Author: wsf (Page 1 of 28)

–Biked to UPS to pick up another(!) two tubes of Weleda Light cream. Maybe they’ll just keep coming.

–Spent a while trying to make sense of all my medical issues. Failed. Echo cardiogram was rescheduled for a month from now, as the tech was out. Talked a couple times with some Mercy scheduler. Right now there’s an appointment with Dr. Aryana in September(!), though she’s going to try to get that “released” and find an earlier appointment with someone else. What a quagmire. And why is it all Mercy? [edit] Asked Google why Mercy, got a response saying they’re known for their cardiac services, especially Dr. Arash Aryana. Guess I’ll try to hold that September appointment.

–Sunny and cool today.

–Took Grace to the recycling center, then to Raley’s for some light shopping.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Yet another squally day, though much less intense than yesterday.

–Played with the Wicked Edge sharpener a bit. It’s fine, but I was reminded that the belt sander is better for most knives.

–Another day with major rain squalls, some really powerful–including thunder and lightning.

–Went to UPS for Drake’s buttons. They’re fine, not special.

–Stopped at Bel Air for milk, cream, jock itch cream, more chocolate chip cookies.

–Bought a really interesting (and rare; it’s the first I’ve seen) Pose spinner. It’s a tungsten-copper tri Cocoon ring spinner with a nice DSC ti slug. Put slug in (held with o-rings) and it’s a standard spinner; take slug out and you can put it on your finger as a ring spinner. Pretty cool.

–Bought some more BTC at Paypal because it offered instant access. Tried to buysome high-speed download time @ $25; Paypal’s minimum is $75. Tried to buy $75 twice; Paypal refused to let it go through. Really gotta wonder about these download sites. I’m downloading now for free, albeit slowly.

–Rain off and on today.

–Went nowhere, did little.

–After hours of futile research on adapting a chain tensioner to a bike without a derailleur dropout, I just went ahead and adjusted the chain myself, using the eccentric bottom bracket like in the old days. Worked great. Then went for a ride to Hagan Park. 11 miles previously; 10.9 today after odometer calibration. Selle Anatomica H feels surprisingly good.

–Weather: a big (dry) thunder and lightning storm went through starting around 9:30 PM. I haven’t experienced something like that in a long, long time. Very cool.

–Took the Beemer to Barnes & Noble for a book for Margot Nourse.

–Stopped at Home Depot for some Husky nozzles. They’re fine, though hard to engage.

–Picked up stuff at UPS: pencil leads (kept breaking when I tried to install them); leather strops for Wicked Edge sharpener; unusable Surly Singleator chain tensioner (needs a derailleur dropout for mounting that my bike doesn’t have).

–Stopped by Corey Bafford’s office to discuss charges. All seems technically legit (after they modified some stuff); $1,500 out of pocket for me.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Chinese hose nozzles from Amazon came. Total pieces of unfixable crap, which looked like they had been returned by another buyer.

–Stopped at Bafford’s office to discuss proposed work/payment. Bafford’s biller was there, but not Cripe’s. Will return tomorrow. Very confusing stuff.

–Went to Home Depot for bird seed and hose nozzles. The nozzles are high quality, but it turns out I don’t like finger trigger control: it’s too coarse, and it won’t hold a setting. Back to searching for quality thumb-control nozzles.

–What a day. Learned from UC davis via Zio patch that I have paroxysmal afib. It needs to be treated, and can be via cardiac ablation. Then I learned that a Mercy cardiologist will be setting up an urgent appointment for a pacemaker. This too from the Zio, due to my slow heart rate. Here we go…

–Picked up a vintage Sheaffer mechanical pencil at UPS. Nice.

–Went to Bob’s Bikes to get a chain tool that the web said they had. They didn’t. Bought a spray can each of degreaser and lube: $48. Went to REI in Sacramento and got the tool plus a pair of gloves. Took the chain off and instantly lost one half of the master link. Grace and I searched the garage for a long time, but it never showed. Went back to Bob’s and got one for $6. With chain back on, the rear brake handle went back to the handlebar. After much fussing and fiddling (but no screws turned or anything), it came back to normal, pretty much. The half-link disappearance is the most puzzling yet. I thought for a bit that it had been running for a while with just the half link only, but the chain won’t close without a full link.

