This is good news. Both of my grandgirls have had Covid so I’m pretty sure they’re safe anyway, but I still hope they get the vax.

Funny. And sad.

Crank it up!

The first game in this series, Horizon Zero Dawn, has become my favorite gave ever.

OYB!

Español!

Everly and I were talking about earthquakes this morning. Then this showed up on Duolingo.

Love my girls!

Good grief.

Ordered groceries.

Deposited checks.

We took naps, including her little dog.

My right rear tire got cut on a piece of metal. Normally, I can pump the tire back up and get it to my tire guy to plug. This was so bad the compressor couldn’t fill it faster than it was leaking out.

The last time I changed a tire it was almost impossible because nowadays the lug nuts are torqued down with a pneumatic wrench. So when it became obvious the tire was going to have to be changed, I called AAA. They were at my car in less than ten minutes! What?!

I put an order in for service on line.

I was parked near FBC Mountain Park. Had to look up the address.

I had a spare tire to put on. It was brand new! My car is from 1995. In those days they didn’t use a “doughnut” they used real tires!

He did a great job and got me on my way super fast.

The new one.

I was glad how everything turned out!

Stopped at my tire guy to determine which old tire I want to use as the new spare, and to put the new tire that I just bought in its place. Now I have two new tires on the rear.

Went to Azalea to get the newsletters/tax donation letters in the mail. I still have a few that I’m waiting for confirmation from the donor how much they said they gave.

Went to my office to pick up newsletters and checks.

Watered my ficus.

Sent my mileage log to Ashley.

Harry!

I set up the table and helped one kid with his sight words. We finished most everybody’s homework over the last two days. It started dripping on us while we were outside.

Got all the letters folded up and into the mail.

The stress of the day tired me out. Looking forward to good rest. Kathy is really suffering without her CPAP. This recall of her machine across the world has really been terrible. Everyone is out of every machine.

Happy New Year, Tigers!

I have many fond Brazilian friends. So sad.

Wow! Wish I would’ve seen that!

Beautiful day, but still on the cold side for me.

OYB!

Worked on getting Kathy’s CPAP repaired. I was planning on going over there this morning straight from Global Mall, but I wanted to talk to them first. Good thing I did. They do NOT repair any machines, especially the type Kathy has. Plus the distributors just send them back to the manufacturers, which won’t work because the current machine has been recalled. So we’re stuck. With hundreds of people needing a device that they are all out of.

New work week. My weeks never really stop. I just count this as Day One when I’m with the families at Azalea.

Love my girls!

Español!

I repaired one of Everly’s toys. The fabric around her puppy’s neck was torn.

I worked on putting the tax letters that Ashley got together with the envelopes I had done. There were a few out of all of them I wasn’t sure of. I reached out to the people I knew to ask what they thought the total donation of the year had been. Most of the time, people give the same amount every month.

This year was different because people also gave to help with special projects. The randomness made it more difficult to verify. I’d rather get it right the first time. We also had challenges with the electronic giving. Just harder to track than a simple paper trail of checks that I could take pictures of and verify.

All this stuff takes so much time. It sounds easy but it takes hours and hours and you really have to think and have your wits about you when you’re doing it.

Adelante!

I never received the gas bill in December. I got the January bill and it said that I needed to pay last month’s asap, which I did, plus the bill that is due in a couple of weeks. I got a call from them today and explained what had happened. I sent a check on the 25th of last month. Everybody was cool. They understand “lost in the mail.”

I downloaded the tax forms from Audible and Amazon for my book Story Tim. I sold a few more copies last year. The majority get it for free from the distributors because the readers are subscribers of special deals. I signed off on it because it was more important to me that the book was read than that I make much money on it.

Transported a squirrel. Took it to Chamblee.

Took the girls to El Torreros and then to Plaza Fiesta. Si!

Talked to the manager at Azalea. The maintenance guy had left a dehumidifier with us after the flood in the apartment last week. I let her know it wasn’t needed any more and wanted to make sure they picked it up, which they did later that afternoon.

