Waiting... is the hardest part

Good afternoon world, I'm sitting here in my living room, freezing my tuchas off (My body has not acclimated to cold weather yet), waiting for a package by way of the United Parcel Service. This particular package has taken what seems like forever to get here. I bought this item on eBay a full 7 days ago (November 16th), and it is just now scheduled for delivery today.

I realize this was sent economy shipping (UPS Ground), but it seems to me it was almost purposely delayed along it's journey. As you can see by the graphic insert, it took almost 5 full days to get from California to Illinois. I don't know what kind of mule train UPS uses, but that seems a bit slow. Then it sat in Illinois 26 1/2 hours waiting for it's trip across to Indianapolis. A 200 mile trip that took almost 4 1/2 hours. Google says the trip should take 3 hours and 12 minutes, but I will admit this was not a bad time considering the package had to be scanned, loaded, transported, unloaded and scanned again. Anyone familiar with expressway driving knows the UPS semi drivers don't waste much time. 😃

I suppose it all boils down to being impatient when you are waiting for something to arrive, in this case I think it was somewhat justified. But then I've had packages delayed by any and all of the package delivery services, including my beloved USPS. 

I think my foul mood stems from other sources as well, YouTube video watching has dropped off significantly, no doubt due to the holiday season. Speaking of that, I did produce one yesterday worth a chuckle or two of me singing. If you are brave enough you can check that out here: You asked for it

Well it's now 1:22 PM and it's still not here. Now it's a contest between UPS and the weather. Rain is moving into the area as we speak. Would be nice to have it here before the rain, but I suppose a few drops of moisture won't hurt it much. Sometimes the drivers don't like to leave a package when it is raining hard so then I would have to get up and go to the door when he comes and I don't want to do that either. Man I am in a foul mood. LOL

Well I was hoping to cap this off with a picture of the item when I opened it, but that's not gonna happen. Guess you will have to wait for the next time I decide to write more here or if you follow my YouTube channel you will surely see it before then. Have a great day you all and a very happy Thanksgiving holiday as well. 

What am I up to tonight?

Not much. Had a fairly busy weekend, with a trip to Vevay to see mom honored at her church along with 3 other 90 year old seniors. Then they had their once-a-month dinner afterwards which was also nice. I was kind of wore out after all that so I went to bed last night about 10 and didn't get up until 10 this morning! My sleep habits lately have been less than consistent, so I was due to catch up. LOL

Also got to see my sister and most of her children while at church yesterday. That was really nice as I had not seen her since she broke her leg and was in the nursing home. She was looking pretty good and the kids all seemed to be well.

To my surprise, my son and his family also showed up, so it was a really good family day. Everyone has such busy lives these days it is truly great when we all get together. It didn't seem as important when I was working, but now that I'm retired I can see much more clearly just how important it is.

The trip down and back home was made much more pleasant by the company of my two granddaughters, Lexi and Kylie. They don't get to come over as much these days so it always fun to see and talk with them. In less than two years, Lexi will be off to college and Kylie the year after that, so I won't have much chance to see them after that.

I did get a couple of packages in the mail today. One them actually arrived on Saturday, but I was unable to get it out of the mailbox parcel locker. The key would go in, but it would not turn. I called the post office this morning and they told me the carrier would get it out when she came. I was a little surprised when she knocked on my door a short time later with not one, but two packages! Always fun to get packages in the mail.

One package contained a small multi-meter which needed repair from a YouTube friend in Michigan. He also sent me some other switches and cables, etc. that will be useful in my shop. The other package was also from a YouTube friend in Ohio. He sent me a couple of nice microphones to use with the karaoke machine I had gotten for free some time ago. He said one works and the other doesn't, so that will be featured in a future repair video.

Almost 10 PM here, so guess that is enough for tonight. Doubt I will go to bed right away, but I usually retire to my room about this time to win a game of Solitaire on the computer in my room before I go off to dreamland. Nite, nite.

