Month: June 2025

–Watered plants.

–Went to UPS for (a) Pose buttons (nice); (b) Tekna regulators (thought I hadn’t seen them before, but they were just photographed at a weird angle on eBay, standard Ocean Edge regs); (c) Unquiet Hands Jupiter bearings. Tested them; they were all pretty good eventually.

–Then to Bel Air for milk, cream, cream cheese, cookies, deodorant.

–Played more with regs. Brought out the Magnehelic. It corroborated most of my ratings, though the 7’s were off the scale bad (2.0+). Best was a nylon body with metal internals. Put the internals into a brass case and it wouldn’t stop free-flowing, so back to original. Pretty sensitive apparatus.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Played with regulators. Lost a lot of air on one thinking it had defects, when in fact it just lacked an o-ring. Crap. But there are eight working Teknas now. The criticality of every design aspect of those regs is astounding: I spent a long time trying to get one to work that lacked a groove in the needle for a circlip to hold the rubber-footed thing in place. Switched to a grooved needle and boom! it worked.

–Made pizza for dinner. Over-cooked it, but pretty tasty.

–Rolex 1680 came in at FedEx. Swapped cases. Works fine–only took a year.

–SCUBA tank came in from hydro. Played with my Tekna regulators. Amazingly, I have eight that all work, with subjective breathability ratings from 7 to 9+. Pretty impressive, considering some of the needle seats are ones I made.

–Rode 12 miles on the ARP. Felt fine during, kind of crappy afterwards. Probably not drinking/eating enough. Bike is free of creaks!

–Went to Bel Air for coffee, yogurt (1,000 choices), cream cheese, apples.

–Picked up the M3 tungsten spinner that’s been six months coming. It’s fine, not exciting.

–Got bagels. Though freshly baked, they only had 11 sesame, so I got 1 plain. Again, unfamiliar faces. Don’t know what’s going on there.

–Stopped next door to pick up a Papa Murphy’s pizza. Closed. They called to apologize, I went back and picked up a pizza (on which I had already left a tip). Eventual pizza was extremely salty and not very flavorful. Done.

–Picked up air duster at UPS. It’s not a SCUBA tank, but it puts out really good air. Cleaned and dried a bunch of spinner bearings.

–Lazy day.

–Trimmed the bushes and rearranged the succulents in back. Tried several different schemes; ended up looking pretty good.

–Tried to balance a Modusworks Spinamathing using the new flat-tipped carbide bit in the drill press. Kind of a disaster. The drill and the vise holding the spinner are just way too loose and wobbly.

–Went to Home Depot for an Odo-Ban canister for the pack; some cedar pieces for the pack; epoxy. Stopped at Bel Air for cookies, cheese, milk.

–Went to UPS to pick up drill bits, three NJT spinners (nice) and a Pose spinner. The Pose was kind of dinged and scratched up. I successfully restored it. I wish there were forums where I could share this process (and learn some new things), but alas, people are glued to their phones watching 30-second art restoration videos.

–Balanced a couple of spinners, with balls and Rodico.

–Found a big blue pot in the garage cabinet and moved the blooming succulent that’s already outgrown its little pot into it. Hope it’s happier now. Watered everything.

–Cool this morning–sweatpants and slippers.

–Took a brief bike ride. (1) Windy and cool. (2) No creaks.

–Osprey backpack is almost odor free–still a little vinegar smell.

–Went to UPS for (a) Brad Sears shaving brush; (b) Fourth Love Nugget spinner (brass, best-balanced yet); (c) a couple of spinner buttons–zirc and Sakmar mokume. Chatted with Jamie Acker of LIC EDC (Love Nuggets, among others). Learned that he uses three finishes: satin (maroon Scotchbrite), mirror and machine (shows milling lines).

–Trump bombed Iran. Here we go.

–Still fabulous weather.

–Added anti-seize lube to seat rails in addition to seat post. We silent now.

–Took the backpack out of vinegar and ran it through a soak cycle in the washer. Not sure, but I think it still smells like aftershave.

–Reg Barber marbled tamper came in. Had several spots where tiny cuts/dings had taken off the coating. Tossed it.

–Had turkey burgers, corn, potatoes with chives butter for dinner. Super!

–Rode 12 miles west on the ARP. As usual, wiped me out.

–Played with spinners. Successfully balanced a bar using Rodico to hold in the too-small ball. Genius!

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Picked up the Senkichi pick mattock from Japan at UPS. YES!! Also picked up a set of KAP superconductor blue-flamed buttons–prettiest ever made IMO.

