–Slow day. Diddled in the den for a bit, looked at gold watches on eBay, made an offer for an 1803 without bracelet.
–Took a swim. Pool was allegedly 88. Used EMF baseball cap to shade eyes while on my back; much better.
Month: May 2021
–Tidied up the watch bracelet database. Still can’t believe I tossed a 630 end link for the 1035 bracelet, but it didn’t show up today.
–Probably due for a second shingles shot, but there’s nothing on google calendar OR this journal about either one. Very strange.
–Selle San Marco Regal came in. Wrong (fabric) cover. My fault, as usual.
–Found the iPod I thought I might have tossed. So now I have two identical 30gb black ones, and tossed the 256gb silver one (case showed evidence of being pried open, and after opening it myself I couldn’t get it to close properly). None of these (I believe) are 5.5 models, as they lack the “Search” function. Hoping the “new” 80gb I ordered from China (a) is actually new, and (b) is the enhanced version.
–Got the Gillette 1947 Aristocrat in. Cleaned up great with Easy-Off, but was missing an end cap and had some alignment issues. I had thought it was uber-rare, but went to eBay and found 3-4 others with the white fabric inside the case. Oh well…
–Went to the Orangevale farmers market for salsa, radishes, cherries, squash, coffee beans (new vendor, to me anyway).
–Made pizza for dinner, also nice.
–Played with watches for a bit. Put together an Eterna Kon-Tiki with a nice Gay Freres bracelet and mint medallion on the caseback. Tossed a Kon-Tiki that should have been identical, but was actually a mm or two smaller, so nothing was interchangeable. Plus, when the case clamps were tightened, the date wheel would hang up and not to the next number. Very weird.
–Grilled up some Corralitos hot smoked sausages to go with leftover potato salad and over-ripe peaches. Good stuff.
–Went biking with Tom Elken in El Dorado Hills. Good ride.
–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 4 PM.
–Had breakfast/got bagels at Noah’s. Shopped for stuff at Raley’s.
–Comcast went out completely around 3 PM. Didn’t come back until 2:30 AM (they said). Wish there was a viable lternative.
–Had turkey burgers, corn, potato salad for dinner. Yum!
–Shortened the brake cables on the InnerLight. Don’t know what possessed me to have them that long.
–Took a ride on the canal. Speedometer went wacko–the sensor is about a millimeter from the magnet, so I don’t know what’s up. Asshole racer boy passed me on the right in the tunnel. So: (1) Don’t ride on weekends; (2) Find a way to avoid the tunnel.
–Mom bird has been bringing baby birds to feed them peanuts.
–Cleaned the pool filter for the third time in a month, because Grace “hears things.”
–Back is bad.
–Another cool no-swim day.
–Gay Freres Kon Tiki bracelet came in. Full size, bright but (on close inspection) over-polished. Now I have two: 1971 and 1968.
–iPhone 5S came in. I thought it would be exactly the same size as Grace’s (and my former) 5, but it appears to be a little longer. Hard to get specs on these; all they mention is screen size. Battery is amazingly good for 7-8 years old: Coconut says around 95% of capacity. Took a fair amount of finagling to get it to run Resound Smart 3D, but it did eventually. Don’t know if it will find the hearing aids tomorrow morning. [edit] 5 and 5S are identical in size.
–Went to the Orangevale farmers market (3 PM–8 PM Thursdays). Found some good stuff: radishes, salsa, Rainier cherries.
–Found algae on the pool walls yesterday; added more chlorine today. Still too cool for swimming.
–Battery died on the Honda after I left the trunk open all night. I put the battery tender on it and it charged back up.
–Got a buzz cut at Great Clips (waited a while), then walked over to Five Guys for lunch. Good as usual.
–Put chlorine in the pool. Likely too chilly today to get it up to 84-85. Still blowing occasional bubbles with both pumps at 3000 RPM.
–Rolex 5512 caseback came in. Expensive, but necessary.
–Took a shower.
–Played around some with the pool. Seems fairly certain that at least the main pump (probably both) has to be at 3000 RPM to prevent air bubbles. I finally got a good idea of what the solar porthole should look like when all is good: it should look like there’s nothing in it.
–Roasted some caf beans. Had too many in the second batch; the chaff actually caught fire (inside the collector) and turned to ash. Oops…
–Took Grace to the Carmichael Park farmers market. Market was nice, though I should have recalled that it’s a mistake to make Grace do anything.
–Internet went down again. I finally went to Best Buy and got the latest Motorola cable modem/router. After a long activation session on the phone with Comcast, all is good again.
–Went to Nai’s Berry Farm for strawberries, tomatoes, something.
–Took a swim. Nippy (pool 84, air 70).
–Took Grace to Green Acres in Citrus Heights, where she didn’t find a planter box. Then to Safeway, where she foundmany of her desired drinks.
