Month: December 2023

–Went to the Folsom farmers market for tangerines. Not many vendors there–cold and wet.

–Motor City pizza for dinner.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Kirill Yuzh wired $7,000 to CIT Bank for the Rolex yellow gold 1503, which I don’t even remember.

–Went to Harbor Freight to get a butane torch, then to Home Depot to get some butane.

–Cut up a whole bunch of boxes.

–Took Grace to Dr. Taylor, ophthalmologist in Folsom. Apparently her eyes aren’t as bad as she thought. Got a referral to a retinal doc, and MAY need cataraact surgery.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner.

–Went to Dr. Cecille Taylor, ophthalmologist, in Folsom. Turns out I have really bad glaucoma in my right eye. And cataracts of course. And blepharitis (inflammation of eyelids; cause of dry eyes, so Restasis is useless). She prescribed some drops for glaucoma and will follow up in a month. Also prescribed erythromycin ointment for blepharitis. Crap.

–A quiet Christmas. Gifts were exchanged, ham/mashed potatoes/broccoli were eaten.

–Put up the little Christmas tree and some minimal decorations.

–Still have to wrap Grace’s (few) presents. Just not in the mood this year.

–Bought yet another Cremina. This one was not cheap ($2,000), but seems genuinely never used.

–Played a lot with cameras. Brought the X Vario out again and retired the D-Lux 7 after taking some pics of birds and squirrels through the patio door. Though the X Vario is bigger and heavier and (maybe) a little slower, its image quality is way better.

–Discovered (maybe) one reason Helios and Zeiss uncoded lenses look crappy on the SL2. It’s complicated, but has to do with Auto ISO reverting to weird default values depending on the shooting mode. In a nutshell, low ISO (100, say) –> slow shutter –> motion blur.

–Downloaded RAW Therapee and played with it a bit. Could be interesting.

–Still deciding which Watchco to keep. Non-date is running well, but hands aren’t perfectly aligned. Date is running even better, but I can’t seem to change the date by popping the crown in and out, as I thought I used to. Grrr…

–Took some pics with the Helios lens. Even though the SL2 showed perfect focus, the abutilon blooms came out fuzzy. Same thing happened with the CL. Don’t know the cause. I was at some distance, but still: monster sensor, huge magnified image in the viewfinder. Will try some more on the M9 when the adapter comes, but I don’t know. The lens is a 44-2, which is supposed to be the best of that model, and the glass is pristine. I can see the rangefinder not being calibrated to it, but with the SL2 it’s real-time super-magnified focus. It should be magnificent. [Edit] Compared the Helios with the Summicron 50 on the SL2. Night and day. Helios is crap; will toss.]

–Played with regulators. Found some Tekna parts (no tiny springs, though). I have five that work nicely.

–Picked up stain remover (for Grace) and fourth Paladin Halloween brush (for me) at UPS.

–Initiated transfer of $212,734.03 from CIT Bank savings to Ally Bank savings.

–Went with Grace to the dentist for prophylaxis; dentist had no record of appointments. Okay…

–Went to Ivanov’s Watch Repair to pick up Watchco Omega I dropped off a couple days ago, thinking it was toast. Turns out they did a couple simple things (oil pivot, for example) for $60 and now it runs really strong. Saved myself a lot of time and grief not sending it back to OmegaAddict Tim McKrain.

–Tekna brass regulators came in. Like my recent Olympia espresso machines, they are near NOS, and include a box and lots of papers. On the tank, they both work perfectly. Took one apart, and the needle valve seat looked new. I’m certainly on a run with new old stuff. Will likely take them to Sherm’s for chrome plating, as there is noticeable pitting in the original chrome.

–Picked up the powder-coated Maximatic cover at Perfect-It.

–Eye doctor sick; appointment re-scheduled for 12/26.

–Went to Ivanov’s Watch Repair to drop off Watchco Seamaster. Stopped at Corti Brothers on the way back for some Holiday Ravioli–gift for Grace.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Played with cameras. Long story short: going with Leica CL for daily photography with different lenses; M9 for CMOS photography and vintage nostalgia; probably D-Lux 7 for quick high-zoom pics. As good as the X Vario feels (and made in Germany), I just think he D-Lux 7 outguns it.

–Put two abutilon cuttings in a pot in the garage with a grow light. One seems to be triving; the other dying. Strange…

–Went to the Folsom farmers market for Satsumas and broccoli.

–Sprayed the Erie Spider skillet with Easy-Off and left it in a garbage bag outside.

–Played with the two OysterQuartz watches for a while. Bracelets are kind of a mess. I have one small collar that seems to go nowhere. Really can’t decide if it’s worth sending one or both to Rolex. It would be expensive, and they might lack replacement parts like dials, bracelet links, etc. Found a really nice-looking one on eBay from Japan (of course), only to note it’s missing two lume dots. I suppose I could build a nice franken (undetectable), but then I’d be > $15k into OysterQuartz.

–Played with the two new cameras: X Vario and M9. M9 seems nice, could possibly replace the SL2. The eBay listing said < 1,700 shutter activations; I checked and found < 1,000. Not so clear on the X Vario. more testing needed.

