Yesterday was a day with exercise followed by a sinking spell during which not much got done, except reading about a weeks worth of newspapers.
Today there was still exercise, but it took the form of actually getting some chores done.
Installed a new screen into the front door. The kids usually manage to push against the screen, and it finally just gave way. This was not too difficult, except that the screen material actually ripped on our first attempt. The difficulty was more being on my knees for an extended period of time. Carl had an epiphany when we were reinstalling the section into the door; put the screen in the upper part, and small children won’t be pushing on the screen. They will get the plexiglass pane instead. About this time, a fire truck (hook and ladder) came down the street, stopping almost in front of the house. I started scanning the roofs for smoke, but they went inside a house instead. Ambulance arrived, a neighbor taken away. [Later found out it was back issues, he is home again.]
Decided it was really time to get the TV converter box connected. Even though the stations can wait until June, it appears that our area is changing in February. We have three TVs to connect.
Started with what appeared to be the least complicated – Smallish color with built-in VCR. First step, clear around the TV so we can get to the back. Only made one small error doing the connection. Good news – clearer picture. Bad news – missing Channel 13 (Fox – which is not always necessary, but carries alot of sports). Will try rescanning later, or moving the antenna, etc.
2nd TV up is the 1970’s black & white. Hmmm. Antenna is directly attached to the TV. There are 4 screw in locations (2 for UHF, 2 for VHF) where you can apparently connect an additional antenna. And Hmmm. After doing a bit of searching on the internet I am thinking I need to buy an external antenna, choose either UHF or VHF (really not sure which one) connect it up like the other one, with an added pig-tail to go from 2 screws to co-axial. So, I didn’t actually finish this TV.
3rd TV – have not attempted yet, maybe later tonight. It gets a little more confused as it has a DVD and VCR connected as well. I don’t remember. But much further along than before.
While I was downstairs I noticed a Nordic Track strider/cross-country machine that we are no longer using. It got retired when the eliptical arrived. If we could fit it in our exercise room it would still be in the mix, but that just doesn’t seem to be happenning. I originally got it from a co-worker, and am now going to deliver it to another co-worker.
Moving the exercise machine outside put me in proximity to the weather, branches that needed cutting down for yard waste, and the raspberry patch that needs to be pruned back. So – grab some gloves and tools (and Carl). The branches, ala Carl, are cut down to size, the raspberries are pruned, resulting in a rather large pile of vegetation that needs to be cut down to size. For another day.
While in the back yard we found the ladder that we took back there during the snows. Used it to put a bit of hardware cloth back into our “birds be gone” contraption that keeps the birds on the outside of the house. When we put in a bathroom fan exhaust the birds were going around the edges to find a nice warm place to nest. So we have a little cage around the exhaust pipe now. One of the pieces had fallen to the ground. Don’t know if this is just natural wear, or if something was actually trying to work it out.
Finally went on a short walk/shopping trip.
In short (or in this case long), busy and rather productive day.
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