Vacuum repair, drone patrol, all on, bottom out

So when I got home my immediate task was to work on the pool cleaner.  Despite putting a new set of feet on the cleaner it was going around the pool floor at a snail’s pace.  When I pulled it apart I saw a bracket that has fallen off 3 or 4 other times had worked it’s way loose again.  When I did some quick internet research I saw a recommendation to replace the inner a-frame if certain components are loose.  When I checked these components they were very loose and worn.   I was able to find a rebuild kit for 30 bucks.  I figured it was better than spending 300-400 on a new cleaner.  I am hoping this latest repair will help me squeeze another year or two out of the Hayward.

While I was out there I saw the small hawk had once again showed up, perching defiantly on a nearby fence post.  Once again the bird was unfazed by BB gun warning shots, I had to again walk at the hawk until it retreated to the back of the property but it still was hanging in a nearby tree.  I decided to try another method of deterrent.  I went inside and grabbed my drone.

I got the quadcopter airborne and walked to the back fence line.  The hawk was still in the same tree.  I steered the drone towards the bird and it immediately took off, flying to another tree.  It evidently was not a fan of the copter, it is quite noisy, like an angry swarm of bees.  I chased the hawk back and forth around the back of the property until it finally flew far away.  I’m hoping if am consistent with my hawk sorties they will learn there are better spots for them to hang out than our property.

So I was happy that it did not rain yesterday, giving the standing water an opportunity to evaporate to a good degree.  I calculated that by today the areas I could not mow on Sunday should be passable.  Well that plan was dashed when a tremendous storm rolled through last night.  The sound of water being dumped on the roof by the bucket was not music to my ears.  It was accompanied by frequent, close lightning and window rattling thunder.

About five or six times we had momentary losses of power.  This a very common summertime occurrence in Florida.  Unfortunately since we installed the Philips Hue bulbs this is a MUCH more annoying problem if it happens when you are trying to sleep.  The power to a Hue bulb is always on, the light may be off but the electronics inside are not.  When power is removed and then restored the Hue bulbs default to turning back on.  So every time the power burped the house lit up, requiring Cindy to grab her phone to turn them all off again.  I have to see if there is a way to change that default behavior, it was getting somewhat maddening.

So the stock market has had another blowout the last few days.  Luckily for me when this happens I don’t freak out although on paper I will have lost thousands of dollars in my two retirement accounts.  I am still young enough that I can view these dips as opportunities to cost average as I get to buy more mutual fund shares at a lower number through the automatic purchasing that continues to go on in the accounts.  However if I was closer to retirement age I don’t think I would be willing to have my nest egg exposed to the manipulation and robo-trading that can make these dips in the stock market much more exaggerated.