–Second Rolex OysterQuartz came in. Chamfers not nearly as impressive as in seller’s photos. Scratches on dial. Then it stopped running. Case has less pitting than the first one. Will probably send both to Rolex and see what they recommend.

–Leica M9 came in. Much heavier than, and much better than, the M-E (which must have a lot of plastic in it). Almost seems as though I can focus it.

–Leica X Vario came in. Very nice camera, exudes quality build. I immediately took to it (somewhat to my surprise), and expect to enjoy the heck out of it.

–Packed and mailed (via UPS) all outgoing Christmas presents. Whew!

–Red Baron pizza for dinner.

–Took Grace to Folsom Premium Outlets, Brainy Zoo Toys in particular, where, miraculously, she finished our Christmas shopping.

–Went to the post office to mail some of Grace’s presents (had to go there because of Rob in Canada).

–Not one, but TWO battery chargers came in today (and not the OysterQuartz I was hoping for, which, I learned later, just got authenticated today).

–Grace went into full panic mode again. She ordered some local chocolate and had a lot of trouble communicating with the maker. At one point, after getting a voicemail, she dragged me out of the house yelling “She said she left it on the air conditioner at the kitchen!” Grace took this to mean the clubhouse kitchen here, which is totally preposterous. Eventually I drove us to a little industrial campus on Pyrites Way, where we found a box of chocolates sitting on a window air conditioner outside one of the businesses. Scary stuff, as when, while on the phone with a Stanford Benefits rep, she screamed “WHERE’S MY PHONE??!!” Also scary is how many decades it has taken me to actually note and categorize this behavior: she’s always had issues on the phone. Don’t know what it means, if it’s at all related to alcoholism, just don’t know.

–Rolex GMT came in. Very nice.

–Correct portafilter gasket came in from Orphan Espresso. Finally got to try out the Maximatic: also very nice. Huge amount of crema. Steaming was okay; I need (a) more practice and/or (b) a steam wand where I can replace tips.

–Went to Bel Air for bagels (got three plain; still no sesame), cream cheese and bear claws.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner.

–Played with knives. Discovered (again) that when detent ball is too low, (a) knife can be flipped open and (b) there can be serious lock rock.

–Noticed a squirrel on the back patio (maybe a new one) eating berries from the Chinese Pistache tree.

–Polished the meteorite a bit with 80 grit paper. Might be pretty close to flat.

–Sent off Rolex 5512 and Day-Date to Kirill Yuzh for consignment.

–Blaze pizza for dinner.

–Had lunch at McDonald’s–pretty good.

–Played with cameras.

–OysterQuartz crystal came in. Replaced chipped one with much trouble. Later, bought another OysterQuartz: the Mark I model, without “Officially Certified…” on the dial. That model MIGHT have wider chamfers, though it’s hard to believe Rolex would change how they made the cases. Turns out the OysterQuartz is really low production: 25,000 in 25 years.

–Some rain came. All downspouts seem okay.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner. Good as always.

–Picked up powder-coated Cremina case at Perfect It. Cost $175. They did have to drill a small hole in one of the inside brackets, but finish is impeccable. Dropped off the Maximatic cover for them to do in black.

–Took lots of pictures, trying to figure out why some cameras seem to have given up the ghost. Part of it, I fear, is that I’m getting old and forgetful, and don’t always set things up optimally for the prevailing conditions (less light now than in April, for example). Ugh…

–Removed Lightroom CC and installed LR Classic (desktop). Turns out it STILL requires CC to be installed. So I ran one more showdown between LR and Affinity/ACDSee/RAW Power on a tough photo (tiny white lights in the dark). Scary how easily LR blows the others away with the simplest adjustments of exposure and highlights. Don’t like it, but nothing else comes close.

–Took the Beemer to Hooverville to get some jams and pastries. Nice ride.

–Bought Omeprazole on Amazon. WAY WAY WAY cheaper than anything on eBay.

–Had mild success lately getting rid of sour taste in lighter-roaster coffee (Black Sails The Moans, Queen Anne’s Revenge) by using hotter water and finer grind. It could be that in the old days a kettle without PID would get to 212; the PID in the Stagg kettle slows it down so much at high temp (so as not to overshoot) I’m usually at 208 when I start brewing.

–Took a shower and shave. Used a Wolfman WR2. Fabulous shave and further evidence of cognitive decline. I swore off all Wolfman razors thinking even their small gap ones were too harsh. Turns out, as legions of smart shavers know, harsh can be efficient, so you don’t have to keep going over and over the chin (say), causing bleeders.

–New neighbors (renters) moved in.

–Went to Bel Air for bagels (slim pickin’s), milk and lunch fruit (after forgetting about today’s farmers market). Grrr…

–Polished up the Maximatic and turned it on briefly. Machine is in fantastic shape. The only 54mm bottomless portafilter I could find has a big lip at the bottom (as noted at Home Barista), so likely won’t take baskets any bigger than a standard portafilter. So, 49mm it is.

–Red Baron Classic Crust pizza for dinner.

–Took Grace shopping at Target.

–Tapped in detent balls on a couple of Shamwaris. May have helped a little.

–Went to Lowe’s and Home Depot looking for a lighted shaving mirror. Nope.

–For the 19th time, ran a competition between Lightroom, Affinity and ACDSee. On these night lights photos (at least) Lightroom reigns supreme.