking air back in each time I opened the bleeder nipple.

Back at the garage I worked on my project more. I needed to re-cut the front rail again, just a little thicker (3/32" thicker) so that the gap would close up between the top drawer and the rail. I made another one in about 2 hours.

For lunch we had left over stuffed peppers. I put some into a Ziploc bag to freeze for Bob to take with him.

Bob said we might bring his carpet shampooer over to my apartment next weekend and clean the carpet while Buddy stays back in his condo. That way the carpet can be cleaned and have some time to dry without me and the dog dirtying it up while it dries.

In the afternoon we went to Bed Bath & Beyond. I got a new shower shaving mirror. On the way back we stopped at Discount Auto Parts and got a One Man Bleeder Kit. It was meant for brakes, but it works for clutch hydraulics too. We made a trip to Skycraft too. I got some magnets, a soil pH meter, and a few other odds and ends.

We cooked the steaks on my little grill out on the balcony in the evening. Bob had to call some girl in his medical ethics class to discuss the paper they were supposed to write. We had steaks, onions and mushrooms, and asparagus for dinner.

On Sunday morning I got up and walked Buddy while Bob got up and showered. I made oat meal with brown sugar and "craisins" (cranberries) with yogurt and Canadian bacon. This was a clear and dry day... I should have delayed the clutch repair for today!

I hooked up the bleeder kit and we bled the system several more times. I think I got about 40 ml of fluid out. We took the truck out again and tested it again and it still behaves the same way! So, the master cylinder must need to be replaced too. I will order that next weekend when I get paid.

We ate lunch at Hurricanes. We had hot spinach-avacado dip with corn chips appetizer and then we had a sampler of chicken wings and four difference sauces. Their wings are very tasty, but they are a little expensive too.

In the afternoon we drove to Casselberry to visit the Woodcraft store. They had a sign out in front telling everyone that they were moving in July. They are moving to Highway 17-92 near 434. It will be a couple of miles closer! I got two cans of Delf Semi-Gloss Clear Wood Finish for my wood project. I wanted a scraper card, but the only scrapers I could find had handles on them and cost around $40. I wanted a small steel ruler too, but the 6-inch steel rule was $12.50 each! Bob found all of the different hardwoods they stocked interesting.

We took the scenic route back home and then took Buddy out for his walk. Neither of us was very hungry in the evening. We watched another movie on DVD. After the movie I sliced up the leftover French bread at an angle to make the slices longer and I made small grilled cheese sandwiches. Just enough to keep us from being hungry.

This morning I walked Buddy while Bob showered and got ready for work. I carried Bob's large bag down to the car and he went home and to work. Then I came back up and read the news, ate a can of yogurt, and got my own shower and shave.

Work today was light and the day seemed to fly by. It was another beautiful day with temps in the 80's. Hard to believe it, but we are facing temps in the 30's later this week!

At lunch I came home to find a huge new pile of mulch in the parking lot. The Mexicans will have to come back and get it put in the flower beds soon.

This evening I walked Buddy and then went to the garage to work on my wood project.

I had a hard time getting the drawers to fit and slide in when the box was clamped together. Lots and lots of sanding - sanding the box slides and sanding the drawer slots and drawer sides - got the drawers to the point where they would easily slide into the box. Perhaps I will glue the drawers together tomorrow night.

This project has been under construction since November. I would really like to get it finished in the next couple of weeks. I think that is almost possible. I think I will have it put together anyway, it will still need a finish on it.

Orlando, FL

Yesterday morning I got up in Comfort Inn, Mount Pleasant, MI, dressed, packed the suitcase, and rolled it out to the car. I had to spend about 20 minutes in the minus 4F morning cleaning frost off of the windows while the car warmed up. Then I drove up to the front desk and checked out.

The night auditor said, "Yeah, Old Man Winter only has a couple more weeks so he is trying to get his licks in..." to which I replied, "Well, I will be in Florida tonight, so you guys enjoy it!"

I let Tim know that I had a 1 pm flight and that I would be leaving around 11 am. He was fine with that. Sara Kirby announced to everyone that we could not take all of the full-color slide notes and training materials out of the building and that the stuff would be mailed to us. I just left it there. Incredible.

The drive to MBS Airport took about an hour. I was there at 12:37 - plenty of time for my 1:37 flight. I checked in electronically, printed a boarding pass, checked my suitcase, and then went through the TSA checkpoint. I read more of Beyond The Zonules Of Zinn while waiting for the plane to show up.

Finally it came in and rolled up to the gate. I watched the people deplaning and the second person off of the plane was Kevin Clark, President of Delfield! I guess he flies First Class.

On the plane there was a noisy family of two girls, mother and grandmother all flying to Orlando. I hoped that they would not be on my connecting flight and if they were that I did not have to sit near them! The flight to Detroit was short, but the approach was windy - crosswind. The plane was rocking steadily as we descended to the runway and just before touching down the plane tipped to the left alarmingly, but then the pilot leveled it again and we touched down!

In Terminal B a quick glance at the television monitor told me that the flight to Orlando was at Gate A64 and I immediately made my way there via the colorful "Disney Tunnel" and the numerous moving sidewalks.

