December 23rd - December 31, 2023 - Kelly's 75th Birthday Party; Christmas with Alexa, Erin, Kellen and Freedom

Kelly's 75th birthday was the 23rd. Daughter Alexa FLEW IN from St. Louis on the 22nd with a suitcase full of gifts for Kelly from her and her sisters. After Kelly went to bed on the 22nd Alexa decorated the lanai for the birthday party. The girls gave Kelly 75 gifts for her 75th birthday! Kelly was really surprised.

Daughter Erin and her two boys, Kellen and Free, arrived for the holidays from California on the 23rd. Kelly waited to open most gifts until they arrived. Here are the boys enjoying the party. Free was kept busy bringing presents to Grandma.

Later Kelly enjoyed sitting in her easy chair opening a few more gifts with the help of Grandson Free.

Christmas Eve we all went to Mass at Sacred Heart parish. Kellen and Erin ended up spending the time in the "cry room" with Free. He was not into Mass at all.

This was a great Christmas for Free at two and half. He had a Santa Hat and would walk around telling everyone "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Chritmas". It was great. After Mass we rode  around on the "go cart", as he called it, and he would say "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Chritmas" to everyone he saw. Here is a picture of Free, Kellen and me after a golf cart ride. Free has on his backpack, which he had to have seeing his mom and brother with one all the time.

 

Free couldn't get any big items for Christmas because they would have to be taken back to California on the airplane. He got three Spider Man shirts and couldn't wait to take off his pajama top to put one on. By Christmas morning his braids had all been taken out.

There was no helping Free open his presents. He insisted on doing it by himself. He is a sharp little guy and had no problem getting the ribbon and paper off.

He also got magnetic blocks, crayons, coloring books, snowballs to throw, and a lunch pail full of dinosaurs. It was all scattered all over the floor most of the entire visit. LOL 

Free enjoyed the magnetic blocks and, with grandma showing him how they worked, he quickly learned how to make things like a house.

Kellen got new shoes and a new "Xbox". I don't know what size his feet are but his shoes are huge. If I had white tennis shoes like that they wouldn't say white for one day.

It didn't take long for Kellen to get the Xbox set up on the TV and begin playing his favorite games. He loved grandma's seventy inch TV for that.

Of course Erin and Alexa got presents as well and opened them while relaxing on the couch with a cup of coffee. 

The weather all week was cold (by Florida standards). On the 26th we went to the Bird Sanctuary in Mideira Beach. Kelly couldn't come along because we all couldn't fit in the truck at the same time. She had been there before so she didn't feel she was missing anything. Free loved looking at the big birds. 

The sanctuary is located on the water so we walked from there to the beach. It was cold and foggy but Free enjoyed splashing in the ocean water for his first time with brother Kellen and Aunt Alexa.

It was a great opportunity for a couple of pictures of me with Erin and her family. 

After the Bird Sanctuary we took Alexa to the airport for her flight home. She didn't check any luggage so the liquid items she got for Christmas will have to be mailed to her.

Erin had to work from home a couple of days so one day we took Free to "Munchkin Town".  He really enjoyed it, immediately gravitating to the "Monster Truck".

He likes toys with wheels. After the monster truck he pushed a baby around in a baby buggy until he spotted a car he could drive. He went all over in it.

He then spotted the "kitchen area" and cooked a meal. I had to go outside to get a good picture of him at work through the window.

Not long after arriving at our house Free spotted my iPad and promptly told me it was "my iPad. He pushed icons on it all day every day trying to get something to work. One day I put it on the charger on the shelf. He spotted it, unplugged it and carried it around with him. These little guys are amazing with technology. He had somebody's cell phone with him most of the time, again randomly pushing buttons. Once he sent a garbled message to my sister.

The 29th it was still cloudy and cold. We loaded chairs in the truck and headed to John's Pass.  John's Pass is a huge tourist area in Mideira Beach - blocks of T-shirt shops, souvenir shops, restaurants, etc. Our hope was that after walking around a while the weather would clear up enough that we could sit by the water. A picture opportunity as we arrived.

We weren't there long and Kellen found a place to get a temporary tattoo. He loved it. I think it lasts for up to a month. I just don't get it.

We strolled through a few shops. In one Kellen bought his girlfriend a necklace. We then headed to the pier to look for dolphins playing in the bay and to find a restaurant for lunch. We did see some dolphins but the big attraction for Free was the "Pirate Ship". It is a daily tour boat built to look like a pirate ship. He was fascinated by it. We had a nice lunch. Kellen bought a drink that is served in a coconut. He got it because you get to keep the coconut, which can be used as a piggy bank or vessel for small items.

After lunch it was clear that the weather was not going to cooperate for a sit on the beach so we headed home. The boys were worn out. Free was tired because he didn't take any naps while here and Kellen was tired because he stays up all hours playing his video games.

