Somebody help that poor man!

Time for:

I installed and mounted my geezer weather station.

It's working perfectly.

An old microphone stand and clamps as a mount,
zip-tied to a wooden post.
Jury-rigged, but it works.
Having immediate access to weather information
from your own backyard is a constant amazement.
Although I admit I am easily entertained.

Recent photographs of our front stoop flowers,
 for this summer.

Just to show the results of the front yard work we've put in this spring.

A partial view from the way-back area of the backyard.

We've been working pretty hard to beautify the homestead----

It's no wonder all of us are worn out by the end of the day.

True story---

The other day i was meeting a fellow retiree friend for lunch.
I was, as always, way too early.
While standing around I was suddenly struck by the thought that i needed
to pay attention to how i appeared
waiting for my friend to show up--
outside a local burger joint.
I needed to look active--involved in the world around me...

It was important that i did not appear to look
 lost---or confused.

At my age if you allow yourself to become lost in thought
while waiting in public
this thoughtfulness could be misconstrued...

I could wind up in a

I made sure i checked both my phone and watch often
and actively paced...until my friend show up.

A Soyuz capsule currently docked with the International Space Station
just did an "oops my bad" thing.

Supposedly, on it's own, suddenly and without warning 
the Soyuz rocket engine fired for no reason,
pushing the ISS into a different orbit....

I bet this was a WTF circumstance?

The upcoming big problem is that this particular

Soyuz capsule has to return a crew to Earth in a few days?

If it's engines are suddenly firing out of control

this could be not such a good thing you know?

This would make it a bit tough piloting it---

to what's considered to be a safe landing by Soyuz standards.

NASA and the Russians are advising:

I obtained this unusual Sony CFS-700

in beautiful condition.

Speakers that rotate, a tubular metal frame combined with

Japanese futuristic styling.

Despite all of the above it's not just all show, it sounds great! 

The CFS-700 does win the strangest design award

in my boombox collection.
An additional weird thing with this box is that 
it sounds way way better outside as compared to inside.
This is the exact opposite of all my other boomboxes.
Because of this weirdness it has become the go-to
boombox for Jazz on the back porch the last few days.

I am currently in the process of constructing a

solar power system for JoJo's She-Shed as described in my

previous blog.

I've got shit spread all over my garage workbench...
parts, tools, a huge battery--
Nothing successful as of yet but---

I'm really enjoying this project no matter the end result.

Creating the design and hobbling parts together 

towards a specific goal is always a major fun time for me!

This week I slowly started my personal learn to code project---

Reading up--no actual coding yet....

The Last season on DVD.

Black Sea on DVD
This was actually pretty decent..worth watching.

All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!

I've been working my ass off around the place this week.

This was one of those weeks where there was
accomplishment even on the toughest jobs.

One of our jobs has been detailing the patio
area near our greenhouse and it has turned out well. 

We've also hung up 7 bird feeders of various
types designed for medium to smaller sized species.
It is very nice to sit on the porch in the evening and watch
the little birds come in to feed.

We have started researching the varying species
that have showed up for a bite to eat.
Although I have worried about the wrong species showing up---

I have begun working on an ad-hoc solar panel system

for my wife's garden shed..

a simple system of panels, scooter batteries and an

inverter/outlet.

The hope is to use this system to power small items

within the shed such as a fan, my JoJo's all weather boombox,

and possibly a pair of low intensity lights.

I am using spare and repaired solar system parts

that i have in stock which is an excellent use for

these materials.

If my plan and construction works out i will provide 

photographs if completed.

I knew this would happen...

but still---it's very weird---

I loose track of not only time during 

the day in retirement---

but the day of the week as well...

While working

I always knew exactly what time it was--

how close it was to quitting time....

as well as 

what day of the week it was--anxiously awaiting the

personal freedom of the upcoming weekend.

Now--in retirement---time is truly relative--

The days seemingly fly--

When I first check my watch it is 0800hrs-

I check it an hour later and is is 2030hrs--

The days literally fly by----

Thank God the Laptop can advise of the day of the week--

and Google Calendar will send me a reminder of appointments....

with this assistance I will insure I know what day of the week it is.

Otherwise I would have no idea....

Far from being disconcerting---

this status is:

Two things common to all retirements are

the senior special at IHop and home weather stations.

I obtained an Ambient Weather WS5350 wireless home weather station.

On sale no less---

Although this model does not transmit to one's laptop--

I decided I could do without that feature. 

One function it does have are alarms for storms--

or low temperatures.

Valuable for gardeners.
I'll be installing it over the next few days--
Keeping track of the weather is a requirement for a retired guy!

All of Bernie Sanders appearances in Iowa

have been standing room only.

Momentum in Iowa

Again and again 1000 people show up with only

space for 400---

sanders-packs-gym-stairwells-iowa-city

Hillary is so sure of winning everything 

because of her money she hasn't even bother

to show up in Iowa yet.

Good.

Let her and her 1% advisers believe that

Bernie Sanders is nothing to worry about.

I have always attempted to learn new things.

Some attempts, such as juggling, i was successful.

 Others such as lock picking, I have failed miserably to conquer.

A failure in one area does not mean i cease a future attempt

in a different zone of operation.

Watching Halt and Catch Fire gave me the idea that

I am going to attempt to teach myself how to code.

Learning to code will provide me a better understanding of

computing and i may get to the point where i can build simple,

but useful computer programs for operation around the homestead.

I have a very old IBM Thinkpad, I love, that will be perfect computer

to specialize for this coding project.

Isolating my attempt at coding to my Thinkpad only

will prevent me from screwing up my "for real"

laptop.
My first step is ordering a 
coding for dummies
book---
How else can an American attempt to actually learn anything new?

I ordered something on a whim which may be a help

in the boombox restoration department.

Rubber Renue..

One of the problems  

with boomboxes

is that they are over 30 years old.
Some are 40 years old.

Age alone attacks specific parts such as the 

tape deck's rubber return rollers which are 

absolutely necessary for a tape to feed properly through

the play mechanism.

Age makes the rollers dry, hard and brittle causing the player

to "eat tapes". 

The traditional fix is replacing the return roller but finding a replacement

roller for a 30-40 year old tape player now is impossible.

I am hoping application of Rubber Renue may bring an

old, dried out return roller

back to life.

Anyway--

This stuff is suppose to be miracle and amazing.

I am always a sucker for any product described like that....

My Long awaited JVC-M70JW arrived:

No matter that it requires new tape deck belts 
(which i just ordered)
and I have to repair the left speaker channel.
I am beside myself....
It is huge, heavy and even with only one channel
operational--immensely powerful.

We also picked-up an all weather Sony worksite
Boombox for my JoJo to enjoy outside in her
Garden She-shed....
(Yes Boomboxery is catching)

On DVD

On Streaming