–Vicolo goat cheese pizza for dinner. Good!

–Hot day; quiet day.

–Picked up 3mm plastic and ceramic balls at UPS. Put one ceramic ball in each of two NJT Nebu’s and really helped smooth them out.

–Rode 16 miles around Lake Natoma with Tom Elken. Wiped me out.

–Helped Kenny re-hang his gate, then brought him the stuff we’ve been keeping in our freezer since his died (he has a loaner fridge).

–Went to Bel Air for coffee, cream cheese, milk, dessert, Triscuits.

–Bought yet another Love Nugget spinner and a couple sets of buttons.

–My (one day) late estimated tax payment was acknowledged by Heritage and the IRS.

–Kenny’s refrigerator went out last night, so he called and we stored some of his frozen stuff in our freezers.

–Called NY Bagel Cafe for bagels; wasn’t sure they got the order. They didn’t. A couple of faces there I haven’t seen before, who sold me their last 10 sesame bagels. Grrr…..

–Picked up KAP Mokume Cell at UPS. Very nice.

–Have had an increasingly hard time putting portafilter into Maximatic. Today I almost couldn’t get it started. Took off the grouphead, portafilter goes on without the slightest effort. Either things change drastically when it’s hot, or this is a complete mystery.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Yet another nice day.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Soaked the smelly backpack in a strong vinegar solution. Will leave it for a week or so.

–Cleaned up my bathroom and replaced the toilet seat. Much better. Took a shower and shave.

–Used furniture crayons to try and hide the scratches on the bookcase from where Grace toppled the living room light. Looks better.

–Jimson Weed is not looking so good.

–Took the BMW to S*T Strawberries for strawberries, squash, cherries. All good, though Rainier cherries have little taste.

–Tried for a drop at Pose Blades. Sadly, I didn’t know I had to log in before purchase, so missed it.

–Chicken burgers, corn and squash with thyme for dinner. Will be switching back to turkey burgers (chicken is too dense); thyme doesn’t really work on squash; corn was great (4/$1 at Bel Air).

–Weather is still phenomenal.

–Friday the 13th, and I won a Drake’s spinner button! I think I won one a while ago, and tossed it. This one looks better.

–Picked up Apple Airpods Pro 2 at UPS. I fear I’m too old, too deaf to get much out of these.

–Also picked up some juniper berry essential oil. The pack is marinating in it now.

–Got milk and cream at Bel Air.

–Rode 11.5 miles on the ARP. Beautiful day, felt fine, then turned into a zombie for the afternoon. Gettin’ old. Brought back a couple of Jimson Weed cuttings. They were totally wilted when I got home, but cutting another 1/4″ off each stem brought them back. Blooms soon!

–Still incredibly nice weather, near the middle of June.

–Michael Hui at Rolliworks asked for a phone call, insisted I return the watch so they can fix the BPH issue, said he would refund–unclear how much. Got the watch out.

–Went to Bel Air for dessert and another Viccolo pizza.

–Picked up a brass Luv Nugget at UPS. Polished up nicely, but it took a while because of numerous small dings, mostly in the buttons.

–Rode in El Dorado Hills with Tom Elken. Spent a sleepless and bad-stomach night anticipating problems. Voila: bike fell off the rack on Hazel, just before the 50 on-ramp. No harm done, but grrrr….. Some web searching suggests my rack is about as good as they come, and I mainly need to adjust the front clamp closer to vertical than the horizontal I have been using. We’ll see.

–Rolex came back (second time) from Rolliworks. Long story short: It should be running at 19,800 BPH, and is instead running (slowly) at 18,000 BPH. Almost unbelievable. Asked Michael Hui for $1,000 refund so I can send it elsewhere.

–Grace and I made appointments at the DMV for license renewal. Mine comes after the renewal date of July 1. Guess I’ll have to drive carefully.

–Rolex 1680 was due this morning, then by end of day. It was in Oakland at 6:30 AM. I have my doubts. And even if it gets close, I noticed that Rolliworks specified “direct signature,” so they might not drop it off at UPS.

–Picked up the Apple Air Pods and a couple of spinners at UPS. The Baby Yeti in bronze is the smoothest bi (bar) I own.

–Watered plants.

–Cleaned up the three gas valves on the Weber Silver Genesis barbecue, circa 2005. They work much better now. Still might like to put stiffer springs in there.

–Went to Bel Air for ice cream, corn, coffee.

