Author: wsf (Page 20 of 29)

–Played around some with the pool. Seems fairly certain that at least the main pump (probably both) has to be at 3000 RPM to prevent air bubbles. I finally got a good idea of what the solar porthole should look like when all is good: it should look like there’s nothing in it.

–Roasted some caf beans. Had too many in the second batch; the chaff actually caught fire (inside the collector) and turned to ash. Oops…

–Took Grace to the Carmichael Park farmers market. Market was nice, though I should have recalled that it’s a mistake to make Grace do anything.

–Internet went down again. I finally went to Best Buy and got the latest Motorola cable modem/router. After a long activation session on the phone with Comcast, all is good again.

–Went to Nai’s Berry Farm for strawberries, tomatoes, something.

–Took a swim. Nippy (pool 84, air 70).

–Took Grace to Green Acres in Citrus Heights, where she didn’t find a planter box. Then to Safeway, where she foundmany of her desired drinks.

–Bought a 5512 caseback with same date (IV.67) as the one Rolex will confiscate. eBay told seller to send it to Ohio (for authentication, which he didn’t know about) which led to a whole fiasco. Finally bought it direct, saving a few dollars.

–Switched back to the small group on the Livietta, since that portafilter allows 15g shots, as opposed to 13g shots with the large group (the larger portafilter won’t accept deep baskets). Doesn’t seem practical to grind out the large bottomless portafilter, and it seems almost impossible to find an original 54mm portafilter. Crap.

–Ruined yet another pair of goggles trying to clean them, then trying to polish out the (sticky) anti-fog film. That stuff is terrible. Took a quick swim anyway.

–Made pizza for dinner. #0 minutes at 450 (as the recipe called for) resulted in a charred hockey puck. Maybe I set the oven for 550?

–Went to Leslie Pool Supply for basket and inlet nozzle. Got nothing. Used some wire to make our “second” basket more round, so it fits better. Added chlorine to a cloudy pool. Adjusted pool temp to 87 and set pool and aux pumps to turn off at 4 PM.

–Took a swim; took a shower.

–Rode 11 miles with Tom Elken on the Humbug/Willow Creek trails in Folsom.

–Took a swim. Pool was 88, a bit too warm at the shallow end.

–Back is still killing me.

–Took a swim. Pool was 87, which might have felt warm last season, but just felt pleasant today. I’m getting wimpier…

–Mowed the lawn, did a little pruning.

–Took a swim.

–Went to Sunrise farmers market for cherries, strawberries, radishes, squash.

–Went to Best Buy for a headphone adapter for the Android. It appears that there are zero apps that affect earpiece (or headphone) volume. I did find one though that acts like it would blow the speaker out the window. Also discovered “assistive touch” on the iPhone, which SEEMS to allow volume control beyond the buttons. Much playing around to do.

–Made breakfast for dinner: Corralitos bacon, scrambled eggs, grits. Yum!

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 9 AM.

–Installed large grouphead and new solenoid on Livietta. Solenoid made no difference whatsoever. Tried 18 grams of coffee in larger portafilter: no go. Had to remove some to get the portafilter in. The pull was kind of messy. Hard to imagine I can only add (about) 2 grams when going from a 49mm to a 54mm portafilter. [edit] Turns out I likely have a single or double basket, which might only be good for 14 grams. Just ordered a La San Marco triple basket, allegedly good for 21 grams (though probably not on this machine). Should be better, anyway.

–Samsung Galaxy Z Flip came in. Great ergonomics. Sound on a call with Grace was no better than iPhone. Trying to eliminate all unwanted apps and such, then add the GOODEV volume increaser. It currently seems to be stuck in an infinite loop of Android system updates. [edit] Finally stopped updating. Got the GOODEV app and tried it out. Not too impressive.

–Had breakfast of a sort at the Holiday Inn Express: I put in an order, they bring out a plate. Good coffee.

–iPod with solid-state memory came. It’s thick, has U2 autographs on the back, and the touch ring sits way proud of the center button (and top of case). Could be intentional, but I have my doubts. When I plugged it into the laptop, iTunes came on and took over, repeatedly. Further, my playlist seems only to exist on iTunes; I can’t find it on the laptop. Crap.

–Had leftover potato and crunchy vegetable salads plus Corralitos cheesy Bavarian and jalapeno sausage. Good stuff.

