Power cut off for about four hours today starting at 7:00 AM. That’s not zesty. I think a tree hit the lines.

I filled my coffee cup with my usual mixture and went to QT. They let me have hot water no problem.

I used my iPhone to generate pink noise so I could sleep. I had the same strategy when I was in Guatemala except I used headphones. Stopped all the rooster and dog noises.

Got a confirmation that the registration cancellation for the Mercury worked.

OYB!

Español!

Warm and sweaty hiking 2.5 miles.

Visited Ann at the rehab center. I took her mail, some chips and salsa and a Coke Zero to her for a treat.

Picked up my mail at the office.

Met the girls at the bus and we went to Waffle House for Waffle Wednesday. Everly wrote me a sweet note.

Village Park is always fun. I created an obstacle course for them.

Processed donation checks and deposited them on the way home.

Got the groceries and put them up.

Cleaned the bird baths and refilled them. Put suet and birdseed in the feeders. Birdseed was one of my grocery items. It looks like they have started putting a lot of “filler” seed in their mix. I may start using Walmart’s version.

Ann gave me letters for her girl’s Mother’s Day. I put them in envelopes and got them ready to mail.

Worked hard this morning. I studied while I went up and down that hill.

Keep going.

OYB!

Español!

Called Pull a Part to verify that they’d picked up the Mercury yesterday, which they had. Amen.

Did some research on the pastor of Church at Main in Snellville before I went over to get some video of him.

Met my friend Pat Barrington at the church. The pastor was running late because of a hospital visitation going long. So it goes. I wasn’t uptight about it at all. I used the time to teach Pat the basics of editing video and how to use some new gear I got her: small tripod, pistol grip and adapter that attaches to the iPhone. With that equipment and a phone you basically have a mobile studio!

The pastor has ongoing work in Kenya, so we immediately had a strong bond.

After the video shoot, I went to the Snellville DMV to turn in two old tags.

Once I turned in the tags I went over to visit my friend Joyce Barrington. I’ve been driving her old car for the last five years. I thought about her every single day. She’s now moved to an assisted care home. She seems to be happy. I know it’s better for her to be there than at Pat’s house.

I took the vanity plate off my old car (which had been hers for over fifteen years), cleaned it up and took it to Joyce along with a prayer card. She had the staff put it on her walker, which I thought was hilarious.

Don Cheto.

Picked up the girls from the bus and took them to eat at the Farmer’s Market. Then over to their house. They’ve been dying to show me their new carpet and canopy.

Everly has a little door hanger that tells you the entrance level.

Then to Brook Run “Monkey-bar Park.” It’s a great work out for them.

Seems to be getting warmer every day.

Came in #3 las week. Big milestone since that’s the 100th time I’ve been in the Top 3. Not easy to do!

Good news! K’s retirement disbursement went through just fine.

OYB!

Got in touch with Kars 4 Kids and Pull A Part, which is the group that coordinates the tow truck for the cars. Since I wasn’t able to meet them at Ann’s house (where I had it stored), I needed to make copies of the back and front of the title and of my driver’s license. She was a great car.

Got the workbooks for the girls for our Summer School program.

Español!

Hiked 2.89 miles. Getting hot.

High humidity and storms popping up.

Checked the mail at the office.

Picked up the girls at the bus. They came with me to gas up my car and check the oil. Fortunately, the QT near Cici’s Pizza had a good price on gas. I’m still learning my car.

Everly got a booboo on her knee this weekend.

After eating pizza, we went to Pet Smart and Dick’s sporting goods.

Don Cheto!

Deposited a check on the way home.

I got a call from my buddy Anthony Jacquin last night after his 50th birthday party. He had a good time. It was great to chat with my friend Marcus as well.

Confirmation from Kars for Kids.

OYB!

Off and on rain today. I got a 45 minute walk in and had to cut my bike ride short due to close thunderstorms.

My rose bushes look lovely.

Español!

Rode my bike 7.85 miles. I did a small loop five times that included a really hard hill. I was staying close to home just in case something unusual happened with the rain.

Listened to music in Spanish.

Don Cheto.

Got J and me some Thai food.

I should come in #3 this week.

I’m enjoying watching Resident Alien on Netflix.

Did a small load of laundry and some towels this evening.

Español!

OYB!

I will ramp this up significantly as it warms up.

Keep going!

Did the laundry.

I filled out the forms to donate my old car, the Mercury Grand Marquis to Kars for Kids. I’ve given them several cars over the years. I did some research on them. Turns out it’s a Jewish company. Then I saw this car driving in front of me as I was returning from Stone Mountain. That’s the name of God in Hebrew. It was like a sign to me that the Father approved what I had done.

Rainy today.

Recorded a new episode of Verbal Surgery called, “Too Tight.” It’s excellent. Downloaded it onto my Mac Air and then uploaded it to LibSyn and Facebook.

Kathy got a letter in the mail about the money that she had put in a retirement account when she worked as a teacher. I was able to get an account for her started and then request a refund of that money. That will be a blessing that we weren’t expecting. Thank you, Father.

Keep going.

I liked these quotes from Tim Ferris’s blog.

I did research on how much the Mercury was worth. I decided to just donate it to a ministry.

OYB!

Español!

Lovely weather.

Doing research on prayer card companies. We’ve used these guys before.

My first task of the day was to put fresh silicon caulk on the grout in the hall shower. It’s been leaking a bit.

My main job was to do the carpets. First I had to blow and rinse off the deck so I had somewhere clean to put things.

Then I put all the moveable stuff outside and move the chairs back so I could vacuum.

Listened to music while I worked.

After the carpets were vacuumed I was able to really peruse the stains I needed to deal with.

I make a mixture of very hot water and a couple of spoons of oxiclean. Then I pour it onto the high traffic areas.