They were already boarding when I got to the gate - there were alot of people to board on this Boeing 757. Every seat was filled on this flight. I was in Row 32 with an old Turkish woman next to me and a family of five from Iowa on their way to see Mickey Mouse and grandma and grandpa.

The air was dry in this plane and my throat and nose dried out. Also, I was wearing my hiking boots on this flight - big mistake. My feet began to throb and pinch and ache and there was very little I could do to help it!

The approach is always delightful when it is clear and you can spot landmarks. This one was no exception. I spotted the "jukebox building" in Altamont Springs first. We flew parallel to I-4 and I could see all of the familiar roads and buildings. I could see Florida Hospital's new tower, the buildings of downtown and Lake Eola with the fountain spraying down there!

We were on the ground at 5:50 pm. I called Bob and he was on his way to the airport from work. I told him I would call again when I got my suitcase. So I headed to the main terminal building and baggage claim. It took awhile to get my bag and then I called Bob again, "I am at Terminal B and there is a sign that says '23 and Northwest', I will be on the curb". He was there in less than two minutes.

Bob said he had a class that evening so he wanted me to drop him off, take his car back home, walk Buddy, shower, and then come back at 10 pm to get him. Easy enough.

Buddy was thrilled to see me. His tail was wagging like crazy and he jumped up and kissed my nose and my forehead. I changed into shorts and t-shirt and took him for a nice walk in the 70F evening. After the walk I got a shower and I vacuumed Bob's house to get some of the pet hair up. Bob said that Buddy behaved really well for him.

Bob called early and said class was cancelled because everyone was sick and asked me to come get him so I did that. Bob was still sick too - he was taking Amoxicillin to combat a sinus infection. I stayed the night and we set the alarm clock.

This morning I carried everything down to my truck and drove home. While I was away the apartment management cut down the oak tree infront of my balcony. I parked next to the building and put the hazard lights on flashing while I carried suitcase, bags, and Buddy into the house. Then after putting food and water out for the dog, it was time to get to the office.

I found a big pile of orders on my desk that Fay had sent to the factories - these still needed to be logged and copies made for Hollywood. There was also a big pile still on the fax machine and another shorter pile of orders that Fay did not feel like checking so she left them for me. The Monday UPS package did not get sent to Hollywood either. Also, Debbie left two very large boxes at my desk for me to phone in return pick-ups to FedEx. She really could have done that herself.

When Fay came in I asked her to hold my calls until around 10 am and she was agreeable with that because the baby would need to be fed then. I worked like a madman to get everything caught up. Amazingly, by 10 am I was working on today's new orders! I got a huge amount done.

It rained today off and on - a walrm front went through.

I am tired. My throat is sore, and I think I might have a sinus infection too.

I got green peppers and cottage cheese at Publix after work. Now I am thawing some hamburger out to make stuffed peppers this weekend. It is nice to think that tomorrow is already Friday!

This weekend I am changing the clutch slave cylinder on the truck and I am working on my wood project some more. I know this weekend will go by quickly.

Mt Pleasant, MI

Yesterday morning I woke up to my portable travel alarm clock quietly, yet insistently beeping. I cancelled it and then the hotel alarm clock went off. The hotel alarm was more obnoxious - very effective at waking sleepy travelers, I guess.

I showered and dressed in my yellow FER shirt and black slacks and carefully drove to Delfield over the frozen and horribly pot-holed roads. Sara Kirby was supposed to be bringing breakfast to all of the reps in the morning, but I stopped at a 7-Eleven to hedge my bets on that one. I got a sandwich and a couple of bottles of Coke Zero.

It turns out I was very early for the training - an hour early. I sat in the lobby for awhile and then Sara showed up. I went with her and had to be her "door opener" as she carried boxes of donuts and bagels through the factory to a training and conference room at the back.

The building is huge. You really only notice the offices when you drive up, but the factory behind covers acres and acres. They have forklifts and little golf carts driving around inside.

Sara and Jason Hartman continued setting the conference room up while I looked around at the equipment on display in there. Soon the other reps began arriving. Some of them flew in to Chicago and rented a limousine and drove up last night getting in around 11 pm!

We had the usual introductions of the big wigs and long, boring presentations about all of the product lines. I did not take pictures of anyone. This factory seems very uptight, almost as if it has an inferiority complex.

There is a door from the conference room that lead directly outside. You have to go outside to make cellphone calls because the conference room doubles as the factory tornado shelter! Everytime the door would open a cold breeze would blow in! Poor people who went outside discovered that the steel door did not have a door knob on the outside!

Lunch was provided by Fazoli's. We faced boxed lunches marked "Beef", "Turkey and Cheese", "Ham and Cheese", etc. There were also salads and cheese cake. I asked Sheri Noordhof to take me upfront to Sales so that I could see "The Maeder Babe" or "The Maedernator" as Denise Maeder is affectionately called. I got to meet all of the girls in Sales - Denise, Ann, Julie, Melissa, and then Denise took me around to meet everyone else - Parts, Service, Sales Engineering, and alot of other people I did not know.

"You mean you gave up lunch to come up and meet Denise?" "Oh yeah, I can eat anytime, but I can only meet Denise once!"

I met Norma Jones at the front desk before heading back to the training room. Norma was so happy to meet me. She asked me where we were eating that night and promised me she would be there.

