What did you do today? 2017 version

[GalaxyBoy]

Making bagels again using this recipe except making them a bit bigger. They are a lot of work but are awesome.

 

[aja8888]

Power washed our driveway. Cut some branches off trees, bagged pine needles. Found an in-ground bees nest!

 

[braumeister]

Wonderful experience today at the doc.
I had a problem a couple of months ago and it worried me a lot. When it didn't clear up after a few weeks, I saw my primary doc who was baffled and referred me to a specialist.

Meanwhile, I changed my habits a bit trying to mitigate the problem.

The specialist checked me out this afternoon and pronounced me fine. Explained in detail exactly what had caused it and exactly how to prevent it in the future.

I learned a lot in a 20 minute appointment, and what a huge load off my mind!

Came home and celebrated with a special beer.

 

[Walt34]

I also had a good experience at the doc's office (oncologist, for the melanoma found last winter). Went in for a follow-up on the PET scan and he told me it was clear, which I already knew since they make the test results available online when they're done. I said that I considered myself to be very fortunate and he agreed that I was, I'm sure a lot of others are not so fortunate. We spent the last half of the appointment talking about my old job, he was unaware that some things shown on TV police shows simply do not happen IRL.

Downstairs to the gym for a workout, then home for lunch (a big salad) and later try to fly a small powered sailplane in the back yard but it was way too windy so I gave up. I'll wait until 7:00 or so when the wind dies down. I'm experimenting with some exponential throw and dual rates on the controls.

 

[NW-Bound]

Power washed our driveway. Cut some branches off trees, bagged pine needles. Found an in-ground bees nest!

We had a nest in a dead tree stump on our lot. These were vicious, and so I killed them with a wasp spray. A neighbor went over to take a look, and said that they were paper wasps.

On the other hand, a few years ago I had to call an exterminator to kill a nest of bees in a decorative hollow column of my home. They were benign bees, meaning not Africanized. I felt bad having to kill them, as the nest could not be removed without destroying a wall.

 

[Nemo2]

Looked up Myrmecology.

We have, behind us and over the fence, a young couple who have apparently named their child "Ant Knee".....so I wanted to check the veracity of that.

Carry on.

 

[braumeister]

We have, behind us and over the fence, a young couple who have apparently named their child "Ant Knee"

No chance of another neighbor with a daughter named Cleo, I suppose?

 

[Nemo2]

No chance of another neighbor with a daughter named Cleo, I suppose?

I'm unsure....but I will be calling one of the granddaughters Ear Periwig.

 

[Hermit]

A major event today! I finished painting the outside of the house today. I have been working on it all summer. Its a good thing too. Snow in the forecast for next week.

 

[Winemaker]

Got up at 5:00 am, went into town and picked up 250# of the prettiest Sangiovese grapes from California for myself They were picked about 3:00 am on Saturday and we ref-fered back to the east coast and arrived Monday afternoon. We walked through the vineyard August 11 when we out there.
I hope to have 500# of Malbec on Saturday for myself. I hope I'm not too tired from Friday's 3 ton of Cabernet Sauvignon at the winery.

 

[harley]

I also had a good experience at the doc's office (oncologist, for the melanoma found last winter).

I too had a wonderful experience at the doc's office. I didn't go.

 

[MRG]

Went back to the springs. Perfect day, low 70°s with a nice breeze. The river was cooler than the last time, I finally figured out it was 55° not 70!

Went to a local brewery for a late lunch. DW had a burger and a porter. I had a Yak burger and a chille beer.

I am surprised Yak aren't extinct. They are delicious and not that difficult to capture.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Spent much of today and the last couple of days cleaning up my two telescopes that have been sitting in the basement for the last seven years while I was either traveling out of town on business or just too pooped from w*rk to use them.

In some ways they aren't as bad as I thought they might be, but some repairs are needed. The commercial scope, which is computerized, won't power up. Replaced the dead power supply but still won't. Web searches revealed they are prone to blown capacitors so that's for tomorrow.

The homemade (big) scope's mirror was filthy but at least didn't have a mouse nest on it. Washed it and it doesn't look bad. The scope needs flat black paint applied to the inside but after wiping everything down and blowing out the literal cobwebs it should be basically good to go. However, I motorized it about ten years ago, and some of the drive components need replacing. All hardware store stuff; the electronics package on that scope seems to work.

