Month: February 2019

–Roasted some beans to a char. Take your eyes off ’em for a minute, or 20…

–Played with regulators. Got two good needle seats from eBay regs. Worked on my needle; got it going again. Patched the high-pressure hose with Flex Tape and got the pressure gauge going too.

–Played with iPod Nano. It’s dead, Jim. Ordered new battery.

–Mail finally came around 5 PM—Teknas, LG phone. Teknas seem to have good seats, phone is so-so.

–Went shopping at Farm Fresh Produce and Safeway.

–Made breakfast for dinner.

–Went to Shopper’s Corner, splurged on deli meat and cheese.

–Went to “farmers market” in Corralitos (2 stands at the Cultural Center near Corralitos Sausage).

–Columbo.

–Played with regulators. Learned that “IP creep” means intermediate pressure is creeping UP, not down. Much to learn…

–Steinhart Ocean 39 Explorer came in. As usual, lume color is just too weird.

–Roasted some caf beans.

–Played with Teknas; former successful pilot valve seat doesn’t hold pressure now. Rats…

–Got some (minimal sunflower) bird seed at Aptos Feed.

–Right hearing aid battery died around 7 PM.

–Slightly over-roasted some decaf beans. Better than slightly under.

–Curtis Finton will mail taxes. He recommended applying $4,500 federal overpayment to 2019 taxes, and keeping $1,000 state overpayment.

–Actually got a Tekna to breathe with my jerry-rigged valve seat. Eureka!

–Got 13 bagels at The Bagelry and dessert at Aldo’s.

–Went to Aqua Safari in Soquel to get SCUBA tank refilled. $55 for 10 fills, $20 for annual visual inspection, pick it up tomorrow. Shoulda gone to Monterey.

–Chicken pot pie for dinner.

–Sunny day for a change.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 8 PM.

–Got 2 bearclaws at El Patio!

–iPod Classic came in. Nice machine, but screen is scuffed. grrr…

–PO finally delivered hole punch. It’s better than old one, so let’s rebuild Teknas!

–Synchronized Daytona with time.is.

–Went shopping at Farm Fresh Produce and Safeway. I had a breakfast sandwich at Donut Basket, as usual.

–Lotsa rain, a little thunder.

–Imitation Bergeon 5700 caseback opener came. Doesn’t seem to be centered, which is kind of critical. I looked up Bergeon to see if it had adjustable centering; it doesn’t. It must come perfectly aligned. [Edit] I discovered that if I leave some lateral play in the top and bottom chucks, it works. I strongly suspect Bergeon leaves play as well; they don’t build to the necessary tolerances.

–Louise Stephens/Laurel Hunt/Brenda Wyckoff sent emails. Apparently Bruce Franz’s wife Tucky has been in ICU since Christmas. Yikes…..

–Dr. Michael Dacey did Mohs surgery on basal/squamous carcinoma on nose. Also did a shave biopsy of spot on right ear that keeps coming back. Seems like a knowledgeable/conscientious guy.

–Horotec crystal/bezel press came in. Heavy.

–Borealis Estoril watch came in. Nice.

–After brief use of Spark email, went back to Thunderbird.

–Re-polished Rolex Daytona. Looks good.

–Took a walk to/on the beach. Freezing.

–Went to Frank’s Pharmacy for pills, Safeway for sundries.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around Noon.

–Rainy, dreary day.

–Heard from Dr. Liao’s office that carcinoma on nose is squamous. Mohs surgery will be scheduled.

–Got a dozen bagels at The Bagelry, Soquel, and some dessert at Aldo’s.

–Trying to use pencil erasers as valve seats on Tekna regulators. No luck yet. Maybe I should try to adapt rubber seats from (a) espresso machine steam fittings or (b) other more “standard” regulators. Duh.

–Ran EUFY in the bedroom.

–That’s about it.

–Went to see Dr. Liao in Los Gatos. Biopsy of thing on nose, likely basal cell, likely Mohs surgery. Froze a bunch of sun spots for $300 (pay at the clinic).

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around Noon.

–Sold a couple of Tekna regulators–the prototype and a brass body. Revived a needle that hadn’t been working by carefully cleaning it and the valve seat.

–Helical auger spring broke on Orphan Espresso Apex hand grinder. Looks like a weak spot to me. Emailed Doug and Barb Garrott asking for replacement; no response yet.

–Super Bowl Sunday. Made some yummy nachos. Grace made slow-cooker chili.

–Resurrected 7 Tekna regulators (3 working) to sell after being contacted by scubaboard.com members who read my Tekna rebuild post from a couple years ago.

–Still a couple of leaks in garden shed, maybe due to plastic sheet blowing off. Too muddy to check.

–Got all documents ready to send to Curtis Finton for taxes.

–Went shopping for cough drops, lemon drops, milk, nacho sauce.

–Bike discs came in.

–Robert Erickson knife came in: beautiful. Also deba from Australia: I actually flattened the bevel without destroying it (yet).

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 10 PM.