–Got a Blaze pizza for dinner. Pretty good.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Went for an 8.5 mile ride, canal and ARP. Selle seat wasn’t bad, but wasn’t luxurious either. Still needs adjusting. Something on the bike makes a bit of a noise with hard pedaling. I’ll probably never chase it down. Maybe I’ll just replace bottom bracket and cranks.

–Kenny brought over some ham and quiche left over from his sister’s Easter bash. We had some for dinner.

–Grace kept saying a bird I’d ID’d as a grosbeak wasn’t. After a lot of lookup, I found it was a rufous-sided towhee. Point: Grace.

–Went to UPS for Brooks Proofide. The container was about half the size of my old one. I mixed the two together thoroughly and put them in a new screw-top container.

–Stopped at Bel Air for pizza, milk, cream, cereal.

–Watered/fertilized plants. They are looking grand.

–Motor City pizza for dinner.

–Went to dentist Corey Bafford. Sadly, he found that I need three crowns and three fillings. Problem: Delta won’t pay for two of the crowns, one done by Sunrise Dental in 2023, the other by Bafford himself six months ago. It could be that these things are falling apart because my dental hygiene is so bad, but it seems more likely to me that it was just sub-standard work. I’m thinking of going back to Watsonville for dentistry.

–Tried to set up auto-pay for estimated taxes. EFTPS is phasing out for individuals, so no go. IRS has a direct pay, but it looks like a pain. Guess I’ll wait until the tax return is processed, then take it from there.

–Went to UPS to pick up titanium seatpost clamp and spinner buttons. Both nice.

–Spent the morning entering acres of info into a crypto spreadsheet. Turned out to be a waste of time. The Koinly docs were vastly better, and enabled me to get the taxes out. Huge refund coming; I’m not entirely sure why.

–Went to UPS to pick up a Modusworks zirc oil slick bar spinner (nice). Then to Bel Air for pizza. Tried a new kind–A legend in Brooklyn since 1962–okay, but it won’t replace Red Baron.

–Spent the morning trying to finish taxes. Failed. Tried again after lunch; failed again. Between the IRS and the crypto brokers, it’s pretty much impossible to craft a return that (a) is accurate and (b) would withstand an audit. IRS says it isn’t looking at crypto cost basis until next year, but it would be foolish to submit with out good records. And Turbo Tax isn’t helping. I hate this stuff.

–Went to UPS for (a) Weleda cream, (b) Ascender Skyline razor (don’t know why, but it tore up my face on today’s shave), (c) Declaration Grooming brush (nice), (d) Giants Crazy Crab t-shirt.

–Stopped at Bel Air for cream cheese, dessert, milk, cereal.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Pretty much finished taxes. Gave up trying to figure out crypto on my own; saw a reddit thread where Koinly was praised and got it. It logged in to Binance and Coinbase, downloaded all the relevant transactions, and produced the required tax forms. YES!!

–Watered and fertilized plants.

–Played with bike saddles a little.

–Went to UPS for (a) Hiromoto parer (nice); (b) Weleda Light cream (seller sent Standard; will send two tubes of Light no charge).

–Started taxes. Was immediately reminded of my double RMD withdrawal. Searched records (after finding dates in this journal), then searched Google AI for how to enter. No problems.

–Ritchey 1-bolt seatposts finally came in around 4. Got one to work right away. Then went into the bedroom with the Specialized and Selle saddles to (a) put the bolt on the other side of the Specialized, (b) install the Selle. Many hours later, both are done, with bolts on the wrong side (the only way they’ll go in). HUGE problems (a) figuring out how the bracket goes together, and, once solved, (b) getting the second one to hold together while I installed the seatpost. I do think it has a design flaw with the rubber piece that flops out at the tiniest provocation. I ended up holding it with some kapton tape. What a nightmare. Then my back went out…

–Beulah’s Candyland, long-time source of bulk menthol-eucalyptus cough drops, is now All Bulk Foods. $105 for 9 pounds of drops, shipped. No one else seems to carry these. Crap.

