Tuesday, August 1, 2023
So this morning I went to my primary care doc and told her my tale of woe. She had one of the nurses puncture my arm and take some blood that will go to the hospital lab for analysis. She also remarked that we need to get me over my pooped-out syndrome before I make my Detroit trip in September. I replied that that would be great, but it would be better to have more energy sooner for working on the car to get it ready. I have only a month for that, so I guess I need to force myself to get busy on it even if I feel feeble. The other day one of the local Model T guys phoned about something else and when I told him about my situation he volunteered to help. I will clear some work space in the shop and take him up on that. The weather forecast says the heat wave will ease soon, so I'm hoping that will help.
Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Looking up camera repair online, I thought I found a good place in Tulsa. Then I read the reviews. Nope. Too many gripes about lousy service. So I took my defunct spare Canon to Moler's in Wichita. The repair guy there said fixing it would cost more than buying one that works. So that's what I'll do. My first digital camera was a Canon A640 in 2007, and I've had several since. Three have been stolen, and the others have failed for various reasons. I've had a couple repaired, but in most cases it was less expensive to buy a working one. Canon discontinued the model a few years ago, but I like it so it's the one I buy. So far there have always been several for sale online whenever I needed one. While I was in Wichita today I stopped at Grace Market and picked up a gallon of kimchi. I acquired that habit in Korea in 1966, and I have a little with dinner most evenings. While I was driving home from Wichita this afternoon a nurse from my doc's office phoned and told me to pick up a new prescription. It seems yesterday's blood test showed a thyroid deficiency. The doc thinks that's what's been making me feel so weak, so I'll be taking pills for it. After the pharmacy I went back to the doc's office to bleed into a tube again. It seems she is out to find everything that's wrong with me. I guess it's good to find everything and deal with it before it gets more serious. On the way home from town my car thermometer was reading 108º F. The forecast shows two more days of 100º+, then we start to cool down.
Thursday, August 3, 2023
The ever-changing forecast now predicts 100º+ lasting through Saturday. I don't know if the heat was the reason for my feeling just as feeble as ever today, but it sure didn't help. The only physical toil I accomplished today was installing the new mower belt, a job that doesn't take much exercise. The worst part of the day was my doc's nurse calling me with the results of yesterday's blood test. I have diabetes. Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! A major reason I've been keeping my BMI under 20 for years was to avoid getting diabetes. I've seen the inconvenience it is for some of my friends, and I want no part of it. She did say it's very mild and I won't have to take any medicine for it, but I should avoid desserts. I have to find out what that means. Only sugary stuff like cake and ice cream, or fruits too? As Chester A. Riley would say, what a revoltin' development this is!
Friday, August 4, 2023
Feeling less pooped today, I started up the Dixon and mowed. My cousins Donna and Zack (Donna's son) brought their big mower and did a lot of the place Tuesday afternoon, but more remained. I mowed behind the shop then went to the south side of the road. The weeds I sprayed there weeks ago were dead, but the grass was high. I had done about half the area when the mower bogged down in tall grass and destroyed another belt. Drat! This time I have ordered two replacement belts so I will have a spare if one fails again. I haven't received an email notice that they have shipped, so I expect they will ship on Monday and it should arrive here Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile I will have plenty to keep me busy if I have the pep to do anything.
Saturday, August 5, 2023
Being up later than usual, I hit the sack at 1:00 AM and slept soundly until about 5:00 AM when I was awakened by a storm blowing moisture in on me. I got up and closed the windows, then went back to bed and slept until 10:30. I guess nine and a half hours of sack time suggests that I was pretty tired. By the time I dressed and did some morning internetting it was almost noon. I did some reading about diabetes on medical websites. When my doc's nurse told me I have it, she didn't specify Type 1 or Type 2. Reading about both of them, having either one pisses me off. The nurse did say that what I have is mild enough that I won't have to take anything for it. But even with that there will be some dietary restrictions. I do have some questions for the doc. I hate inconvenience, and this is inconvenient, but I'm grateful for going 81+ years without it. This week's treat night dinner was carnitas at La Fiesta. They always include some tortillas with the carnitas, and I make little tacos with them. From the menu they're tortillas de harina (flour), but I always specify tortillas de maíz (corn). This week's movie was a second viewing of the latest Mission Impossible flick, because I really like it. The cast is great, the improbable stunts are staged to look very real, and the overall production is first rate. The extended train wreck is especially impressive.
