–Went to Bel Air for pork chops and corn. Barbecued them with rosemary potatoes. Darn good, though the pork were thin and (thus) dry.
–Took a 7.5-mile ride around the ‘hood. As usual, felt decent going out, less decent coming back. Hve been feeling a little woozy all day.
–Difficulty in going up slight grades prompted me to pull the trigger on another set of Origin8 cranks–75mm, compared to the current 55mm. The coming 15-tooth rear cog will help (though only slightly, according to a spreadsheet I set up); I’m really curious to see what 10mm more leverage will do.
–I noticed (yesterday) a suture peeking out from the pacemaker scar. Today I pulled it out a bit (it was a loop), cut it, then pulled out the two strands. They were maybe 4-5mm in length, and took some effort to pull out. I don’t know why they didn’t dissolve like (apparently) the rest. Hoping this thing heals totally and cleanly now.
–Took a shower and shave.
–Went for a 10.8 mile ride west on the ARP. Not bad going out, but the temperature climbed to 90 on the way back, and it was tiring.
–Italpizza for dinner.
–Rode the InnerLight 10.2 miles today. Short distance + cool weather = no problems. Some fairly mild uphills were a little harder than I thought they should be, so I ordered a 13-tooth rear sprocket from Modern Bike. I was riding 15 teeth from Indian Wells, 14 from Tunnel Hill/Discovery Village. It would be nice if I could build back up to 14 before too long; we’ll see.
–Went to Bel Air for milk, cream, cookies, yogurt.
–Roasted coffee. 8 ounces –> 6.4 ounces. Looks good.
–Finally finished reconciling all fidgets. Gotta sell some now.
–Took a 10-mile ride on the electric bike. Drank tons of water. It was so hot, and/or I’m so out of shape, that I seriously wondered if I could make it back by pedaling, or would to walk or something. I have a LONG way to go.
–Kuko slider finally came in. It’s supposed to have incredible action, but I’m not wowed.
–Quiet day. Spent a lot of time reading up on hearing aids. New ones may help some, but I don’t think they will astound.
–Had a latte for the first time in a while.
–Put some salami/blue cheese appetizers together and took them (with Kenny) to Sherry’s annual BBQ at the clubhouse. Grace refused to go.
–DirecTV and AT&T internet seem to be working perfectly.
–Biked to UPS to pick up Clean EDC Slim Pillar spinner and “Golf and Beer, That’s Why I’m Here” t-shirt for Tom Elken.
–Made an Italpizza pizza with added tomato and sausage for dinner. Not my best work.
–Took a shower and shave; felt good.
–Went to Aryana’s office at 3941 J. Wound dressing came off for good. A guy with a Medtronics terminal verified that the pacemaker is working fine. Then Destiny came in to supervise an attempt to get rid of the atrial flutter. Three possibilities: burst pacing–increasing beat rate to kill it; medication; the dreaded paddles. It took a little doing, but they got it with the burst pacing. Yay!
–Went to UPS to pick up a Metro slider and the Aerospace 309 spray. I have no idea where that spray was sitting, since it was said to have been delivered on 7/11. Tried the Mr. Clean magic sponge + the 309 on BMW door panel scuffs. It helped, but didn’t entirely eliminate them.
–All hell broke loose. After I complained to the UCD Health advice nurse yesterday about my ankle, she set me up an appointment with Dr. Bernadette Kelly today. A nurse did an EKG prior to Dr. Kelly coming in, and it showed several anomalies. Dr. Kelly went crazy notifying Dr. Nandyal. She also ordered a raft of blood tests, mostly to rule out diabetes. When I got home there was a message from Dr. Nandyal’s office. I tried to return the call but just got a UCD nurse. I read her the findings from the EKG (I had taken a photo of it at Dr. Kelly’s suggestion), and she said they’d look into it and that I should call Dr. Aryana. I called and described the findings to someone at Dr. Aryana’s office as well. Everybody will be in touch.
–How is it possible for Aryana to do procedures that complex without the slightest hint of a follow-up? I could be dead for all he seemed to care; just make sure the dressing stays dry………
–Ankle felt a little better today, especially when I ignored it. [edit] All better at 10 PM. Unfortunately, I got a response to my message to Dr. Swensson, saying I should call an advice nurse. I did, and she ran me through a bunch of questions, and pointed out that my glucose–which was 1 point away from pre-diabetic in January–was 80 in the recent CBC, 29 points from abnormal. Slightly different test, but it seems diabetes is not an issue for me. Nonetheless, she set up an urgent appointment for me tomorrow at Folsom, with a Dr. Kelly, mostly for the ankle. Per usual, the ankle has been perfect for some hours now. My new suspicion is a bug bite.
–Played with knives a bit.
–Took the Xfinity box to Xfinity (Olsen Drive) to cancel and downgrade data speed. Their best offer on data was $95/month. I had to bring the box home–they wouldn’t let me cancel just TV while I looked for a data provider. Later I signed up for AT&T AIR data (cell tower) for $40/month for a year. Will cancel Xfinity after that’s in place. Scumbags.
–Went to Heritage to look into debit card. Surprisingly, they knew EVERYTHING about the card. Turns out I had gotten a call where I disputed a $49.95 charge, thinking it was from the time I was almost hacked at Fred Miranda. Turns out it was the Dish Network installation fee–so they put a hold on my card. Note: Dish Network didn’t call itself Dish Network, or I would have accepted the charge. Note 2: When did the $49.95 charge go through? After I gave them Ally info? Anyway, the card works now.
–Still having issues with Amazon drugs and UCD Health. Gettin’ tired of this.
–Ankle still painful. Not much going on.
–Lost a lot of sleep to a weird pain on the outside of my left ankle bone. It would flare up every 1-2 minutes, and I couldn’t relieve it. I later tried rubbing with a rough sponge, in case it was a cactus spine or such. No luck. I hope this goes away before too long.
–Went to Smart & Final for banana muffins, raisin bran and Marie. Then to Grocery Outlet for Italpizzas ($4 each).
