TT Hershey Update #8 -- Summary of Days

Just got back from the vet's where we had Phara's toenails clipped. Walmart was the next stop after a quick coffee and snack at McDonald's. The vet's office is located between Annville and Colonia. I jumped on the bike heading for the vet's at 7:45 to meet Audrey for the 9:00 am appointment. Guess what, I got lost and had to ask for directions. It turned out that I had pedaled right past the place by a couple of miles. What a dummy.

View pictures in the right panel of the Frackville visit.

Yesterday, Thursday, was a fun day. We visited with my 91 year old aunt (Ruth) in Frackville, PA. We met her at the Cracker Barrel in Frackville for lunch and spent a few hours chatting with her about family and Frackville - past and current. (See the picture of the 3 of us in this post.) Frackville is an old mining/railroad town in the hard coal regions of PA. It was only a matter of weeks ago that we visited with her and another aunt - 93 - and others in Frackville. While that visit was nice, there was really no time to just chat since there were many more there. Ruth is an amazing person. At 91 she continues to live alone, drives her car to do her own shopping and transport herself to doctor appointments, church, etc. She is a sharp as a tack. Every couple of months she heads to her doctor to be checked for her eyesight and reaction times -- making sure it's safe for her to continue to drive.

On the way to Frackville, we stopped at Cebela's in Hamburg after a stop for some refreshment at McDonald's. The McDonald's is at the turn to Cebela's so it's a convenient place to stop. I always check to see if the McDonald's has WiFi connectivity with the iPhone. This one did but access to the Internet is only available if you are willing to pay for access. Being a cheapskate, I am not. When heading back to the counter for a coffee refill, I spoke with the manager about what a shame it is that McDonald's charges for Internet access. He agreed. We discussed the rumor that soon McDonald's will provide free access to it's WiFi network if you are an AT&T customer. Hope so. At the conclusion of our conversation, the manager, Jose Minaya, handed me 4 coupons that give be free access to any McDonald's WiFi network. What a nice surprise. See the picture I took of Jose Minaya above.

Wednesday: Rising early was great. Finally the heat and humidity was gone as the forecasted cold front came through and lowered the temperatures and humidity. The morning run was a joy with the lower temperature and humidity. We left the coach abou8:00 a.m. heading to East Earl and Shirk's Bike Shop. I had scheduled an appointment to have the 5 speed free wheel cassette replaced on the road bike. It showing wear and at times shifting was unreliable. The task is normally an easy one but not this time. The new cassette was a 6 speed and the replacement was a problem. The axle had to be replaced and the wheel trued. This meant that a hours job turned into a 4/5 hour event. In part because the owner of the shop, Luke Shirk, was the one who had to true the wheel and he was not there until after 10:00. In the end we left the bike at the shop and headed over to the Shady Maple to shop in their market and get some lunch. Phara was with us so we had to hunt for a shady spot to park the car.

We got back to the bike shop about 12:30 and found that the bike was not finished. Not a problem since we were not in a hurry and it's great fun to browse around the shop. The shop has everything you'd want for in biking. And what's nice about the place, they do not hound you trying to push a sale. About 2:00 the bike was ready for a test ride. Off I went to see how she shift. It was fine so put the thing on the bike rack and headed back to the coach where I went for a 45 minute ride and Audrey took the car and filled the water jugs at the nearby state approved spring water source -- 25 cents a gallon.

Dinner -- chicken on the grill along with some fresh vegetables.

Tuesday: The weather continued to punish us. It was too hot to do anything. Audrey walked early and I took off on the bike before the heat became too punishing. Later it was off to the Rec Center again for to do banking and e-mail for Audrey. As for me, I went along with the iPhone and browsed the web while listening to numerous podcasts. Severe storms were forecast late in the day but never materialized.

Monday: Plans changed on Monday as it was just too hot to go anywhere. Audrey did walk early and I went for a short bike ride. Later in the day we headed to the Rec Center with our computers. Audrey did her banking and e-mail and I tuned into the WWDC on MacRumors to learn about the new iPhone. I was pleased with what will be available for the new phone when it goes on sale on July 11. The price has come down to $199 but there is a $10 increase in the data service - from $20 to $30/month. Yes, there will be one in my future and Audrey will get my old one.