Sunday, August 6, 2023
The overnight storms yesterday and today left .59" in the gauge. The heat wave broke with a predicted high in the low nineties in town, but never getting above the eighties here. I did a lot of visiting online but also suffered another computer aggravation. I have been using my laptop for email and having no trouble with it. But now it's demanding a password and telling me my user ID and password are wrong. This kind of thing is why I hate passwords. Tomorrow when there's a computer shop open I'll phone and ask if there's a chance they can get it working.
Monday, August 7, 2023
Well, I phoned the computer shop. They never returned my call. So I continue without email and no prospect of getting it back. The day began with a visit to the hospital. My doc sent me there for one of those tests where you lie on your back and slide back and forth through a big round electronic device. As often happens, the nurses had trouble locating a good spot to stick me for an IV. So I'm now wearing little bandages on both arms. I expect it will take a day or two to learn the results. Not feeling wiped out and lethargic as I was a few days ago, this afternoon I got busy in earnest cleaning up in the shop to clear some work space. A good part of that is finding good stuff I had forgotten or that I had bought in a pile of auction stuff and didn't realize I had. The bummer is taking so much time figuring out where to put everything.
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Today I took my laptop to the computer shop. It didn't take long for a pro to straighten out my email mess. It was well worth the $20.34 for me to avoid spending hours on the phone to "customer support" with an agent trying to straighten out the mess, then the agent's supervisor trying to straighten out the mess, then the supervisor's supervisor trying to straighten out the mess, then thinking the problem is solved, then hanging up and finding out that it isn't. Yes, this has actually happened. I think next week I will take my desktop computer to the same shop and see if the pro can fix its sometimes-working-but-usually-not email. This afternoon my doc's nurse called to tell me the results of yesterday's test. She said most of my feebleness is from congestive heart failure. Great. Last week diabetes, and now this. What's next? A brain tumor? Doing some internet reading I found a study of life expectancy. "Male patients of mean age 80 years had a life expectancy of 3.9 years ..., compared with that of 7 years for men in the general population of the same age." I suppose at 82 I'm somewhere under that 3.9 years. I was hoping to make it at least to 90, but apparently I'm circling the drain a lot closer than that. I've been thinking I need to have an auction to get rid of a lot of the mess and save my brother the trouble. But he's only 4½ years younger than I am. Maybe I should leave the place to one of the young cousins who is likely to be around a lot longer. I guess we have some discussing and planning to do.
Wednesday, August 9, 2023
Today I talked with Little Brother. As I suspected, he has no interest in living here. So it will be one of the younger cousins. Two of them have expressed an interest. The question now is which one. The youngest? The one who spoke first? Flip a coin? I'm not in fine fettle, whatever that is, but I don't feel about to croak. I guess I have some time to decide. Apparently I also have time to sit around and get nothing done. It was another of those down days when I just don't feel like doing anything. I sat around in the morning, took a nap, and sat around in the afternoon. I took just enough time off from doing nothing to drive into town for celery. As I was coming home a turkey crossed the road in front of me. She was alone, which is unusual. There is a flock of them I often see along Chestnut Avenue east of the Walnut River, and normally there are several of them together.
Thursday, August 10, 2023
Laundry day. Two loads: sox and overalls; shirts, sheets, and towels. Later I went to town to buy envelopes and saw my cousin Pete in the store. She pretended not to see me, and when I spoke to her it was obvious she was mad at me. Later I went to the post office to mail a letter, so on the way home I stopped at her place and asked her what I had done wrong. She said, "It doesn't matter what you did," then she closed the door and locked it. You can't argue with logic like that. I guess I'll give her some time to calm down or get more worked up, and ask her again.
Friday, August 11, 2023
It's just one damn thing after another. The mower belts I bought last week arrived on Wednesday, but I didn't get around to installing one until this afternoon. There is absolutely no way it will fit. I'll have to send back both belts and buy the next longer size. Of course anything I buy won't ship until Monday, so I'll continue mowerless at least until Wednesday afternoon. Something I did successfully today was rid a neighbor of some Model T parts. He wanted them gone, mostly because he wanted to use the wooden box, I think. Most of the stuff was transmission parts, but with a variety of other items too. It will all be part of the goods I take to Chickasha next March, hoping to sell enough to pay for my space and other expenses. If I break even I'm satisfied. If I come out a few bucks ahead that's nice, but I go mostly to visit and to shop a little.