–Took the Beemer to the beach. Big slowdown because the 1 south exit off 17 was blocked. Eventually dropped off the espresso machines at Great Infusions. Went to Watsonville, had lunch at McDonald’s, closed the account at Bay Federal (got two checks). Went to La Selva Beach and took some pics: 110 Playa is being totally redone. Went to Marina Holiday Inn Express, checked in. Got a room on the top floor–for more money. Drove into Pacific Grove: cold and foggy (sunny in Seaside). Went to REI and got three nice long-sleeve shirts–for $185. Had dinner at Smash Burger; not so great. Got expensive gas in Marina.

–Rode the canal 12.5 miles with Tom Elken–I on the InnerLight, he on my Turbo Vado. Warm, but a good ride.

–Went to Bel Air for prepared salads, oranges, apples. Made turkey burgers for dinner.

–Pool is still cloudy. Added another envelope of shocker. Also upped the RPMs on main and booster pumps. Crap.

–Added more chlorine to the pool. Still cloudy. Went to Home Depot and got some pool shock and a pegboard. Used the pool shock. Pool is improving but still cloudy. Also, big, constant air bubbles this afternoon. I’m about to give up. Stopped and started the pumps, air bubbles may have gone away, but at these pump speeds they should never appear. Hung the pegboard in the garage.

–Went to the Sunrise farmers market for tomatoes, broccoli, oranges, tamales, salsa, etc.

–TOOK A SWIM!!. Pool was 82 and I dove in (poorly). In hindsight, I probably would have been okay at 80. Pool needs chlorine, but seems okay beyond that.

–Moved the bird feeder to make it more visible from living room.

–Pool was still 81 at 4 PM today. Looks like no swimming until May. Really curious as to what I’ll find comfortable now.

–Finally fixed the patio door blinds, with much interference from Grace.

–Tried to go swimming at 4 PM with pool at 81. Walked in, chickened out. May try to dive in tomorrow; pool will likely be much warmer.

–Put new batteries in hearing aids around 9 AM.

–Rode the InnerLight (with Selle Rolls) on the Canal. Seat is good; bike is good. Found what was left of a turkey that had been eaten by a cougar or coyote or something; collected some nice feathers.

–Made Jimmy Dean hot sausage, hash browns, Acme toast and eggs for dinner. Yum!

–Saw some bubbles in the pool this afternoon; bumped up the speed of the booster pump again.

–Found I already had an iSesamo tool, so opened up the iPod, making just the tiniest nick in the glass. Pulled the battery out (which gained nothing charging overnight); eagerly awaiting new battery. The “Pop” EQ on that player is (as I vaguely recall from previous ones) is the best mp3 music I’ll ever hear.

–Played with seats/seatposts a little, and discovered a standards disaster. The InnerLight tube is 30mm but was shimmed down to 27, while most of my seatposts are 27.2. Finally got the Selle Regal on the Specialized with the Thomson Masterpiece post, and the Selle Rolls on the Innerlight with the drastically cut-down Thomson Elite post. Took a short Canal ride on the InnerLight (with the OEM Specialized saddle). There was a tense moment coming back up the rise from trail to Gold Country, but I did NOT have to get off. Good exercise.

Rolex 5512 came in a little early. Great on the timegrapher, some dots on the dial, case seems good. Caseback says IV 67. The 11-link 93150 bracelet dating from 1983 was a tad tight, so swapped in a later 93150 in better shape and stole a link from the one on the new watch. 12 links are good; I used to think 11 would work. Looking for an age-appropriate rivet bracelet.

–Left hearing aid battery went out around 5 PM.

–Went to Noah’s for bagels and Peet’s for caf and decaf beans.

–iPod came in. Sat on the charger in the utility room for 5 hours with no effect (“very low battery, do not disconnect”). Plugged it into the laptop and it sprang to life, syncing with iTunes and loading up my playlist (which I had just put up on iTunes. Right now the battery symbol appears to signify fully charged, though it’s flashing a circle/slash sign and saying “do not disconnect.” Might work after all; it sure is new.

–Watched a mother/child squirrel pair on the fence and the patio for quite a while. The kid was nursing off and on. Very sweet.

–Dropped the booster pump from 2000 RPMs to 1800. Saw some air coming in late in the afternoon, so raised it to 1900.

–Made turkey burgers for dinner.

–Played with pool controls. (1) Main pump needs 2900 RPM to eliminate solar bubbles. (2) Booster pump needs ~2000 RPM for same. That is: 2900 + 2000 = no bubbles; 2800 + 2000 = bubbles; 2900 + 1500 = bubbles. Will try to tune the booster pump later. (3) Low water level leads to air bubbles in skimmer, which show up in main pump porthole (and pool inlet). So: sufficient water + sufficient RPMs = no bubbles. Again, it’s super-annoying that none of several techs provided this solution.

