Month: July 2020

–Travis from Aztec Solar came out for air bubbles and leak. They’ll have to schedule two guys to come back and fix leak. Air bubble problem seemed to be a consequence of too-low pump speed. He mentioned something about (1) wrong pump model number entered into the solar controller, and (2) some confusion over RPM and GPM (gallons per minute). Key to diagnosis was him demonstrating that vacuum relief valve wasn’t the issue, by uncapping it to show water spurting out–except water didn’t spurt out, showing that pressure was too low. After applying (an unclear) fix, water spurted out.

–Took a swim. Pleasant.

–Shopped at Bel Air for corn, ice cream, apples, oranges, etc.

–Rope-tailed squirrel came by again for peanuts, as did (what looks like) someone’s pet rat at the bird feeder (now empty).

–Went on a 10-mile bike ride with Tom Elken to Hovnanian-land.  Former empty lots are now all built out.

–Took a swim; took a shower.

–Played with regulators. A little surprised at how weak the Scubapro first stages were. Also disappointed with Conshelf second stage. Will rebuild Conshelf first and hope that incoming NOS Scubapro second is as good as the current one. Oh, brass-bodied Tekna is also awesome.

–Noticed algae in pool. Crap. Shocked it.

–Roasted caf and decaf beans.

–Shopped with Grace. Got a couple bagels at Panera, some stuff at Sprouts, and much great produce at the Sunrise Mall farmers market. Will return.

–Saw a really nice-looking rat on the poolside bird feeder. Looked more like a pet than a wild rat.

–Went to Callen Pool Supply to take back cyanuric acid I didn’t need and to pick up another strainer basket and a replacement catch bag for the robo-sweeper.

–Marie for dinner.

–Added chlorine to pool

–Got the Cremina working. Leaked at over-pressure safety valve (as always), so I went back to the old valve/washer with new poppet and tightened the crap out of it. Another leak at the steam wand fitting (big issue on the older machines where steam comes directly out of the frame). O-rings to the rescue. First espresso was tepid, perhaps due to “false pressure.” Ordered a boiler cap with vacuum release valve from Cerini. Even with all the issues, it steams better than the Rocket.

–Shopped with Grace at Bel Air. Got some steak, corn (best ever), heirloom tomato, potato and antipasto salads and barbecued. Yum!

–Conshelf reg came in. Nice. Tried it in pool, seems good.

–Played with Sirrus in attempt to stop creaks. No dice. Returned it to dead stock, called Roseville Cyclery to schedule 90-day tuneup.

–Left hearing aid went out at around 8 PM.

–Rode the last of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail with Tom Elken. Nice project!

–Made pizza with fresh basil and cherry tomatoes.

–Fixed Xeoleo grinder after stupidly breaking it.

–Took a shower. Shaved with vintage Gillette adjustable + Derby blade. Surprisingly close and comfortable.

–Took Grace on scouting run to Beals Point and parking lot near the trail around mile 22. Put gas in the Honda. Been getting a “service needed” alert, and today it added a “tire pressure” warning. I made both warnings go away.

–Took Cremina apart. Discovered a blob of silicone under the over-pressure relief valve, and (mind-boggling) what appeared to be a purpose-built, right-angle, blue silicone plug in the bottom of the sight glass. That explains why the sight glass didn’t work, but why did they plug it?

–Took a swim. Grace used the pool today for the first time, for exercises.

–Got some strawberries from Vai and corn/squash/peaches/tomatoes from Perry’s.

–Barbecued.

–Took a ride. Mostly quiet, but a little clicking when ascending, as is often the case. Need to remember to get off the seat to try and pinpoint the source.

–Took a shower.

–Played with noisy bike. After several hours, found the Park Tool video on rear derailleurs and adjusted mine. No change in noise. Finally re-re-re-lubed the seatpost (inside the split as well as outside), and all seems quiet now.

–Surprised to see that plants, which haven’t been hand-watered in two days, look fine.

–Went to Green Acres Nursery in Folsom for bird seed, barrel cactus, and 4 gph emitters.

