Just a very brief update on the clock today.

I am still tweaking the leveling. The upper pendulum hits against one of the chime rods when it swings. Upon further examination, the pendulum swings what I call “caddy corner”. I don’t know how, but that’s what it looks like.

I am sure I will figger it out.

The wife and I are cleaning out our messes, and I have almost finished the workroom back into a bedroom again. I have moved out all the tools, and now am still breaking down boxes.

We’ll get there.

I got the cabinet moved today, and moved the clock into the dining area. I put the clock on a 18″ square ceramic tile. I still have a little leveling to do, and we’re almost home.

The wife helped me with guidance through the maze, navigating through the house, and putting on the leveling feet.

I installed the pendulum, and looks like I may have to tweak the upper pendulum arm, as I think it may rub on one of the chime rods..no matter, the hard part is done.

The side to side is pretty good, but the front to rear needs a tweak.

I made three trips out to the mailbox today, and am bushed.

The wife requested I spray the patio. Nothing issues in summer like the first scorpion. I’ll have to spray tomorrow when the wife is away with the kid at the doc. I’ll have to spray for scorps first, then weeds, as they too are rearing their ugly heads.

I miss winter.

My Sam’s order came in today. I would have ordered more stuff, but they were out of the Benefiber that was on sale $5 off…I’ll hold out for a while until they have those back in stock, as that is a good deal, and I go through a large container in less than a month.

My Sam’s membership expires at the end of April, and will likely not renew.

Yet another cool front blew through last night and today, dropping temps back into the 50s, which is nice, as we had given up on winter…this will all change tomorrow as temps rise back into the 80s.

I did three trays of enchiladas for dinner last night…one for me using the canned sauce (which is delicious, by the way) and two for the wife using the Luby’s cookbook recipe. IMO, beef enchiladas should be bursting with beef, but the Luby’s recipe does not prepare them this way.

I also made charro beans with the hot version of Salsa Casera. Those too, were very good, and many leftovers.

Unfortunately for the wife, she had searing heartburn most of the night from her daring exploit of Mexican dinner..Looks like I’ll have lots to freeze.

I also made Herb’s Quickie, a recipe I got from my Aunt Gladys. Only 4 ingredients…and we just happened to have ice cream for topping…

We discussed briefly that it is time to unload the cabinet, and begin the arduous process of moving the cabinet out, and the grandfather clock into the dining area…unloading and loading the cabinet will be the most painstaking..

A song I heard on Pandora from a legendary blues man…Alvin Lee of 10 Years After…now a solo career..his guitar work is excellent, IMO…

Well, it looks like we’re back on the path to letting the kids put their mobile home here. They’re off now to talk to the lender about what to do next. I talked to my attorney, and he indicated there would be “issues” with selling after we’re gone with the inheritance..I’ll have to check with my boys to see if they will kick in to make our mortgage payment after we’re gone, until the place is sold.

The wife drove off to mail the tax return at the post office a while ago, since she could not find last year’s return, so it had to be printed and mailed rather than filing electronically.

I keep hoping that we can get the cabinet moved so I can relocate the clock, so I can finish that project.

The cabinet in question is in the dining room, and sits where the grandfather clock will go. It is full of the wife’s stuff, and will have to be unloaded before moving to the other side of the house.

Here I am again with egg on my face.

I had the appt for my cardiologist since September for yesterday at 3:00. I thought it a bit strange that I OK an appt for that late, but so be it. I got up, had coffee, showered, even though it wasn’t Saturday, and we left around 2:15.

Well we got there, and to my utter dismay, the appt was at 1:00, and now nothing but a memory. So my next one is May 5…mark that down, cuz’ I don’t wanna miss that one.

It’s too bad too, as this was kind of an important appt, as the doc was gonna let me know if I was going to be referred to the cardiothoracic surgeon. I am guessing that my doc would have called me, had it been so…then again, I could be wrong on that assumption.

I made a run to the pharmacy today to pick up some meds for the wife, and drop off my Colorguard box.

Don’t let them kid you, it’s harder than one might think to hit the target. My health insurance is relentless, once their mind is made up. I am so glad their number is not programmed into my phone, as all their calls never ring…but they do leave messages.

Colorguard is very clear that their test can show false positives, and  false negatives in their results. So…Why? you may ask…you’re right if you answered that it’s just another way big pharma can take your hard earned money, without having to apologize.

The wife is struggling to do our taxes..I don’t understand why she has such difficulty in using Turbo tax. No 401k withdrawals this past year, and we’re both on retirement income, yet she seems to have fits.

Social security threw me a curve this year, in that they no longer send out a 1099…the Turbo tax people told me where to find it…great…and since she lost last year’s return, she has to mail this one in using snail mail…so much for speedy refund.

Clock news

I am at the point where I need to move the clock to its permanent resting place, to finish. Installing the pendulum will require the clock to be on a level surface. The pendulum attaches to what they call the ‘upper pendulum’, and as it is now, the pendulum rests between the chime rods…so, I have put forth yet another question to the clock manufacturer as to whether or not I can now bend the upper pendulum arm…I’ll probably get some chin music about being careful not to bend the suspension spring while bending…also, the pendulum is made of cherry wood; not a wire with lyre pendulum like my other clock had.

Here you can see the pendulum between the chime rods. The upper pendulum arm is not visible from this view.

Almost done!

Today, I drove the wife to her Dr appt for some results of her brain scans. According to the doctor, the wife still has a ‘bruised’ brain, but is healing, and likely will for quite some time. If I can just keep her from wandering ’round the barnyard…

I was able to adjust the chime hammers pretty much, and am almost to the point to clearing a corner in the kitchen, so I can finish.

The pendulum, I discovered, is a wooden one; not brass like most of them. I’ll have to stain it too, and probably a good idea to shellac it as well…so knock the timeline back a couple of days.

Still lots of things to go wrong…possibly.

I dropped her off at the doc, and headed to the liquor store and stopped for some ‘mixers’ at the grocery store before I filled the tank…gas is up from $3.49 to $4.11 today. The wife says it’s because of the war with Iran…War? what war?…oh, ya mean the butthurt ragheads that got their widdoe feelings hurt?..I overheard to old farts in the ER the other day talking about Iran, mentioning that they have no fresh water…or very little. Funny that hasn’t made the news, as bleeding heart liberals would love that.

Wednesday, it’s my turn to go to the doctor. It’s kind of an important one as I am under the impression that my recent chest scan is undergoing some serious scrutiny; after all, if my aorta is still expanding, I will likely require a visit to a cardiothoracic surgeon for repair. Not sure if I could survive that.

91° here today. I guess winter has left the building.

When I was younger, we used to have to watch out for little brother (9 years my junior). Whenever he would disappear for a few minutes and he made no sounds, we would always go looking for him to see what he was up to…usually, he was getting into trouble.

The wife fell again yesterday outside, while filling the water troughs. No serious damage, but was unable to get up by herself. I noticed she was gone, and looked around the house, finding nothing. Then I saw her outside, sitting on the ground.

I went out to help her inside, and stepped on a growing mesquite tree, and the thorn went right through my shoe (Sketchers), and pretty much paralyzed me where I stood, until I dug it out of my shoe with my pocket knife.

I told her today that from now on, she has to tell me where she is going if she goes outside. Way too many things to get into trouble with around here.

I heard back from the clock people, and they hooked me up to a video, telling me how to bend the chime hammers to fit over the chime rods. Works like magic. I have done three of the eight, and hope to soon be done with the project.

Too bad they couldn’t have put this link in the instructions, saving much woe and discontent.

I would show a pic, but the wife has gone back to bed, so will allow her to rest.