We suffered through an afternoon of more boring product presentations. You could tell everyone was getting tired because it quieted down. We talked about Versa-Drawer and Tim wanted to know why it wasn't selling. "People are really talking about it, they love the various functions it can perform, they are asking questions about it, then they see the price and they fall over."

I guess Delfield doesn't want to hear that an expensive piece of equipment that cost them alot to develope is too expensive. That's one of the problems with these factory visits -- the factories only want the hear an echo chamber and if you say something they do not agree with they get pissed off.

For dinner we met at Coco Joes, a Caribbean-pirate themed restaurant, at 6:30 pm. We had over 30 people in our group. I was tired and did not want to go out, but I knew Norma wouldb be there looking for me so I had to go.

Sure enough, Norma was there and she brought Sue Lowe with her. Sue used to work at Delfield a few years ago, but she quit and worked in real estate for awhile, and now she is working at Randell - Delfield's fierce competitor 12 miles down the road! I got up and sat with Norma and Sue at their table.

Norma could tell that she was not wanted there. She said that Sheri, Sara, and Karen all shot her dirty looks. She made me promise not to make noise about it because they are looking for a reason to fire her. Well, maybe, just maybe, she shouldn't have invited herself out to dinner with us? She made sure Tim Wilcsak knew that they did not charge their meals to Delfield. Tim said he wouldn't have cared if they had, but you know that somebody would have cared.

I hope none of them say a peep to me about dinner last night. I am not good at holding my tongue. I rejoined the group after everyone left and was all smiles. Karen flashed me one of those catty smiles.

Weather conditions were worsening so I left 20 minutes later. It was snowing and the wind was blowing. The thermometer inside the car said the outside air temperature was 19F. The good thing is that the hotel was only 1.5 miles down the road.

Back in the hotel room I phoned Bob to make sure Buddy was being good for him. Bob said that he is keeping Buddy on a short leash during their walks and that keeps Buddy from running off to chase things. He said that it sounded like Buddy was having a dream last night - he could hear t he dog whimpering and making noises in his sleep! Bob said that he had a dream last night and yelled out "STOP!" real loud and that woke the dog up!

I am glad Buddy could stay with someone he knows and be comfortable instead of having to go to a noisy kennel with strange people and strange dogs and have a chance of catching kennel cough or parasites.

After my phone call I read more of my next book, The Zonules Of Zinn - an anatomic tour of the brain and nervous system.

The bed in the room is too soft - has a deep matress pad on it and the pillows are too soft too. I am not sleeping well. Although I do not have the heat on the room is very warm too. I will be glad to get back home.

I checked my email and sent responses to those that I could respond to. Others I forwarded to Fay or Craig to handle. It seems like Fay is doing a good job of handling emailed requests. I hope my purchase orders are being placed.

Tonight we are taking a large group of reps and Delfield personnel to The Cabin for dinner. The group is supposed to be about 60 people.

Tomorrow afternoon I return to Florida. Although I know there will be alot of work on my desk, I will be glad to be out of this cold snow and back to my own bed.

Mt Pleasant, MI

Buddy and I spent Friday evening at Bob's. Bob took me out to eat prime rib on Friday evening as payback for the flowers sent on Valentine's Day.

On Saturday morning we called Hunter Fans and spoke with Technical Service about the thermostat. The service agent, Trey, had us move the orange wire and install a jumper between Y1 Terminal and W Terminal - voila! It was working in AC and Heat after that!

We walked over to Panera for lunch. There were lots and lots of dogs out because of the Central Florida SPCA Paws In The Park fair at Lake Eola. By the time we got over to the park they were taking the fair down! Poor Buddy - he missed the dog fair!

On Saturday evening Bob made a nice Greek-inspired salad and we heated up a frozen lasagna for dinner with a focacia bread we got at Panera. That was a very good dinner!

This morning we got up at 5 am and walked Buddy. Then we had coffee and cold cereal for breakfast. Then we left Buddy in the house and Bob drove me to the airport. I did the self-check-in on the computer and checked my suitcase. Took my boarding pass and went to the Transportation Security Administration "Security Theatre". It is so ridiculous what they make you do in the name of security.

My flight originated at Concourse B, Gate 39. It was a Boeing 757. We took off to the south over Kissimmee and then turned east and the north following John Young Parkway. We passed over I-4 at Conroy Road. I could look down and see the little buildings downtown!

Twenty minutes later we were flying over Jacksonville, FL and then we were over Georgia. Soon it became cloudy beneath us and I could not see where we were. It got a little turbulent near the end of the flight and as we descended into Detroit you could see snow-covered farms and highways. We landed without incident at Detroit-Wayne County International and pulled the plane up to Concourse A.

The airport at Detroit is very large. There was a shiny black train running up near the ceiling from one end of Concourse A to the other end! There were plenty of moving sidewalks too. My next flight was in Concourse B and I had to descent a long escalator, pass through a long colorful tunnel with moving sidewalks, and then up some long escalators on the other side. There was an Einstein's Bagels at the top of the escalator in Concourse B.

I got a turkey sandwich, water, and bag of chips. I called Bob to let him know I was okay. He said that Buddy stood by the front door when he returned and he cried for about 20 minutes. Maybe the dog actually misses me.

I tried to call Becky and Bill, but Pat answered the phone and said they had gone out to eat. She said she would let them know I called.