–Barbecued chicken burgers with corn and rosemary red potatoes. Yum! Buttons were sticky on the Weber; a couple of youtube videos showed how to remove and clean them. Will do.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Rode the canal for 14.45 miles. Wiped me out, for no obvious reason.

–Checked FedEx tracking on the Rolliworks 1680. It said the watch had been delivered–to Hayward. After some bad words, I went to FedEx on Sun Center. Turns out Rolliworks sent me the wrong tracking number. Watch should be here Monday. Grrr…..

–Went to Hooverville Orchards to get Kenny some Three-Berry jam, plus jam for us and a cherry pie and a big loaf of sourdough.

–Picked up another copper Luv Nugget spinner at UPS. It had a couple of dings like it had touched a belt grinder for a second. I got them out. It’s also really highly polished, where the first one has more of a satin finish with some strange lines in it. Plus the buttons on the first one were only half-polished on the edges. Very strange. Neither is perfectly balanced, so I’ll try to pick one. May be moot, as I just bought a brass one as well. Also picked up a Damned Designs Triad from the guy with the long name in Hong Kong or Singapore. Had a small but deep ding in it that he assured me he’d run past an expert who said it could be taken out. Nope. You can’t take a deep ding out of etched mokume: it just becomes smooth and looks weird where you sanded. Tossed it.

–Backpack still smells. I’m pretty much at my wit’s end. Tired to grind up some juniper berries to leave in it for a while; couldn’t.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Bought a fidget spinner or two.

–Picked up the Wiha needle nose pliers at UPS. Small, but beautiful. Also picked up the NOS Tekna regulator. Can’t test it, as the tank is out for several days being hydro’d. Looks good, needle seat looks great, but the main(?) diaphragm is toast. It should pull the needle back when inhalation stops, but it has lost all its elasticity and just sits there. Fortunately I have spares. Noticed something I haven’t noticed before: inhaling hard on the (not hooked up) regulator allows a little air in. It can be stopped completely with a thumb over the input opening. Tried this on 4-5 regs; some were tight, some not. Is this free-flowing? Is tank pressure going in the same as lung vacuum? I’m just not smart enough to figure out where the “leak” could be. Will definitely do more testing when the air tank comes back.

–Watered/spruced up the plants a bit.

–Picked up the Rolex gold link at UPS. First Rolex link I’ve ever seen that uses a pin and tube collar, rather than a screw. Unbelievable. Further, the screw link I got (and apparently all others in 15.5mm gold) has a blind hole: screw head shows on one side, other side is solid. All screw links I’ve seen have holes on both sides: big for the screw head, little for the screw end. Even further, someone is selling the “rare” pin link on eBay for $1,300. Keeee-rap.

–Also picked up an Indy Thicc Chonky in tungsten. What a monster–almost 12 ounces, and actually feels like exercise when spinning.

–Went to Bel Air for Vicolo pizza, cookies, Cuties.

–Rode 15 miles to the Richey bridge with Tom Elken.

–Picked up pills (Tamsulosin) and Febreze deodorizer at UPS. After several applications, the Febreze isn’t wowing me.

–Red Baron three-cheese pizza for dinner. Not bad.

–Got bagels ar New York Bagel Cafe.

–Shopped with Grace at Target. Typically, she found nothing and got frustrated.

–Picked up Merkur Bling razor at UPS. Nice, but I’m a little surprised at (what appears to be) the crudeness of the holes drilled and the largeness of the jewels, which don’t really fill the holes. Also picked up the LIC EDC Love Nugget spinner in copper. Nice, but the body seems sort of machine finished, in a way that totally prevents a mirror polish. The buttons allow mirrors on the rims, but the body remains matte. Came with a cool box though.

–Grace broke the living room floor lamp while vacuuming, irretrievably, it seems.

–Bagel dogs and Cheetos for dinner.

–Cooler today.

–While Grace did laundry, I did some “honey do” stuff: putting rubber feet on trivets, rubber bumpers on swinging cabinet doors, etc.

–Got tired of Google Search Console telling me about all the issues on my four websites, so I re-re-re-re-submitted the sitemaps, then told Google (in effect) “Everything has been fixed; please validate the fixes.” Should be interesting.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Second super-hot day in a row.

–Scanned a few of the slides that Grace found in a projector in her closet–ACDS class of 1966 in this case. They came out really nice–it never ceases to astound me how long these slides can maintain their breathtaking quality.

–Watered the plants and saw (a) peppers on Jan’s pepper plant and (b) tiny Satsumas on my tangerine plant.