–Went to Bel Air for apples, milk, cream, dessert, etc.

–Went with Grace to East Sac. Picked up Squale at Ivanov’s. What an ugly little watch. Had lunch at Chipotle. Not so great. Went shopping at Corti Bothers. Got Acme bread, pork chops, potato salad, Greek salad, jams, cheese, lunch meat, etc. Had the pork chops and salads tonight. Good stuff.

–Thomson Masterpiece seatpost came in. Installed it with the Selle Regal saddle; piece of cake. Don’t see why I needed the bigger clamp I ordered, but it shouldn’t be horribly hard to install it, especially with the ball-end hex driver.

–The pool started up at 8 AM. I really thought I had nailed down the schedules. I played with it some more, so we’ll see tomorrow. Of note: there were air bubbles after I slowed things down initially (Grace was in a panic regarding the robot run amok). I bumped the main back up to 3000 RPM, and booster to something (don’t recall) and bubbles went away. Hoping things start at 10 tomorrow, so I can relax about scheduling and start tuning the pumps for air bubbles.

–Found a new trail to ride: The Folsom South Canal. It’s actually an aqueduct, diverting water from the American River and taking it 26 miles south to farmers and such. The wide bike path runs the whole distance, and was empty today except for me. Nice.

–Got our (temporary) Real IDs at the Folsom DMV.

–Spent some frustrating time trying to fit various bike saddles on various seatposts. The clamps are horribly designed. Ordered a new Thomson seatpost and some ball-end hex screwdrivers to try and set things up with the carbon-rail Selle Regale.

–Rode 17.5 miles with Tom Elken. I was hoping he’d show me how to get through Folsom to catch the north part of the Lake Natoma loop, but we initially came out at Mel’s diner, so had to backtrack to get to Folsom. After that, instead of turning right toward Mike’s Bikes, turn left and go over the bridge, then cross the street and head right toward Negro Bar. Sort of.

–Pool Time guys came at 3:30. I noted what they did with valves (one on the roof!), but (1) he said nothing is needed on the controller except a schedule change (really hard to believe), then (2) he increased the speed of the booster pump (Aux2) after I mentioned I had it set low, then (3) he went into this thing about Aux4, which he said was the solar pump. He upped its speed from 0 to 2600 (maybe on the pump itself), then went into this totally confused explanation of how Aux4 is the same as the main pump.

(a) There is no Aux4 on this system (Aux1–Aux3, Feature1–Feature4). (b) How can you set one pump to run at different speeds at the same time? The guy might know pumps, but he’s clueless wrt controllers. And the pump blew air into the pool the full time it was on today (over an hour).

This really sucks.

–Made a crusty pan pizza for dinner. Good stuff.

–Left hearing aid died. Took it to Costco and they replaced the wire that leads from body to earpiece. Works fine now.

–Motorola Razr came in. Wrong model of course: had a slot for a memory card (maybe), but not a SIM. CDMA phones (e.g., Verizon) don’t use SIMs. Okay, so why does my iPhone, running on Verizon, use a SIM? I really need to find out the differences among CDMA, GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, EVO, etc. etc. It’s still not likely I’ll get a Razr (or any vintage flip phone) working, plus the Razr, while unblemished, really felt and sounded like a piece of crap. One loses sight of how good the iPhone is.

–Hung the fruit crate labels in the dining room.

–Got tomatoes, cara cara oranges, strawberries, giant Brussels sprouts ay Sunrise farmers market.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries at 4:30 PM.

–Mowed the lawn; tried to prop up the wilted-looking basil plant.

–Went to Devon’s to pick up the refurbished Rolex Datejust. Rolex replaced the entire case (and nothing else), then inscribed the caseback with 16000/EX123 (old serial)/K567 (new serial). So it has a new serial, with evidence of the original 1971 serial.

–Aztec canceled on the solar startup. Called Pool-Time; they’ll be out on the 20th.

–Walked to Bel Air for a couple of prepared salads to have with grilled turkey burgers. Good stuff.

–Noticed the skimmer has a high-speed spin going–and the level appears to be only an inch or so above the shelf. Kind of annoying that the skimmer works best when the pool level is close to being too low.

–Went to Bel Air for milk, dessert, oranges, apples. Got a basil plant as well, and planted it. looks really droopy. Hope it picks up.