Saturday, August 12, 2023
A typical Saturday morning start. I drove to Winfield to check out the Defore auction. Nothing persuaded me to stay, so I proceeded to shopping. That included big bags of dog and cat food to fill both feeders, a visit to the gasino to fill my tank, and a stop back in town to buy oil for the car. At home I spent considerable time reading about diabetes on various medical websites. I skipped the sponsored ones with lots of advertising. All the medical articles agree on some things. They all say eat all I want of celery, cabbage, spinach and other greens. Fine. I like those things. They all say avoid refined sugar. No problem. The annoying thing is when they disagree. Use olive oil. No, don't. Eat tuna. No, don't. Cheese is OK. No, it isn't. Obviously I have more research to do. At three I headed for Wichita for two things. One was to buy diet Squirt, which is not sold here. There seems to be an intermittent shortage of the stuff, but this time it was in stock and I bought enough to last a few months. The other thing was to see a movie unlikely ever to show here at the local cineplex. After a tasty dinner at Mexico Viejo I went to see Jules, in which Ben Kingsley plays an old man whose quiet routine is interrupted when an alien space craft crashes in his back yard and he takes in the injured alien. If this sounds like a blockbuster with lots of action and special effects, it's the opposite. It goes for the occasional chuckle rather that lots of big laughs. Gavin Steckler's script gives the actors a chance to shine, and they do. There is no scenery-chewing here. Mister Kingsley as Milton and Harriet Sansome Harris and Jane Curtin as his neighbors develop their characters very nicely, and even Jade Quon, hidden in alien makeup and silent, is somehow both inscrutable and sympathetic. The more I think of this unpretentious and charming film, the better I like it. It gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
Sunday, August 13, 2023
Another of those blah days, without much pep and without much done. I sat at the computer and drowsed until 10:30, went to the front porch and took a nap until after noon, and returned to internet browsing. I did one outside job, using the dolly to move the Ruckstell rear axle that's been sitting on the west lawn since I brought it home in June. I moved it back to the barn but didn't take it around to the east end to put it inside because there's tall grass in the way. Mowing that will have to wait until I get a new belt on the mower, which is likely to take several days. I did go online and order a pair of ⅝" x 72" belts which are, according to the mower manual, the right size. There's no way the 71" belts I bought last week will fit, and I'll return them.
Monday, August 14, 2023
A surprise storm during the night brought a brief power outage and dumped 1.20" in the gauge. Late summer arrived early, with a bright sunny sky and an afternoon high of about 80º F. We'll be back in the heat in a few days, but today was a delightful break. I did more online reading about what foods are OK for diabetics, which ones are a no-no, and which are both, depending on the source you ask. That last category is confounding. Meat is OK, or it isn't. Fish is fine, or it isn't. No eggs, or lots of eggs. Fortunately I like a lot of the stuff that's a definite go. So when I went shopping today I got a sack of small red potatoes, some frozen green beans, frozen spinach, and a few bananas. Dinner tonight was a little 김치, half a cucumber, a tomato, two small steamed potatoes, a handful of dry roasted peanuts, a banana, and raisins for dessert. Breakfast was rolled oats. That kind of eating includes things I like, fills me up, and keeps my BMI at the skinny end of normal (18.5). Years ago I was obese (31.4) and overweight (26.4), and I intend to never go back. A few years ago I asked a friend what his BMI was and he said he didn't know. Finding it is very easy, so I think the only reason for not knowing it is not wanting to know.
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Is it the medicine? Whatever the reason, I felt normal today. I'm still a feeble old guy, but I didn't feel wiped out and lethargic as I have in recent months. If this keeps up I may actually get something done. Today I took advantage of my improved condition to fill a box with firewood stacked east of the house and carry it up to the front porch. In the shop I continued the slog of sorting and putting things away to make work space. Some of the stuff goes in a box to sort later but I'm taking time to put some things where they belong. On the diabetic diet front, dinner this evening was a repeat of last night's meal. I love the little potatoes, so I'm really glad they're allowed. I think tomorrow I'll have spinach, something else I love. I never understood the old story that little kids don't like spinach, because I've always loved it.
