–Feeling considerably better today. Had another great bacon/egg/cheese sandwich, then a Kenny’s baked potato for dinner. Spent a while at my desk organizing spinners. Getting up and down is no longer a big struggle. Urination okay, defecation not so much–stomach gurgles now and then. I believe that will clear up as my diet returns to normal.
Month: January 2026
–Still feel crappy, slept a lot. Pissing is now more or less normal (for me); crapping is mostly diarrhea. Grace made me a wonderful bacon/egg/cheese on ciabatta. A little salty (that’s old age I believe), but the first real thing I’ve eaten in days.
–We heard that neighbor Fran died today.
–Despite several efforts, Firefox is still being bad about saving logins, so I’m switching back to Chrome, with Firefox used for WSJ only. I’ll probably take that back in a minute when I see the web with an ad blocker.
–Bagel and coffee this morning, feeling not bad. Took ibuprofen and acetaminophen simultaneously. Could have been bad. After a normal lunch, had a great shower and shave. Then to UPS for multiple packages. Then, boom! My feeling too hot and lowering the thermostat reversed, and I was back to feeling cold. All of a sudden felt nauseous and vomited everything I had eaten today into a plastic trash can. Turns out it leaked, and spread vomit all over the bedroom. I have no idea what’s happening. Took a couple of acetaminophen, had a little container of applesauce, will go back to bed soon.
–Reinstalled Firefox and now icsb-2006.org is working.
–Spent the day in bed. Still great pain just turning over in bed. Drank a lot, didn’t eat much. Was hassled all day by this male nurse who clearly yearned for an MD; extremely frustrating. They finally released us around 7; we got home around 9. Grace has some really bad eye issues, and drove the Honda over two curbs on the way out–so I drove us home. Got to get her cataract surgery.
–Not a lot compare it with, but it seems like UC Davis is a really good hospital.
–Finally broke down and went to the UC Davis Health ER on Stockton in Sac. After many transfers and long waits, got a laparoscopic appendectomy. Coming out of anesthesia was not the pleasant experience it usually is. I was seriously sore all day and night, and didn’t eat or drink much. Didn’t sleep much either. Then they told me I have AFIB. Unbelievable. Turns out there are now miracle treatments for AFIB, but still.
–Another day in bed. I drank like a camel, but urinated minimally. I did have a large bowel movement, and have since had two smaller ones. Seems I also have a fever of 100.1. I don’t know what’s going on. I canceled the Urology appointment for Monday, because of the fever. CRAP!
–Had a really bad night; fell down at one point and just lay there for 5 minutes while gathering the will to get up. Was shaking so bad this morning I had to go back to bed–after moving the Honda out of the garage so Grace could drive to her ultrasound. Got up around 3 PM and tried to drink a lot, though it doesn’t really seem to show. Feeling a little better now, but not great. If this really is dehydration, I sure wish I could predict/avoid it.
–Started having severe abdominal pain/bloating/cramps last night. Continued through the night and all day. There has been more than usual farting, which helps to relieve it.
–Took Kenny to a wheelchair place in West Sacramento to get replacement arm pads for his wheelchair. Installed them. He’s so happy now…
–Picked up Grace’s potassium at Bel Air pharmacy, and a couple of spinners at UPS.
–Had Vanguard send my $58k RMD to Ally savings account. I’m rich!
–eBay keeps screwing me: yesterday it said I could put in a “did not receive” for the Dialux bars today. Today it said tomorrow. Grrr….
–IPhone SE3 finally came in. It’s being a pain in the butt to set up, and I don’t know why.
–Went to Bel Air for milk, cream, whipped cream, some stuff for Grace, and some chocolate chunk cookies for Kenny.
–Took a shower and shave. Sink water never really got hot, even after a while. Could be ground temp, I suppose.
–MLK day. Thus no mail.
–Tried to help Grace with prescriptions, both at Amazon and Bel Air. As usual, she immediately went into mean mode.
–Kenny called this afternoon after his back patio hose broke and (somehow) flooded his living room. We went over and dried things out, fixed the hose.
–Marie for dinner, again.
–Really foggy this morning. Watched a lot of football.
–Took Grace to Smart & Final.
–Paid a visit to Kenny.
–Marie for dinner (finally found some at a reasonable price at S & F).