The cover for the exterior light of our upstairs neighbor got broken. Glass was all over the ground. I picked up every scrap that I saw. The girls run around barefoot over there all the time. Even now!

The light in the girl’s bedroom has been out for weeks. Everly told me they had lightbulbs so I repaired that this afternoon.

We had fun at Plaza Fiesta. I agreed to take them over there because I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded, which it wasn’t.

The wind was cold today.

Ordered a charger for my sister in law.

Helped the kids with their homework. We made good progress. Some of them get a little discouraged.

Sunflower!

The boys drew robots today.

Released Verbal Surgery “Wake Up Juice.”

So tasty!

I’m always refining my knowledge of Español.

Interesting. I’ve seen this at the MOMA in NYC.

What a genius.

Palabras!

I’m in the highest level in Duolingo and one of the best in the class.

Plus there’s this.

OYB!

Gorgeous day.

Produced my newsletter.

Almost didn’t have enough envelopes.

Printed out the donor’s labels, put them on the envelopes and alphabetized the letters so we can put their tax donation letter in.

I had a good talk with my Mom. Always a blessing.

Kathy’s CPAP is dead. Talked to the company that sells them. They are completely sold out and back-ordered in the hundreds. That’s really bad news. No end in sight as to when Kathy will have a new machine. This is all because of the recall Phillips did with their CPAP machine.

Studying Avionics sectional maps. Using FAA practice test questions.

I have the Flight Radar app with Augmented Reality. I can point my phone towards the plane and it will show me what kind of plane, whose it is and where it’s coming from and going. Pretty cool!

I am on a major flight path in Class B airspace here in Atlanta. We are the busiest airport in the world.

I always thought that GPS meant connected to one satellite. That’s not true. Most of the time we are connected to a lot more. With a drone, it’s important to have at least twelve.

I’m slowly getting back into exercise. Lifted weights today and went for a 2.62 mile walk. Just getting out and doing it. As I was walking, I kept thinking I should be on my bike. That’s a good feeling to have. I haven’t had a bike ride in months. My body is finally healed up.

I wondered if the extreme cold killed this thrush.

From the ditch?

They’ve been working on this are a lot over that last few months. Keeps leaking.

Huh.

Even slimy water can be beautiful.

I liked the patterns of this crack. What does it look like to you?

This is from a pile of sand on the side of the road. Tiny pieces of different minerals and material.

What’s this for?

Censored?

The golden hour.

Interesting thoughts from Kevin Kelly’s newsletter.

I liked this too. I looked up the book just to see a couple of the pages.

Learning to see more carefully. And use your brain better.

These made me go “huh.”

Español!

Such a bad man.

Yeah, baby!

OYB!

Cold and clear.

That’s a lot.

I’ve been doing research on Major Grey’s Chutney. It was something from my childhood I wanted to explore.

Went to Stone Mountain to write my newsletter and record a podcast.

I tried to call my Mom a couple of times but she wasn’t home. Tomorrow!

Harry.

Transported a squirrel. First one in over three months. Whenever I see three squirrels at the same time, I star trapping again.

Went to get pizza. I’d forgotten my wallet. Went back home to get it. When I returned he gave me a free one for my hassle.

Blew the garage and driveway.

Played Horizon Zero Dawn. Such a great game. The graphics are beautiful.

I’ll pick up Jessi from work this evening.

REW FTW!

I know you are.

This one got me.

Palabras.

Adelante!

OYB!

It was COLD today.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery, “Rocky Soil.” Hard to beat!

Had a fun chat with my buddy Anthony.

Harry.

Went to the UPS Store to return some items to Amazon.

Gassed up my car and checked fluids.

Deposited checks.

Got some exercise. Beautiful walk, even though it was super cold.

I liked the colors of this. It’s a Christmas Three Wise Men thing.

Entrance to our subdivision.

Colors.

I liked the white against the blue.

With black accent.

Pops!

Hard to believe this rose was flowering.