–Italpizza for dinner, with Jan’s peppers on top. Good stuff.
–Went to Bel Air to check out Heritage debit card. It worked fine in the ATM. Probably still won’t work at the checkout stand.
–Got Grace to waterproof me, then took a shower.
–All plants seem in good shape.
–Went to UPS for another Homedics toothbrush. So far, so good with the charger. Then to Bel Air for milk and cream.
–Waited all day for the DirecTV installer. He came around 4 PM. Hardware setup was quick and easy (there are several cable outlets in the house; he used one near the swinging kitchen door that was likely the previous DirecTV hookup). Software setup was considerably slower, but all is good now and we’re watching the Giants.
–One of the basil plants was seriously wilting (despite tons of water). As I moved them to the three-tier plant stand so they’d get almost no sun, I dropped one and shattered the pot. I re-potted it, but I fear these guys may be goners. I MAY buy one of those gorgeous Bel Air basil plants, divide it into a bunch of pots and leave them in shade all day. I don’t know.
–Went to 3941 J for a wound dressing replacement. Looks really good, she said.
–Still feeling crappy, much improved by a big meal. Looked up diabetes symptoms, and except for fatigue/dizziness, it didn’t really seem to click. One hopes.
–Went to CVS Zinfandel for waterproof bandages/tape that I hope will let me take a shower or two.
–Accidentally won two SUS from Clean EDC; canceled one. While dicking around, I was a minute late for an LIC EDC SUS. What a mindless moron.
–Still dizzy when standing up.
–Went to Bel Air for corn and tomatoes.
–Barbecued Polska Kielbasa, corn, sliced potatoes with Barbecue rosemary. Not my favorite rosemary, and maybe what started me out on this Round 2 quest for the great flavor I remember.
–Signed up for DirecTV; will be installed Friday. Hope it works, and gets the Giants.
–Still feeling woozy when standing; 3 PM naps are becoming a habit.
–Went to UPS to mail Grace’s gift to Juli.
–Moved the wooden table from front patio to rear. Put rosemary and basil plants on it (after splitting basil into two pots).
–Once again, it looks like a big dinner cures all ills.
–Got strawberries at S*T Strawberries.
–Got a “Barbecue” variety rosemary plant at Smart & Final. One of these plants will work, I swear.
–After struggling with XnView to bulk resize photos, I learned (Google AI) that Preview will do it. Will it ever! One more reason to love a Mac.
–Feeling quite woozy most of the day today. As usual, food (i.e., dinner) is the only thing that seems to help.
–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final. Bought yet another basil plant. No, I’ll never learn.
–Another slow day, still dizzy on occasion, nap from 1 to 3.
–Tasty Italpizza Cheesy pizza with added tomato and pepperoni for dinner.
–Pretty much decided to switch to Dish Network. Even with NBC Bay Area Sports it’s vastly cheaper than Xfinity.
–Still feeling in and out most of the day; better after eating a lot.
–Barbecued turkey burgers and corn.
–Turns out my Ally debit card WAS compromised during that (admittedly very clever) Fred Miranda fiasco. They’re going to send me a new one. I did manage to move all recurring payments to Ally checking or PayPal. I hope.
–Took Grace in the Beemer to REI Folsom. She got me shorts, shirt, windbreaker as late birthday presents.
–Got a call from Aryana’s office regarding the wet dressing I reported. Went in at 2 PM and they replaced the dressing. Don’t get it wet…
–Got a couple of Italpizzas for $4 each at Grocery Outlet; had one for dinner. Got some corn ar Bel Air; will barbecue tomorrow.
–Happy Birthday to me!
–Brother Tom wrote–first one in a long time.
–Took a shower and shave. Got my dressing wet–actually sort of looked like blood. We called, didn’t get a response, went to (what I thought was) a UCD care center on Data Drive. They said they’re not an urgent care center, that UCD doesn’t have urgent care centers, and that maybe we should try Cardiology in Folsom. We went to CVS, got some Neosporin and dressings, and fixed it right up. I did get a call back from Aryana’s office around 6:30, convinced them it was minor and taken care of, and said I’d see them on Monday.
–Had dinner at Zinfandel Cafe in the UPS center. I had a brie plate, then bacon/blue cheese meatloaf with mashed potatoes. Grace had a pepperoni pizza. Fabulous!
–Tooks Grace to Best Buy to look at laptop screens and trackpads. Turns out it may have been all for nothing: she somehow discovered that her “dead” trackpad just needed a software tweak. All good now. She still has no idea what photo editor to use, but that’ll be a whole ‘nother story.
–While watering plants, I noticed the Jimson Weed has pretty much died. Arghhh!!! I didn’t think I had let it go for that long. Crap!
–Still feeling dizzy/woozy when standing. Blood pressure still seems good.
–Feeling a little worse today. Dizzy almost every time I stand up, and some painful muscle hitches nowhere near where cutting happened.
–Looked into computers for Grace.
–Feeling a little better every day.
–Decided to look again at the InnerLight cog. It was really close to the frame–not sure if it got closer or I just mis-remembered. I reversed the cog on the crank, as the guy from Modern Bike had advised, and it looks much better. For some reason, the line seemed undisturbed. Probably because I didn’t measure it carefully enough. Anyway, all is smooth and quiet..
–Went for a 6-mile bike ride ont eh ARP. Bike is flawless. I felt good on the way out, more normal (tired) on the way back.
–Took the Beemer for a car wash at Palace Shine on Coloma. $35 + $5 tip. Most thorough car wash I’ve ever seen; e.g. they use compressed air hose while drying. Car looks fabulous. Maybe I won’t sell it.
–Stopped at UPS for some bike chain master links and LIC EDC Tea Time buttons.
–Stopped at Bel Air for milk.
–Had cereal for lunch, then started feeling quite woozy, so went to bed for three hours. Didn’t think I’d be able to eat dinner (the smell was off-putting), but once I started I devoured it. I think this has to do with energy expenditure (metabolic rate) before and after bradycardia surgery, but what do I know?