–Cool and windy today.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Stopped at UPS for (a) tight clearance bit driver (nice tool, but still close when working on seatpost); (b) Specialized Arc Expert saddle (seems absolutely identical to the one I was using on the Innerlight); (c) Selle Anatomica H saddle (big, beautiful, but acts like it’s going to be a nut grinder, no matter how positioned).

–Reverted to Canon R5 camera–I, not II. Don’t know why I bought II. Same sensor, better video (so?), possibly worse high ISO noise.

–Watered and fertilized plants.

–Went to Nugget Market in El Dorado Hills for pizza to have with the (pirated) Giants opener. Pizza wasn’t very good, and Yankees are up 5-0 early in the game.

–Back to Lightroom. Took a couple of abutilon shots that were tricky: dark but with super-bright highlights. Photomator couldn’t tone them down, nor could DXO or Affinity. Lightroom handled the highlights with ease. Kind of a mystery to me why folks can’t match LR’s powerful simplicity.

–Bird of Paradise is definitely unhappy: leaves are open in the cool morning, curled shut by afternoon. Dousing with water doesn’t help. I moved it into a large pot and will watch carefully.

–Went to UPS for (a) Modusworks spinner. Unbalanced as are they all, fixed with some tungsten putty. (b) Monoskate Scylla Valley spinner. Beautiful as are they all, but small, light and unexciting. (c) Caran d’Ache pencil. Nice. Might prefer one in gold. Argh…

–Cooler.

–Went to New York Bagels for……bagels. And frosted brownies.

–Stopped at UPS for (a) brake lube and brake cleaner (were going to be for BBQ valve cleanup but I already did it; (b) cheap Dunhill belt (would have said fake, but packaging was impressive); I measured once (not twice), cut it and ruined it (6 inches too short as I measured from the wrong place); (c) Xcelite ratcheting hex driver (nice).

–Stopped at Bel Air for milk, cereal, cream, mint, gnocchi.

–Bought a Modusworks polished zirc bar spinner for $850 and a KAP damasteel bearing removal tool for $1,400 on Facebook. There goes the tax refund…

–Took a quick ride to ARP to check odometer calibration. Check.

–Watered plants (no fertilizer).

–Balanced a couple of Retcores with tungsten putty–a bar (normal) and a tri (a first for me; tri’s don’t seem to ever be out of balance).

–Took a shower and shave. The new Declaration Grooming soap has a nice smell. The new (to me) brush is way too large and holds too much water. May send it out to be re-knotted.

–Went for a nominal 14.4 mile ride on the canal. Calibrated the odometer and noted it was .075 miles “ahead” in 3 miles. After a whole lot of searching on the web, finally found out how to lower the tire circumference by 2.5% on the bike computer. WRT dementia: I spent the whole ride (and others) believing I’d have to set the circumference higher due to the inflated odometer readings. To be clear: I ride 1 mile, odometer says 1.1 miles, it thinks tires are big. Specifically, tires spin 317 times in 1 mile, odometer says 1.1 miles. By reducing tire size in the odo, it now thinks 317 revolutions is exactly 1 mile. To be absurd and make the point, if I said the tire size was 100mm, the odo would say those same 317 revolutions would take us 50 feet. WRT old age: the ride totally wiped me out. A lot of it was the fact that it heated up early today (91 on the odo around 10:30 AM), but a lot of it is on me of course.

–Went to Bel Air for bagels, dinner (pizza) and dessert.

–Blazing sun notwithstanding, I re-did the cleaning of the Weber Genesis Silver B LP (liquid propane) SWE (stopwatch engineering) grill–and added a lube step I didn’t do the first time and saw in a video. We rollin’ now…

–Took Grace to Smart & Final.

–Made dinner: Kenny’s baked potato (with chives from the garden) and a couple of Aidell sausages.

–Took another 11-mile ride to Hagan Park. Something about the “new” saddle–168mm wide Power Comp–and/or its position made it quite a comfortable ride.

–Fertilized and watered most plants.

–Bolted the belt sander and buffer to the new thick board. Now we rollin’…

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Hot hot hot; 88 was 6 degrees over previous record.

