–Went to Target for HDMI cables for TV wireless extender, Bel Air for apples and oranges.
–Christmas tree from Target was delivered, also the squirrel photo ornament from Walmart.
Month: November 2020
–Rolex 5513 dial and hands came back (untouched, as requested) from James Hyman. Got them back on the watch and ready to send off to Rolex for service. Maybe.
–Went to Barnes and Noble on Sunrise in Citrus Heights for Best American Mysteries 2020; got some other stuff for Christmas.
–Replaced hearing aid batteries at 8:30 AM.
–Did a load of laundry; changed sheets on the bed (bottom sheet was ripped, presumably by a sharp toenail).
–Made pizza for dinner.
–Stopped Livietta knocking sound with a piece of rubber between (age-warped) water tank and cover. Steaming still not great (N of 2). May upgrade with 54mm group head/portafilter/funnel/tamper, teflon gasket, steam wand with replaceable tip.
–Left hearing aid battery quit around 8 PM.
–Yet another Super-Speed (listed at Etsy as an Aristocrat Junior) came in. Came apart easily, but a small ding on the handle and plating loss on the doors and tray make it an unlikely candidate for mix-and-match.
–Marie for dinner.
–Roasted caf beans. Set up Pasquini Livietta at the coffee bar. Made a pretty good latte.
–Took a shower. Tried a Dorco blade in the red dot. Dull, and got a nick.
–Went to Smart & Final for water, Coke, apples, oranges.
–Another Gillette Super-Speed came in, post-1947 (ordered before I knew what was what). Had nice silo doors, so I tried to mix and match with my (presumptive) 1947. Destroyed both razors. Ordered another (theoretical) 1947. Will not try to remove handle from head on this one, as it’s almost guaranteed to break the solder (?) joint between stem and blade tray. One can imagine rubber-jawed pliers that might work on these–will look ’em up.
–Not much happening today.
–Mowed the lawn; fixed the grabber that was all bent out of shape.
–Made egg salad sandwiches on Acme bread for dinner. Forgot the mustard in the egg salad. Crap.
–1947 Gillette Super-Speed came in. A little rough but serviceable. I did manage to take it apart. Just bought another one (looks identical, though it’s called an Aristocrat Junior), and may mix/match parts to put together something nice. [edit] Turns out that IDing a 1947 correctly could be more complicated than notch/no notch. Crap.
–Made pizza for dinner.
–Went to Taylor’s Market for bone-in turkey breast; got Acme bread, jam, cookies, pizza dough/crusts, etc.
–Took a shower.
–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 9 AM.
–Asked James Hyman in UK to return Rolex 5513 dial/hands he was going to relume so I can send the watch off to Rolex. It will be interesting to see what they do with it.
–Got bagels at Noah’s; did big shopping at the nearby Raley’s.
–Watched a couple of Bruce Willis “paycheck” movies. Bad bad bad…
–Went to Devon’s (original location; papered-up one on previous trip is what they’ll be moving to) and dropped off the Rolex Day-Date for service. Was assured that my name would still be on the list for an OP 36 turquoise.
–Took a 12-mile bike to Hagan Park. Nice, but too many squirrels crossing the trail.
–Replaced the springs on the oven door. Works better.
–Walked to Bel Air for dessert. Marie for dinner.
–Went to Roseville Galleria to drop off Rolex 1803 for service at Devon’s. Devon’s was boarded up. Turns out they were temporarily in another location at the mall, but I didn’t find this out until I called from home. They could have put a sign on the window. Got a pizza stone and paddle at Williams Sonoma.
–Used the new Kitchenaid stand mixer to start some bagel dough. Misread the directions and used tablespoons of yeast instead of teaspoons. We’ll see.
–Squale Onda Azzurro came in. Tossed it. Gotta stop lusting after Squale (too big, among other things) and Steinhart (bad lume color).