–Went to Dr. Aryana’s office for a one-week checkup on the pacemaker. They renewed the bandage, saying all looks good, and told me the battery should be good for another 12 years.
–Stopped at Costco because my left hearing aid failed. The woman there fiddled with it for 5-10 minutes and made it good again. We bought some muffins, Pellegrino, Motor City pizza and ice cream bars. Had a pizza for dinner.
–Called off my dental appointment after reading about infections. That’s about it.
–Big day. Long story short(ish): I finally got to log in to the Dignity/Mercy portal after talking to their IT department, who said I hadn’t received my invite because my email address was wrong. Once there, I found the voluminous notes from Dr. Aryana on my surgery.. He did do ablation, and took the trouble to do it the hard way, by going after individual triggers rather than separating atria and ventricles completely. Even better, he tried several ways to induce arrhythmia after the ablations, and could not. We are good to go!
–I seem to have lost Grace’s disabled parking placard, which is hard to do. I applied at DMV for a replacement, and asked Dr. Swensson for one of my own.
–Got the Campagnolo pedals on the InnerLight, and they seem fine. There were some quite rough spots (I think) as I spun the pedals, so I do need to check the chainline thoroughly.
–Feeling a little better. Took two humongous dumps, which really helped. Put the Campagnolo pedals back together. Watered/fertilized plants in back.
–The search for a new car does not go well. I’m mostly looking for four doors (easy in and out), lots of torque, automatic transmission, smaller than the Beemer. One type–the hot hatchback–is expensive, sometimes comes only as manual shift, is sort of raw as opposed to polished, etc. Cars like Lexus IS are stupid expensive and not necessarily small. A quick search in Hemmings found zero cars of interest. If someone had a top-to-bottom restoration of a nice old BMW, I might even have accepted a 4-speed. Anything remotely like this was untouched, with high mileage. An old Maserati could work as well, but I saw zero in Hemmings. Very frustrating.
–Got a call from Dr. Aryana’s office wanting to schedule an ablation in September. What??? I told her that Dr. A said he was going to do an AV node ablation along with the pacemaker during his pre-op visit. She looked at the surgical notes and didn’t see ablation. She’ll contact Dr. A and try to figure it out. I’m puzzled and annoyed at (a) why he thought I needed an AV node ablation, and (b) why he then didn’t do anything.
–Xfinity has been out since early this afternoon; they say they’re going to do maintenance starting at 1 AM this morning. Gotta get away from these guys.
–Grace searched for Tom Elken (to find Sandy’s last name) and got hits from my journal. Bad news. I tried several things to hide it, but I don’t know yet if any of them worked.
–Feeling better. Took an ibuprofen this morning which really helped. Back to normal on peeing, no crapping yet. One of Kenny’s legendary farmers market melons for lunch with a banana, raisin bran for dinner. Had a few dizzy spells when standing. This might have improved after a nap, but I don’t know for sure. Learned today that Dr. Aryana completely severed the connection between atria and ventricles, as opposed to zapping a few hot spots, so I am 100% dependent on the pacemaker, forever. Hope it works.
–Kenny and Grace picked me up around Noon to go home. Side effects still present.
–Kenny and Grace took me to Mercy Sacramento for a pacemaker placement and cardiac ablation. Got there at Noon, went through a ton of pre-op, then procedure around 3:00. Spent the night in my own private room. Big side effects: vomiting, couldn’t pee, terrible heartburn. Procedures seem to have been successful.
–Big day. Went to see Dr. Arash Aryana, Mercy electrophysiologist. He seemed genial, talked fast, and asked me to come in tomorrow for a pacemaker and cardioversion (using paddles to shock the heart “back to a normal rhythm”). I think his urgency came from looking at long pauses between heart beats on some of the many tests I’ve undergone recently. I’m baffled at why no one else who’s seen these results (starting with Bellinger) has deemed them dangerous. Glad I had that dizzy spell I guess. Symptoms rule! I go in at Noon, procedure is at 3; not sure what I do for those hours. He said in a couple of months, after the pacemaker surgery has settled, he’ll do ablation for the AFib.
–Another pizza for dinner–and no food until dinner time tomorrow. Ouch.
–Kenny bought a new mobility scooter, for reasons beyond me. It’s absolutely identical in every respect to his old one, which is in perfect shape with new batteries. Tires are worn, but they’re solid and a lot cheaper than a new scooter.
–Looked up smaller cars after running the Beemer mirror into the side of the garage. It cleaned up nicely, but I just can’t handle it any more. The Honda CR looks nice and is definitely smaller and has an automatic transmission–and 300 HP. I looked up what Carmax would give me on the Beemer, and they asked if I wanted to update my previous estimate. Apparently a Carmax cookie survived the switch from old to new Mac. Mind-boggling. They offered me $32,000. If it’s legit (e.g., I gave them the correct list of accessories, etc.) I think I’ll do it.
–Went to New York Bagels for bagels and dessert.
–Went to UPS to pick up Nexium and Park Tool torque wrench.
–Stopped at Bel Air for milk, cream, cream cheese, Vicolo pizza, Jimmy Dean sausage.
–It appears that Dr. Nandyal came through on her promise to get me in to see Dr. Aryanna soon: they called and offered me tomorrow at 9, 11, 1 or 3. I chose 11. Finally.
–Pizza for dinner.
–Went out to brunch with Tom and Sandy Elken at Mario’s Early Toast in Folsom. Good stuff, and quiet enough after a family with loud kids left.
–Downloaded and watched a Jack Ryan movie with John Krasinsky. Pretty standard stuff, but a nice escape.
–Sherry and Ray went to the farmers market at Sloughhouse and brought us back some donut peaches and cherries. Nice neighborhood…
–Took another quick ride through the neighborhood–out Gold Country, back ARP. The bike is great, but I’m not; feeling tired and sluggish.
