I’m doing some research on estimates for taking down a couple of branches that are above my roof.

OYB!

Yesterday, I made the payment to start our auto insurance with Progressive. Basically, I’m getting double the coverage for about half the price. This morning I called Geico and told them I’m not using them any more. They seemed sad. I’ve had that coverage over thirty years!

Studied Español and walked 1.28 miles.

Cold morning.

Had a nice chat with my brother.

I told him I was getting ready to eat Indian food. I shared some pictures of the buffet as well as the shopping center. It reminds me of growing up in Nairobi.

Went back by Progressive to pick up my driver’s license. They were making a photocopy of it and I forgot to get it back.

I saw a big military transport fly over while I was in the parking lot.

Mileage log.

Got a confirmation to get my scans done before getting the implant for my back molar.

After lunch, I went to the Exhibition Hub to see the Fans Strike Back Star Wars exhibition. It was cool.

The exhibition was fun, although about 80% of it was small models. I liked the life-size stuff way better. Plus, knowing that none of it was really from the movies made it not as cool. I’ve seen quite a few shows with replicas and I’m never as impressed as to think this was the “real thing.” Once, when I was in New York City, I saw some of the REAL objects from the movies including the costume for Darth Vader. The costumes were at the Hard Rock Cafe on Times Square.

Released Verbal Surgery “100%.” this evening.

Picked up my groceries.

Went out to Stone Mountain to try and spot the comet. It’s nearly a full moon now and it wasn’t visible. Plus it was super cold!

I did, however, see a string of at least forty of the Star Link satellites moving across the sky. The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Europe weather today.

OYB!

Español! Walked 1.26 miles while I studied.

Fun talk with my buddy, Anthony!

J and K went with me to Piccadilly and to see the family in Chamblee.

Went by the Progressive insurance office to see my agent John Thomas and finish up the paperwork. I’ll save about $1,000 a year and I’m going to get double the liability coverage. Can’t beat that!

Signed and got all the newsletters/tax letters in the mail. Always good to get that done.

Rainy day!

I still had a group of kids show up to get help with their homework.

J and I are working on liquidating the precious metals. Look like it’s at a high! That’s great news!

Got in touch with my coin guy.

Did some repair work on K’s pants and one of my map jackets.

J is getting her new Mac Mini M2 computer set up. Looking into trackpads.

Keeping the pressure on. With today’s progress I feel pretty good about coming in in the Top 3. My guess is I’ll get beat out for #1.

Did some research on the green comet last night.

Interesting.

Bad weather where my Mom lives in Texas. Chance of snow here on Friday.

OYB!

Español! I spent extra time walking/studying today: 1.98 miles.

I’m a big Dali fan.

Talked with my Mom on the way into Chamblee to check how the weather was affecting her. She’s fine. Amen.

Mild here.

Called my dentist about the scans for the implant and when that can happen.

Listened to radio from Madrid.

Went by to talk to the Progressive car insurance guy. He was still crunching the numbers. Looks like I’m changing from Geico. I should be saving around $500!

Checked the mail at the office and processed checks.

I enjoy listening to Penelope read me books. We were studying about narwhals.

Helped the kids at the mission with their homework.

Deposited the checks I processed at my office.

Tough competition this week.

I always appreciate hearing from listeners!

I thought this was a great shot of my nephew Jacob Cummins and his family.

OYB!

Español! Walked 1.45 miles while I studied.

Jessi and I went to the ENT office to have the post-op with Dr. Hoddeson the surgeon who repaired the deviated septum in J’s nose.

Dr. Hoddeson removed the splints in J’s nose.

The report was very good and Jessi is already breathing way better. The doctor said she would continue to improve over the next few weeks as well!

Listened to radio from Madrid.

The apartment complex construction across from Azalea continues.

Penelope read a book to me about narwales. We listened to whale sounds afterwards.

I contacted my dentist’s office about finishing up my implant.

Helped the kids at the mission with their homework.

Went to my office to check the mail.

Ordered more nasal solution for J to keep the surgical site clean.

Went to the Post Office to get stamps for the newsletters.

Gassed up my car and checked the fluids.

Took the garbage can to the street. The recycling only needs to be taken out every other week. The county is very strict as to what can be recycled.

Stuffed the newsletters and put stamps on the envelopes.

We still need to enclose the tax letters before we mail them. Everything else is ready to go. Ashley and I will work on printing the letters and putting them in the envelopes and getting them into the mail on Thursday. I already have the letters in alphabetical order.

Strong competition this week. There are two people in this group that have over 1,000,000 points and nearly a hundred Top Three places. They’re hard to beat. I will very likely come in third, which is fine with me.

Finished #1 last week in the Duolingo Leagues. For years I thought that I was only competing against the Spanish students. Recently, I realized that that’s not the case, I’m competing against the best students of ALL the languages.

Tee hee.

Huh.

OYB!

Español!

Walked 1.10 miles while I studied.

Good talk with my Mom on the way into Chamblee.

