I wrote a big long post yesterday and went to post it and hit the wrong key....ooops...all gone....hope all is well ....still available to support newbies.....after 55 yrs of smoking and close to 14 yrs of being "clean".....might be able to help have a good day....

Good morning Paul, Kitty, Susan, Jerthie, and all.  Today is the super day here, around 75 degrees.  Up

around 80 west of here where I'm headed, to the farm.  Will be strange on a bike, for this year. 

We had to take down the screen door off our Pella sliding door or the pups would have it destroyed.  So

now there's a fly flying around the kitchen this morning. 

I did get the tree down yesterday, all cut up and over by the chipper across the road, neighbor burns the

larger stuff for heat and makes mulch from the rest.  Was so glad I got the tree to fall where I needed it to

fall.  Not on the electric wires, neighbors new trees, or our older trees.  Was sad to see it go but have been

lucky it didn't come down in a wind storm especially since the neighbor's daughter got a car and parks it

near the tree.  Wife planted it 35 or 40 years ago so I hated to see it go.  I put the bucket up on the backhoe

and suspended two concrete blocks on a rope over it tied to the tree.  Also notched the tree to fall up the

driveway.  I removed a trunk from a tree we had to cut about 10 years ago while I was at it.  I wait for them

to get old rather than work for couple days trying to split up a fresh trunk in the ground.  I've seen people

do it, good for them.  I'll remove the trunk of this tree in 2032 if still here.  I cut the trunk down almost flush

with the ground and it's on the edge of the main drainage ditch here. 

Paul your exercise sounds great.  I jogged alone for a long time, then started taking Britney dog, then Cocoa

dog with me.  My feet wouldn't allow me to jog anymore and don't like walking without a dog anymore and

the elliptical is no impact.  Even walking a long distance I have to put a cream on my feet to kill the pain for

the weak impact you get walking.  I've grown tired of the elliptical but I will still do a session on it in the eve.

Our walks will start before daylight when the pups get old enough to focus.  They learn much faster than a

human baby but their lives go much faster too.  I measure my Glucose and weight just about every day so I

always know how I'm doing.  Finally got below 100 yesterday for the first time in couple weeks.  But I did eat

ice cream and cake on Easter which was also one of our daughter's birthdays.  Also ate a full meal which I

rarely ever do anymore. 

They want a Diabetics LDL cholesterol to be below 70, a year ago mine was above 100 which is great for non-diabetics.

The doctor wanted me to start on 40 to 60 mg of statins, so I started taking 10 mg every other day and got down

to 77 which satisfies me and it made the doc happy.  I already have that Aortic stent so I should be careful.  I've

gotten 77 LDL two blood tests, so a year. 

I like the Red Cross.  They put my family in a motel for 3 days after the tornado destroyed our home and got us some

furniture after we put in a modular back in 83.  We didn't get a mobile home for 9 years like some do in the wider spread

disasters though, but still they did help us.  I think was them stopping by out here and giving us sandwiches while we were

cleaning up also.  We had to talk to the newspaper to get the insurance company to pay their share of the loss.  So was a

couple months before we could start rebuilding and everyone had forgotten about the tornado.  We did get a disaster loan

but much less than they promised right after the tornado.  So we had some insurance money, a disaster loan, red cross, and

a personal loan at the credit union.  I was just finishing college and had worked full time most of the way through but not at the

end so we were broke.  I had to work 3rd shift while we were fighting for our insurance money so the insurance adjuster would

come out in the daytime to see something.  I was sleeping in a truck camper and my family had moved up north with my wife's

family.  Forgot a church helped us some also, even months after we had moved into our new home and the temp job I had gotten

had ended. 

Should be a great bike ride today, think close to 50 degrees by 8 AM.  Will be a little warm working on the farm but I'll live through it.

Hope to finish the regular clean up early today and try to finish up the hydraulic drive on the tractor I worked on last year.  I'm thankful

for the beautiful weather to take down that dead tree.  Was warm in just a shirt working.

Have a great day all and hope you all have good weather to enjoy.  Glad we aren't smoking.

Ernie

Can see the Alis Chalmers tractor I'm working on in the background.  Has a brush hog on the back I use to keep the field cut behind the house.