–Took Grace to Grocery Outlet for some stuff. Got a couple of Italpizza Holy Margherita pizzas. Sadly, Grace talked me into getting some vaguely salami-like Calabrese. Tasted mild by itself, but kind of ruined the pizza.
–Took a shave and shower. The Gillette Red Dot worked great, and the blade–which must be on its fifth shave or so–was good.
–Still hot. I’ve been feeling the TINIEST bit dizzy all day. Nothing I can put my finger on. Took a six-mile ride around the neighborhood. Bike is dead smooth and silent.
–Cleaned up tools and bike parts in the garage.
–Went to UPS to pick up (a) the Canon extension grip (nice) and (b) a second Bushnell bottom bracket.
–Spent the day in the garage putting the bike together. Very warm, very tiring. Had some issues with the chain (too long with the new front sprocket); two trips to Bob’s Bikes for another master link and a chain breaker solved them. Bike rides nice and chainline (at first glance) seems close. Will install Campagnolo pedals when special lube comes in. May install second bottom bracket, now that I have an idea of what I’m doing.
–Went to UPS to pick up the Bushnell BB and the Campagnolo pedals. BB seems fine. Took the pedals apart and noted dried grease. Cleaned in alcohol; waiting for some special grease to reassemble. Will use old pedals in the meantime. Could be running tomorrow–except it’s too hot to work long in the garage.
–Stopped at Bel Air for potato chips, cereal, milk.
–There were several emails, phone calls and texts from Dr. Nandyal’s office this morning. I talked to someone who wanted me to come in for an ECG. I balked. They insisted. I went in. ECG took four minutes. Then Dr. Nandyal came in. She (sort of) apologized for all the tests and delays, and said she would make an effort to get me to Dr. Aryanna quickly for a pacemaker. Finally. She apparently had heard of my fiasco yesterday with the Folsom PA who put me on another ZIO patch and wanted to do a brain MRI. Nandyal said I could remove the patch, as I had one not long ago. Moral: it pays to have symptoms.
–Went to see PA Katie Rose Christensen at UC Davis Health in Folsom. She asked lots of questions. She suggested the possibility of a brain MRI. I kind of balked at that. Then she suggested another two-week Zio monitor. I agreed, and they installed it there. Katie seems to be of the opinion that my issues may be more related to low heart rate than to AFib. Too many cooks making broth here. I need to have Dr. Swenson step in and sort through all the test findings.
–Stopped at UPS to pick up a bike tool and some Trillium spinner parts, mainly the OG “cross” buttons. Nice buttons, with a clear soft rubber coating. Never seen anything like it.
–Stopped at Bel Air for stuff including dessert and another Italpizza clone, this one by Raley’s. Had it for dinner; it was pretty good.
–Feeling better today than yesterday. BP is still high, though: consistently 160+/80+. Grace forced me to call Swensson, and to my surprise (after a couple of handoffs) they asked several questions about symptoms, then set up an urgent appointment with Swensson tomorrow.
–Watered plants, harvested some peppers.
–Feeling dizzy and woozy this morning.
–HOA dues payment finally went through via Ally.
–A disturbing number of recent orders have either (a) no tracking number or (b) tracking number but no delivery date.
–Took a shower and shave. Blood pressure was quite high after: 170/80 with four measurements. Crap.
–Messaged Dr. Nandyal about lab panel and angiogram. Got a response from a nurse saying (a) go to any UC Davis lab for the blood draw and (b) the angiogram referral is in; wait a week or so and call this number for an appointment.
–Walked to Bel Air for corn. Stopped by the “farmers” market. Saw some possibly interesting cinnamon rolls, but no prices on them. One or two other prices suggested they’d be very expensive.
–Vacuumed the living room.
–Made barbecued turkey burgers, corn and antipasto salad for dinner. Yum!
–Went to the recycling place on San Juan, then Raley’s for some stuff.
–Stopped at UPS for hearing aid batteries and 1930’s Henckels bread knife (pretty cool). A lot of scratches on the knife; I’m working on it.
–Grace is in a terrible mood again; not sure why.
–Went to UPS to pick up Montblanc NOS pencil parts. Stopped at Bel Air for donuts (it’s National Donut Day).
–Assembled a pencil out of the parts (and a previous pencil). The NOS barrel had a huge deep scratch in it. Lots of work on the buffer couldn’t begin to get rid of it, so (of course) I used a Bergeon wheel (which also wasn’t doing much) and wrecked it. Shame on the eBay seller calling that NOS.
–To my surprise and delight, I heard from Modern Bike on my query regarding what size bottom bracket to get. After some back and forth, we decided on 108mm, and I ordered an Origin8 Torqlite. Hope it works. FWIW, he asked about spacing between the rear dropouts, saying it should never be > 120mm or so in a single speed. I measured 137mm. Memory fails, but I’m guessing I asked Kimo Tanaka to allow for really big tires.
–Italpizza-like pizza for dinner–roasted vegetable. Pretty good.
–Went to Bel Air for ice cream, cream cheese, milk.
–Stopped at UPS for spinner buttons and Origin8 crankset.
–Turns out I can’t install the crankset at present–with my current bottom bracket, I needed a set where the axle is pinned to the crank. The current set doesn’t even have an axle. Much despair, until I found that there are BBs with a built-in square taper axle. I’m looking into one now; it might require me to measure the chainline to get the right one though.
–Went to New York Bagels for bagels. Then to KP Market for chicken for Grace. Then to S-T Strawberries for strawberries for us, Sherry and Kenny. Then UPS for (a) watch batteries for Grace’s Seiko, (b) Origin8 cog, (c) adapter for Rikenon to Sony, (d) coffee beans (same Colombian as came with the roaster, really looking forward to them). BUT Kenny dropped by as I was roasting and I burned them. Next time.
–Gave Kenny and Sherry strawberries. Sherry gave me four hard-boiled eggs in return; Kenny was appreciative but later said he wasn’t a big strawberry eater–he’ll put them in a milkshake.
–Xfinity worked on something all day, killing TV and internet. I managed to use the iPhone as a hot spot and pay for a Clean EDC Slim Pillar in Tungsten that I won in a SUS.