–Picked up blue Olight flashlight at UPS. Not the same striking blue as seen on TV.

–Got some staples at Bel Air—milk, cereal, coffee cake, etc.

–Ordered a couple of “close quarters” bit drivers for bike saddle fitting. Probably won’t need them as I found a one-bolt seatpost and ordered two, for quick switching comparisons.

–In an amazing and embarrassing discovery, I was looking in the cabinet below the vise to see what bike seats I had in stock. There were 2-3 of the standaard Specialized saddles, AND one of those $300 3D-printed Power Mirror deals. Absolutely unbelievable that I bought that 1-2 years ago, then completely forgot about it while seriously considering it as my next purchase.

–Rode 11.1 miles to Hagan Park again. Warm day, lots of folks on the trail, got several compliments on the InnerLight. The Mirror saddle was good, not mind-boggling, so I spent a fair amount of time today fiddling with height, fore/aft and angle. Angle is big: I almost instantly cured one of my complaints wherein I’m constantly struggling to stay far enough back on the saddle for comfort. It might turn into something good, I don’t know.

–Declaration Grooming shaving brush came in. It’s nice. I’m soaking it in rose soap and WATER, not alcohol, hoping to keep it a while.

–Kenny’s outside garage keypad failed. After some futile attempts to revive it, he drove me to Home Depot and I picked up a replacement. It came with no instructions, just a QR code that led to some incorrect instructions. I spent a while on the web and finally found something absurdly complicated that worked.

–Fed the birds; watered and fed the plants. The Jimson Weed is really looking healthy.

–Stopped at UPS for a Magnus Sidewinder (nice) and a Pelikan pencil (nice). Managed to fit a (long) Pentel eraser into the Pelikan, and I have many Pentel erasers, so no need to pay the (no doubt) inflated price for the tiny Pelikan ones.

–Planted the amaryllis in back, after digging out ~30 2″-3″ rocks. Then severely pruned the abutilon in front, which really needed it. We rollin’ now…

–Marie meatloaf for dinner.

–Pulled yellow leaves off the abutilon; took some pics with the Contax N Digital.

–Ripped off the Zio patch and dropped it off at UPS.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Picked up the new bike tires at Bob’s. Took an 11.1 mile ride to Hagan Park. The tires are fabulous, way better than the replaced ones.

–Wittkop saddle came in. Had a tough time installing it, as with all saddles. It has minimal front-back adjustment, as I knew from reviews. In a ride around the block it seemed okay, but not mind-boggling. We’ll see tomorrow.

–Made brownies for dessert. They smell great.

–Took the InnerLight wheels to Bob’s bikes to get narrower tires fitted. Will pick up tomorrow.

–Watered and fertilized back patio plants. Removed the lemon grass and pulled all the moth-eaten leaves off the pepper. Looks good now. Camellia looks good, too, They ALL look good.

–Rode 12.4 miles today, half on the canal. Totally wiped me out for some reason. Decided to get some thinner tires and maybe a new saddle.

–Lunch at Beach Hut Deli.

–Went to Bel Air for some staples.

–Marie for dinner.

–Took another bike ride: 10.00 miles. Better than yesterday, but it was a different route, and cooler.

–Picked up the Hank’s belt at UPS. Total joke: weighs about a pound, stiff as a board. Tossed it and ordered a nice Dunhill reversible. Kaweco pencil also came in. Not thrilled with (a) no eraser, (b) looseness of top part, (c) lead-advance mechanism. Ordered a nice Pelikan; may move the Kaweco to the bedroom.

–Another beautiful day.

–Pumped up the tires on the InnerLight and took a 6.8 mile ride. I may have mentioned that 78 seems like a bad age for me, health- and energy-wise. The ride was pretty much misery. At this point I don’t know if a lot of practice will really improve things; I could just be too old and fat. Gotta try though, I guess.

–Stopped at UPS for (a) Weleda light lotion: it is indeed light, and seems to be working in a standard (Amazon) pump bottle; it does NOT, however, smell as good as the original thick stuff, contrary to Google AI. (b) LIC EDC Mesa spinner in bronze. Nice spinner, but WAY more dinged-up than was mentioned by seller. I did manage to get it near-perfect, but it took a lot of buffing.