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Today's big activity was the search for a speedometer for Model T travel. For several years I struggled with a bike speedometer that depended on a magnet attached to a wheel, a sensor near the wheel, and a little computer on the steering column. That worked great for awhile, but sooner or later always failed. Sometimes the sensor was wrecked by road hazards, and sometime the wiring was damaged. I never had one survive a whole trip. So I decided to go with a GPS device. No magnet, no sensor, no cable. I spent most of the morning online looking at navigation devices and reading user reviews. The reviews were really helpful in warning about the shortcomings of some devices that looked good in the advertising. That eliminated some candidates. In the afternoon I had to go to the dentist's office for a scheduled tooth cleaning, to the grocery store for celery, peanut butter, and rolled oats, to my doctor's office for some dietetic literature, and to the pharmacy for heart pills. Back at home I shopped some more until quitting time, then this evening after chow finished the shopping. I ended up ordering a GPS speedometer/odometer that shows mileage both cumulative and for trips. A big selling point mentioned by several reviewers is that the thing is easy to read even in bright sunlight. One of the few gripes I have about my Camry is how difficult it is to read some instruments in the daytime. The price of this device was $40 plus tax. I saw another that was under $30, but the reviews said no. I'll try this one, and if it's not up to snuff I'll get something else.
Thursday, August 17, 2023
Never went off the place today. I spent some time testing Model T coils, then I decided to dig into the control panel I made for the tail/brake lights and turn signals on my 1915 runabout. It worked well when I installed it last winter, but the right side signals quit working. Flipping the switch to the right got a weak flicker from the right indicator, and no signal lights. With the panel out of the car I started testing circuits. I had suspected a bad diode or something else haywire in the panel, but with all the outgoing wires disconnected I found that the right turn circuit worked as it should. That told me that the problem was in one of the lights or the wires leading to them. It didn't take long to figure out that the culprit was the right front lamp, or rather the wire leading to it. A cut in the insulation was causing a ground. The wire going into the lamp was very tight in the hole, and pulling it in had made the cut. Originally I had drilled a ⁷⁄₆₄" hole, so I enlarged it to ⁵⁄₃₂". That allowed a new wire to slide in easily. At that point I ran out of time, so I will finish the rewiring tomorrow. It should be an easy job, but as slow as I am it won't necessarily be fast.
Friday, August 18, 2023
Best laid plans... No, I didn't finish that control panel today. My heat gun went belly up, and I ran out of shrink tubing. Walmart had neither, and Orscheln was the same. In fact, over half the shelves in Orscheln were totally empty. The company has been bought out by TSC, and they are getting rid of a lot of products to make way for different products. So it was time to venture south of the border, into Okieland. I drove to the Harbor Freight store in Ponca city, and found the heat gun on sale for $9.99. Even better, they had shrink tubing in eight foot rolls. I bought rolls in two sizes, but passed on the third size because of the sickly green color. I prefer all my work to match. When I got home I worked on the panel and the right front turn signal until chow time, then came back this evening and worked on the panel some more. Maybe I'll finish the project tomorrow, but as slow as I am that's a goal, not a prediction.
Saturday, August 19, 2023
 The arrow points to the damaged
insulation that
was grounding out the right turn lights. |
 Soldering in a new wire.
|
 Bench testing the contrtol panel to be
sure everything works.
|
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Two down, five to go. Starting yesterday, the forecast was for seven days of 100º+ F. Next Saturday is supposed to bring some relief, with a cool-down into the nineties. I'm keeping my physical exertion at a minimum during the heat, but plugging away at getting the 1915 ready for travel. Yesterday's mail brought the new GPS speedometer/odometer, and today I studied how I'll mount it in the car. It comes with a mounting bracket that's supposed to stick to the windshield or dash. Experience tells me that's no better than a suction cup. Both will eventually fail. I'll attach this bracket with machine screws to a bolt-on clamp that fastens to the dash. I expect making and painting that will take a couple of days. Looking through my electrical supplies I find a bag of spare tail/brake LED's, and a pair of spares for front turn signals. But I'm short of the smaller ones for rear turn signals, so last night I ordered ten of those. They are supposed to be here Tuesday. I set out to buy a hot spot router for internet when I travel, but canceled the purchase when I read the terms and conditions. Along with all the customary legal blather there was mention of an "activation fee" on all new accounts, but no information on the amount of the fee. Tomorrow during business hours I'll get on the phone and find out how much it is. Until then, no sale.