–Put the two new panels on the light switches. They look nice.
–Went to Bel Air for Kenny’s usual list and a couple things for us.
–Filled the bird feeder in front; watered the plants in back.
–Made a pizza for dinner.
–Big day.
–At Grace’s request, removed a couple of broken light switch panels and took them to Lowe’s for replacement. The Lowe’s panels don’t have screw holes, so Grace may dump them and force a matching set. Also got a tub spout diverter while I was there.
–Stopped at UPS for (a) Laconico Albatross (big, beautiful edge) and (b) spinner bearing tool (very strange, never seen one like it).
–Took Grace to the UC Davis lab in Citrus Heights for a blood draw. Quick and easy.
–Wandered through the nearby Raley’s. I’d forgotten how relatively sparse the selection is at our Bel Air.
–Watered plants and resumed auto watering.
–Paid a quick visit to Kenny.
–Estimated tax payments went through, from Heritage Savings, leaving a balance of $1,560. Too close. A $510 transfer from PayPal to Heritage has shown up on PayPal as complete, but not yet on Heritage. It was done on the 14th, today is the 15th, but Heritage is only showing transactions through the 13th. Got to get out of that bank.
–Randy Pearce came by to repair the front patio sprinkler valve leak. Turns out the leak wasn’t underground. Initial quote was $125, but it ended up at $182. Not 100% sure why. Work seems well done, but we’ve now spent > $600 on this one valve. Starting to get annoying.
–Went over to Kenny’s to wish him a happy 82nd birthday.
–Dropped off a stool sample at UPS for Grace. Picked up a Magnus Ultem slider with POM plates; not impressed yet. Also got a Monoskate Scylla Valley in Damasteel (I think I won a SUS for $700). It’s small, light, and buttons are too thin, though it is beautiful. And 10 pounds of lemon drops.
–Went to Bel Air for a Vicolo goat cheese pizza (delicious, especially with the added steak and green pepper) and a raspberry cheesecake Danish.
–Another bright sunny day, with temp edging toward 70. Wish my heel would let me walk…
–Called New York Bagels to order bagels, and for the 4th time in a couple of months got the robo-announcement. Went there to buy bagels from display, got 9 sesame and 3 plain. Asked the clerk about the phone. He tried calling and was surprised to hear the robot. He doesn’t know what’s going on. I’m guessing the old friendly guy (whom I haven’t seen in months) is gone and they’re not doing phone orders any more. Crap.
–The new Peet’s I got yesterday at their store (Major Dickason’s) seems chaff-free. I don’t understand.
–After years of searching, I finally found a photo editor that allows purchase and appears to be as good as Lightroom: Apple Photomator. Here’s hoping…
–Got a pound of Major Dickason’s at Peet’s.
–Went to UPS for Simpson Chubby 3 Moonjava brush (not so great) and Weleda lotion for the butt. Seems to have good consistency, but smells really strong–like evergreens sort of. We’ll see.
–Stopped at Bel Air for us and the increasingly-demanding Kenny. Watered his back-patio plants, under his highly watchful eye.
–Took a shower and shave. For some reason the shave was terrible; not sure why.
–Watched the 49ers win their wild card game.
–Red Baron for dinner.
–Heard from eBay on my missing iPhone appeal. I’ve been instructed to file reports with the police and with the postal inspector. This is really obnoxious. It’s the second time an eBay seller has clobbered me by filing fast. I left scathing feedback, but it didn’t show, and now it’s all up to me to get a recovery. Seller says “I filed a claim; PO didn’t respond.” Case closed. Unbelievable.
–Did some polishing; not all that great. Need some coarser rouge (at least).
–Drove to Hooverville Orchards in Placerville. Found they are closed from Christmas through January, and then closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Don’t know what the deal is.
–Stopped at UPS for (a) FTO Asylum X spinner (very nice); (b) FlowMax 100mg (double dose, like Losartan); (c) string buff. Tried the buff on the razor: holding my breath, but it SEEMS to have left a line-free finish.
–Watered plants.
–Sun today, plus lots and lots of big wind.
–Didn’t do much of anything.