Shot some WD40 on the door hinges of my car. A couple were squeaking a bit.

This is the supplement for the UAV FAA test.

Paid bills.

Worked on the handicapped placard for Kathy’s car.

Everything takes time.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery -914- “Mission Check.” So good!

Downloaded the episode I recorded this morning onto my Mac.

Did my brain training last night. Did remarkably well considering I haven’t been practicing.

OYB!

Describes me.

I’ve been encouraging Everly to work on her writing. We’ll start with her name!

Adelante!

Never too much Ashley!

We had an online conference with Kathy’s Pulmonary Doctor this morning. Her CPAP has not been working. That’s not good. He sent over an order to our CPAP distributor but he warned us that because of this massive Phillips recall they may not have any machines.

Ordered groceries. I’m not sure why a lot more people don’t take advantage of this FREE service (If you buy over $35 of groceries. Who doesn’t do that?).

The new washing machine is working well. Have to get the old one hauled off.

Went by Dr. Abraham’s office to get paperwork for Kathy’s handicapped hangar for her car.

I thought we were going to pick up the hangar. Instead, they gave me the application form that the doctor had signed. We still have to apply and go to the DMV. That’s not zesty.

After lunch, we went to the Dollar Tree ($1.25!) to look for calculators for the kids at the mission. The fish store was next door so we took a quick tour through that too.

She didn’t really want to go, but afterwards she said, “You were right Pop Pop, that was fun!”

We decided to go straight on back to Azalea. Man! Was it good we did! The upstairs neighbor’s hot water heater was leaking which went straight into Ashley’s house! I went in the front door and headed to the kitchen and was sloshing around in about 2″ of water! That will get your attention!

I immediately called the manager to alert the maintenance guy, got out a bunch a towels to block off the living room and bedrooms, got a dust pan and started filling up an empty trash can with water just as fast as I could. Dumped it into the bathtub and just kept going.

I probably scraped up and dumped at least ten gallons of water. Used the broom to keep the water towards the bathroom and away from the bedrooms.

Then I got the last of the water up with a thin towel. I wrung it out into the bathtub. I did that for about an hour.

Mr. Chin came over to get the leak upstairs stopped, then came in to completely dry out the heater. He used what looked like a hair dryer on steroids.

Eventually I got everything dried up then started fans blowing. Mr. Chin also brought over a dehumidifier. I think it’s actually a portable AC unit. It has the same effect, but who is going to run cold air when it’s 20 degrees tonight?

She did a beautiful job coloring this. Very precise.

While I was dealing with the water challenge, Everly was putting together a little store. She’s so cute. Her organization was very well thought out.

Repaired the zip-ties keeping the basketball net attached to the rim.

I set up the table and chairs and got all equipment out to help the kids, but the wind chill was brutal. We had really worked hard this week and everyone had completed their work. I put the gear up early since all the kids were inside their houses.

Sure am glad I live in a house with a nice heater.

Harry! I’m at a good part. Almost hated to make it home. I don’t get everything, but enough to keep up with the story.

Checked the mail at the office.

Put food out for the animals. I know they’ll be suffering this evening. At least they won’t be so hungry.

Studied air sectional maps last night.

Also a new app called B4Ufly.

Listened to live Air Traffic Control from JFK in NYC.

Here are some questions from the FAA test for drone pilots. My small drone, although high quality, is so light that it does not require taking the pilot license test. I still find the information interesting. If I ever did part time work shooting arial video I’d need to be certified with the FAA.

Here is the sectional map for where we live. As you can tell, there is a lot of air traffic near me. Hartsfield airport is the busiest in the WORLD!

This is PDK, the airport near Azalea Place apartments.

It’s easier for me to take a picture and then zoom in than to use a magnifying glass.

Here’s a zoomed in shot of the sun I took yesterday. Incredible.

OYB!

I’ve known a lot of the words from this list recently.

We’ve had a significant upgrade in our washer and dryer. It’s been a hassle, I hope these two machines last us a long time.

Love my girls!

Arriba!