–Getting warmer.

–DST is here, for the next NINE MONTHS. This is ridiculous.

–I noticed that the “good” Homedics toothbrush had a break near the top that allowed it to bend back easily. No idea how it happened. I put some epoxy on it and it seems to have been (invisibly) fixed. I also managed to swap in one of the unbroken base windings–not easy, much fiddling required, but now it’s perfect.

–Watered and fertilized plants.

–Went to Bel Air for milk, dessert, and some stuff for Grace.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Windy and warm today.

–Didn’t do much, didn’t go anywhere.

–Got the Homedics batteries sorted, and I now understand (more or less) how to use the charger.

–Vintage Braun 3D toothbrush came in. It’s beautifully designed and a pleasure to hold, but like all the Oral B’s I’ve seen, there’s no easy way to get at the battery.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Watered plants.

–Went to Hooverville Orchards for jam, bread, dessert.

–Played with batteries all day. Finally stopped fooling around with all the Discharge, Test, Refresh, etc. and just (a) drained them in the toothbrushes (one died a lot quicker than the other two), and (b) put them on Charge. Still some anomalies: batteries are labeled as 2.4 volts (two 1.2V stacked) and 300 mAh; on the charger they’re showing > 4 volts and 800 mAh (and rising). So I still don’t know if the charger is treating them as NiCd or Li-Ion.

–Kenny took us to the Honey Store, where he got honey and we got expensive honey gifts for Grace’s sisters. Then to Caballo Blanco for lunch. Very good stuff.

–Anton van der Westhuizen Angel’s Finger knife came in. Beautiful and nice action, but (a) loose IKBS bearings, which are a huge pain in the ass to deal with, and (b) like so many others, the blade can be tight and off-center, or centered and loose. I spent a while trying to get it tight and centered, but it’s not going to happen. Wish I knew what the difference is between this and (say) my dozen Shamwaris.

–Ultra-smart battery charger came in. I played with it a bit and tried to figure it out, but it might be too smart for me. I ended up just putting my three Homedics batteries on a “refresh/charge” cycle, which could take hours. It might be interesting to put the batteries in the dumb charger afterwards to see what it says.

–Went for bagels at New York Bagels. They continue to change: no banana bread or brownies now. Then to KP Market for some chicken thighs for Grace.

–Got a haircut at Great Clips. With Brittany!

–Went to UPS for Weleda (it wasn’t there; I suspect this will be another MIA) and Homedics toothbrush. As usual, the brush didn’t run after some charging. When I tried to open it up (breaking many plastic tabs, as is also usual on these clear/blue cases) and banged it on the desk, it started running. Too late: battery was visibly corroded and I couldn’t close it with all the broken pieces.

–Stopped at Bel Air for milk, cream, frozen dinners. My frozen dinner (Marie orange chicken bowl) was almost inedible.

–Picked up airless bottles at UPS (messy to fill, but they seem to work) and pizza/cookies at Bel Air.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Applied the Zio patch.

–Finally cleaned up the bathroom. Much better now.

–Went to see Christine Oeur at UC Davis Health in Elk Grove for a prostate consult. Long and short: she’s doubling the Tamsulosin dose and will see me again in April. I guess the questionnaire I filled out re how serious are the symptoms suggested I’m not quite ready for surgery yet. I suppose that’s okay, depending on how the new dose works.

–Got a new (old) Homedics toothbrush today with a fancier handle, then proceeded to destroy it. I’m 99.9% certain it had already come apart due to a broken tab (apparently a common thing for these), and I broke a hair-like wire trying to put it back together. The battery was soldered in anyway, so taking it apart would have achieved nothing. Ordered yet another one on eBay (4? 5?). Turns out the newer ones have a two-minute timer, which is okay, since I’ve never spent two minutes brushing my teeth.

–Quite warm today–wore shorts for the first time in months.

–Tended to the back patio plants. Most are looking pretty good.

–Vicolo pizza for dinner.

–Another do-nothing day.

–Went to UPS for N55 magnets; they didn’t improve the Magnus SC slider.

–Got milk and dessert at Bel Air.