The 30th Erin and the boys headed back to California. Their flight took off at 5:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. California time. Kelly and I helped them get the bags and car seat checked and then headed home. All went well with their flight but it was 1:30 a.m. California time before they got home and in bed. A very long day and night for them.

It was such a treat seeing them for the Christmas holiday. We haven't had a little one around on Christmas since Kellen was a baby. It made me get into the Christmas spirit by putting a tree up for the first time in years. One of Kelly's birthday gifts was a pink flamingo. The girls and Kelly insisted I put it on top of the tree, replacing the star. This tree is in Florida after all.

We really wished the weather had been better for their visit so that they could have had a day at the beach but it wasn't meant to be. Maybe next time.

I spent New Year's Eve stripping beds and doing laundry. We are going to a New Year's Eve party tonight here in the park. There is live music and you bring your own drinks and snacks. It should be a lot of fun. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

 

 

December 16th - December 22, 2023 - Workbench; Hanger; Storm; Outlet; Charlie; Golf Cart Shocks; Steering Wheel; Visitors

Saturday:

Yesterday, while at Harbor Freight getting the angle grinder, I found that they had eighteen inch magnetic strips on sale for $3.99. I bought two to organize my tools. The workbench has a partial backboard made of particle board. A lamp cable was strung between staples to hold tools. It just didn't work for me. I took out all the staples and screwed on the magnetic strips. I'm very happy with the result. All the tools I use daily are readily at hand rather than in a tool box. I may replace the particle board with a larger piece of plywood to double my tool hanging capacity and to keep from dropping tools down behind the board. An issue with doing that is I will have to reroute the electric BX cable. I don't want to by a bunch of BX cable and wire to make a change. I'll study the situation.

There is nowhere in the shed to hang clothes as they come out of the dryer. I ordered an aluminum folding clothes hanging bracket. It folds out of the way when not in use. Love it! Laundry day will now be easier! LOL

 

Saturday was granddaughter Violet's seventh birthday. We Facetimed to wish her a Happy Birthday. She loves to draw and color so we bought her an artist's case full of drawing supplies. She loved it.

During the video call Granddaughter Violet named the fish we bought for $3.00 at a garage sale, Charlie.

 

Interestingly, Kelly found online that a fish identical to Charlie sold on eBay for $300.00. Yippee! I knew he was special! He will part of the permanent decor.

It was forecast that overnight Saturday we would have severe rain storms and very high winds. We lucked out. We got about three inches of rain and lots of moderate to strong wind. Many businesses on the coastal area of the county were flooded and the beaches eroded badly. A big expense to repair.

Sunday:

The sun is out this morning but it is still quite windy. The temperature has dropped as well. After church I had a project.

The shed only has one outlet that is over the workbench. On the wall in back of the washing machine there is a double light switch box with a switch missing. The switch turns on an outside light which we never use because it just shines light on the top of the outside shed. 

If the wires inside the box are hot, the second switch slot could provide a spot for an additional outlet. Adding an outlet here would be a lot easier than running more wire and putting in an additional box somewhere.

I took the face plate off and checked for power. The wires with the wire nuts on them in the picture below are hot. It will be a breeze to add an outlet. I just needed to buy a receptacle and a new cover plate. The narrow shelf below it will be great space to plug in battery chargers, up out of the way.

After churched I stopped by Home Depot and purchased the needed receptacle and face plate. The wires inside the box were short so installing the receptacle required me to sit on the washing machine to make pig tail connections for the new outlet. The new faceplate was installed and two chargers put on the shelf and plugged in out of my way.

Wednesday:

The hall closet houses lots of housekeeping items - ironing board, vacuum cleaners, stepstool, broom, mop, etc. In the shed I found a nice metal broom holder. It was a little rusty so I painted it. Since the mop and broom hang over the hanging iron board, I had to add a piece of wood to make it work. It is nice not having all this stuff fall all over when you are in the closet.

Thursday:

When putting the new tires and wheels on the back of the golf cart the other day I noticed that the bottom nut for holding one of the shocks on was missing. I pushed on the shock and there was no resistance so the shocks are shot. The other day, in anticipation of getting the old shocks off for replacements, I sprayed the top shock bolts with "PB Blaster" to help loosen any rust. This morning I jacked the cart up to see how difficult it was going to be to get the old shocks off. The top bolts were accessible over the wheels so I got to work. The bolt on the top of the "dangling" shock came right off. I just had to hold the bottom of the shock with a pair of Channellocks. The other rear shock proved much more challenging. I couldn't hold the bottom of the shock with the Channellocks. I got a pipe wrench on it but quickly learned that a pipe wrench doesn't work very well on thin metal. It would just keep bending the pipe and then slipping when turned. After fighting it for a while the bolt turned a little then broke off. Yippee! Surprisingly the bottom nut came off easily. Here is what the two shocks looked like after I got them off. You can see the top one is pretty mangled.

