Month: June 2021

–Black iPhone SE came in. All set up.

–Donned scuba tank and weight belt, tried to check the main drain. Had trouble staying under; a brief inspection said (1) it isn’t pulling in water, (2) I can’t see how the screen comes off. Will inspect further, perhaps without fins, so I can stay down easier.

–$30k Daytona came in. Really nice, plus the “purchaser’s name” on the warranty card is blank!!

–Went to Bel Air for pork chops, potato salad, corn ($.65/ear). Barbecued for dinner. Pretty good.

–18k link for Day-Date bracelet came in–hidden in the works of an old alarm clock. Wise-guy seller.

–Rode the ARP to Hagan Park. Way too many cyclists on the trail for a Monday. Back to the canal.

–Took a swim.

–Bought a Rolex Daytona 116520 “NOS” with black dial from Lunar Oyster for $30k. Yikes…

–Took a swim.

–Power outage and (separate) Comcast outage this morning. I wish there were a reasonable alternative to Comcast–that didn’t require a dish on the roof.

–The $30k NOS Daytona at Capetown Diamond was (as predicted) already sold. Looking at a $26k NOS black dial on Amazon, via a SRI Lanka dealer. Unlikely at best.

–Took a swim, took a shower. The shave with the 1969 Gillette “black beauty” was perfect. Looking at the blade angle/exposure, compared to some of my other razors, I would have predicted it wouldn’t cut anything off. The shaving forumites (I guess like forumites everywhere) waste reams of text trying to quantify everything. Whereas (a) the blade matters as much as the razor, and (b) it takes 2-3 strokes to know if a given razor is mild or aggressive.

–Another slow day. Back is a little better. Went for a swim.

–Inquired after a $30,000 “NOS” Daytona at Capetown Diamond in Georgia. Heard nothing. Looking these up on the web, I see them at mid-$30k to $40k–so I imagine that price at CD is just to start a conversation, and that they don’t actually have the watch (it says “special order”).

–Mowed the law; re-fixed a couple of sprinklers.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 3 PM.

–Back is still not good.

–Took a swim. Nice water, but the crawl still hurts my back.

–Rode in Folsom with Tom Elken. Started feeling bad (woozy). Drank water. Got home, felt bad. Went to McDonald’s for lunch. Drank lots of water all day. Felt worse. Took a quick “nap.” Drank more, still felt bad. Took some Pepto-Bismol, starting to feel a little bit better. Still not pissing much. I must be hugely dehydrated.

–Chinese copy of Rolex Daytona came in unexpectedly. Piece of crap. Winding is seriously ratchety, Timegrapher performance is haphazard. Tossed.

–Went to Noah’s for bagels and Raley’s for (squirrel) peanuts.

–Made pizza for dinner. Best ever: thick crust (maybe this was the heavier of the split dough pieces), cheese melted into dough (put it on first, then sauce), ultra-crispy (baked at 450 for 23 minutes, then turned on the high broiler for a few (untimed) minutes to crisp the top. A little over-broiled, but that’s easily fixed with a timer.

–Watched Rick and Morty, season 5 episode 1, that I downloaded, as Comcast pulled Cartoon Network from our lineup a while back.

–Went to Bel Air for some fairly big shopping with Grace.

–Barbecued turkey burgers, corn, squash, tomato. Gio’s Going Ghost rub, mixed 1:3 with Gio’s Sweet Heat, was not hot at all. I guess we try 1:1 next time.

–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for cherries, tomatoes, onions, strawberries, jam, Gio’s Ghost rub (limited edition), radishes, squash.

–Ultimate iPod came in–the last hard drive model. Incredible ergonomics, it just reeks of quality. Fortunately, the battery took a full charge and it synced up almost automatically in iTunes.

–Back is much better, perhaps due to hydro-therapy.

–Took a swim; very nice.

–My back is really bad. Sciatica I believe, though knowing that does nothing.

–Took a swim with air temp ~100. Very nice, and even seemed to help my back for a bit.

–Back is killing me; woke up 6 times last night.

–Took a brief swim; mostly kicked on my back as doing the crawl hurt too much.

–Re-wrecked my back while bending over. At least it’s not liver cancer.

–Rolex gold rivet bracelet for the 1803 came in. Seller (and my own research) said it should fit an 8″ wrist. Nope. At max length it’s snug on my 7.25″ wrist. Thought about selling the watch, but (a) the bracelet is hyper-tight (seller claims Rolex rebuilt it; someone certainly did) and should loosen a little over time; and (b) I’ll ask LAWW if they might be able to source and install a link.

–Sharpening stone came in. It’s nice, but not as colorful as presented, and too fine for knives.

