–Shirogorov/Sinkevich Touch came in. Nice, not astounding.
–Separated LPs into keep and toss piles.
Month: September 2022
–Got a haircut at Great Clips.
–Made a latte with the Cremina. Tasty, but the espresso was not hot. Might need to increase the temp to compensate for the teflon heat break. Was going to take it to Great Infusions for consignment in conjunction with Grace’s trip to PAMF. Grace says she cancelled that appointment–and told me. She didn’t tell me.
–Rode the ARP with Tom Elken.
–Got the Cremina back together and working. The nut holding the top cover doesn’t go down far enough to allow the boiler cap to tighten, but other than that it’s perfect–I didn’t even need to adjust the pressurestat.
–Walked to Bel Air for Bagels.
–Axe head came, looks good; Cremina shower screen and gaskets came, so I got on it. All good until I hit the switch and tripped the circuit breaker on the garage wall. Ohm meter suggests the heating element has a short, so I’m roasting it in the oven for several hours. Here’s hoping.
–Rode the canal. Mistake. Home thermometer said 72, bike thermometer said 93.
–Got a Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner–another $8 special. Killer…
–Heard from Mark Solich that out $552k offer for 1956 Discovery Village Lane was accepted. In other real estate news, 2056 Promontory Point (1) came up at $595k, (2) sold in three weeks, (3) came back on the market a few days later at $595k, (4) had a price increase to $625k a few days later. My thought: first buyer tried to negotiate price cut for new roof, so deal fell through. Seller relisted it briefly at original price, then had a brainstorm and added the price of a roof so he could negotiate back down to $595k. This is a very greedy seller, I’m thinking–and we haven’t even talked about the dry rot yet.
–Stuff came in the mail: flashlight holder for bike (works fine); steam stem and touchup paint for the Cremina. Tried to disassemble the old steam stem now that I have a new one: the brass screw has work hardened (I guess) and sort of melded with the gasket. I mangled it with a Foredom stone (drills wouldn’t touch it), then tossed it. A really serious age/heat-related failure that might have ended the project if Cerini hadn’t carried new steam stems.
–Feeling super depressed today. This was doubled when I noticed a dark 5-6mm spot on my dick. Google says it’s very likely a penile melanosis–totally harmless. Nonetheless…
–No word yet on our offer for 1956 Discovery Village.
–Walked to Bel Air for dessert.
–Talked to Mark Solich a couple times. We’ll be offering $552,000 for the Discovery Village house. He seemed confident that that bid work work. Such is dual agency…
–Cremina came in–priority shipped. Missing a drip tray (I have three) and a shower screen (just found one on eBay for $50: miracle). Came with portafilter but no basket: I have one. Super hard to take apart and filthy inside, but nothing broken yet. Couldn’t get screw off steam valve stem to replace gasket, so bought a new stem/gaskets from Cerini.
–Walked to Bel Air for bagels (Baguette Bagels were moldy).
–Played with cameras/lenses. Re-subscribed to Lightroom. This time I noticed that they had desktop (Classic) as well as Creative Cloud. I got that. Much more familiar. I may still have CC (their website is quite confusing), but I see no reason to use it.
–Still feeling crappy.
–Picked up 3 pounds of Sir Kraken II from Black Sails Coffee.
–Big shopping at Bel Air.
–Started feeling really crappy around 4. Three diarrhea attacks, despite Pepto and Immodium.
–Pool was reluctant to start this morning: low water level.
–Played around with the knife sharpener (still learning) and refinished the wood carafe-holders on the Chemex.
–Went with Grace to look at 1956 Discovery Village Lane with Mark Solich. Seems real nice to me–soaring ceilings w/ skylights, private kitchen, normal showers, den for both of us, etc. Looks like getting in/out of the garage could be interesting, but otherwise good. Solich was clever in his pricing: house is easily worth $575k or more; he priced it at $539k and will have the owner consider offers. He “estimates” it will sell between $539k and $595k. So, there went my dreams of getting this great place for a “generous” offer of $545k.
–Tried to sharpen the Devin Thomas AEB-L petty with the (just in) shorter screws for the sharpener, allowing lower angles, and the 5k and 10k Chosera stones. Still much to learn.
–Walked to Bel Air for bagels. They had cinnamon and blueberry. They also had 3-packs of donuts. Finally bought a bag of 4 “baguette” bagels.
–Nice single-level house in Discovery Village appeared on Redfin for $539,000. Seems way underpriced. Will meet Mark Solich there Saturday. He says owner will begin looking at offers on September 23.
–Put gas in the Mustang.
–Bronze Wolfman razor came in. Killer.
–Felt terrible all night; slept much of the day. Might be easier to just go ahead and get the flu…
–Walked to Rite-Aid for flu and COVID booster shots.
–Made pizza for dinner–darn good.
–Went to Target for Zone Perfect and stuff for Grace.
–Took a swim.
–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for tomatoes, apples, pears, tamales.
–Took a swim. Water fine; air chilly.
–Played with knives a bit.
–Played with cameras a bit. Decided to keep only the Leica C (not the C-Lux or Panasonic version thereof). Affinity Photo won’t handle C RAW files (or C-Lux, for that matter), so I’ll re-up my Lightroom subscription.
–Took a swim.
–Bad day: several diarrhea attacks, generally felt lousy. Drank a lot, but it didn’t seem to help. Went to McDonald’s for lunch.
–Paradigm Ti 2 razor came in. Seems nice.
–Still warm.
–Took a swim.
–Mega-hot day.
–While setting up voicemail on the Samsung S10e I lent Grace after she dropped her iPhone in the pool, I noticed she has also dropped the Samsung: broken glass in one corner (not loose). She’s tough on stuff. Should I order another green one for me? No: Siri rules.
–Not much happening. Hot day; took a swim.
–Went to Chalk It Up 2022. Parked in a garage for $10. Did a tour, got pics, got a t-shirt. Easy.
–Took a shower.
–Used the belt grinder to take off 1.5″ from the Devin Thomas gyuto; re-profiled the blade. It’s not as sleek a blade now, but it looks fine–and the cladding is much more even too. Well done. Now I can sell it.
–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for tomatoes, pears, apples, jam, cantaloupe, squash.
–Made pizza for dinner. Good, but I’m going to now look into softer crusts.
–Took Grace shopping at Smart and Final.
–Played a lot with the Devin Thomas clad Magnacut. Discovered a low spot in the grind near the tip. Turned it into a bird’s beak trying to fix it. You can’t fix those things. This is not the first bad grind I’ve seen from DT.
–Herman Dragonfly came in. A beauty. Spent a long time with it and my previous one trying to optimize things. Turns out the previous one is Gen 2, while the new one is Gen 3–and there are some very subtle differences between them. Got it mostly sorted out. Lost some tiny (1mm) ceramic bearings, so ordered replacements.
–Took a swim.