The hardest part of the job was giving the carpet a deep scrub with the oxiclean and a stiff broom. That’s what really gets it clean.

There was rain north of us. It made me pressured to keep going as hard as I could so I could get the job done and everything back inside.

Went to the UPS store to take back my iPhone car holder and the table tennis equipment that was damaged.

Kathy’s brother Bill left me a message about her voice mail. I got it to her.

Don Cheto is always great practice for listening en Español.

Mint had some big news. Hopefully, that’s going to be good news for us. We’ll see.

Went to Lowe’s to get the carpet cleaner.

I put everything back like I found it. Still drying.

I got pretty sweaty. I’m glad I have headbands.

After I took the carpet cleaner back to Lowe’s, I went over to Ann’s house to put the title and keys in the Mercury. I’ve decided to donate it to the ministry Kars for Kids. The car buying companies were only going to give me about $100. I’ll get a better deal by donating it and writing it off my taxes next year.

She fired right up and drove fine. It made me sad to be getting rid of it. She was a real lifesaver and the favorite car I’ve ever driven. By far the most comfortable. But the transmission was really deteriorating. Kathy was scared to drive in it.

Keep going.

OYB!

My reminder about my buddy Anthony’s birthday. He turned 50 today! Sounds pretty young to me.

Español!

Today I went to the DMV in Snellville to transfer my new car from Whirlwind Missions to me. Unfortunately, the laws had changed and I got hit with a $680 tax bill. Ouch.

Job is done!

Fun chat with the birthday boy!

Went to the webuyanycar.com office today to talk to them about buying the Mercury. I’ll probably take it over there soon, just to get an offer. May be better to get a write off instead.

Talked to my insurance guys today. Checked out how much money I was spending on covering Jessi as a driver and the Mercury. I took J off the coverage, she never drives. It’ll save me about $100/month without the Mercury and J.

Watered my outdoor plants. The bananas still haven’t come up. I still watered them.

Listened to Don Cheto.

It’s really warming up.

Went by my office to check the mail.

I got my midsized Table Tennis today, but unfortunately, it had been damaged during shipping. That’s rare for Amazon. It was pretty heavy. Got dinged up in several places.

I took care of getting the return started. I’ll drop it off at UPS tomorrow. Not looking forward to lifting it.

I picked up the girls at the bus and we went to my choice today, Taco Veloz. The girls ate cheeseburgers from McD.

I enjoyed watching them work out at gymnastics.

Helped one of the kids with their homework. Most of them had fun playing games.

My neighbor’s little girl likes to draw.

Push.

I had a bit of leaking from the hall shower. I’ll be putting some fresh silicon caulk there soon.

OYB!

My credit union has transferred from Master Card to Visa. I activated my new Visa card this morning and made calls to let venders know I have a new card.

Español!

April mileage.

Sewed up a couple of holes in my comforter.

Ordered more bird food.

Cleaned and refilled the feeders and bird baths. I still haven’t seen my hummingbirds return.

Rained about .75″ over the last couple of days.

Went to the UPS store to return some wireless mics and a cord to Amazon. I decided I didn’t need them.

Voted in the primaries this morning.

Amazon will add the money back to my account.

Twelve years ago today, I was in NYC with my buddies from England.

I went to my treasurer’s house today so he could sign the title for the Honda into my name which gives Whirlwind less liability. I went ahead and booked my reservation to the tag office tomorrow morning.

I’m looking into options for the Mercury. I may take it over to webuyanycar.com and let them make me an offer. They have a dealer close to me.

Had a chat with my Mom.

Tried to secure the window in the bathroom at the mission. I’ve already reported it to the manager.

Took the girls to Pho 24. Penelope had fun with the thin pasta.

I enjoy Everly’s art.

The kids have fun with the games.

Penelope’s grades can’t get any higher.

Great to see my good friend Jouvens. We had a productive talk.

Went by my office to check the mail and my ficus.

Don Cheto.

Just keep going.

When Walmart doesn’t have something I ordered, they send it to me via USPS or Fed Ex.

OYB!

Español!

Good chat with Anthony today. We discussed a wide variety of subjects including British politics, sending immigrants to Rwanda, sour dough bread, gut biomes among others. He was using some avatars that cracked me up.

Rainy this morning, but cleared off and was nice.

Made sandwiches for J.

K and I picked up the girls and took them to the Buford Highway Farmers Market for lunch.

Helped the kids at the mission. There’s no homework going on, but I still hang out with them. They enjoy Super Mario cart. I did help Everly with some math facts.

Kathy had Penelope read some books to her. They had fun going through the Parkview yearbook for Ashley and Miles when they were seniors.

Bad news from where I grew up.

Came in #3 this week.

Read an article on memory.

OYB!

Short chat with Anthony.

Ordered groceries.

Beautiful day.

Hiked 2.72 miles while I studied Spanish.

Took an adaptor and a cord to UPS to send back to Amazon. They have a self-serve station.

Went by my office to check on the mail and drop off my newsletter for the secretary to copy. I always leave her chocolate candy to say “thanks.”

Good talk with my Mom.

Picked up a few things at Walmart. The Chamblee Walmart has items mine near Stone Mountain doesn’t.

I cut a check to Azalea Place Apartments for the water. $10.

Chatted with Pastor John from Westside about coming to Azalea some Saturday.

Listened to Don Cheto.

Got the girls at the bus. I made a hide a key for the Mission. The girls helped me find a good hiding place.

I put soap in the bathrooms.

I picked up the photocopies of the newsletter, took them to Azalea to fold and stuff. Took them over to the Post Office.

Went by my usual bank off of LaVista, but it wasn’t accepting deposits. Had to use the bank in Stone Mountain. Didn’t like that.

Gassed up the Honda and checked the oil.