Hopefully, I'll be living up to my screen name again soon. Maybe not this new moon, but definitely by the next.

I love having time to do these things.

 

[Hermit]

Spent much of today and the last couple of days cleaning up my two telescopes that have been sitting in the basement for the last seven years while I was either traveling out of town on business or just too pooped from w*rk to use them.

In some ways they aren't as bad as I thought they might be, but some repairs are needed. The commercial scope, which is computerized, won't power up. Replaced the dead power supply but still won't. Web searches revealed they are prone to blown capacitors so that's for tomorrow.

The homemade (big) scope's mirror was filthy but at least didn't have a mouse nest on it. Washed it and it doesn't look bad. The scope needs flat black paint applied to the inside but after wiping everything down and blowing out the literal cobwebs it should be basically good to go. However, I motorized it about ten years ago, and some of the drive components need replacing. All hardware store stuff; the electronics package on that scope seems to work.

Hopefully, I'll be living up to my screen name again soon. Maybe not this new moon, but definitely by the next.

I love having time to do these things.

A backyard observatory is definitely on my retirement list. It will have to wait until my house is completed. Some updates on your efforts will certainly be encouragement for me! BTW, I want to get a deep sky telescope. The nights up here in the mountains are pretty good for viewing.

 

[bbbamI]

Made my yearly visit to Facebook today and learned a high school classmate of mine (we graduated in 1975) is now a great-grandmother.

I shouldn't visit that site so often.

 

[citrine]

So far today, I have done a load of laundry, walked the dog, perused my various sites, ordered a present for my Dad's birthday next week, and taken care of the cats. Just have a coffee date on the agenda with a friend and two more walks with the dog.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Found the blown capacitor in my telescope control panel and ordered replacement. Various web sites say the manufacturer used an inappropriate type and I'm lucky it didn't burst into flames. There are a handful of others in the circuit board that I'll replace as well. This thing is over 20 years old and no longer supported.

Making ricotta cheese to have with grilled peaches and candied ginger after dinner. Extremely easy to do and well worth it.

 

[braumeister]

Making ricotta cheese to have with grilled peaches and candied ginger after dinner. Extremely easy to do and well worth it.

When I had access to raw milk from a local dairy farm, I used to make cheese (all kinds). Since there was always plenty of whey left over, I made a lot of ricotta with it. Very useful stuff.

As a LCHF diet person, I always enjoyed this version of imitation ice cream:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa
¼ tsp espresso powder (instant coffee works but not as well)
2 packets Splenda (or similar)

Whisk everything together in a bowl and chill for a couple of hours.
I would sometimes include a few drops of mint extract if I was feeling decadent.

 

[davemartin88]

Found the blown capacitor in my telescope control panel and ordered replacement. Various web sites say the manufacturer used an inappropriate type and I'm lucky it didn't burst into flames. There are a handful of others in the circuit board that I'll replace as well. This thing is over 20 years old and no longer supported.

Would that be a Meade LX200? I have one about the same age that my niece is using, capacitors still going strong but waiting to hear about the inevitable failure. Good luck with the replacement.

 

[davemartin88]

Picked up a load of hay, 60 square bales, for the alpacas. This is from the third cutting, our hay guy had really nice hay this year. We've finally built up a supply so that we could miss a year of buying hay if there is a big drought or other type of crop failure. Will move it to storage on Sunday, good exercise!

 

[Khan]

Got a flu shot.

 

[Dawg52]

Today I took the mutt on a long walk, washed clothes and polished my car. About to meet friends at a local pub. Just another stressless day in retirement.

 

[Philliefan33]

DH and I drove 600 miles today, from Myrtle Beach to home. We left the hotel at 6 a.m., walked in the house at 5:30 p.m. We made three pit stops along the way to stretch/empty bladders/change drivers. I had plans to go out for a walk this evening, but I made the mistake of sitting on the couch for a few minutes and now I'm too lazy to move.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hauled some lumber to the high-country home to continue the work on the deck railing. Got here at 2pm, and the temperature was 71F. Nice.

Checked the forecast, and the expected low is 36F this weekend. Summer is over.

 

[aja8888]

Did nothing, enjoyed it.

Resting up for my lunch date with Alan and LOL! tomorrow.