Monday, August 21, 2023
Well, the one-time activation fee is $25 when you start the service, which is $20 a month. No contract. I can start it when I need it and stop it when I don't. That sounded OK to me, so I ordered the device. I should have it this week and be ready to try it out by next weekend. The mower belts weren't as easy to deal with. I ordered them Monday last week, and never received an email saying they had shipped. So this morning I phoned the company and asked. The guy I talked to was supposed to call me back, but never did. So I'll have to call again tomorrow. In the shop I adapted the bracket clamp that will hold the new GPS device. I painted it, and it's baking overnight, and I'll install it tomorrow. As this is an antique car, I would like to attach the bracket to the clamp with old style slotted round head machine screws. But I doubt that those are available locally, and I hate to pay for shipping that triples the price. I'll see if one of the local stores can order them in.
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Heat like this didn't used to bother me, but it sure does now. Years ago a run of 100º+ days would certainly get tiresome and I'd want it to be over, but it wouldn't get me down physically. Those days are over. Normally I go to town for shopping in the afternoon, often late afternoon, but today I went before noon just to get into some air conditioned places. I must have looked out of it when I wobbled into the Orscheln store and plopped down in a chair. A couple of the staff folks asked if I was OK. I told them no, and one of them went and got me a bottle of cold water. Sitting in AC for several minutes and drinking cold water revived me and I proceeded with the shopping. Not finding the machine screws I wanted, I moved on to my next stop —Walmart. There I just sat on a bench cooling down for several minutes, then to the pharmacy for a pill refill and several more minutes of waiting. By the time I went to the grocery for paper plates and checked out I had been in AC for over half an hour and was feeling better. My next stops were at the so-called hardware store for no machine screws, the market for raisin bran, the lumber yard for no machine screws, and Bumper 2 Bumper for no machine screws. It looks like I will have to buy those online and pay shipping that doubles or triples the cost. I did get a little work done in the shop this afternoon, finishing the mounting hardware for the new GPS speedometer/odometer and installing it in the runabout. The afternoon mail brought the package of LED's I ordered Saturday night, so this evening after chow I installed one of them in the runabout's right rear turn signal. Repair of the brake/tail/turn lights is now officially done, at least until something else goes haywire.
Wednesday, August 23, 2023
This is most unfortunate. A lot of work needs to be done, but it's too damn hot for physical exertion, especially for this feeble old guy. The forecast shows three more days of 100º+ highs, then a few cooler days with highs around 90º and lows near 60º. I hope that will get me more active. Meanwhile, I plug away at sedentary jobs with long rests. When I went shopping today I stopped at the lumber yard and picked up a three foot piece of 1 x 3 to use in making a computer carrier to take traveling. I brought a large piece of sheet metal out of the east end of the shop, but I'll leave cutting and assembling the pieces until the cool of the morning. One other minimum-activity job began today, running a slow trickle of water to revive some of the plants that are starting to wilt in the heat. In this heat, a dry couple of weeks can be rough on the vegetation.
Thursday, August 24, 2023
Another day, another 100º+. I'm looking forward to Saturday, when the forecast shows a nice cool high of 96º, then only 87º on Sunday. Today I was pretty worthless again. Dieter Mitchell dropped in and we blathered for an hour or two, then I went to town for four cans of 40% DEET repellent, and groceries. I stocked up on frozen vegetables, which are good for diabetics, and a head of cabbage, which is too. Fortunately I like all those things. But the problem with this new regimen is that for the first time in my life I face the prospect of getting too thin! This morning I stepped on the scales and weighed 134 pounds. I'm going to see one of my docs tomorrow. Maybe he will have a suggestion on what to do about this novel situation.
Friday, August 25, 2023
This morning's Wichita trip was a follow-up with the secondary cardiologist who slowed my pulse down to a normal pace last month. I told him about this new weight loss thing, and he suggested having my primary care doc check what the thyroid pills are doing. Apparently they have different effects on different people. This afternoon my cousin Zack stopped by to get his marching orders. Actually he's not marching. He will be checking the water for the dog and cats and other critters while I'm on the road. I intend to have the dog feeder and the cat feeder both full when I leave, so he shouldn't have to do any feeding while I'm gone.
Saturday, August 26, 2023
The afternoon was still sweaty, but noticeably less torrid than the past week. I cleaned and polished the radiator off the runabout, put it back in the car, and filled it. When I got home from town this evening, several hours later, I was pleased to find that all my repairs worked, and there are no leaks. This week's treat night dinner was spinach enchiladas and frijoles at La Fiesta. The movie was Gran Turismo. I was dubious about a movie based on a video game, but positive reviews persuaded me to give it a chance. It turned out to be very good. You know where the story is going, but the trip is enjoyable. Archie Madekwe, the young British actor who plays the lead, appears younger than his real age of 28, and he is excellent.