–Went for a 9-mile ride in Folsom with Tom Elken. Then lunch at Karen’s Bakery & Cafe (I brought cinnamon rolls back for dessert). Then Tom bought a Specialized Turbo Vado just like mine (except yucky gray) at Mike’s Bikes.

–Took a shower. Put a blade in the Barbaros and the gap looked large, so reboxed that razor and went with the Gillette double ring. Though the gap looked like it was too small to shave, the blade feel was substantial and the shave was close. Decided to toss the Personnas in the white paper that came with Blackland razors (I believe) and go back to “real” Personnas, Derbys, and Wilkinsons. Plus there are some others (Feather, notably) which I’ll try.

–Got bagels at Noah’s.

–I thought PayPal had lifted the ban, based on what looked like a clean login, but found out there was zero progress from last night while buying a bike saddle on eBay–I had to use my BofA credit card. PayPal account is still “limited,” photo ID is “completed,” credit card verification is “submitted.” This is extremely annoying, as I lost a chance to call them today thinking all was well. Further, I’m fearful that the eBay Squale refund won’t go through because of this problem.

–Painted the solar downspout that was replaced.

–Played with the Gibbs razor for a while. From what I can see it’s a piece of crap. With no blade, the cap gap seems relatively even, but when I tighten down on a blade, it warps and the blade gap is a mess. I flattened some surfaces (that already looked fine) to no effect. I thought my first shave with that razor was great, but the second was awful–after I had carefully taken it apart, figured everything out, and put it back together. Don’t know whether to pursue the brand or not. It gets some rave reviews, but there’s the occasional report of a rough shave. Curiosity will probably win out.

–eBay “limited” my account (shut it down, essentially) due to suspicious activity. I had to send them a photo ID and a credit card statement. Really annoying.

–Branches falling off redwood tree over pool may mean squirrel nesting.

–Took a ride around the neighborhood. Butt (continued to) hurt, so I put the Selle Rolls on the Turbo Vado. Saddles were in the same location on both bikes, but the Selle was about level (before and after switching from InnerLight to Turbo), while the Specialized saddle on the Turbo was tilted way up. We’ll see.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 8:30 AM.

–Did some pool chemistry; found out (amazingly) that only the alkalinity needs adjusting. Hard to believe.

–Took notes on pool controller settings. Looks like it could be dead simple to turn solar on. Also got a hint that the solar water was 110 degrees this afternoon. Possible I guess.

–Went to Goodwill. They still wouldn’t take the Christmas tree. Dumped it behind a building on Sunrise.

–Left hearing aid battery went out around 8 PM.

–Mowed the lawn.

–Took a shower. Tore my face up with the Gibbs razor and anAstra blade. Will probably sell the former and dump the latter.

–Filled out the loan application, then made the mistake of talking to Grace. She’s still upset at having moved out of La Selva Beach, and won’t talk about further moves. I canceled the application.

–Talked with Tom Elken a bit; he’s going to order a bike just like mine.

–Went to Sutter Walk-In Care in Rancho Cordova and got the first of two Shingrix shots.

–Was playing with and trying to figure out the Gibbs razor, and discovered that it was much more complex than I had thought, and actually did have a spring in it. I put a new spring in it (may revert later), thoroughly cleaned it up, and punched out an Astra blade for it. Smooth shave coming up.

–Talked to Nate Newsome about a $300k home mortgage loan. He’ll be sending an application.

–Cleared off my desk.

–Got milk and cream at Bel Air.

–Took Grace to both farmers markets; got stuff.

–Grace discovered (via water drops on window) that a squirrel had bitten through a dripline in the garden, causing a geyser. I tried Flex Tape, which leaked, then a sleeve, which held.

–Took the Beemer to PAMF to see Dr. Duncan. Had a nice lunch at Douce France. Duncan was late, all is okay.

–GPS took me through the Berkeley Maze on the way down, then through backroads in the Delta on the way back–totally miserable. New rule: pick your route and stick to it.

–Ivanov’s called with a $40 estimate for the stem on the Squale. They also had an idea of using a longer stem tube to hold the movement in place while opening/closing the back. Might work.

–eBay slammed me on my attempt to return the Squale–seller doesn’t take returns, watch was authenticated. End of story. After I yelled a bit, they told me to get a repair estimate and they would pay. I went to Ivanov’s and they will give an estimate. The watch is a horrible piece of crap, with a tiny movement and a split caseback that can’t be removed without breaking the stem. Live and learn.

–Left hearing aid went out around 7 PM.