Of course, I can't do any work anymore without scratching my old man, thin skin and bleeding like a stuck hog. In the process of getting the bolts off I scraped my arm a couple of times on the fiberglass body around the wheel well. Here is a picture of my arm. I spared you a picture of the blood that dripped on the the driveway. LOL

I ordered four new shocks from Amazon. They will be here Christmas Eve. With two daughters and two grandsons being here for Christmas, installation will be an after Christmas project. 

In the evening we went to downtown St. Petersburg to see "Napoleon", Kelly has lots of gift card money for this theater. She got a large popcorn. I got a medium soda. It was $6.99! I couldn't believe it, not a nickel's worth of syrup to make it. Highway robbery!!!!! I won't make that mistake again even though it wasn't my money.

Friday:

A little morning project was pulling the steering wheel off the golf cart and repositioning it. According to YouTube videos you just remove the nut and tap on each side of the steering wheel and it will pop off. The shaft is splined so you can then reposition the steering wheel however you like.  I did this a year or so ago on the cart at home and it ended up being a beast of a job. With John's help we got the nut off and then beat, and beat, on the back of the steering wheel. It wouldn't budge. Finally, with the help of a gear puller we got it off. With this prior experience in mind I brought down my gear puller for the steering wheel on this cart.

The top screw and lock nut came off quite easily. I then hit each side of the steering wheel with my rubber mallet (the $1.00 garage sale buy) and the wheel popped right off. I drove around and repositioned it, greased everything, and put it back on. So nice to have a project go better than expected.

The other reason I brought the gear puller down was to pull the "Forward-Neutral-Reverse lever off. I wanted to clean it and paint it to make it look better. Unlike the steering wheel, it did not cooperate. With the help of three different length bolts inserted into the handle for leverage for the gear puller, it slowly came loose. The handle is a hard plastic pushed onto a six-sided metal stud and it is then held in place with a lock screw. The metal was a little rusty but not enough that it should have been that difficult to get off. I painted the handle. It will dry flat black.

While the handle was off I sanded the metal stud on all sides and greased everything in anticipation of a future need to pull it off to get the body off.

Ugly, ugly, ugly!  The prior owner put brown indoor-outdoor carpeting all over this cart. I started ripping it off in the back. It is glued down and it will be a chore to get the old glue off I'm sure.

I'm sure the carpet is glued to the floor as well. I may not have to get all that glue up because I plan on putting an OEM rubber mat over the entire area. I'll see how that works out later. Luckily the pieces of carpet on the dash were not glued down. I pulled them both out today and threw them away. All of the dash area will be painted flat black once I get the body damage fixed and a new voltmeter installed. The carpet really makes the cart look old and haggard.

Daughter Alexa arrives from St. Louis this evening at the Tampa Airport. Daughter Erin with grandsons, Kellen and Free, arrive from California on Saturday morning. It will be fun having them all here for the holidays. Santa has a lot of presents to put out on Christmas Eve. It has been a long time since we had a two year old around for Christmas. Here is a video of Free wishing Merry Christmas to everyone as he waits in the car to pick Kellen up from band practice. It's a hoot.

I'm hoping Erin packs his Santa hat. I'll run him around the park in the golf cart where he can spread Christmas cheer to all he sees!

Merry Christmas to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 10, 2023 - December 15, 2023 - Christmas Show, Plumbing Fix; New Golf Cart Tires; Christmas Golf Cart Parade

Sunday Evening:

In my last post I neglected to mention that we were attending the Christmas program here at the park on Sunday evening. The program was put on by the Theater Club here in the park. The event had been suspended for a couple of years due to Covid. There was a great crowd to enjoy all the park talent.

Here are some pictures of various groups singing various Christmas songs. In the first picture the lady on the right sang "The 12 Days of Christmas" while the other two acted it out. It was hilarious watching them trying to keep up with the song.

These three folks sang "The Christmas Letter".

This lady sang "Santa Baby". She has a really good voice.

The Golden Gate Dancers, complete with their grass skirts, danced and sang "Mele Kalikimaka", a Hawaiian Merry Christmas song. It was well-choreographed.

Our neighbor, Donna, recited a Christmas poem she had written. It was quite good and thoughtful.

These two folks led the audience in several verses of "Silent Night". The audience was "all in". It put the crowd in the Christmas spirit.

Due to Covid, the Golden Gate Choir had not performed in several years. The lady conductor obviously had a musical background as she deftly led them through "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem", "Mary Did You Know", and "Little Drummer Boy".  They sounded great.