–1803 hands came in. Tried to swap dials back to diamond dial, couldn’t get the stem back in after mounting (original) hands and putting watch back in case. Stems are going to be the death of me. Will send the watch to Rolex; it could use an overhaul anyway.
–Manchester Watch Works watch came. Nice, but super-big-appearing black dial (perhaps because of minimal text and hour markers that are right at the edge) is not hugely appealing.
–Took a shower. Used the Simpson Centenary Chubby II. Put a large dab of Bigelow shave cream on it, only got one pass. That’s okay, it’s really a collector’s item.
–Spent a fair while updating logins that I missed a week ago. Also added Firefox to my phone, and apparently as it synced up it resurrected dozens of old logins. The internet never forgets.
–Made pizza for dinner.
–Went shopping at Safeway Citrus Heights.
–Made some cream cheese with chives. Good but not amazing.
–Simpson Centenary brush came in. Nice. Also Lillicrap’s hone. Nice.
–Sold Shig 135 kitaeji petty. Went to Bel Air to mail it, turns out they’ve closed ALL Raley’s/Bel Air Guest Services desks. Crap. Went to the PO to mail the knife.
–Roasted some caf beans.
–Figured out how to adjust timing on Rolex 1570 movement (in the rhodium Datejust). Unfortunately, that watch runs slow and low amplitude at best, and the 5513 with the 1570 movement doesn’t run at all now, possibly because I unscrewed the lever set (stem lock) screw by mistake. Crap.
–Right hearing aid battery (replaced yesterday) failed. Replaced both again around 6 PM. It’s conceivable I put the old (right) battery back in yesterday when I replaced them.
–Biden is resident-elect!!
–(What turned out to be my second) Gillette rhodium razor came in. Really tight and squeaky at first, but okay after a Dawn soak/ultrasonic. Red paint on the spring “window” makes it clear that seller didn’t disassemble razor before cleaning and plating. Not sure what I’ll do with it (them).
–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 5 PM. Seems soon.
–Got a scuba tank filled at Dolphin.
–Was playing with the 5513 movement, thinking it was the 1803. Was surprised to see the stem-locking screw work okay. Then noticed the watch wouldn’t run. Possible I messed up by loosening the stem-locking screw (Ivanov called it the set lever screw) too much. But winding seems to work, and turning the stem seems like it would move the hands. Crap.
–Returned the ill-fitting Rolex 1803 link. New link came in, fits perfectly.
–Yet another Rubberset brush came in. Like the last two, it was speckled with corrosion. It also had a major chip (break? fracture?) in the knot half, and lots of pitting in the lower half. Tossed it. Lesson: No matter how good it looks in eBay photos, it’s crap. That aluminum, probably not flawless when new, just doesn’t age well.
–Made pizza with dough from yesterday. Pretty darn good, but that was mostly because of cheese and tomatoes. Dough was weirdly non-elastic. Practice makes perfect.
–Biden appears to be winning, but it’s close. All the pollsters were wrong–except maybe the Mulcahy guy, with his “deep” methods for getting at true intentions of people who don’t want to admit being Trump voters.
–Marie for dinner.
–Changed the clock on the pool controller. Tried to adjust the pool sweeper to speed it up, but after looking at a manual, turns out out what I did was kind of irrelevant. Much to learn.
–Took a ride to Karen’s Bakery in Folsom and got some cookies. Surprisingly tiring.
–Cleaned window at coffee bar overlooking garden. Will likely have to clean it again tomorrow. Looks good, though.
–Misdirected Gillette Fat Boy came in. Turns out it lacks the notches for easy disassembly, so I tore it apart. Not a great razor. Later shaved with my Fat Boy (also lacks notches), and noticed it appears to have been polished and re-plated. Beautiful razor.
–Made cinnamon rolls for dessert.
–Pruned stuff in the garden and planted the milkweeds.
–Emptied the bag on the pool sweeper. Tried turning the adjustment screw by hand but couldn’t. Later.