–No ride with Tom today. He emailed last night to say he was having complications from a bladder/prostate exam in which a camera was inserted up his urethra. Yuck. He was still feeling woozy today.

–Took a shower. Tried my fifth Blackland Blackbird razor (polished brass). Too harsh. You’d think I might have figured that out several shaves ago, but I wanted so much to like the razor. Not in the cards.

–Squale/Blancpain came in finally, with all sorts of authenticator seals on it. Pulled the stem out to set it and it came all the way out: it’s broken. Will return it when eBay gets word that it’s been delivered–even though seller said “final sale, no returns.”

–Went for a blood draw at Sutter clinic. All good except HDL, 38 instead of 40+, as usual.

–Got bagels and breakfast (bagel sandwiches) at Noah’s.

–My drugs came in from CVS.

–Time to turn solar on: air was 76 degrees, pool 60 this morning.

–Took a 10-mile ride. Getting warm. Encountered some people on horses, and a lot of horse crap.

–A nice pair of ducks visited the pool this morning. Pretty incredible.

–Made turkey burgers etc. for dinner. Potato salad was bad, peanut butter/chocolate chip cookies from Upper Crust Bakery also.

–Made appointments for Dr. Duncan on 4/2 and lab work on 3/29.

–Went to two Targets (Olsen and Madison) for eye drops and a Weber burger press.

–Sent a couple of watch cases off to Tim Mackrain (Omega Addict) for him to build two “Watchco” Seamasters.

–The Spring warmup has started.

–Blocked another sprinkler in the garden.

–Walked to Bel Air for dessert and strawberries.

–Thor 54mm tamper came in. Looks great.

–Took a shower. Phoenix Ascension copper razor worked well, though the comb might be a little sharp. Will sand it down a bit.

–New batteries in hearing aids at 8:30 AM.

–Played with photo editors some more. Turns out DxO, which I had revived and dismissed just last night, is a winner.

–Triad razor handle came in. Very nice, sharpest knurling ever.

–Nokton 50/1.1 came in. Not so sure about it; limited testing.

–I’ve felt lousy the last couple of days. Thought it might be the Cialis, but I don’t know.

–The eBay seller who screwed me on the bottom dial Gillette has an auction going (currently around $1,000) for an original signed Picasso oil. Yup.

–Played with lenses. Decided to send off the Summicron to Yye Camera for a CLA.

–The guy who sold me the Gillette bottom dial on eBay (Mahmoud) canceled the transaction and refunded my payment. Claims he’s having PayPal issues and that I will definitely get the razor. His account is a year old, and he has 30 transactions (all in the last 30 days, all as a buyer, many with identical feedback from the sellers). I do vaguely recall that there are sellers who do $.01 sales with the sole purpose of helping build a feedback record. So: (a) He wants to avoid eBay fees and do the deal privately, or (b) he’s already sold the razor to someone who offered more. Hard to predict right now—-except for sure I’m not getting that razor.

–Grace is getting snitty again, after a few days of sunny disposition. A combo of no sleep and self-hatred for doing online games all day rather than making a shopping list.

–Played with lenses a bit. Long story short, that Color Skopar is really nice. Focuses smoother than the Summicron, seems about as sharp, great colors.

–Made pizza for dinner, with baloney, fresh mozzarella, pineapple. Yum!

–Took (additional) tax papers over to Curtis Finton’s office.

–Took a shower. Started to shave with the new Asylum 17-4. Acted like it would work, but the soap I used as so slick, and the razor handle so smooth, I quickly switched over to the Mergress (also a little smooth) then finally to the Gillette red dot. Some of that was the fault of the hyper-slick soap (which has the consistency of a thick shampoo), but I noted early on that the 17-4 handle had really shallow engraving and no texture. What a disaster. In theory I could put a different handle on that head, but it just hain’t worth it.

–Polished brass Blackland Blackbird came in. Really pretty.

–Michael Casserd sent some pdf’s that were supposed to be the closing statement on 110 Playa, but (a) they weren’t, and (b) they were very weird looking. He said he’d mail us a paper copy. Meanwhile, I had called the title company (I found them by looking up the big deposit at Heritage CCU), and they emailed me a pdf of the statement. I’ll take it to Curtis Finton tomorrow, along with copies of maintenance expenses on the house. Whew!

–I put a hard rubber washer under the head of the useless Asylum 17-4 razor (based on a forum tip), and it seemed to allow loosening of the handle enough (while holding it securely) to position the blade so it would shave. We’ll see tomorrow.

