April 28-May 4, 2019

Weather | 4/28, 0.02" rain, 33°, 55° | 4/29, 0.52" rain, 45°, 57° | 4/30, 1.63" rain, 47°, 53° | 5/1, 0.68" rain, 49°, 70° | 5/2, 1.01" rain, 45°, 59° | 5/3, 47°, 59° | 5/4, 43°, 63° |

• Sunday (4/28): Did 5 dog training classes at work, with 3 cancellations that only did away with 1 class. I'm taking over training a German Shepherd. The pet parent said she doesn't like Ron, because all he talks about are his medical issues and how much he hates working at Petco. She took her complaint to Petco's corporate office. Shane asked me to contact her. She'll start next Sunday at 4:30 with me. Mary did laundry, figuring she could dry clothes on the line outside, but rain forced drying inside. She talked to Bill. He's planning on visiting us during Memorial Day weekend. I decided to take Memorial Day off, which is Mary's birthday this year.
• Monday (4/29): Graduated 3 dogs during dog training today...2 from Level 1 and 1 from Level 2. I also did 7 sections of dog treat resets and the July dog training calendar. Mary created shopping lists, and measured Amber for a harness.
• Tuesday (4/30): We shopped in Quincy. First, we bought a harness for Amber, and another aquarium decoration at Petco, then floss for Mary at JoAnn's. Then, bug dope and dog water bowl at Menards. Then we got tires switched onto the aluminum rims at Sam's Club. That took 2 hours...we thoroughly looked throughout that store! The car rides better on the new rims and I see tire pressures on my instrument panel for all 4 tires (had only 3 tires reading in the past). Took old rims to a scrap dealer in West Quincy, MO, and got $25.80 for them...good riddance! Had a late lunch at Qdoba. Then food items at Walmart and Aldi, plus 2 pants, 6 T-shirts for Mary and 3 sweatpants for me at Walmart. Finally, 2 cheap comforters for dog beds, 4 couch pillows, and several movie DVDs at Salvation Army. It rained all day and we felt lucky to get through on Highway 156 in a stretch that floods during heavy rains. They're predicting that the eastbound Memorial Bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Quincy will flood by Friday. Had nachos and watched a movie we bought from Walmart's $5 bin called Arrival. It's good.
• Wednesday (5/1): Standing water everywhere after all the rain we've had, but it's green everywhere, too. I changed oil, oil filter, and air filter on the Cadillac. 
• Thursday (5/2): Trained 2 dogs at work and sold a 2-level dog training class. The eastbound Memorial Bridge crossing the Mississippi at Quincy is closed, so the newer, normally all-westbound Bayview Bridge, now has 2-way traffic. I left home 30 minutes early, expecting backed up traffic in the eastbound lane, but it didn't exist, so I got to work way early. While crossing the higher Bayview Bridge, I looked over and saw that the lower and older Memorial Bridge had about a foot of water covering it's lowest section. The Mississippi is supposed to crest Friday at 11 feet above flood stage at Quincy, but they're predicting 2-3" of rain mid next week, so flood levels might get even higher. Driving the Cadillac is nice without worrying about daily diminishing tire air pressures. The chimney swifts are back. We thought we heard them the night before. 
• Friday (5/3): We saw 40 white pelicans circle overtop of our property and settle down to the NE, probably in Wood Duck Pond.
• Saturday (5/4): I changed oil, cleaned air filters, cleaned spark plugs, and sharpened blades on the 2 lawn mowers. The oldest one didn't run all last year, because it wouldn't stay running. I adjusted a tang that holds one end of the governor spring so that the spring was tighter and it worked. Both Mary and I mowed a bunch of the lawn on all sides of the house, since it was a sunny day with rain forecast most of next week.