At Gate B-11 there was a small plane boarding a flight, Flight 3451 to Saginaw. My flight was 3431 and was not scheduled for another 2 hours. They were trying to put stand-bys on that flight, but I did not do it because I wanted my checked bags to arrive with me.

Around 1:15 they began boarding the little Embraer jet. The flight was supposed to last 55 minutes, but that included taxi time. Actual flight was about 20 minutes long. Believe it or not - it took longer to claim our luggage at MBS Airport than the flight lasted!

I rented my car before I went for the bag. The girl at the Avis counter said that she didn't have any cars available, then she kept asking me if I was with Dow Chemical, "Well, you really LOOK like you are with Dow Chemical ." I told her that I would wear my tie when I returned the car.

I got a 2008 Hyundai Sonata. It was nice for rental car - it has the key fob to lock and unlock doors, pop the truck, it has cruise control, XM radio, MP3 player, lots of nice stuff! I headed out of the airport into the rain. Lots of snow, ice, and slush on the roads and I faithfully followed my Mapquest.com driving directions to Mount Pleasant.

At Comfort Inn I checked in and met some of the other reps coming in for Delfield 101 Rep Training. At 6 pm I went to the Bennigan's in the front of the hotel and ate dinner with Sara Sundermann-Kirby (marketing), Sheri Noordhof, Tim Wilcsak (product manager), and Kevin Clark (president).

Some of the guys were planning a trip to a local casino, but I decided that was exactly what I did not want to do. With temperatures plummeting toward zero tonight, the roads are going to be treacherous tonight. I do not want to spend the night in a ditch!

Valentine's Day

The rainy blustery weather cleared out and it was a cooler, but gloriously clear sunny day today.

Pep Boy's phoned again this morning to ask me to come in and get my clutch slave cylinder. So I did that on my lunch. Replacing it will have to wait until I get back from Michigan.

The order of flowers I got from Proflowers.com were delivered to Bob around 11:48 AM. Bob sent me a Valentine's Day e-card after 2 PM. The animation had sound and of course Fay came running down the hall, "What's that? Did Carolina send you a Valentine's Card? She always sends stuff like that!" I let her think that.

Evelyn was in the office and sitting at my desk when I returned from lunch. She got our anti-virus updated and a subscription for two years on three machines, but I don't think she fixed anything else that I had on my list for her - she was too distracted by the baby.

I soaked my plants really good and I started laundry this evening. I got my big suitcase out of the closet and began packing for Mount Pleasant this morning. Fay said that I could probably leave early tomorrow afternoon.

Orlando, FL

Fay returned to work today, but her son called about four (4) times during the day. She had the baby with her too. She was in a good mood (after a four-day-weekend I guess so!) and it was easy to be in the office with her today.

Craig phoned from Poughkeepsie, NY this morning. It snowed lastnight and he was waiting for the snow plow to get him out of the parking lot! LOL! He hates the wintry weather.

It was a blustery day for us in Florida - windy, cloudy, and occasionally heavy rains. Now that the front is past it is getting very cool outside. The humidity is dropping too.

I think the AC is broken in my apartment - it is almost 80 F in here, but it is 55 F outside. The fan seems to be hardly blowing any air. I will call maintenance for it and maybe they can fix it while I am out-of-town next week.

Buddy is going to stay with Bob while I am in Michigan. I am sure he will be fine in the house. I am only worried that Buddy will give Bob trouble during the morning and evening walk - Buddy is a strong dog!

Itinerary - Delfield Trip

Date: Sunday, Feb. 17
Flight: NW 433
Departs: Orlando-Int'l, FL (MCO) at 8:18 AM
Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 11:03 AM
Class Of Service: Economy Class (Q)
Seat: 32-F Window
Flight Duration: 2 hours 45 minutes
Approximate Miles: 957
Meal Service: Snack Box ($5)
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200

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Date: Sunday, Feb. 17
Flight: NW 3431
Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 1:49 PM
Arrives: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, MI (MBS) at 2:44 PM
Class Of Service: Economy Class (Q)
Seat: 11-D Window
Flight Duration: 55 minutes
Approximate Miles: 96
Meal Service: None
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ900

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Date: Wednesday, Feb. 20
Flight: NW 3618
Departs: Saginaw/Bay City/Midland, MI (MBS) at 1:37 PM
Arrives: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 2:28 PM
Class Of Service: Economy Class (Q)
Seat: 10-D Window
Flight Duration: 51 minutes
Approximate Miles: 96
Meal Service: None
Aircraft: Bombardier CRJ900

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Date: Wednesday, Feb. 20
Flight: NW 422
Departs: Detroit-Wayne County Int'l, MI (DTW) at 3:17 PM
Arrives: Orlando-Int'l, FL (MCO) at 5:50 PM
Class Of Service: Economy Class (Q)
Seat: 35-F Window
Flight Duration: 2 hours 33 minutes
Approximate Miles: 957
Meal Service: None
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200

Mile-High Club

One Valentine's Day, the lavatory call light began blinking, and soon the bell began sounding off rhythmically. The crew members all looked at each other and wondered if it could be ... naaah. We investigated anyway. Sure enough, moans were coming from the left-hand lavatory.

"Are you OK?" we asked in a low voice, but no response came from the lavatory.