–I was going to open a case on eBay regarding the stolen(?) iPhone, but the asshole seller opened one first. I had put in a “Did not receive item” complaint, so I’m sure he countered with “Here’s PO proof of delivery.” This, after he opined in messages that the phone had been stolen en route. eBay sided with the seller. I tried to leave negative feedback, and it seemed to go through, but hasn’t shown up on the seller’s page. I wrote a scathing reply to eBay’s “Case Closed” decision, not expecting much because it went to “ebay@ebay.com.” Some time later I was looking through my options on this and found one that said “Appeal this decision.” So I did, in 1,000 carefully-crafted characters. I’m not sure if this was standard procedure on eBay’s part, or, as happened a while ago, they might have given me special treatment due to case details, longevity, etc. Anxiously awaiting the FINAL final decision.
–Another sunny day in California.
–Went over to Kenny’s to install the smoke alarm I got for him. All good. He’s still being a stinker about things: The smoke alarm cost around $46.50, or $49.88 after tax. He gave me $50 cash and implied I owed him $4 or so in additional goods.
–Spent some time polishing. Interestingly, (1) the white rouge still seems superior to blue and green for this stainless, and (2) the middle Airway buff (in hard, soft, softer) seems to leave the fewest scratches of any of my buffs–including the one I use with its own rouge for watch crystals. I’m still a novice, though, and it could have to do with ultra-cleanliness of buff, among other things. AND: the razor looks super nice until you put it under a specific kind of light.
–Picked up the vintage Stanley box cutter at UPS. Cool tool, and very sharp.
–Spent more time today trying to organize/reconcile my sliders and spinners. Almost there.
–Sunny day; rain might be gone for good.
–Paid a visit to Kenny.
–Went to Home depot for polyurethane (for tamper handles), watering can, smoke alarm to replace Kenny’s expired one.
–Took a shower and shave. Used the Charcoal Goods “Bee” brass razor. It seemed super mild, but gave a pretty close shave. Apparently it’s worth a lot o’ money on the forums.
–2 EDC tungsten Nest came in. Another small tungsten spinner I like. Buttons are really small and a little low, and I only have one other button set–from the “Sell” shelf–that fit.
–Ran some errands for Kenny. He’s really getting to be a pain. “Two avocados, one ripe and one not,” etc. He was really pissed that I forgot to have the pharmacist activate his Spiriva inhaler. I told him I could do it (after talking to the pharmacist at Bel Air), but he resisted nastily for a long time before giving in. I activated it in 5 minutes after watching a youtube video. I (of all people) understand the things have to be just so, but we’ve been running around like crazy for him for the past few days, and he doesn’t really seem to appreciate it.
–Finally picked up the 3/4″ buffing wheel adapters at UPS, and they work great. Problem is my heel hurts so much after all the running around I did today that I can’t stand at the buffer for more than a few minutes.
–Major rain (off and on) last night and today.
–Not much happening; mostly reconciling sliders and spinners.
–Sold off the ~$12k in bitcoin that I bought recently. Just not worth waiting months or years to make a profit.
–Went over to Kenny’s to meet his sister Nancy, who visited and brought lunch from In ‘N Out. She’s a super beautiful, smart and charming person.
–Went to UPS to pick up Drake’s buttons. Very nice. Stopped at Bel Air for lettuce (Kenny), cream, cream cheese, pizza dough.
–Made pizza for dinner. Not bad.
–Paid a visit to Kenny. The Direct TV tech was there with his new remote, showing him how to set things up. I took the old remote, cleaned it up, removed some corrosion from the batteries. I’m sure I can use it now to change his channels…
–Went to New York Bagels, who still aren’t answering the phone. I didn’t see any of the regulars there, so maybe they’re on vacation. Got 7 sesame and 5 plain bagels, and much banana bread for us, Kenny and his sister.
–Went to UPS for (a) Magnus slider with his new plate, the machining on which resembles that seen on Pyra and Modusworks sliders; (b) the Gupfix iPhone battery, after waiting a month; (c) the Martell gyuto from KKF BST. Knife is pretty cool, with a great handle. I cleaned it up with my signature technique of rubbing with a 3M sanding sponge covered with sharpening stone mud.
–Grayish day; rained once.
–Didn’t do much. Tried to clean up the Christmas stuff a little and hang the Mexican sun ceramic. Paid a visit to Kenny, who seems in good spirits.
–Set up the tripod that holds a phone for hands-free photos or videos. Shot a video of a spinner to upload on Facebook. Tripod worked great.