–Went to see Dr. Nandyal again. She referred me for an angiogram, and said I might not need stent or bypass–they might be able to fix blockage electrically. She also said (seeming to surprise herself) that I might be in line for a pacemaker. Finally.
–Got a new lock and three keys for our mailbox, after I stupidly gave my key to UPS after getting the new box.Neighbor Sherry messaged the mailman Ken and we’re good.
–Learned that I have a septal infarct. Treated with stent or bypass. Great.
–Went to U-Haul on Pyrites for propane. Old tank had “expired,” so I bought a new one for $70. Great.
–Started the process of deleting all my Adsense websites (after copying them to disk). They’re just wasting space now, and constantly bombarding me with plugin updates and such. I’ll revive them after my youtube channel is thriving…
–Went to S*T strawberries for strawberries and jam. Stopped at Bel Air for corn and potato salad. Barbecued for dinner. Beef burgers on sourdough were good, corn was great, cheesy baked potato salad was not so hot.
–Did an acuity test between Leica and Sony with the Contax 50/1.4 (at 5.6). Sony is better, but it’s not a gargantuan difference.
–Watered plants.
–Paid State Farm $688.42 for the Beemer.
–Took Grace to the Sunrise farmers market for all kinds of stuff.
–Korean BBQ pot pies for dinner.
–Tested Biotar, Prakticar and Takumar at f2.0 on Sony. Sharpness and (especially) contrast increased in alpha order. Biotar is pretty crappy. Need to test bokeh at wide open to see if Biotar is worth keeping. Just did that, and Biotar seems the winner. None was really pleasing, but Biotar had a little more contrast and saturation. Go figure.
–Went to UPS to pick up the Montblanc pencil. It’s very nice–extremely complicated (10+ pieces), but works great.
–Stopped at Bel Air for milk and cream.
–Revived the Sony AR7 IV and V, for the umpteenth time. They both blew the SL2-S (Super-Multi Coated-Takumar 50) out of the water on a test using the Tristan da Cunha card. Will test the V again when it’s dark, though I’m sure I’ve done that several times already. [edit] Arrgghhh…Leica is still king of the dark. Tested tonight at f1.4 and f2.0 on the SMC Tak. Sony is darn nice and much less noisy than the Canon, but the Leica just beats it. The clincher: reading the house number behind the speed limit sign. Clear and crisp with the Leica, presumably due to less denoising needed. So it seems to come down to when I want very crisp detail–day or night. Probably night. [edit2] On a whim, I installed DXO again and used its “Deep Prime” noise reduction to process the Sony image. It made a big difference, and could tilt things toward the Sony.
–Used the vise and roto-tool to get the “new” stainless lemon squeezer to close all the way. Nice work if I do say so.
–Didn’t do much. Waiting for Montblanc pencil to arrive (out for delivery) so I could walk to UPS. It didn’t.
–Walked to UPS to pick up crankset. The cog is okay, but the cranks are super heavy, like steel. Will look for something lighter (and in the U.S.). Stopped at Bel Air for chocolate chip cookies.
–Drove to UPS to pick up S.M.C. Takumar lens. Took a couple of abutilon pics. Absolutely fabulous. Sharp, saturated, etc. It won’t outdo the Summicron, but I’m anxious to compare it with Rikenon, Contax, etc.
–Got my after-visit summary from the stress test. Not as bad as I had feared. Looking forward to ablation.
–Went to Davis Cardiology in Folsom for my echo stress test. Not good. Was gasping quickly on the treadmill, and they had to stop the test before completion because my arrhythmia was out of control. More tests coming–electrophysiology, maybe angiogram for clogged arteries. Gettin’ tired of all this…
–Thunder, lightning, hail and a bit of rain around 5:30.
–Went to Bel Air for stuff.
–Took a shower and shave.
–Worked on plants: trimmed and watered the big one out front, tossed the dead basils, took the chopstick support off one succulent because it seemed to want to lean. I’ll let it and see what happens.
–Two doves were in the fountain today, taking (minor) baths. Yes!
–Weather is nice. Went nowhere, did little.
–After several days of the basil plant looking really good, today it saggy and sad looking. I did some searching and decided to divide it up among several pots with a soil/sand mix and leave them outside. They still look pathetic. I have no idea what turned that from champion to near-dead in one night.
–Had the Walmart bettergoods cheese pizza for dinner, along with some of Jan Muehlbauer’s peppers I harvested. I liked it; Grace was less enthused. At least it’s an always-available alternative to the salty, greasy Red Baron/Motor City pizzas we’ve been relying on.
–Yes, another warm day.
–Went to Barnes & Noble looking for another NYT puzzle book. They had a dozen: Easy, Sunday, and Clever. Nope.
–Stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple of bettergoods (their store brand) pizzas, allegedly the same as Italpizza–made in Italy, wood-fired, etc. We’ll see. Stopped at Bel Air for barbecue stuff: Harris Ranch beef burgers (a necessity since there were zero turkey/chicken patties; delicious with nice smoked flavor), corn, Claire’s potato salad.
–Barbecue for dinner. As mentioned: delicious.
–Hot day: 90 at 6 PM.
–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.
–Tended to plants a little. While I was watering a little succulent on the stand, the hose broke off a stem on the huge purple succulent from Kenny. Dang! It’s in water now, may come back.
–I finally got accepted into The Daily Fidget Marketplace on Facebook, a couple days after getting into TDF. Comeback almost complete.
–Got bagels at New York Bagel Cafe; Grace got some meat at KP Market; then to Safeway on Folsom for various stuff.
–Stopped at UPS to pick up the Homedics Power Dent Smart Sensor toothbrush. Disappointing: runs on standard (non-rechargeable) batteries, runs slowly, and has a great head that won’t fit on other Homedics toothbrushes.
–Finally got into The Daily Fidget and TDF Marketplace on Facebook.