Good morning all...hope your day is wonderful

Good morning Kitty and all.  Hope you and Brian had a nice day Kitty.  I had a great bike ride in a T-shirt

on the way back.  Left Wellsboro, PA around 6:30 PM.  Did finish the tractor hydraulic drive and went out

to test it, looks good.  Just have to install some shields I had to remove last year.  Worked on getting parts

and the mechanics of the problem for months last year, great to have it completed.  We can mow the field

around the farm house so animals can't come near the house undetected and no grass fires.  Weeds must

have been 5 feet high last year when I mowed.

Did get the liter boxes cleaned and cleaned up the trash but my sister is going there sometimes now so not

as bad of a mess these days.  I mowed the grass in the front lawn because won't make it back for couple

weeks.  Sis came back from her Winter in Florida. 

Hope you all are enjoying the great weather. 

Ernie

Mowing field on Alis Chalmers tractor last year.

our weather is OK....not much sun but mild....Brian is spreading top soil in the 5 acres that needs to be filled in....low spots....should be perfect when he is finished...almost time to garden and that is what I am waiting for....lots of veggies to consume....healthy without smoke also....we should not forget that good  option.....so grateful we accomplished that....

Hello everyone!

Ernie and Paul... You both do more exercise than me!  I do some light weight training 3 times a week.  Diet is also very important.  That being said, I do eat pastry every day!  I am baking a blueberry loaf as I write.  Ernie... You should write a book.  You seem to have a passion for telling stories in detail.  Have you ever considered becoming an author?

I am enjoying my new job in Cosmetics very much!  Weather is warm today but expecting snow on Wednesday.  Til next time, take care all.  Busy day for me so cannot chat too long.  Be well everyone!

Hello everyone

Ernie, yes, the Red Cross does a lot of good. Like any large organization it can be very bureaucratic.  Same as government, businesses, churches, and most associations I can think of.  I'm in a group that responds to disasters. NYC rarely has storms or flooding. Fortunately, we don't have tornados, twisters, earthquakes, or anything like that. In NYC it is home fires.  On average about 10 a day. I don't know if that's more or less per household than other places. There's a great deal of old and poorly maintained apartment buildings. Sometimes there are none in an 8-hour shift, but sometimes several. 

I went to one last Saturday. There was a fatality. The fire marshal told me it started because the deceased was smoking in bed.  What a shame. Her roommate was shellshocked. We receive training on how to comfort people, but she was in another place. RC has counselors on call, so I left her with one of them.  

Jerthie, we didn't have a car growing up (Mom was scared of cars) so I've become accustomed to walking a great deal. On Saturday my phone app said I did 67 flights of stairs, not sure how accurate that is, but lots of walking up and down the building. By the time we show up, the buildings are generally drenched with water.

I could not have been a fireman. I think lots of them are 2nd, 3rd generation in FDNY. So maybe walking into a burning building is more normal for them. God bless them. 

Have a good evening all

Paul

Good morning Kitty.  I woke early and couldn't get back to sleep.  Brian's work sounds great.  A level 5

acres is something.  We have less than an acre but we were young and poor when we moved here.  I

helped my daughter and her family plant a garden many years ago but daughter branched off into raised

boxes and growing herbs.  I was more cow manure to fertilize corn, peas, tomatoes, etc...  The large

rototiller we got back then doesn't get much use.  Mostly she has a green house now.  I rebuilt it when it

caved in after that 48 inches of snow we got December 2020 think it was.  I used the frame from a previous

tent we had. 

This is the 15 year anniversary for our "April's Ashbustin' Army".  Only 3 of us to show up this year, was 50

or so at the beginning i think.  IS great that we made it to 15 years when we didn't know how to make it not

smoking for 15 minutes at one time. 

Have a great day.

Ernie

Good morning Jerthie.  I was trying to keep up my jogging even before I stopped smoking but was

discouraging sometimes when you knew smoking was hurting you at the same time.  Think at one

time I stopped jogging for over a year.  Wasn't taking a dog with me at that time.  Learned I could

make their lives much better if they got out to exercise most days.  Did have to go mostly before

daylight because by that time I was working day shift.  Dogs are supposed to be taken out in the day

time.  When the puppies are old enough I will have to start out before day break.  Some of the mall

walkers moved out here in the country for their walks when the virus got here and some don't like

dogs, being mall people.  So I have lots of trouble with them.  Will be ok as long as I get down the back

road just south of us by dawn.  I have lot of trouble with dog haters and don't want to get into shoving

matches or fights with them.  It's stressful for the dogs. 