–Had a scary moment when all Leica photos today were over-exposed. Discovered that in fooling around with the front button last night I set the EV to +1.7. Oops. Nice pics once properly adjusted. Turns out live view is pretty useless, though. Even with magnification the image is too fuzzy/washed out to focus with. And so far I’ve had decent results with the rangefinder.

–Made pizza for dinner. Best yet. 30 minutes at 450 is the only way to cook ’em.

–Hamilton military watch(es) came in. Very small, but pretty cool and running very nicely.

–Got bagels at Noah’s; got milk, flour, peanuts, olive oil, chocolate chips at Bel Air. Saw Imelda there, shopping with her mother. She pretended not to (or didn’t) recognize me.

–Sent an email to eBay customer service asking why I’m getting seller email at wsfarr@gmail.com. The quick response didn’t have an answer, and bumped it over to IT. [edit: It dawns on me that Xfinity (as distinct from Comcast) also sends email to wsfarr. I suppose it’s possible that something is crossing over. I tried to update Xfinity info today, but their account interface is notoriously limited in what it actually lets you do.]

–Still haven’t heard from Michael Casserd on closing papers for the 110 Playa sale.

–Daylight savings time started; I changed all the clocks.

–Couple of doves were hanging out most of the day in the garden and the pool rocks. Several flickers were pecking at the lawn. Squirrel with what seemed to be a bum leg came early for peanuts; didn’t see it again.

–Went to the Folsom farmers market for asian pears, oranges, broccoli, radishes, and a couple of plants (dill seeds and a Holy Mole hot pepper).

–Took some photos with the Leica and the two Voigtlanders. I still like the Color Skopar, though managed to get pretty wild bokeh from both. Don’t know why I bought the Nokton: it’s the same 35mm as the Skopar, and not preternaturally fast. If you want to take low-light pics (probably not the smartest way to shoot a viewfinder camera), get serious. Turns out if you take the camera off Auto and set a specific shutter speed, it shows you the left/right arrows and center dot for optimizing aperture, just like 25-year-old Contax film cameras I had. Pretty amazing.

–Sped up the main pool pump and Aux2. Seemed to (a) create more turbulence and (b) send all the fuchsia blossoms to the skimmer, thus clearing the pool.

–Took the BMW to Niello for a service. All fine. They checked the driver’s side mirror, couldn’t find any issues. Parked the car on the left, in the “single” spot–so Grace can have a chance to drive the Honda without having to worry about getting in and out. Hope I can get the Beemer in and out by myself unscathed.

–The Leica M 240 came in finally; works nice. The Nitecore charger charged it right up, so that expense was justified. Took some great photos of the camellia with (a) the Summicron 50/2 dual range that I cut down so it wouldn’t hit anything in the camera; (b) the Voigtlander Color Skopar 35/2.5; and (c) the Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.4. Right now I like the Voigts better than the Summicron. Tabbed focus rings move nicely and snap into focus, and the colors look great. It’s going to be a bit of a pain to either manually code them every time I put them on the camera or permanently code them with a 6-bit kit. OTOH, the Summicron also has to be manually coded. We’ll see.

–Put Grace’s file drawer together, no problem.

–Curtis Finton called. Asked about the “extra payment” I made in September 2020. Finally realized that it was probably related to the sale of 110 Playa Blvd., around May 2020. Whether related or not, it was a fortuitous catch: I hadn’t sent him Word One regarding the Playa sale. Unbelievable. So I copied all the maintenance expenses I could find (new electrical panel, etc.), and searched for (but couldn’t find) a single document in the file drawer or email archive that said “you got x dollars for this house on y date.” Called and left a message with Michael Casserd. As I said, unbelievable.

–Bose around-the-ear headphones came in. Could be exciting.

–Played with watches a bit. Don’t know what I’m going to do with all those old Speedmasters.

–Leica 240 did NOT come today; FedEx is stuck (again) in Elko, NV for some reason. Pisses me off.

–Mergress “bling” came in. Jewels in handle are actually pretty cool.

–Got some sandwiches for dinner at the Beach Hut Deli, and a Marie banana cream pie for dessert.

–Roasted caf beans.

–Took a shower. Tried (briefly) to shave with one of the blades that came with the Gillette double ring, which I had honed up a little. Nope. Shaved with a Wilkinson “Light Brigade” blade that was on its second or third use, having put it in the brass Charcoal Goods Everyday razor. Hadn’t cared much for the blade before (in a Blackbird and a Wolfman I think); today I got a fabulous shave and couldn’t even feel the blade. Wow! Torn over what to do with two CG razors, brass and stainless. Hate to give one up. We’ll see.