Sunday, Augtust 27, 2023
First up was cutting a piece of sheet metal for a computer carrier to take Model T traveling. I'll need to sand blast it, and that will wait until the cool of tomorrow morning. I did a minimal bit of work on the runabout, reconnecting the headlamp wiring. But I spent the rest of the day on maps. I downloaded, copied, printed, marked, and labeled maps of all the roads I'll take to Fort Scott. That's almost to Missouri. I don't know how long I'll be there, but I do intend to spend some museum time. There's a Gordon Parks museum, and a national historic site at the old fort.
Monday, August 28, 2023
It was a full day. I started with sandblasting that piece of sheet metal. That involved no major breakdowns. So far so good. Not having a sheet metal brake to do the bending, I took the piece to a shop in town. When I found that the minimum charge would be $100 I had a choice: Do I spend half the day trying to find a shop that will do the job reasonably, or do I do it myself? I did it myself. I used clamps and a couple of scraps of two inch channel, and did a surprisingly good job. I would show you more than these three pictures, but my camera died. Even with new batteries, it was dead. Dammit! Four days before I'm supposed to begin a trip, I have no camera. Quickly I went online and ordered a replacement on eBay. If I'm lucky it will be here by Friday.
 Clamp the sheet down with a piece of
channel, and start bending it up.
|
 Clamp the other piece of channel
against it to bend it square.
|
 One side bent, starting the other
side.
|
Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Last night when I set about downloading those photos I found that my dead camera had resurrected itself and was working normally. Did I try to cancel my purchase of another camera? Nope. I don't trust the present camera to keep working, and the one I bought yesterday will be a spare and probably eventually a replacement. My other chore last night was preparing maps for the Missouri part of my new route east. That included copying enlarged parts of the pertinent county road maps, printing the copies, marking the route with a yellow highlighter, and writing in some missing road names. It took eleven pages to cover the route from the state line to Jefferson City. Beyond Jeff City it's familiar territory, and I won't need a paper map in hand. Today I fixed a wandering rear fender on the runabout. Taking off the fender clamp to chase the threads was a chore. I couldn't get an ¹¹⁄₁₆" wrench on it, and a ¾" was loose. Eventually I did get it off with the ¾" open end. I don't know why Ford used a weird size like ²³⁄₃₂". I suppose they had a special tool to fit it, but who has anything like that today? Anyway, I finished up the job with a new ⅜-16 nut, which takes a ⁹⁄₁₆" wrench. If I have to take that nut off again, it will be easier with that standard size.
Wednsday, August 30, 2023
There's good news tonight! Today I activated the Travlfi hot spot I bought last week, and it works. I filled out all the forms on the Travlfi website, but when I clicked on Activate nothing happened. So I phoned the 800 number and had a customer service rep do the deed for me. I tried a little web browsing on both computers, desktop and laptop, using the hot spot signal, and it was just as good as my regular wi-fi carrying Cox cable. It's a great contrast with last year's GoConnect hot spot, a sorry piece of junk too slow to be of any use at all, with no support. After the thing failed to provide decent service I sent three emails to the company and never received a reply to any of them. From my brief experience with both companies, I'd say if you're shopping for a hot spot avoid GoConnct like the plague and go with TravlFi. One thing I like about this service is that there's no contract. I can turn it on for thirty days when I'm about to go on a trip, and shut it off until my next trip. My other activity today was mostly putting away tools and equipment in the shop, and gathering some of the stuff I intend to take on my trip. I hoped to leave Friday morning, but I want to have my new replacement camera when I go, so I might not be able to leave until Saturday.
Thursday, August 31, 2023
An email tells me my new camera will be delivered tomorrow, so I may be able to head east Saturday IF all is ready by then. That's not a sure thing, as I still have to install the new rear tires, go to the post office and stop the mail, buy dog and cat food to fill the feeders, hunt up and pack what I need to take, and a mess of other stuff. Fortunately I'm feeling a lot better than I did a few weeks ago. Having to start at least a day late persuades me to change my travel plans. I'll skip the planned sightseeing at Fort Scott and in western Missouri until the trip home. Instead I'll cross Missouri from Joplin to Saint Louis mostly on old 66. I'll take US 50 and US 40 across Illinois, and at Terre Haute take US 41 north. From Rockville IN it will all be familiar territory. I've been through Fort Wayne enough times that I may not even have to look at a map.
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