These fellows did their rendition of "Feliz Navidad". They weren't Jose Feliciano, but they did a good job.

Of course, Santa made an appearance at the end and led everyone in "Jingle Bells". (The picture quality is poor due to the camera zoom with the low lighting in the audience area.)

We enjoyed the evening. I was impressed with the whole production complete with sound, lights, and clockwork timing of all acts.  Cookies and punch were available afterwards, but we passed. The Theater Club is doing a 1940s radio show in March. Kelly thinks I should participate. I don't know. You know how shy I am.

Monday:

The shower in the master bath has been dripping. I'm sure from the looks of them that the faucets are the originals form the 1980s.  Here is a picture.

Once I figured out how to get the chrome covers off the valves came out easily. Once the valves were out it was easy to see that the washers were worn badly and could no longer seal.  The black washer should be flat. It should not have a deep indented ring around the bolt holding it in.

I purchased new washers at Home Depot and installed them. The handles still have to be turned pretty tight to stop a drip. I may need to investigate to see is it should have a tapered washer or if there is some other issue that needs to be addressed. I'll give it a couple of days.

Tuesday:

Ralph, who was our neighbor last year at Adelaide Shores RV Resort in Avon Park, Florida, drove over for a visit. It is about a two-hour drive from Avon Park to Pinellas Park. Ralph is a widower from Ontario, Canada, and has been coming down to Adelaide Shores for a number of years, both before and after his wife died. He has a fifth wheel that he puts in storage at the park for the summer. After visiting for a while we had a great lunch at "The Crab Shack" and then ice cream at the house. I wish our two places were closer so we could visit more often.

Wednesday:

After Kelly's eye doctor visit I decided to install the new rear tires and wheels on the golf cart. Here is a picture of one of the old tires and wheel and one of the new tires and wheels. One of the tires had been leaking off in just a couple of days.

One old tire had a manufacture date of 2012 and the other one was 2008. Definitely time for some new tires.

After installing them we went for a ride and immediately noted a loud grinding noise. Upon examination I found that the new rims were rubbing on the bracket that held the cable for the brakes. I need to grind it off about an 1/8 of an inch to solve this problem. Not today. I needed tools. 

Another project to finish up was new wheels for the outdoor grill. The original wheels were gone when I bought it off Facebook last year. I need wheels on it to be able to roll it into the shed when we leave for the season. Last year we had a roll out trash can that needed to be thrown away. I took the plastic wheels off of it for the grill.  I bought a 5/16 threaded for for an axle and mounted it to a 2 x 4 on the bottom of the grill. These wheels didn't work. The grill was too heavy and the plastic wheels just buckled. I had good lawnmower wheels at home which I took off an old mower a couple of years ago before discarding it. I brought two of them down for this project. (I save a lot of stuff.) The lawnmower wheels are for a half inch acle shaft. My plan was to buy bushings to go from the 5/16 threaded rod to the 1/2 inch shaft opening in the lawnmower wheels. 

The landscapers cut the grass and there, laying in the grass next to the house, was a six foot tall metal plant hanger. I measured it and it was 1/2 inch in diameter.  I cut off a piece for a new axle. Here is the piece that is left of the hanger. I will save it for a possible future project. (I save a lot of stuff.)

The wheels still needed a small bushing. I bought the last two Home Depot had that were close. I had to sand themn down to fit properly over the rod. Here is a picture of the lawnmower wheels on the grill. They work perfectly. Looks like I need to spray a little of the Rustoleum Rust Locker on a few spots on the old grill.

Thursday:

The day was spent at St. Luke's Eye Center for the operation on Kelly's second eye. The procedure only takes ten to twenty minutes but it is an all day wait. We got there at 11:00 a.m. and left at 4:15 p.m. While waiting I ran to Lowes and bought a couple of tools needed for the golf cart repair. I purchased a grinding disk and grinding wheel I could put in my drill.

Friday:

I had to make the gold cart repair on Friday because major storms were moving in on Saturday. I pulled off the wheel and began grinding the bracket. Neither tool would do the job. This meant a trip to Harbor Freight to buy a cheap angle grinder and metal grinding wheel. Now, if you are willing to buy corded power tools, you can get them pretty cheaply. I didn't need a great tool and got his one for $14.99. I I think I paid over a $100.00 for the one I have at home well over ten years ago. I once again used the Gift Certicate Annie gave me for Father's Day. Here is a picture of the grinder ready to go to work.

This tool made quick work of grinding enough of the bracket away for it to not touch the wheel or tire. While completing this project I saw that one rear shock absorber was not attached, the nut holding it on was gone. I pushed on it and it is shot. A future project will be new shock absorbers, probably maybe front and back.

I'll report on the coming storm. Last storm we lucked out and only got some really heavy rain.