–Grace had nothing to make for dinner (again). I went to Bel Air and bought a pre-made pizza crust, put some frozen tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni on it and baked it. Not so great.
–Took a 13.4 mile bike ride with Tom Elken in El Dorado Hills. Very tiring for some reason. Could be the heat; could be I’m slowing down a bit.
–Picked up another Dunhill belt at UPS. The reverse on this one (brown on the first, too limiting)–ink blue–is hard to distinguish from the black side. Also no roller. Good quality belts though. Got dessert at Bel Air (unbroken chocolate-dipped peanut butter cookies).
–Italpizza Cheesey Cheese pizza for dinner with fresh basil. Darn good.
–Went to see Dr. Nandyal in Roseville. I got an ECG and a referral to a stress test in Folsom. Gettin’ tired of this stuff.
–Stopped at a Mr. Pickles for lunch. Soggy, fatty bacon.
–Stopped at Green Acres in Citrus Heights. They had three new-to-me rosemary plants. They all tasted kind of bland. I bought a small Originalis, and will strive to make it thrive.
–Put air in car and bike tires.
–Put bike rack on Honda, put bike on rack. Ready to ride in El Dorado Hills tomorrow.
–Walked to the Town Center in Tevas to check out the first day of the new farmers(?) market. It was a bust: 10 vendors, no fresh fruit or veggies, prominently displayed t-shirts with slogans like “I am fucking amazing” on them. Hope it gets better. P.S. The Outback’s white fence was gone, front door was open, and there was a group of 3-4 people maybe going in to take a look. Hoping it turns into something not a drive-thru.
–Put my bike back together so I can ride it while waiting for another month for the Amazon (China) parts to arrive. I spent a long time looking for the parts, thinking I could get something a little different much sooner, but 90% of the stuff on eBay and Amazon seems to be the same brand–from China.
–Tended to my plants. The water meter, stuck deep, indicated they were all quite moist. Fair enough, but they sure don’t look like they’ve been over-watered.
–Mailed off Grace’s card+check to Kathy; only by chance discovered later that she wanted it sent to Jan. Went back to UPS, retrieved it, resent it out to Jan. Whew!
–Picked up Martin de Candre Vetiver shave cream at UPS; rare and expensive. Smells pretty good. Hoping I can use it long-term. Also picked up the second adapter needed to mount the Zeiss Prakticar lens on the Leica SL2-S. Somewhat to my surprise, given that one of the adapters has glass in it, IT WORKED! Learning only now (of course) that the lens is pretty fuzzy at f1.4. Oh well, quest achieved anyway.
–Went to Lowe’s and tasted two brands of rosemary; didn’t like either. Went to Home Depot and tasted two more (may have been the exact same brands); didn’t like either. Went to Smart & Final and tasted a fourth brand: didn’t care for it. Bought a basil plant. I’m really wondering what’s going on with me and rosemary. I guess I’ll try some of the smaller ones at Green Acres. I’m not optimistic.
–Italpizza Cheesy Cheese pizza for dinner. Delicious, as expected.
–Went to UPS for (a) Echelon slider (fine, but needs stronger magnets), (b) Kipon adapter (one more and I can mount the Prakticar on the SL2-S), (c) Scrat knitted coaster (cute!).
–Barbecued for dinner: turkey burgers, corn (good!) and red potatoes with rosemary butter. Not really fond of the new rosemary plant (Tuscan Blue); flavor just isn’t up to previous rosemary varieties, whatever they were.
–Revived the Sony AR7-V (mistakenly did the IV recently; V is much better) and compared it to SL2-S. After a LOT of fussing, I got the Sony pretty darn close to the Leica on a standard night shot, but the Leica still wins. Sort of like the Canon, Sony photos seem to have a hazy/washed-out look. It could be the much higher resolution, or a result of much more drastic noise reduction, I don’t know. That SL2-S is a monster: low noise, great viewfinder, simple controls.
–Took Grace to Lowe’s for a hose, carpet cleaner, potting soil and sand. Then to Grocery Outlet for veggies, pizza, cream, dessert.
–Just saw a quickie Facebook reel where an MD described a rarely-mentioned side effect of general anesthesia in seniors: cognitive impairment. I had general anesthesia in December. I’ve been experiencing cognitive issues for a couple of months: most typically, I can’t come up with the names of people (mostly) and things. Makes me wonder.
–Watched a tree crew take down the big Coast Redwood behind the parking lot visible from our back patio. I got a walking stick and a large chunk of trunk (3′ diameter, 9″ thick). Kenny got Sterling to use Kenny’s dolly to move it to our patio. Mission accomplished!
–Took the Beemer to get gas at Fair Oaks Arco ($74), then to Green Acres in Folsom to pick up a five-gallon Tuscan Blue rosemary plant. Looks great and smells great at the moment; hope I can keep it going.
–Chicken pot pie for dinner.
–Roasted more of the Colombia beans that came with the Fresh Roast 800. Hope they’re as good as I recall.
–Went to UC Davis Folsom for my echo cardiogram. Results: patient’s rhythm is atrial fibrillation, with bradycardia. Treatment: zap heart tissue causing Afib, pacemaker for bradycardia.
–Freschetta pizza for dinner. Okay, not great.
–Paladin Moon Java brush came in. As I feared, it’ll go on the “for sale” shelf.
–Getting warmer…
–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.
–Found out the Amazon order for crank arms/chain ring is coming from Chine, an likely won’t arrive until June. Not sure they made that totally apparent in the listing.
–Holy Margherita pizza for dinner.
–Finished polishing the Wolfman. Tossed a wheel, will likely toss some Dialux bars. May switch to Meguiar’s Swirl Remover for final polish, and Ultra-Cut for penultimate. It’s astounding how good a piece can look until you shine a flashlight on it.
–Got the crank arm and pedals off the InnerLight. Now I need the new parts. Amazon is being unusually slow.
–Won a slider drop!