–Downloaded some old Scrubs episodes. These came with subtitles, unlike the couple of avi’s I had from years ago.

–Dark day, though no rain to speak of. Tree trimmers were all around, including our Chinese Pistache tree–but only the branches that were over common property

–Went to UPS (twice) for (a) pump bottles–these MAY work for Weleda, which is really thick stuff; (b) yet another Homedics toothbrush–I have two good batteries now, and really looking forward to the smart charger I ordered. Spent a lot of time playing with three units/two batteries/12 brush heads, trying to put together the best example. Also, turns out standard AA batteries fit and work, but weakly: they are 1.2 volts compared to the original batteries which are 2.4 volts, albeit with much lower mAh.

–Got a call from UC Davis Health to schedule echocardiogram–in April. Also they gave me a number to call re Zio patch: turns out no one had done anything about getting me one. They are now. Great.

–Spent the day downloading/reconciling videos.

–Took a shower and shave.

–The Hario kettle leaked again, so I checked it out again. It seems the steam sensor tube is hollow (duh), so a “careless ” dump of water into the kettle will send some into the tube and thus down to the bottom. So, just pour carefully; problem solved.

–Potted the dieffenbachia; looks good for now.

–Trimmed back the bizarre double plant on the front patio.

–Picked up Weleda at UPS.

–Took Grace to Bel Air for lots of stuff.

–Did some re-potting and such in the garden.

–Took Grace to Smart & Final.

–Stopped at UPS for (a) Amazon pump bottles–way too large; (b) FidgetBoy mokume spinner–very nice; (c) Magnus superconductor slider–nice-looking, but magnets in the corners are not strong enough, as usual on his heavy sliders; (d) Torqbar magnum tungsten–it’s in good shape and all, but very large and heavy, and has sort of a knock when spinning, though balance seems fine. May keep, may not.

–Tried to get Weleda lotion into various pump bottles, including one Grace gave me. Long story short, it seems that only the “awkward angle” pumps that came with a heavy cream will work. I’ll play around a little more, but will likely end up just dispensing it from its original container.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–No rain today; still cold and windy though.

–Called NY Bagels and–amazingly–a woman answered who took my order for a dozen sesame. When I picked them up, the old bald guy who’s been missing for a while was there. He said he had been working afternoons.

–Second Homedics toothbrush came in. Seems to charge and work fine, though I don’t know how long the battery will last. I tried my kluge battery in it and no dice. OTOH, when I putthe “new” battery in the non-working toothbrush it worked fine. So my home-built battery is the problem. I suppose I could have Batteries Plus build one, as they offered, but I don’t know. Would it fit? Do the two half-batteries have to be soldered together? Does it need a button on one end?

–Batteries came in for the Homedics toothbrush. Good news: they fit. Bad news: after soldering some “lumps” onto the ends for better contact, they seemed to be charging (the light came on). Toothbrush was still dead as a doornail, Could be risky, but I’m really anxious to see if the batteries in the incoming toothbrush (known to work well) will work in this first one.

–Played around with Oz knives a bit. Picked three to keep, eight to sell.

–Lots and lots of rain today. Cold, too.

–Took Grace to a UC Davis lab for a blood draw, then to the recycling center, then to Raley’s.

–After some more issues and fixes, I THINK I have my Thunderbird/Comcast/Yahoo email completely sorted out.

–Big rain last night and today, off and on. Finally.

–Went to UPS to pick up the first knife I’ve bought from a maker’s website in a LONG time: an Oz Roosevelt XL.

–Stopped at Bel Air for milk and cream.

–Kenny gave us another cheesecake, $5 Monday at Bel Air.

–Took a shower and shave. Sprayed some athlete’s foot/jock itch medication on my balls afterwards, and they burned like fire for a few minutes. I have to assume I’m sort of chronically infected, maybe due to sweatpants’ lack of breathability and/or harboring of germs. Hoping that if I spray every day for a while I can knock this out.

–Breezy, grayish day, but no rain yet.

–Took Grace to Smart & Final.