The bell kept ringing, now at a faster pace. We opened the door, as we are required to do, and found two new members of the Mile-High Club, stark naked, unaware that they were bumping against the call button. The lady spotted us first and began to scream, causing the man to whisper, "Sshhhh! Somebody will hear us...."

My 90-year-old grandmother once asked me about the Mile-High Club. She had heard the term and thought it was some sort of frequent-flier club, good toward mileage points. I explained as delicately as possible.

"Sex in an airplane bathroom!" she exclaimed. "Why that's impossible. I've been in one, and there isn't enough room to brush your hair, much less lie down."

Too bad my flight is after Valentine's Day... but, hey, it's never too late to join!

Orlando, FL

Today was another good day.

It was cloudy when I took Buddy out for his walk. I had to keep him closed up in his crate when I left because the apartment management requested it so City Of Orlando official and Summit Staff could inspect my apartment. They never said what they were looking for.

Fay did not come to work today either. She had to stay home and watch her convalescing son and her grandson. Tough life she has. I am not lifting a finger to do any of her work either. She can find some work on her chair when she returns for a change.

Nick Baranet came down from Deland to "help" me with the phones. Nick was listening to right-wing talk radio, Internet surfing, and I even caught him sleeping! Then he wanted to discuss politics and the election. Dear God! He is so distracting - worse than being there alone.

After lunch I brought Buddy back to the office with me. Although it was boring in the office it had to be better than being cooped up in the crate at home.

It rained in the afternoon. Weatherman predicts strong storms with wind, rain, and hail tonight. There is a tornado watch on for most of Central Florida this evening.

This evening I pressed my FER shirts for my trip to Delfield. Then I put together some peanut butter cups using crunchy peanut butter, powdered sugar, and crushed graham crackers. I packed this mixture into pre-cast chocolate cordial cups and topped them with melted milk chocolate from the double boiler. Now they are in the freezer setting up.

Supposedly Fay will be back in the office tomorrow and things will be getting back to normal. I think I like it better with her away.

Bob has a class this evening and it won't finish until 10 pm. He said he'd phone me on his way home. We won't be talking very late.

Orlando, FL

Today was a great day!

The alarm went off at 5 am and scared both of us senseless. Then after another 15 minutes of snoozing we got up. I sent Bob to the shower and I harnessed Buddy up for our walk.

It was chilly out! I think it was 48F this morning and you could see your breath when you exhaled. Thank God the air was still. I think a breeze would have sent me back into the house for a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and knit cap.

When we returned Bob was packing his stuff into his bag. Just the thought of returning to work and dealing with stupid people again was enough to turn my stomach, but as it turned out, it was not that bad...

When I got to the office I found that the Chik-Fil-A Fairie had been in over the weekend - there were Chik-Fil-A coupons and a $20 bill in my chair!

I kept waiting and waiting for Fay to pull up... finally at 8:15 am she phones in. "Yes, Vince, did you get my message?" No, I do not check the answering machine when I come in the door..."well, I'm not going to be in today. I've been here in the Emergency Room with my son, Lennox, all night. He is going to have an emergency appendectomy this morning!" I told her not to worry, that things were going just fine. She said she called Debbie and asked her to stop by and check on me - and that's about all Debbie did too.

The phones were about average today and I stayed continuously busy. Nothing at all as bad as I imagined it would be. I was glad it was quieter in the office today!

Craig phoned in during a break from his class at CIA - Culinary Institute of America to report to me that it was 11 F in New York this morning. Well, isn't that lovely? More snow is on the way too! Better stay inside there Craig!

At lunch I came home and at leftovers from dinner lastnight and I got Buddy out of his crate. Since Fay and the baby were not in the office and it was just me I saw no reason why Buddy couldn't come to the office with me, so I took him.

I think everything was caught up around 2:30 pm and I was able to surf the Internet and play with the dog some in the afternoon.

During our evening walk Buddy jumped over to the bushes and came out crunching down on something. I yelled, "Drop it!" He dropped something but it did not move away quickly... finally I saw a brown rat that Buddy had been crunching on! He broke its back and it was slowly crawling to the edge of the sidewalk dragging its back legs behind it. Ugghh.

With the dog walk out of the way I went to the garage to work on my wood project. Tonight I had to measure where the dados would be cut into the drawer sides to fit the drawers into the box properly. I made a couple more pieces of scrap about the same size as the drawer sides to make test cuts on. I think I used six of them working to get it right.

The drawers are dry fitted up right now and hanging in the box. There is a 1/16 inch reveal between each drawer and the bottom of the box. The only disappointment was that I cut the front rail about 3/32 inch too short. I am going to re-cut that piece so that the gap between the top rail and the top drawer is 1/16 inch too. After doing that I will begin gluing everything together.

How the box will look when it is finished is starting to take shape. I will take another picture of my progress and post it here soon.

I still have a long way to go - lots of sanding and fitting, but I made good progress tonight without ruining any existing parts. It is a good thing I buy extra lumber when I build these projects -- you can count on me to mess things up and have to do it again.

If I did not have to go to Michigan next week I think I could have it done by the end of next week. As it is, I want to have it done by March and I think I can do that.

After sweeping the sawdust out of the garage I emptied the big trash can in the garage. I think that big lawn and leaf bag has been in there since October and it was bulging full. I carried it walking down to the dumpster and threw it in.