–Caseback for 30gb iPod came in. Very nice. Hope the new higher-capacity battery will (a) fit and (b) hold a good charge.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 1 PM.

–Another slow day.

–Took a swim. Perfect at 88 degrees.

–Slow day. Warming up, but not painfully. Took a swim–a little cool, but okay.

–Too cool again to swim.

–Rode the canal. Discovered (as I should have known) that the other side is a maintenance road, all fenced and locked up tight. Except at Sunrise, where there’s a low gate that almost invites walkers. So I went in 50 yards and took a picture. Yow!

–Bought a 1978ish Rolex 18k gold rivet bracelet for the Day-Date. 12 links (plenty), refinished by Rolex, just stunning AND I’ve never seen another AND, since the watch is 1977, we can call it original. An expensive watch in total, but it doesn’t get any better.

–iPhone SE v1 came in. Took forever to get the Resound app working. It does have wi-fi calling, but I never get 3 bars, only 2 or 1. Crap. Will test some more, but I don’t know. [edit] Played around a little, set it up like the SE v2, and got 3 bars!

–No swim today, pool 82. Took a shower. Tried the Blackland titanium razor for the eighth time–with a super iridium blade. No go. Put the blade in the 1947 Aristocrat Junior to finish the shave: night and day; could barely feel the blade in the AJ.

–Pool filter was leaking at the seam. Tightened it. Leak stopped–for now.

–Squale Blancpain homage came in. Not enthralled. Came with 22mm blah blue strap, so I can’t (immediately) put a metal bracelet on it. Gotta stop falling for cool pics.

–Rode the Sunrise Corridor Bikeway and ARP with Tom Elken. New Specialized saddle was okay, but I’ll likely go back to the Regal.

–Super windy and I neglected to turn the temp up, so pool was 85 (as set) and no swim.

–Rolex 1803 (head only) came in. Fattest case ever, runs well. Now for a $6,000 bracelet.

–Made orange rolls for dessert.

–Went to Noah’s for breakfast and bagels.

–Snap-On screwdriver (to replace currently lost one, which will show up soon) came in, at about two feet long. Will get a shorter one.

–Skimmer weir came in. Grace installed. Works perfectly. Took a short swim, but it was too windy. I was cold, and with the pump off, leaf debris was accumulating in the pool.

–Mowed the lawn; fixed a sprinkler where the grass was brown.

–Had Corralitos Smoked Cheesy Bavarian sausage for dinner. Yum!

–Went to the Sunrise farmer market for cherries, broccoli, squash and such. Went to Bel Air for pork chops, cream, corn, deodorant, etc. Lit up the barbecue for dinner. Good stuff.

–Turns out my iPhone SE (if that’s what it is) is the SECOND version of that model. The first version is identical on the outside to the 5/5S. It has an upgraded processor, camera, etc., but most importantly will accept the latest OS and will allow wi-fi calling. I ordered one. Unbelievable how long it takes me sometimes to find the latest/best of certain electronics.

–Replaced the bad receptacle next to my chair. Took some doing, as (a) 12 gauge wire is really stiff, and (b) I’m not as strong as I once was. Potential arcing disaster averted, though.

–Specialized saddle came in. I installed it with some difficulty (see (b) above). Seemed fine on a quick ride around the block. It’s much softer than the Selle Regal, so I’m hoping it doesn’t sink down quickly to a rigid shell.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 9 PM.

–Pool sweep bags came in. Turns out that when installed, the tail whip works just like it should. I cannot explain. Skimmer basket also came in; fits fine.

–Paid $160 estimated state taxes.

–Got my second shingles shot. The pricing structure changed. Instead of two for $225, it’s now $173 each. Unbelievable.

–Played with phones. Seems I have an SE, not an 8 like I thought. Turns out with “wi-fi calling” enabled, I now get 3-4 bars in the house. Also turns out that the wi-fi is not available on the 5S, so there ends that romance. (I called GRCA to ask about the CC&R violation on the 5S, and their voices were breaking up.)

–Took a swim. Nice.

–Satisfactorily polished the Datejust case. Clean and spiffy now.

–Took a swim. Okay, but a tiny bit too warm to be refreshing. Got a solid data point on the solar: turning down the target temp 1 degree lower than the current temp causes the solar valve to close immediately. Also, bubbles cease and (some) pump speed goes down, as shown by the lower pressure on the gauge. Lots more tuning to do.

–Learned that Willie the LSB mail carrier is retiring. We’ll be going to his party on August 1.

–Played with the razor database a bit.

–Grilled some hamburgers, corn and squash. Good stuff.