Month: May 2020

–Went to Home Depot for bleach, Simple Green, and drip irrigation repair kit.

–Got some rain at dinner time.

–Took a bike ride to Hagan Community Dog Park. Nice place.

–Dove slowly approached bird bath, took many sips of water. Yay!

–Got the Rolex 5513 (and bracelet) all back together, ready to sell.

–Tethered the floating chlorinator so it doesn’t get stuck in one part of pool.

–Got bagels at New York Bagels, food at Food Maxx, and supplemental food at Bel Air.

–Played with watches. Learned the unpolished 5513 had oil(?) damage on dial. Tried to clean it up; sort of succeeded, at the cost of some tiny lume flecks. Will reassemble and sell, along with all the others. Learned further that the ultra-sharp red Sub case had been polished. Three lugs measured ~3.1 mm (as do all four on the untouched 5513); one measured ~2.7 mm. Guess it was too good to be true.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Discovery Park was closed because of a missing child (later found drowned in river), so Tom and I rode from Tunnel Hill. Way too hot at 10:30 AM.

–Picked up the Rolex 5513 from Ivanov’s. They JUST managed to get it open, and (miracle of miracles) the case is minimally corroded. Gasket is still pliable, and movement is pristine. Further, it appears to adjust with a lever, not a micro-stella. Keeper!

–Saw American Dad “Lost In Space (Majestic)” episode. Didn’t really remember plot specifics, and thought the song was different. Former = failing memory, latter = failing ears. Crap.

–Fixed sliding screen door. Maybe.

–New hearing aid batteries around 9 AM.

–Took a little bike ride around the neighborhood. Noticed a couple of villages (Gold Spike, Eureka) where parking is allowed in driveways, houses are not identical, and yards are a little scruffy looking.

–Added water to pool. Took a swim. Mastered the kickboard.

–Took a ride west on JSMBT. Windy.

–Left hearing aid went out around 8 PM.

–Took the Rolex 5513 to Ivanov’s so they could open it. She couldn’t, said husband Paul would when he came in. No word since. Worrisome.

–Barbecued.

–Rolex 5513 came in, dates to 1984 (bracelet too). Case is unpolished, but scratched. Crystal is bad, but new one included. No name on warranty! Running really strong: 280+, 0.2 ms, +15 s/d. Bracelet fell apart in 3 places after ultrasound. Fixed 2, but 3rd is beyond my ability. Can’t get case open, even with “big” tool.

–Took the Sirrus to Discovery Park; rode the Two Rivers Trail. It’s turned into a homeless encampment and garbage dump.

–Went to Roseville Cyclery to pick up Kuat rack. Installed it. Turns out the locking arm touches the fork. Crap. Looking into 1Up rack–which won’t be available until late June. Crap.

–Lots of algae in pool. Scraped, and added pool shock. Also put a chlorine tab (just discovered I still have a bucket of those) in the floater.

–Mowed the lawn. Need to do it more often, so I don’t have to stop and empty the bag in the middle.

–Got trailer hitch installed at Sundowner in Auburn. Took a couple of hours.

–Took a bike ride, crossing the river at Hazel. Got lost, got exhausted. Improvement coming soon, right?

–Pool Time came, 3 hours late, and denied responsibility for anything. Pool decided to work fine just before they got here, of course. I finally convinced them to replace the pressure gauge, whereupon the pressure shot up from 2 PSI to 16. Jerks.

–Had Creamy Bacon Mac and Cheese from the Pasta Queen. Yucko.

–Rain…

–Took a brief ride.

–Specialized Sirrus came in. Sweet bike. Had a scare when acetone made a mess while trying to remove sticker adhesive. Mother’s mag saved the day. Bike isn’t as light as I thought it would be, and has a significantly higher high gear compared to the InnerLight. Hydraulic brakes don’t have much “pedal,” but they don’t act like they’re going to hit the handlebars and they don’t rub. Haven’t tried a real hard stop yet.

–Went for a brief swim. Pool a little cool at 81, new swim fins too small and stiff. New Speedo goggles okay after an initial leak.

–Returned the old iPhone at the UPS store; took a little ride around the neighborhood.

–Algae in pool again. Kind of annoying.

–New iPhone came in. Seems fine.

–Sanded a ding out of a western Shigefusa gyuto, refinished it, ready for sale.

–Hung a shower curtain liner in Grace’s bathroom.

–Put gas in the Civic, first time since March 20th.

–Douglas Electric came out and (properly) fixed the outside photocell and the inside porch light timer.

–Hung the burro tail succulent (which, like the other cacti, is thriving) from a tree, as it was hitting the ground.

–Tried to seal up watering hole in pool rocks. We’ll see.

–Added (new, deluxe) bird seed to garden feeder. Added a plain (or oak) titmouse to sightings of goldfinch, house finch and mourning dove.

–Baked a loaf of one-hour bread.

–Went to Target to pick up an order: Shark vacuum, shower caddy, printer paper, digital thermometer.

–Took a swim; took a shower.

–Filled out 110 Playa disclosures and sent to Michael.

–Took a swim. Air 91, water 88.

–Hung blinds in Grace’s bedroom.

–Talked to David Chapman. All good with him and his family.

–Pool still bubbling, very low pressure. Called Pool Time. $125 service charge, waived if it’s a warranty issue. Coming May 18.

–Tried hard to hook up Honeywell timer for front porch light. No dice. I hate electricity.

–Mowed the lawn. Added Monday to Thursday for watering.

–Docu-signed documents for accepted offer at 110 Playa.

–Rode with Tom Elken to see eagle’s nest on the bike trail near Folsom. Cool, though kind of a disaster logistically.

–Michael Casserd called with an offer on LSB: $1,150,000. We’ll counter at $1,220,000.

–Dropped Rolex 1680 off at Ivanov’s Watch Repair.

–Left hearing aid went out around 6 PM.

–Figured out how to remove sliding glass windows: open all the way first, then tilt out. Turns out lower floor windows have hidden magnetic sensors for alarm system. Upper floor windows have visible sensors attached to frame. Discovered what might be usable replacement latches, but will probably try to replace internal springs first.

–Drove to Roseville Cyclery in…Roseville. Waited in line for a bit (four at a time allowed in), listened to a Sirrus hub (not loud at all), ordered a Specialized Sirrus X 5.0. Coming in 10 days or so.

–Worked on the back screen door; got it to open and close a little easier.

–Took a long drive to Ken’s Bike & Ski in Davis to look at Specialized Sirrus bikes. Turns out they just went appointment-only. Screw ’em.

–Made some yummy brownies.

–Pool still low on chlorine, high on alkalinity. Added stuff.

–Got part 2 of a haircut from Grace.

–Paid another Fastrak “toll violation” of $6.00.

–Went to Heritage to deposit Great Infusions check. The Heritage checks arrived today, two days early. Turns out I already had Heritage checks, hiding in my drawer (in plain sight). We won’t mention that to anyone.

–Bought some pasta, sauce and meatballs from The Pasta Queen.