Tonight I should go to bed early and read. I would like to get The Black Swan finished soon too.

Weekend

I got up Saturday morning and walked Buddy. I left Bob in bed and told him to continue sleeping or get his shower.

When we returned from the walk we got ready to go out. We went to The Breakfast Club on Pine Street downtown. Everytime we go there we have to ask for the Splenda. They hoard it. I called them on it this time. I bet they have it on the table next time we go in.

After that we went to Bob's house to make a few home improvements. First we installed a new drain on his bathroom sink. The old stopper had broken and would not raise and lower from the lever. I easily undid the plastic drain piping and removed the old drain, put the new on in, screwed everything tight again and was elated when it worked fine - no leaks!

Next we started work on replacing the mercury switch thermostat with a new digital thermostat. Here we ran into some problems... we did not find the wiring on the back of the old thermostat as described in the instructions for the new thermostat. We were successful in getting the AC to work, but then the heat would not work. We would swap wires and get the heat working, but then no AC. We are going to have to call Hunter Fans and speak with Technical Service about this one.

After we left Bob's house we went to Millenia and browsed the Home Depot Expo Design Center. There is no way I can afford that store, but I get great ideas when I walk through there. We spent two hours in there looking at fixtures, tile, countertops, cabinets, appliances, and everything really.

Then we drove over to Bloomingdale's where I purchased a bottle of Tom Ford's Black Orchid cologne for an obscenely expensive price. This cologne has a wonderful full scent with tones of sandalwood and floral notes. Good stuff is expensive.

From the Men's Department I found a Puma shoulder bag that I decided I needed. This bag was "only" $39, so it looked like a bargain in Bloomingdale's! The one I got was the last one in the store.

After our trip to Bloomingdale's we headed back to my house to walk Buddy. After Buddy's walk I was hungry for dinner, but Bob could not decide what he wanted, so I got a shower and we did not eat dinner. Instead we watched Blood Diamond on the DVD player. After we finished at 11 pm we went right to bed.

This morning I made a big breakfast. Coffee, scrambled eggs for Bob, over medium for me, Canadian bacon, mandarin oranges, and from a package of blueberry muffin mix I made blueberry pancakes. It was very tasty and filling.

We went to SuperTarget to get a few grocery items for Bob and then we went to his house to continue tinkering with the thermostat. We still could not get it to work properly.

On the way back to my house we stopped at The Octopus car wash to get his Nissan Xterra cleaned up. When we got back to my house I started a dinner of chili and we took Buddy out to walk.

For dinner we had a bottle of Bonterra Cabernet Savignon and a hearty chili of beef, onions, celery, diced tomatoes, black beans and red beans. It was served with a big dollop of sour cream in the center and a plate of thick-sliced sundried tomato bread and butter. Very tasty.

We are going to watch another movie tonight, sleep, and face the work week again. Funny how we used up all of our time and I did not get a chance to work on my wood project this week. I will find time during the week to work on it.

Friday!!!

Today was a medium-busy day for phones.

Fay transferred 18 .tif files to me by email for .pdf conversion because she is too dumb/lazy to do it herself. When it was done she thanked me and said, "That's team work!" Well, what I want to know is, why is it when I need something I hear, "That's part of your job", but when she needs something done it's "team work"? Huh? Anyone?

I put a roast in the crock pot with onions and celery last night. This morning I added fingerling carrots and canned new potatoes. The roast will have been cooking for 20 hours by the time we dig into it.

Craig was in despair that we only had $145k in orders by lunch. We ended the day with $248k and I had another $30k on my desk that needed to be checked. Hollywood did over $400k this week. It ended up being a great week.

Bob came over and was parking as Buddy and me started our walk. We walked back upstairs so Bob could put his things in the house and then we took our walk. When we returned we got ready for dinner. Bob brought a bottle of Ray's Station merlot. We were in bed around 10 pm and watched Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere.

Orlando, FL

Phones at work are starting to let up and I am grateful because I am finally able to update the Dealer Discount Spreadsheet, file orders, pull orders from all files that are over two years old, re-organise some of the special accounts files, and all of the other special jobs I am asked to do.

Fay is concerned that the phones are quiet - she is afraid it is a sign that business is about to slow down. A recession is coming, no doubt, everyone is looking for signs to prove it. Craig pointed out that a dealer in south Florida had to fire two people this week - a self-evident sign of a slow-down. I told him that I am surprised more people don't get fired... as incompetent as some of our dealers are I am surprised they stay in business.

Dinner To You was in the Test Kitchen again today with Debbie. They were testing their food on the Impinger conveyor oven with a different finger panel set up today. They were gone when I returned from lunch and we didn't get free food this time.

Today was cloudy and it rained a little bit. However, the front stalled and weather was nice enough at The Cape for Atlantis to launch for the International Space Station today. I did not go outside to watch it because I did not know what time it was scheduled and whether it would be scrubbed.

At lunch I stopped at Pep Boys and ordered my clutch slave cylinder. It is a special order and will not be in until next Thursday - Valentine's Day. Looks like I won't get around to installing it until I return from my trip to Michigan.