–Bought a 5512 caseback with same date (IV.67) as the one Rolex will confiscate. eBay told seller to send it to Ohio (for authentication, which he didn’t know about) which led to a whole fiasco. Finally bought it direct, saving a few dollars.
–Switched back to the small group on the Livietta, since that portafilter allows 15g shots, as opposed to 13g shots with the large group (the larger portafilter won’t accept deep baskets). Doesn’t seem practical to grind out the large bottomless portafilter, and it seems almost impossible to find an original 54mm portafilter. Crap.
–Ruined yet another pair of goggles trying to clean them, then trying to polish out the (sticky) anti-fog film. That stuff is terrible. Took a quick swim anyway.
–Made pizza for dinner. #0 minutes at 450 (as the recipe called for) resulted in a charred hockey puck. Maybe I set the oven for 550?
–Went to Leslie Pool Supply for basket and inlet nozzle. Got nothing. Used some wire to make our “second” basket more round, so it fits better. Added chlorine to a cloudy pool. Adjusted pool temp to 87 and set pool and aux pumps to turn off at 4 PM.
–Took a swim; took a shower.
–Rode 11 miles with Tom Elken on the Humbug/Willow Creek trails in Folsom.
–Took a swim. Pool was 88, a bit too warm at the shallow end.
–Back is still killing me.
–Took a swim. Pool was 87, which might have felt warm last season, but just felt pleasant today. I’m getting wimpier…
–Mowed the lawn, did a little pruning.
–Took a swim.
–Went to Sunrise farmers market for cherries, strawberries, radishes, squash.
–Went to Best Buy for a headphone adapter for the Android. It appears that there are zero apps that affect earpiece (or headphone) volume. I did find one though that acts like it would blow the speaker out the window. Also discovered “assistive touch” on the iPhone, which SEEMS to allow volume control beyond the buttons. Much playing around to do.
–Made breakfast for dinner: Corralitos bacon, scrambled eggs, grits. Yum!
–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 9 AM.
–Installed large grouphead and new solenoid on Livietta. Solenoid made no difference whatsoever. Tried 18 grams of coffee in larger portafilter: no go. Had to remove some to get the portafilter in. The pull was kind of messy. Hard to imagine I can only add (about) 2 grams when going from a 49mm to a 54mm portafilter. [edit] Turns out I likely have a single or double basket, which might only be good for 14 grams. Just ordered a La San Marco triple basket, allegedly good for 21 grams (though probably not on this machine). Should be better, anyway.
–Samsung Galaxy Z Flip came in. Great ergonomics. Sound on a call with Grace was no better than iPhone. Trying to eliminate all unwanted apps and such, then add the GOODEV volume increaser. It currently seems to be stuck in an infinite loop of Android system updates. [edit] Finally stopped updating. Got the GOODEV app and tried it out. Not too impressive.
–Had breakfast of a sort at the Holiday Inn Express: I put in an order, they bring out a plate. Good coffee.
–iPod with solid-state memory came. It’s thick, has U2 autographs on the back, and the touch ring sits way proud of the center button (and top of case). Could be intentional, but I have my doubts. When I plugged it into the laptop, iTunes came on and took over, repeatedly. Further, my playlist seems only to exist on iTunes; I can’t find it on the laptop. Crap.
–Had leftover potato and crunchy vegetable salads plus Corralitos cheesy Bavarian and jalapeno sausage. Good stuff.
–Took the Beemer to the beach. Big slowdown because the 1 south exit off 17 was blocked. Eventually dropped off the espresso machines at Great Infusions. Went to Watsonville, had lunch at McDonald’s, closed the account at Bay Federal (got two checks). Went to La Selva Beach and took some pics: 110 Playa is being totally redone. Went to Marina Holiday Inn Express, checked in. Got a room on the top floor–for more money. Drove into Pacific Grove: cold and foggy (sunny in Seaside). Went to REI and got three nice long-sleeve shirts–for $185. Had dinner at Smash Burger; not so great. Got expensive gas in Marina.
–Rode the canal 12.5 miles with Tom Elken–I on the InnerLight, he on my Turbo Vado. Warm, but a good ride.
–Went to Bel Air for prepared salads, oranges, apples. Made turkey burgers for dinner.
–Pool is still cloudy. Added another envelope of shocker. Also upped the RPMs on main and booster pumps. Crap.
–Added more chlorine to the pool. Still cloudy. Went to Home Depot and got some pool shock and a pegboard. Used the pool shock. Pool is improving but still cloudy. Also, big, constant air bubbles this afternoon. I’m about to give up. Stopped and started the pumps, air bubbles may have gone away, but at these pump speeds they should never appear. Hung the pegboard in the garage.
–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for tomatoes, broccoli, oranges, tamales, salsa, etc.
–TOOK A SWIM!!. Pool was 82 and I dove in (poorly). In hindsight, I probably would have been okay at 80. Pool needs chlorine, but seems okay beyond that.