Election Night - 2016

Ah yes, voting in the presidential election has come and gone. Who will lead this great land next? No idea. I really have had no interest this year at all. Seems everyone and their brother has had an opinion on YouTube and Facebook. I'm sure Twitter was the same, but I hardly check that these days.

Obviously I know who is running and who my preference is, but the truth is I don't really care what the outcome is, I just want it to be over! At the time I am writing this (9:47 PM), this is what's happening:

These early results probably don't mean anything, but it is difficult not to notice a trend which follows the last election with the red states in the heartland and blue ones mostly on the coasts and big cities.

I've always been a firm believer that who is president really doesn't matter all that much to the common man. He will get up and go to work just the same no matter who wins. It may matter to those who are in the upper classes a bit, but even those people will hardly be affected by the outcome.

Now congressional elections do matter and until those who are in power now are replaced, little will change. It's time we got back to the founder's intentions that our representatives be businessmen and not the professional politicians who now occupy the offices. I really think it's time for term limits in the house and senate.

Will it happen? No. And for good reasons. Who makes the laws? You got it, congress. Why should they vote to limit their power. Until a shakeup occurs in congress, we will see little changes in the way this country is run.

Just my thoughts on the subject for what it's worth, and it wasn't worth me taking the time to vote today so I guess it's not worth much at all...

Well now, can it be true? Am I really composing another post in the blog? Well, it looks like it. Since I've been so busy with YouTube, I have really neglected this blog totally. I can't promise I will post on a regular basis here, but today I was in the mood to do just that. So what all have I been up to for the one year plus that I have not posted here?

A good question. I think mostly it's been YouTube, but I have worked on several electronics projects in that time period as well. I've gotten several items from eBay as well as other places and of course visiting family and friends, all of which does take some time.

It's probably been as long since I've worked on my Buick as well. Poor thing has been sitting without being started for about a year now. I did try to start it this spring, but when it would not start in the normal amount of time if usually does, I just left it be and went on to something else. No doubt a gas problem, but it seems every time it sits for a few months it has a gas problem. Either the pump won't pump it up from the gas tank or it's not strong enough to get up to the carb. I have no doubt if I put gas in the carb it would probably start.

I also had ambitious plans to sand the top and start the painting process on that, but it was just so much easier to sit here and my chair and ignore it. I'm getting to the point now that I need to either do something to it, or consider selling it. No sense in letter it just rot away out there.

On the arthritis front a lot has happened. I did see a Rheumatologist as mentioned in my last post, and he did prescribe something to relieve the attacks I was having. He was unclear on the exact problem, but from what I gathered it was mostly gout attacks and for the time being that much has been resolved, I still struggle with my bad knees, but at least I can walk now which is a great improvement to be sure.

The problem is now that I was supposed to see him this spring but got a call that he had a family emergency and had to cancel my appointment. It was rescheduled to a later date and I got the confirmation call the day before, but when I drove all the way up there and showed up about 15 minutes early, the receptionist put a note on the locked door saying all appointments were cancelled for the day.

That was the last contact I have had with his office. No one ever called or contacted me in any way. So now I will ask my regular doctor to recommend another Rheumatologist to see. Hopefully one a little closer this time. Took over an hour to drive up to Indianapolis to the old doctor. I am only taking those pills one every three days as that seems to keep the attacks from happening and also serves to make them last a little longer, so I'm sure it will all work out


I've moved my electronics workbench to the kitchen since last we spoke, My granddaughter Jordan moved in with her baby (Lainee) and stayed for quite some time. Then she moved out and my grandson Billy moved in and he is still with me. So the extra bedroom has been occupied with no sign of that changing for awhile. No matter, I like it just as well where it's at now and I'm getting ready to add yet another set of shelves on this end to accommodate some of my new test equipment. Stay tuned for that!


I won't go into all the other things that are new, you can check my YouTube channel here to go there and see what all I've bought in the last year and a half. Suffice to say there have been a lot of new (to me) things show up here over that time period. I bought a bunch of new stuff for my repair bench as well as some fun things too!

I guess that's about all I have for this time around. Hopefully I will be more faithful in updating things in the future, but I won't promise anything. :)