On Tuesday night I was working on my wood project and had a set back. I noticed that I made the drawer sides and back too low! I had to scrap them, re-cut them, and plane them down to 1/4 inch thick again. Then I had to cut dados in the sides to receive the backs and I had to cut a 1/8 inch dado to receive the drawer bottom panel. I did this over the past two nights and have lungs full of maple dust, but the drawers are dry-fitted together tonight!

Next I need to carefully measure where the dados are cut on the outsides of the drawers. These dados slide on the slides glued into the box sides. You have to measure carefully where these cuts are made so the drawers don't hit each other and a 1/16 inch reveal is left above and below the drawer.

I want this wood project done by the end of the month. I will be gluing the box and the drawers up soon. Then I need to finish sand it and get ready to apply the finish to it. With that done I will put the hinges on the lid and mount it on the box. Last thing to do is lay felt in the top and in the drawers and put pads of felt on the bottoms of the feet.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yay! Bob is coming over tomorrow night and we are having pot roast with celery, onion, carrots, and potatoes. I think Bob is bringing dinner rolls. On Saturday we are replacing his bathroom sink drain and AC thermostat. Perhaps working on my wood project some too.

Orlando, FL

Today was a quieter day on the phones in the office. That helps when I still have a list of things to get caught up.

During lunch today I went to All Transmission World in Winter Garden. The mechanic said that my clutch fluid is definitely contaminated and that the seals in the master, slave, or both cylinders are leaking by. He took it out for a test drive and came back to report that the clutch is slipping a little. What he described sounds like what it's done since I bought it.

The manager, Rusty, said he will drop the transmission and inspect master/slave cylinders, fork lever, clutch plate, pressure plate, flywheel and anything else he can see so that he will only replace those parts that need to be replaced. He will charge $285 for that service, but then I will have to buy the replacement parts and new fluid. He said the work will take two days to do.

Bob and I are working out a way to drop the truck off. Bob can stay here with me and Buddy and drive me to work the couple of days that the truck is worked on.

Today was Shrove Tuesday, and National Pancake Day, but IHOP will be observing it next Tuesday, Feb 12 to avoid Super Tuesday and voting. I guess IHOP was unsuccessful in their negotiations with The Vatican to have Lent moved this year.

Orlando, FL

The alarm went off at 5 am and I got up, dressed, gathered all of our stuff up, harnessed Buddy, and was on the road by 5:30 am. When we got home I carried everything in and took Buddy for his morning walk.

Busy morning.

Showered, dressed for work, put Buddy into his crate, and left for work. Buddy had to be crated today because the apartment was going to come in with an electrician to inspect and pets had to be secured.

Busy morning at the office. Started off with a big pile of orders. The new MS Office 2007 is taking some getting used to.

Dinner To You is returning to our Test Kitchen on Thursday, Feb 7 and Florida Hospital Food Service will be in on Friday, Feb 8 to test a Merrychef oven.

At lunch I stopped at Subway and got a Ham and Turkey on wheatbread and then parked in front of my garage. I first looked for my old USB hub in a box of old computer junk. I could not find it. Next I called transmission garages for estimates on replacing the clutch. Estimates varied from $450 to $700.

I made a lunch appointment with a garage in Winter Garden tomorrow. The mechanic wants to drive the truck and check it out. He thinks it might be a master-slave hydraulic problem and not a clutch problem. If it is, he said it will likely be a lot cheaper to fix! I think he might be right about the master-slave cylinder issue. I just know that I will be happy when it is finally fixed.

When I returned to the office the MetLife blimp was flying parallel to I-4 and I went back outside with my camera and snapped pictures of it (seen here).

This was a long day and I had a throbbing headache by the end of the day. Buddy got his walk and I had a small dinner. I had to balance my checkbook and get this blog caught up.

Maybe tomorrow evening I will work in the garage on my wood project some more. I need to keep making progress on it.

Super Bowl Sunday

Around 6:30 am Buddy started making whimpering sounds so I knew I had to get up and get him downstairs and on the street. I took him down by myself.

When I came back up Bob was up and making coffee in the French press coffee pot we got at Ikea. That coffee was very strong! We had leftover quiche with bagels and strawberry-flavored cream cheese and potatoes with onions for breakfast.

I know Buddy wanted to come with us, but we closed the bedroom door and left his "bed" in the dining room next to the window when we left around 11:30. Bob headed up Mills Avenue - Hwy. 17-92. He pointed out that it runs all the way to Daytona Beach. With all of the traffic lights I was hoping he didn't intend to drive it all the way there!

We drove to Sanford and stopped at Flea World - the world's largest indoor, air-conditioned flea market! We wandered through this monstrously big flea market looking for bargains. I got a small volt-ohm-milliamp meter for $2, a package of colored Sharpie markers for $1, and we ate lunch in there.

After Flea World we drove over to I-4 and went to Daytona Beach to see Tom and Louise - his parents at the nursing home. Both of Bob's parents are in their 80's and each has their own age-related problems. Incredibly, in my 39 years, that was my first time in a nursing home! We stayed and visited until 4:30 pm, then we headed back to Orlando.

We stopped at Lowe's in Altamonte to get some small wood clamps for my project, some spray silicone for Bob's car bumper, a 10" clay flower pot to re-pot his poinsettia in, a new bathroom sink drain with built-in stopper, and a new AC thermostat. Sink drain and thermostat will be next weekend's projects.