–Facebook is frustrating: the two major fidget forums I’ve tried to join (several times) are ignoring me; several friend requests are being ignored; and last night FB warned me NOT to make a friend request–too many in a short time looks like spam, they said. But of course they continue to show me dozens of “people you may know” every time I go there. Grrr…..
–Started BBQ season! Bel Air had corn, bought some turkey burger patties and Claire’s potato salad. Good stuff!
–Wolfman WR1 razor came in. Spent a while on the buffer getting rid of a scratch. Had to use a Bergeon wheel, and thus re-contoured the head a tiny bit (hard to see now). I also dozed off and allowed the wheel to fling the razor to the floor. Miraculously, I can only see a scuff on the bottom which will easily polish out. I’m afraid to look any closer, since it really acted like doom for the razor.
–Set up the newly-tiled bird bath. Seems to be fine. Still need to do something about the base for the top part so it’s stable and level.
–Went to UPS to pick up Armand de Kock front flipper. Pretty nice.
–Went to Grocery Outlet to get a couple of those $4 Italpizza Holy Margherita pizzas. Had one for dinner. Pretty good.
–Spent a long time trying to sort out e-mail issues. Finally dropped Thunderbird and went with Apple mail. The interface is not as nice, but it does seem to do a lot of stuff automatically that were really complex in Thunderbird.
–Hot.
–Fed the birds, fed the squirrels.
–Roasted some dry process Brazilian beans until they got oily. Pretty straightforward, though setup takes a while. One issue: a fair number of beans got caught in the chaff filter–just a function of how it works when the fan speed is above x. Could play with fan speed, but I was doing 8 ounces, so it can’t be too slow. Grace suggested a screen that would pass chaff but block beans. Maybe.
–Dropped off the old Mac at FedEx.
–The sun finally came out today.
–I myself didn’t do much; played around with photo editors and cameras a bit. Something is seriously amiss with ACDSee: no matter what I do, I cannot get it to open automatically when I double click a Canon raw file. I believe it will open for Leica files (say), so maybe the issue is with Canon, not entirely ACDSee. Anyway, I think I’ll go through the grueling experience of setting up DXO again, and turn up monitor brightness so I can see the menus. I wish there were a really good Lightroom clone.
–{edit] For the 458th time, I’m ditching ACDSee and DXO. Their results with a Canon night shot were horrific. I’m sure they could get better (many people use them), but after re-re-re-re-installing Lightroom, the results were stupefying. I resurrected the Leica SL2-S and compared it to Canon with the Summicron 50, and though initially it looked like Leica would clobber Canon, after some work in Lightroom they aren’t that far apart. More to come.
–A dreary day, but dry.
–Went to New York Bagels for…..bagels.
–Mailed Will Cantelon’s birthday/graduation present.
–Took Grace for minor shopping at Bel Air and at Grocery Outlet.
–Had a $4 Grocery Outlet Italpizza Wood-Fired Holy Margherita pizza for dinner: really good.
–Cool, drizzly day. Weird weather.
–Went to UPS to pick up (a) spinner bearing tool. Smaller than I anticipated, very strange setup, don’t like it at all. Will likely toss. (b) Biotar lens. Clean glass, smooth focusing. Not sure about how/if f ring and stop-down ring should work. Right now they work as one: I can’t turn one without turning the other. I might have thought it would be like some Helios lenses, where ring 1 sets f, ring 2 opens it up to make focusing easier, then shuts back down to the f you set. Will look into it.
–Went around the mulberry bush again with photo editors, since I didn’t deactivate anything before wiping the old Mac, so I could reactivate on the new. Using DXO at the moment (which didn’t have the deactivate problem) and it’s looking good. Very smooth with (I assume) the more powerful M5 chip, and–as I recall–a fair amount of customizability.
–Cool and windy today.
–Got the old Macbook cleaned up–software and hardware. Turns out water is a VASTLY better cleaner than 99% alcohol. Keypad marks on the screen that I thought were permanent just disappeared with a damp cloth; also the little white spots everywhere. The screen is flawless now. Who knew?
–LIC EDC on Facebook let me in; that and Brenda are the only ones. I’m concerned about Cantelons. Best to go slow I suppose, as Google AI says FB will even monitor messages for clues that a banned user is trying to get back in.
–Went with Grace to the Sunrise farmers market. Got some good (expensive) stuff.
–Picked up the Autopoint deco pencil at UPS. Very clever mechanism, easy to refill, but it will only take a piece of lead that’s half length.
–IG and FB still working, though hearing back from friends and forums is REALLY slow.
–Started going through all my photos to resize them for this screen (same as the previous scree; I just never made the effort before). It’s going to take a while.
–After huge preparation (new Macbook, Firefox Facebook Container, new phone number, NordVPN, etc., Facebook found me out instantly and re-banned me. I have no idea how they knew. On the other hand, while I was diddling around with Instagram, (FB told me to log into IG to appeal), it offered me a new account: williamfarrell69. I took it, and it seemed to work. A while later I went to view it again, and it gave a number captcha like I failed on FB a couple days ago. This time I “listened” to the numbers, got them right, but AGAIN got this bizarro message saying “You put in an appeal on May 1.” Immediately following, it said “Your appeal was successful, welcome back to IG, we’re sorry to have bothered you.” Hands folded and raised to God: I am permanently back on IG, and MIGHT be able to leverage it to open a new account on FB. I’ll wait a little, however.
–Went to UPS to pick up a Macbook return box and an original Trillium spinner box (the last one, I’m told).
–FWIW, I did a couple of internet speed tests. Sunshine came out at 95 Mbps, while Twilight came out at 500 Mbps. This bears repeating, though I do recall that Twilight is supposed to be using the newer generation of wifi software.
–Trimmed dead branches from the Japanese Maple.
–Went to UPS for the Macbook Pro., then Bel Air for milk and cream.
–A beautiful day in paradise.
–Took a 12-mile ride on the ARP. It was busy, and not all riders were in full control of their machines.
–Bought another Mac, for getting back on FB and IG.