–Got a refund from Amazon on the Leica 262 with battery issues. Whew!

–Saw a couple of flickers on the lawn; got a fuzzy picture of one.

–Made another pan pizza, this time with bread flour. Came out really thick and…bready. Cooked at 550 for 15 minutes, solidifying the notion that 450 for 30 minutes is best.

–Went to both the Sunrise and Folsom farmers markets; got lots of stuff.

–Finished reading the latest Jack Reacher (The Sentinel) online. Not a real thriller, with lots of bongers–e.g., Reacher tries to open a gate by entering on a keypad the birthdays (MMDD) of Lenin, Hitler, Trotsky, and Stalin. I doubt there are two historians in the world who know those dates.

–Went on a quick bike ride (chilly); got a good picture of some tom turkeys in full display for some hens.

–Color Skopar lens came in. It’s tiny, all right. Also has a tab, not a ring for focusing, like the Nokton.

–Went up into attic to replace insulation. No can do–need a better staple gun, ladder, etc. Went to Cal Vintage Roofing to get recommendation on someone to hire. They gave me ABC Insulation. Called them; they will have an estimator call me back.

–Verified that the Rolex 5513 is running slow. Opened it and found a watchmaker’s inscription inside. Hard to believe (a) I didn’t notice that before, and (b) that the watch had ever been opened, given that Ivanov almost gave up on it. It’s possible the inscription (RTX…) was from Rolex Service Center in Texas; hard to say. Anyway, turns out the 1520 movement is one of maybe two that allows “standard” regulation, so I played with it until it read 0 s/d. Amplitude was 275, which seemed a little low to me, but the movement gleamed, so I’m not terribly worried.

–Made muffins for dessert.

–Pool sweep finally seems to be running okay, though it does appear to have a little tilt to it. Should be able to fine-tune speed with the bypass valve.

–Climbed up on the roof and swept off tree debris, with Grace outside watching the whole time. This (plus the bike ride for the Honda) seems to have exhausted me. Gettin’ old.

–Took pics of camellia and squirrel with the C-Lux. They came out pretty darn good.

–Spent a fair while going around and around with Health Equity (formerly Wage Works) re Sutter health care reimbursement. Turns out they don’t allow online applications now, so I had to print up the forms and mail them in.

–SEAL Team was almost unwatchable; it has become almost pure soap opera.

–Installed new toner cartridge on printer.

–Took some pictures of the red bushes by the pool with Leica C and C-Lux. That little C really holds its own.

–Got bagels at Noah’s.

–Made pizza for dinner. Darn good.

–Roasted some caf beans.

–Played with cameras. Leica C still rules the compacts. Will keep the Exilim ZS35 because of the awesome form factor and feel–even though it only has one metering mode (multi).

–Looked up Big Box Super Store, the Amazon dealer who sold me the Leica M 262. (1) They have two more in stock (I thought their original response to my return query was like “Well, we can’t replace it.”). (2) When I looked for warranty info, Amazon said “Contact seller for warranty info.” So I guess it is a gray market item, given that the other thing BBSS said regarding return was “Have you tried to initiate the warranty yet?”

–Marie for dinner.

–Got fruit/veggies at the light rail farmers market.

–Re-unboxed the Leica M 262. Put a voltmeter on the charger (and another charger); it certainly appears that the charger is putting out 0 volts, as the other one appeared to be putting out 8 or so. Rigged up one of my battery chargers to the Leica battery with some wires; doesn’t seem to be doing anything. If the (coming) Nitecore charger works on this battery, I may well keep the camera. Though it does look like a gray market unit (no warranty), given that the serial number appears to have been obscured with a sharpie under the plastic cover on the base. Very weird.

–Played around some more with the pool sweep. Given that it still turns circles after re-aiming the rear jet 5 times, I’m thinking the only cure will be slowing it down with a restrictor or bypass valve adjustment.

–Dropped tax docs off at Finton & Finton.

–A second set of hearing aid wax guards came in from same eBay seller as the first set. First ones were too large and didn’t fit. These were in a different color dispenser (same brand, though) and did fit. No idea why they sent two sets.

–Camellias (red, white and pink) are looking fabulous.

–Casio EX-ZS35 came in. 20 megapixels, 6x zoom, and just a stunning tiny luxurious-feeling case. Hard to believe what they put in a package that small. Going to be very hard to choose between that and the Leica C, which does raw and is also small and great in-hand.