Buddy got his walk immediately after we got back to the house. In Eola Lake Park we saw a small group huddled around something fat, slithering, and brown on the ground. We went over to investigate the 16-foot-long Burmese Python that someone was "walking" in the park.

When we returned to the apartment I heated up some leftover quiche for dinner. After dinner we layed on the sofa and watched a movie, The Skeleton Key, and went to bed around 10:30 pm after setting the alarm clock for 5 am.

Groundhog Day

After an early morning walk with Buddy I made eggs for breakfast -- scrambled for Bob and over-medium for me. I found some frozen waffles in Bob's freezer and made those in the toaster oven. I think it was a satisfying breakfast.

Once breakfast was out of the way I got the tools out and rugs put down on the kitchen floor and started work on the dish washer again. We got it pulled out from the cabinet, put the new pump-motor assembly on easily. Hooked all the hoses back up, plugged the motor in, plugged the cold water solenoid in, pushed the machine back under the counter, screwed it to the bottom of the counter, wired the power wires up again, and proceeded to test it while watching underneath with a flashlight.

It started up and worked like a charm! I was pleased. The only problem was that the door seal was leaking and dripping on the floor. I opened the door and coaxed the upside-down "U" shaped gasket down in the groove it sits in. The gasket shrank a little from non-use. When we loaded the dishes into the machine it worked perfectly.

Bob said he was going to use "Air Dry" only from now on. He said that switching to air drying from heated drying made a $75 difference in his electric bill!

The next big thing we want to do in his kitchen is swap over-the-range cabinet and over-the-fridge cabinet so that an over-the-range microwave can be put in. He has some beautiful curly maple-faced cabinets in the kitchen.

With the dish machine fixed we went to Super Target for groceries. Put those at my house and then went back for a trip to BJ's Wholesale Warehouse. Before BJ's we stopped at Bear Rock Cafe for lunch. I picked up a roast, canned potatoes, fingerling carrots, and celery for a pot roast next Friday night (as well as $300 in other assorted groceries).

We worked in the garage for awhile after the groceries were finished. I worked planing the drawer sides and fronts down while Bob was set up on the work bench with a hand sander. We got a lot of work done in just a little over an hour! After cutting a groove to hold the drawer bottoms I will be ready to glue and clamp the wenge finger pulls to the drawer fronts.

In the afternoon we went back to Bob's house. We stopped at Winn-Dixie for a bottle of Ray's Station 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, some heavy cream, and some strawberries.

At Bob's house I pre-baked two pie shells while mixing six eggs and two cups of cream together in a mixing bowl. When the pie shells were done I broke up pre-cooked bacon and put it in the bottom, then cooked spinach, leftover mushrooms from last weeks ratatouille, some chopped onion, shredded cheddar cheese and then poured the cream and egg mixture into the shells. These pies were set in the oven at 350 F to bake for an hour while we took Buddy for his walk.

We heated up the leftover sweet and sour pork, heated up some bread, and had quiche for dinner. I was thirsty and pretty much guzzled the wine down. This made me kinda sleepy. I think we were in bed by 10:30 pm.

This was a very productive day!

Friday!!!

After checking that my paycheck and bonus were deposited I wrote a check for $870 and dropped it into the rent box. Then I sat down and paid my bills by Web Bill Pay on the NFCU website.

Evelyn showed up early with my new computer. She was dropped off at 11:30 and she started to work then. I was needed constantly because she needed help with all of the passwords and stuff that needed to be transferred to the new computer. I made a list of all of the things that needed to be transferred and set up on the new pc. The new computer is nice. It has a 20-inch flat screen monitor. No floppy drive, just a CD ROM reader/writer. She was working on the computer until 3 pm.

Fay finishes up her lunch at 1pm and says, "You are free to start your lunch whenever you want to." I am like, "No, Evelyn won't get very far without me here." When Evelyn finally finished up I asked Craig, "You don't mind if I leave early, do you?" He absent-mindedly says, "Oh no! Why not?" I made sure Fay heard that. I didn't take lunch after all!

I had to get the weekly purchase order report mailed to the partners before I left. My new computer has a newer version of MS Office and it was tricky finding the features I am used to using. I left around 4:30 pm.

When I got home I took a quick shower and started packing Buddy's stuff up. He got excited because he knew we were going someplace. We drove in rush hour traffic to Pet Supermarket to get 25 pounds of dry dog food, some doggie bags, and I got a tube of the lamb meat dog food that he really likes. Then we found our way to the 408 and went downtown.

We exited at Orange Avenue and I called Bob to let him know we would be at the garage in 2 minutes, but he wasn't home yet! He had to make a trip to Kinkos for copies and was still on his way home. We waited in the parking lot across the street for him.

He hit the remote control for the gate and let us go up first. I backed the truck into his extra parking space and gathered arm loads of bags in my hands while Bob took Buddy's leash.

Bob made sweet and sour pork in the slow cooker for dinner. We had French bread with seasoned olive oil. I brought the ice cream that I prepared Thursday and put it into the freezer. We had a bottle of Blackstone 2005 Merlot with dinner.

After dinner we took Buddy out for a proper walk and when we returned we entered the building through the front door. Bob got a package UPS left during the day -- the new motor and pump assembly for his dishwasher!