Great lunch with my good friend Rob Martin. We go back a long way!

Met John Thomas today with Progressive Insurance. I’ve been with Geico for over two decades. Decided to see if I could get a better deal. Still crunching numbers.

I want to check on subscriptions to things.

Picked up, processed and deposited checks. Also picked up my newsletters while I was at my office.

Everly stepped on something sharp. She put a bandaid on it.

Helped the kids at the mission.

Listened to radio from Madrid on the way home.

Sent an email to my dentist about my implant.

I ordered paper and ink for the tax letters we need to print on Thursday. Taking some extra paper in that I had at my office.

Sent an email to Duolingo about a glitch I’m having.

Looks to be strong competition this week. Always makes me work harder.

OYB!

Español!

Went to Stone Mountain to record a couple of episodes of Anthony’s new podcast for his iLab channel. Always fun!

Walked .92 miles and studied Spanish.

Picked up my groceries.

Wrote my article for this month’s newsletter.

Cleaned my shoes.

Watered my plants.

Produced my newsletter.

Released a new episode of Verbal Surgery called “Vista View.” Excellent!

I reckon I’ll come in #1 this week.

Español!

Walked 1.41 miles as I studied.

Cold morning.

OYB!

I saw the most discrete undulatus clouds ever today. Incredible.

Ordered groceries.

Put some WD40 on the car door hinges.

Jessi got her new Mac Mini M2 in today. I helped her set it up. She needed to be careful because she had her surgery just yesterday! She’s not supposed to bend over or lift anything over ten pounds.

Went to the first New Year Lunar Festival ever at Stone Mountain this evening.

Seemed to be a big success. It was very colorful and I had a fun time. Going to one event costs $39. I got my Annual Pass for only $20 more. I think that’s a great deal. I will probably get the Grandgirls passes again this year. We made a lot of use of them last year, especially during the special events.

Walked .99 miles.

The Lunar Festival was very colorful.

Dance team from Laos.

Love the colored lights on the trees.

I have fun making swishy light patterns by moving the camera with a slow shutter speed. Beautiful! Groovy!

I begin to pull away.

My credit card with the new expiration date came in yesterday. Last night, I spent time changing the card on Amazon.

We are excited about Jessi’s new computer coming in on Saturday!

Today was Jessi’s deviated septum surgery. The doctor said it was one of the worst he’d seen. We got up around 7:00 AM. I woke up around 5:30 AM and didn’t really go back to sleep. I studied some Spanish.

Cold morning.

OYB!

We got to Eastside hospital at 8:24 AM.

After checking in and taking care of the financial and insurance information, a nurse took Jessi back to get her prepped.

K and I went to Golden Corral for lunch during Jessi’s surgery.

She did great!

We got her follow up appointment set for this coming Tuesday at 1PM.

This juvenile Sharp-Shinned Hawk was right outside my door.

After we got home, I studied Spanish and went for a 1.26 mile walk.

Went to Walgreens twice to pick up Jessi’s meds. I had to go back because there was a contraindication with two of the meds. The doctor explained what to do and we are following his orders.

Took a two hour nap after that. I was tired!

Having a strong week because of the competition.

Great to see the new computer on the way for Jessi!

Español!

Walked 1.57 miles while I studied.

OYB!

Finally got my new credit card in. My old one was getting ready to expire in just five days.

Now that I’ve got my new card, I plan on checking out if we can get a better deal with our car insurance.

It was a cold day. The wind made it bitter.

Jessi and Kathy went with me today. We had fun with the grandgirls.

Helped the kids at the mission with their homework. There was a LOT of work to do and the wind made it super cold.

I ended up with Penelope’s little twisty toy. She was sad about that.

Worked hard today. It’s been stiff competition this week. As I’ve said before, my goal is just to come in the top three and to score at least 10,000 xp a week.

Woke up to a completely flat tire, as expected.

OYB!

Español! Walked 1.58 miles while I studied.

Pumped up my tire and took it to my tire guy in Chamblee.

They had to put a patch on the tire. That piece of metal had sliced the tire like a knife, so the usual plug approach wouldn’t work. I was still in and out of that place with a repaired tire in less than twenty minutes!

Had a good talk with my Mom.

A couple of beautiful oil spots on my walk.

Finally dropped off my bag of bags to be recycled.

Went to the bank to deposit checks which I had processed at my office.

It was cold helping the kids at the mission.

Tabias came by to visit me while I was helping the kids. He is a one of my original kids at Azalea. Twenty-six years ago now!

Never too much Ashley!

Listened to radio from Madrid on the way home.

The county is looking at adding speed bumps to our neighborhood.

Beautiful sunset!

This week Jessi gave me all her savings and rare coins to help with the family finances. K and I had been talking about investing in a new computer for her to work with. Apple just released their new M2 Mac mini. It is a real powerhouse for an unbelievable $599! J and I did research on it this evening and then I let her push the button on my phone to order it!

The competition is way harder this week. I would have been 4,000 points ahead of everyone with this score last week.