–Missed my second LIC spinner drop in a couple weeks. Turns out that the website password is posted not by the owner, Jamie Ackerman, but by an admin named Kory Sean. And: apparently I had blocked him some time ago, most likely for foul language. Worse, I won a nice slider several days ago, and apparently Kory was the one to contact winners and get payment, etc. What a piece o’ crap! Kory and I had exchanged messages previously, and (in addition to not recalling the block) I thought I had unblocked all of my previous blocks, at least in part so as not to miss possibly desirable sales posts. [edit] On reflection it seems I may have blocked Kory as one of the obnoxious “showoff” guys who do nothing but post artsy photos of their utterly unobtanium $5,000 fidgets. And in messaging Jamie Ackerman about this, I fear I may have soured a nice relationship. Anything else I can do for you?

–Sherry dropped off a couple of Valentine’s cookies.

–Kenny dropped off a baked potato.

–I brought Sherry some chocolate-covered fruit, and later gave some to Kenny along with some of the lemon curd Grace made with lemons Kenny gave us.

–Homedics toothbrush wouldn’t charge, so I got the battery out and took it to Batteries Plus. Seems it is two 1/2 AA batteries joined in series, and they didn’t have a replacement. Found a n open box toothbrush, same model, on eBay and the seller graciously tested it and found it charged instantly, so I bought it. The “joined” battery no longer exists, so I’m going to try getting a couple of halves and soldering them in series. Risky, because the length and width of the original battery are very specific (no slop), But I haven’t soldered in a while, so here’s my chance.

–Wanted to watch a Harry Potter movie, and found that the SyFy channel now requires a subscription. USA and E! also do, and Cartoon Network did a while back. I will be dropping Comcast as soon as I can find a suitable replacement–the greed of those guys is mind-boggling. prices steadily rise, channels steadily disappear.

–Went to Safeway on Folsom for Noxzema cleansing pads, milk, cabbage. ALL cosmetics, pain relief, vitamins, lotions, shampoo, etc. were behind locked glass doors.

–Stopped at UPS for Homedics toothbrush. Charging now. Not 100% sure the battery is good after what might be many years.

–Tried to set up my digital key fobs in the BMW. Turns out they are not digital. Must have been a previous BMW where the locks would go crazy when I went into the garage with a key in my pocket. Hopefully I at least got the car to recognize me so I won’t have to enter a PIN every time I get in.

–Put gas in the Beemer, then took it to Roseville BMW for the required oil change. Sat there from1:15 to 3:45. Don’t know what the issue was.

–Stopped at UPS to pick up an Indy Thicc tungsten-copper Chelsea. This was relatively cheap, as seller showed dings. Seller didn’t show all the dings, though, and some were more like holes. Spent some time on the buffer with (mostly) Bergeon satin wheels, and made it pretty much perfect. It was a tad off balance, which I fixed with tungsten putty. Yay!

–Gray, windy day. No real rain during the day, maybe .25″ last night. As usual, the TV weather guys over-predicted.

–Went to Bel Air for Eliquis prescription, cookies, milk, bananas, pizza stuff.

–Stopped at UPS for Clean EDC XL Slim Pillar in SS.

–Downloaded and started reading the most recent Reacher book, Exit Strategy.

–Mind-boggling: saw a reddit post saying an Oz Roosevelt XL was available at the site. Went there AND BOUGHT IT. One of like three knives (out of dozens) that I’ve gotten direct from the maker.

–Pizza for dinner, home-made.

–Kind of a gray day; started to drizzle around 4 PM.

–Went to see Dr. Deepa Nandyal, UC Davis Cardiology in Roseville. She prescribed Eliquis, a blood thinner with few side effects to help prevent stroke after AFib. There will also be an echo cardiogram and (maybe) a stress test.

–Stopped at Bel Air for milk and cream.

–Tried to buy Hermes Copernic wallet in blue from Macau site. No dice–they don’t seem to ship to U.S. Finally got to a U.S. site that would ship, but they had it in brown. Crap!

–Tried for appointments today. Got one tomorrow in Roseville for Cardiology. Gave up after holding forever trying to get a Urology appointment anywhere. It’s possible that various UCD urologists are consolidating this very day downtown.

–Feeling crappy on and off. Better after a shower.

–THE CAMELLIA BLOOMED!!