I'm glad you enjoy your job in Cosmetics, it's great to enjoy your job.  I really enjoyed electronics, just not

the electronics industry.  We know a girl that went to community college in Cosmetics down in the Carolinas

but she didn't have the certification for NY when they got out of the military and moved back here.  She wanted

benefits anyway and went to work in a local school,  They could only have one daughter but now she has 4

grandchildren. 

I still do some work in electronics work here at home, mostly in ham radio but some in stereo equipment and

appliances.  Since all appliances have become electronic and computer controlled.  I just replaced the contol

board in our refrigerator / freezer a couple months ago.  5 years ago I replaced a relay on that same control

board.  Our frig we had before this one lasted 25 years and was still going when I got this newer one, I replaced

it because the metal shelves were starting to rust and we never did any repairs on it in those 25 years.  A coworker

wanted it for beer in his garage. 

I'm currently working on an amplifier for 2 meter ham radio.  It enables me to talk to my brother 100 miles away. 

It's a difficult distance.  Closer is easy on some frequencies and further away is easier on others.  I'm waiting for

some 50 watt resistors I had to order from China.  It's a pain we don't have them here that I can find.  Won't be

delivered until the middle of May.  I'm afraid the resistor burning up is only a symptom and not the real problem so

will be doing some more troubleshooting on the amp while I'm waiting.  Hope it's not the high power tube, they're

about $800 new and about $400 used.  My brother is disabled from not taking care of his Diabetes and his wife is

just about completely bed ridden.  That's where I just finished up repairing the hydraulic drive on the Alis Chalmers

tractor.  I was a auto mechanic at one time and I grew up on that farm but still work on tractors is foreign to me and I

have to do a lot of research and find people familiar with the systems.  Spent months locating parts for the 1970s

tractor and getting the repair done.  Had to wire up a 220 volt outlet and get the air compressor and welder moved

and working up at the farm house.  The nut holding the pulley to the front of the tractor engine is 1 3/4 inches, largest

I ever worked with.  Before that, think the flange on the rear differential on a car is 1 1/8 inches. 

We have that colder weather and snow coming also, all of us here aren't that far apart and get almost the same weather,

just a day earlier or later.  Think it's still fairly warm today but cloudy and rainy.  Spread some potting soil, from pots my

wife is retiring, on some spots in the lawn that aren't growing well.  We put a lot of drainage ditches in with out backhoe

and the places we had gravel and other places was driving on a lot have spots that grass isn't growing well.  Our basement

was getting water but now with cleaning the wall / floor joints and painting the concrete walls, along with hundreds of feet

of drainage ditches, just about good.  The potting soil was dry yesterday but will be wet after this mornings rain.  Also, have

two dehumidifiers in the basement.  My ham radio station, our laundry, and my work area are all down there. 

Enjoy the day.

Ernie

Brandy and Cocoa jogged and walked with me for many years, both gone now.

Good morning Paul.  I see the bureaucracy of the Red Cross.  A one family or 4 / 5 family get a few days help while

a wide spread disaster the families get help for years.  It's still great to get the help though.  I have family that is tied

to NYC and I've been there but still don't have much understanding of it.  Never spent a night there or even walked

down a street there.  See it on movies all the time like everyone. 

Thought I was going to be a volunteer to help dogs after retiring but seem to be satisfied helping the dogs we have

living here along with helping my brother routinely.  Also have daughter's families to help.  Also, exercising 3 hours

a day to stay off Diabetes meds is a chunk of my day. 

I've come very close to having bad car accidents or bike accidents but have been mostly lucky so far.  I still take way

to many chances.  Cars and bikes have been a huge part of my life since have always lived in rural areas.  Use them

and work on them all the time.  I don't even want to describe one of the stupid stunts I've pulled on the road. 

The dogs and I walk by a fire station every day when we walk.  Thought of volunteering there for some other support

job since I'm getting old and probably wouldn't be very good at fire fighting.  Never got to it and the work with brother

and our dogs seems to satisfy me.  Not the volunteer type, I guess.  Like to be able to choose the schedule and some

of the types of work.  Like being independent here in the last quarter of life.  Kitty volunteered at a animal rescue hospital

down in Florida for years. 

I did smoke in bed sometimes when I was younger and think I burned a blanket or two.  Hard to remember, long ago. 

Enjoy the day.

Ernie.

Always loved this picture of Brandy on a walk.