Everly helped me get the stamps for the newsletters this morning.

Deposited checks.

Everly is such a blessing.

Helped the kids with their homework. I didn’t think I’d have many today. I had a lot. They are taking multiplication tests and needed the reviews and timed tests.

Sunflower.

Harry! I’ve listened to over fifteen hours of this book already.

Checked the mail at my office.

Also picked up a dolly I had in my storage room at the church and took it to Jimmy Kendall. His dolly was light duty and I think it broke when he was trying to move the washing machine around. I felt bad about that.

Sounds helpful.

Preach.

Cold day, but warmed up and felt nice.

Adelante!

OYB!

Palabras.

Moonflower.

Love my girls!

I got the “new” (It’s actually Ashley and Miles’ old one that they had years ago.) washing machine installed this morning. Took a while because I had to clear a path for the machine to get in. Everything seemed to work fine.

Vacuumed the house.

I dump the dirt that was collected and clean the parts every time.

Deposited checks.

I cut the pumpkin into big pieces so the animals could eat what they want. The raccoons got a lot of it out through the holes I had cut in it yesterday.

I raked and swept the area in front of my door.

Everly wanted to get involved. She’s a sweetheart!

We cleaned up my St.Francis shrine and put some new pinecones out.

Scrubbed my shoes. Air dried them.

I enjoy Penelope’s art so much.

A new favorite.

Helped the kids with their homework.

Took Miles and the girls out for Vietnamese food. I’m SO happy that Penelope likes it now.

Incredible clouds!

Harry!

I’ve never shot the sun that looked like this.

Added a little more silicon caulk to a corner in my bathroom.

Collected tax documents that were sent to me on line.

Did some research on the Apple Weather app. Wasn’t sure what the bars meant.

Always learning.

Helped Kathy with her on line classes.

Need to work on this.

OYB!

New week!

Today I had a helicopter hovering over Global Mall (where I wait for the girls) for about twenty minutes. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I’m thinking perhaps it was a news chopper, although most of them have their logo somewhere. Looks like a big camera lens at the bottom.

Mild today.

Adelante!

Love my Everly!

Talked to Everly’s other grandfather today! Jim Kendall is a great guy. He helped me get the washing machine over to my house from his house. It’s the one that Ashley and Miles used to use in Clarkston. It’s been at Jimmy’s house for years.

I saw pictures from the Yellow River Game Sanctuary about giving their raccoons pumpkins. They cut holes in them and the raccoons would reach in and scrape out the seeds and other goodies. I decided to do the same thing.

Kathy spent the day with us. We enjoyed Taco Veloz.

Helped the kids at the mission.

Checked the mail at the office.

I texted Jim Kendall when I was on my way to his house.

We moved the washing machine over to my house. I’ll move the old one out and put install the other one tomorrow. Doesn’t pay to try and do that stuff in the dark.

Released Verbal Surgery -914- “Fire Breathing.” So good.

Preach!

The old days.

Funny.

Good one.

Wow.

Mountains.

Picture from last week. Looking forward to seeing my girls tomorrow!

I may check this out.

Helped Kathy with some curriculum and tests she’s taking.

This is a pretty big deal to me. There are over 142 million people studying Spanish on Duolingo now.

I liked these ideas.

Palabras.

OYB!

We got Kathy’s car to T&G this morning. Looks like it needs a new radiator.

Indeed.

Beautiful day.

Went to Stone Mountain to record and call my buddy Anthony.

Always be part of the solution.

Harry!

Kathy’s CPAP went dead today. That’s not good. I had a new power supply delivered today, but that didn’t work.

I immediately sent a request in to Kathy’s doctor to get help with a replacement. This machine is actually under a recall! We’re supposed to have a new one by now, but not yet.

I’ll be in touch with these guys again soon.

Gassed up the car and checked fluids. Windshield wiper fluid was low. I topped it off when I got home.

I’m returning the power supply I just got for the CPAP that’s not working. I thought it was interesting that I bring in the part “naked.”