–Walked to Bel Air for dessert and comet Neowise. Got dessert, not Neowise.

–Rode miles 9-15 of the JSMBT with Tom Elken. After all my efforts to quiet the bike, it made all sorts of noises.

–Roasted (charred) some caf beans.

–Took a swim.

–Replaced crystal on Rolex 5513. Not trivial, but worked out well.

–Discovered that the solar down-pipe trickle originates on roof fitting, not on the elbow that I so beautifully sealed. Crap.

–Spent a while trying to fix the tiny leak in the solar return pipe. No luck until (a) it stopped leaking with the pump off (and thus got dry), (b) I used some moldable epoxy. We’ll see tomorrow.

–Cleaned up fountain, which had started looking a little green. Doves and squirrels been at it all day (it’s hot).

–Took a bike ride. Easy out, less easy back (13.8 miles). It’s hot.

–Lubed the bike seatpost again (it was clicking again). Stuck some rubber pieces in cable housings to stop their noise. Bike seems quiet now, except for a muted whir while pedaling. Could be the derailleur is a little off; could be nothing.

–Got a free Red Vine pizza at Blaze (with coupon). Good, not mind-boggling.

–Picked up Sirrus at Roseville Cyclery. They Loctited some bolts.

–Took a swim. Mighty nice.

–Took Specialized Sirrus to Roseville Cyclery for recall service.

–Added water to pool, and chlorine.

–Played with Exilims a lot. Discovered I’m an idiot: the 1100 allows adjustment of focus and metering areas, while the 260 allows adjustment of focus area only. Similarity of terminology (spot, multi) led me to think that I was changing metering with no effect on the 260. Wrong. I was changing focus area only. The 260 shoots all photos in multi-segment metering. Oh well…

–Rode miles 0 to 8 of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bike Trail with Tom Elken. Kind of a comedy of errors getting there because of construction, and the 1 and 4 mile markers were invisible.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Took Grace shopping to The Farmer’s Wife and Safeway.

–Took a swim. Tried the kick board without fins. Went backward…….

–Roasted caf beans.

–Counted teeth on Specialized and InnerLight cogs. Looks like 4th (from high) on Specialized is closest to single-speed InnerLight.

–Cleaned up garage: brought bins of books and boxes inside, hung up the InnerLight, etc.

–Hand-watered plants (hot!) and put bird of paradise in the ground.

–Put some scuba gear together to try it out. Big tank was too heavy for me; used little one by carrying it (too small for tank pack strap). Things work okay, except Dolphin Scuba lost both tank valve o-rings. I have some spares, but they’re not great. Tested Oceanic, Tekna and Scubapro regulators. Scubapro blew the others out of the water–inhalation requires zero effort, the air is just there.

–Barbecued burgers and (for the first time from Bel Air, crappy) corn. Good stuff.

–Found some pitting on the Loveless knife. Sanded and polished a bit, to no great effect. Kind of amazing to me how that just knocks the wind out of my enthusiasm for the knife.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 8 AM.

–Loveless “double nude” hunting knife came in. What a beauty!

–Went to Green Acres Nursery in Folsom. Great place. Got gloves, bamboo supports, green tape, a “fogger” emitter, and a bird of paradise plant. Tomato now looks happy, supported rather than tied.

–Finally learned how to get the Exilim going: take it out of “silent” mode, which disables flash and timer. Since the various sounds can all be turned off anyway, that mode isn’t really needed unless you were at a funeral or something.

–Put tomato plant in the ground. Discovered more hidden emitters. This will never end.

–Still feeling a little peaked.

–Rode miles 16-22 of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bike Trail with Tom Elken and took pictures of each mile marker.

–Took the Beemer to FedEx to drop off a mis-delivered box; get gas; look for plant tape again at Home Depot (website said they have it; they don’t); look for birthday dessert at Mirabelle Cafe and Bakery (slim pickin’s; got a couple little things).

–Noticed algae in the pool; added chlorine. Must do that EVERY DAY!!