–Spent 2.5 hours with Dr. Bafford. One crown, a couple cavities, one new cavity that showed up while he was smoothing a front filling. With 37 x-rays, I wonder how that was missed. $1.050, more to come in a couple weeks.
–Stopped at Bel Air for dessert.
–Rode my bike to UPS to pick up another Sheaffer pen. Outside was fine, but mechanism didn’t work, and, after inspection, could not be made to work. The innards had tool marks aplenty, and the lead-gripping collar was mangled. Fortunately, I had saved a mechanism from a previous pencil. Voila!
–Beautiful day, and the plants are going crazy.
—Got a haircut at Great Clips. Brittany looks pregnant, so she may be short-term there.
—Went to Bel Air for $5 Monday.
—Got kicked off Instagram and Facebook. Looking into it, but not sure I want to be there anyway. Moving everything to DuckDuckGo.
—DiGiorno pizza for dinner. Darn good.
–Another cool gray day.
–Got banned from photo mod site AFTER they modded a photo. Ugly. [edit] Looks like I’m back in now.
–Fed and watered plants in back.
–Cool, kind of gray day.
–Took Grace to the Dollar Store to look for gift wrap, then Smart & Final for food.
–Fresh-roasted coffee this morning was darn good; home-made pizza tonight was, as usual, kind of bland and tasteless. Needs more salt, perhaps.
–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.
–Stopped at UPS for the One Drop Trillium spinner. Nice spinner in good shape.
–Went to Hooverville for jam and dessert pastry.
–Another Sheaffer pencil came in, along with a bunch of NOS erasers. Got a Pentel lead into it (the old ones keep breaking when I try to insert them) and put a new eraser on it. Unlike the other 2-3 new erasers I successfully placed, this one stuck firmly inside the top when I put the halves together then pulled them apart–those NOS erasers are really big, and take a lot of pressure to fit in. While trying to fish the eraser out, the top broke in half. Crap.
–Roasted a batch of (in theory) chaffy coffee beans in the Fresh Roast SR800. It took a long time, as I kept mis-using the controls, reversing fan and heat, setting it to “cool” unknowingly, etc. Beans look great, incredibly even, and minimal chaff. I even heard first crack. More fun to come.
–Rain gone, but it’s chilly.
–Went to UPS for (a) Tadafusa knife. Not impressive in person. Cleaned it up a bit with Scotchbrite belts, but that only served to show how poor the grind was. Will toss. (b) Fresh Roast coffee roaster, plus Razzo chaff catcher extension. All looks good. Hope there’s enough power in the garage to actually roast.
–Stopped at Bel Air for (relatively) cheap Marie. Had a chicken pot pie for dinner.
–Dark day, with brief periods of heavy rain.
–Dunhill belt came in. Pretty nice.
–Got my Flomax prescription sorted out. Oeur had put the double prescription in, but it wasn’t obvious on Amazon until I did some digging. I have a strong feeling that Flomax is responsible for my sneezing/runny nose in the morning and (double dose) for my really stuffy nose at night for the past few days. I’m seriously considering HOLeP surgery, though not sure of how I’ll pull it off.
–Blaze pizza for dinner. Too large (I think a large veggie is bigger than a large pepperoni), too expensive ($25), and she asked if hot red sauce was okay AFTER covering it with hot red sauce.
–Went to UPS for (a) Pose Ring Spinner, small but cool, and (b) FidgetBoy zirc timascus high heat spinner, fine but low heat would have been better.
–Stopped at Bel Air for dessert, dinner (Silva sausage), Cheetos for Grace.
–Spent a while cataloging all my new spinners and tools; I’m pretty much caught up.
–DXO started acting up again, so I switched to ACDSee. Turns out I’m using the same version that I was months ago, which I thought had no customizability. It seems to have a little now, e.g. switching Develop pane from left to right, remembering some things from one session to the next.
–Messaged Christine Oeur, Davis Urology, a couple days ago about running out of Tamsulosin (Flomax). She hasn’t responded. Will message Swensson tonight.
–Fixed (more or less) Grace’s WWII shower head, which wouldn’t move and was spraying the floor. It’s better, but needs to be replaced.
–Feeling restless, so I dug the Sony AR7 out again. Was painfully reminded of how much the viewfinder image jiggles when magnified; the Canon’s simply does not. Hard to believe Sony is so far behind Canon in this regard.
–Went to UPS to pick up the KAP damasteel bearing tool. Very nice and all, but it came with two monster damasteel rings, slightly different sizes. Way too big for a finger, way too small for a wrist. I asked the rep on Facebook what they were for, and she essentially said “for looking at.” Great. I might find something to do with them, but I sure can’t think of it now.
–Vacuumed the bedroom again, since yesterday the dust collector was so overfull it cut the power in half. I did pick up a lot more dirt, so it’s clean now.
–Went to UPS to pick up a bunch of vintage Sheaffer mechanical pencils. Spent a while at my desk putting three nice ones together and getting them to work, then in the garage polishing them. They’re beauties.
–Went to Bel Air for milk, cream and pizza sauce.
–Made pizza for dinner. Not my favorite: pepperoni was super greasy, crust didn’t rise and crisp, mozzarella had no taste. Will change the ingredients next time.
–Vacuumed my bedroom, perhaps for the second time since we moved in.
–Got a check back from CA tax. I (Turbotax) had calculated a $720 refund; the check was for $1,080. Can’t wait to see what the Feds say. Grrr…
–Great weather for a ride, so I pedaled to Mile 15 of the ARP; 12 miles in all. I was really feeling weak on the way back; hope it’s not my heart.
–Patio plants are still doing great; peppers are coming out on the plant we inherited from neighbor Jan.
–Sheaffer pencil finally came in from eBay. Except it was a piece of crap Penman pencil that was frozen solid. Messaged seller (with 95% positive feedback). He said he never had a pencil like that. Right. I put in an “wrong item” return claim at eBay.
–Switched over to DXO Photo Lab, triggered by some Creative Cloud shenanigans this morning. Lightroom is great, but there’s just too much crap you have to put up with.