–Did some polishing. Tried to be rigorous, but–as usual–ended up polishing scratches left from previous low grits. Will continue.

–Watched Seattle win the Super Bowl.

–Vicolo pizza for dinner.

–Feeling okay. Helped Kenny fix his wheelchair after he broke a bolt on it. I happened to have the exact same bolt in my box o’ nuts and bolts.

–Picked up some Dialux rouge at UPS. Set up my polishing station with eight wheels and eight grades of rouge. Will try it out soon on a $450 Indy Thicc Chelsea with dings that sells for $700-$800 without dings. Hoping…

–Stopped at Bel Air for Milk, cream cheese, bananas, chips and cheese sauce for the Super Bowl tomorrow.

–Feeling better. Went to New York Bagels for 4 sesame, 8 plain bagels. Caucasian clerk wasn’t there, nor old bald guy nor young attractive woman. Wish I knew what was going on, and could start doing phone orders again.

–Fixed a spray bottle spout for Grace.

–Finally finished cataloging fidgets. Need to start selling some now.

–Grace and I went to see Dr. Swensson this morning. I thought Grace would have a big visit, but all she talked about was potassium–and opiates of course. My blood pressure follow-up was fine, now that I’m at 100mm Losartan.

–Stopped at Friends with Benedicts in Folsom for brunch. Pretty good.

–Got another baked potato from Kenny; re-programmed his old garage door remote which seemed to have lost its programming when I did the new one. Both working now.

–Still eating Raisin Bran for dinner.

–Feeling better today, for the first time. Took a decent crap this morning. Watched a guy replace the two batteries in Kenny’s mobility scooter. Turns out the guy (40ish?) is an avid racquetball player–I thought the sport was dead.

–Oatmeal with bananas for lunch, Raisin Bran for dinner.

–Blood pressure is finally down to the 120s/60s. Could be the first 100mg Losartan I took today (as opposed to two 50s); could be because I wore a short-sleeve shirt: no fabric in the way. Anyhow, one less thing to worry about.

–Still feeling pretty blah. Also, started recording blood pressure today and it does not look good. Wish I could get past this.

–Went to UPS for Kenny’s garage remote and to sign up for another year. Stopped at Bel Air to deposit the Great Infusions Maximatic check.

–Did some spinner polishing, to no great avail.

–Still feeling pretty crappy. Went to Smart & Final for some stuff for Kenny, then UPS for some spinner hardware, then Bel Air for coffee beans.

–Accidentally came across a post on Facebook showing how the FY (Fu Ye) bearing tool works. I had tossed it, not able to figure it out. Retrieved it and got it to work. Pretty nifty–only two pieces, no washers, collars, etc.–kind of embarrassing that I couldn’t figure it out.

–Feeling better. Doughnut for breakfast. Tried to sharpen a chisel on the new machine; gave up. Sharpened by hand in a few minutes, got a great edge. Tossed the new machine.

–Watered plants. Most are looking okay.

–Took a shower and shave. Felt good.

–Feeling slightly better. Went to Bel Air with Grace for Raisin Bran (really hit the spot), Aussie Bites (ditto), oranges, bananas, chicken pot pies. Felt a little better while being active, though that faded fairly quickly.

–Kenny has been dropping by daily. He’s in good shape now, driving here and scootering there.

–Feeling crappy still–my abdomen really hurts, though there’s not the slightest sign of infection. A do-nothing day.

–Visited Dr. Swensson, with Grace. She was patient and thorough. I’m still feeling crappy.

–Lied to Dr. Swensson about amoxycillin, which I took once and then stopped, based only on avoiding pills that don’t seem necessary. I had bad vomiting that night, but ascribed it to the acetaminophen/ibuprofen combo I had also taken. Because she was so insistent, I took one before bed, and 20 minutes later threw up everything I had eaten that day. Then a tiny little bell went off in my head regarding a horrible night I had some years ago, and the word “amoxycillin” came to mind. I’m now sure I’m seriously allergic to it, and that’s what caused both vomiting episodes (not the painkiller combo). Hopefully I can avoid it in the future, without exposing myself as being untruthful to Grace and Dr. Swensson.

–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.

–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.