–Played with the pool sweep some more. Turns out it’s running at 41 RPM (should be 28-30). Dropping both pumps way low had no effect. I need to work on it via restrictor and bypass valve–when the water warms up.

–Horribly enough, the Summicron 50 Dual Range that wouldn’t work on the M9 works great on the Sony A7R (with adapter, of course). Problem is, the Sony/Zeiss 55mm lens, with autofocus, blows the Summicron out of the water, at least at f2. I’ll be tossing the Summicron and Fujinons, and (maybe) calling it quits on old lenses. Exceptions would be Helios, Jupiter, etc. I can’t imagine how an old lens would stand up to the Sony/Zeiss, except for bokeh. That’s what I’ve been reading on the web for years, and chose to ignore in my quest for vintage coolness.

–Took a shower. The 1905 Gillette double ring is a nice shaver; the 1905 Gillette blade I tried was like shaving with a carpet knife.

–Pool sweep works. Runs too fast, but I believe that’s correctable.

–Leica M9 (Typ 242) came in. Battery and/or charger don’t work. Seems to be a fairly common problem. Contacted Amazon, who said item is not returnable but they will contact seller on my behalf and seller will get back to me within 48 hours. Meanwhile, I ordered a nice Nitecore charger. Turns out the Summicron 50 lens I bought ($1,500) is a “dual range” model, one of 3-4 nominal M lenses that don’t work on this camera. Hoping I didn’t hurt anything when I applied a little force to get the lens to focus at infinity, which it won’t. So that’s two dead Leicas in two weeks. Crap.

–Made pizza for dinner. For some reason (frozen dough?) it didn’t rise much and came out hyper-crispy. This could be hard to adjust, since the same dough (used fresh, not frozen) worked great a few days ago. I guess I cold cut the recipe in half…

–Took the Polaris apart again and eventually found a clog in the last possible place: a small right-angle tube that sends a jet of water to turn the paddlewheel. (1) The clog shouldn’t have gotten that far, what with all the filters. (2) It was several small bits of redwood debris. Still, I would have thought that the final huge filter would trap anything bigger than a few microns. (3) The tube should have had a smooth curve, not an abrupt right angle. Anyway, after a futile attempt to get it running right, I put the bottom back on, which holds the idler wheel (d’oh!) and found a website that went step-by-step in showing how to properly install and adjust the wheels. It will run right tomorrow, guaranteed.

–Checked the C-Lux on center-weighted, multi-area and spot metering. Multi wins out, at least for side-yard pictures in the sun.

–Gillette double ring from 1905 came in. Pretty cool.

–Watched an episode of Dr. Blake with subtitles. Much better.

–Organized batteries in the utility room.

–Pool sweep tail went crazy, stopped after I cleared a small obstruction from the back jet. Problem: even though back jet was spouting 20 feet, the wheels weren’t turning. We’ll see tomorrow.

–Leica Summicron lens came in. Looks super. Just need a camera now…

–Made my third pan pizza. This one finally got it all right. Cooked for 30 minutes at 450; crust was wonderful.

–Roasted caf beans. Figured out (maybe) how to eliminate chaff and smoke/scorching problems: use only 200g of beans, set max temp to 440 or so.

–UPS (Leica C-Lux) delayed again, until Monday.

–Took a shower. As feared, the Blackland Blackbird Jet is too aggressive for me. Now I have 17 Blackland Blackbirds to sell…

–Set up a charging station in the utility room.

–Waited in vain for UPS to deliver Leica C-Lux.

–Did some research on Pacific Grove water permits. Thick stuff.

–Turns out the multitude of hearing aid batteries I have, 312’s, are wrong. The hearing aids take #13 batteries. I tossed a bunch a while ago, but have a vague recollection that my confusion then was 310 vs. 312. I don’t know. Will order #13’s on eBay.

–Zenitar lens came in. A quick test suggested it’s better than the Fujinons, but focus ring is jerky. I’ll CLA it.

–Went to Roseville for vaccinations. Smooth. Stopped at Target on the way back, which didn’t have my eye drops or deodorant or yeast. Things is fallin’ apart…

–Eterna Kontiki watch case came in. Now I just need a nice dial/movement.

–Made 3 baguettes with King Arthur flour recipe. Takes all day, essentially, with 45 minutes between each of several rises.

–Identified a periwinkle plant by the back pool fence.

–Subscribed to Atlantic Monthly. Seems kind of like the New Yorker of 10 years ago, before it welcomed hyper-liberalism and coarse language.

–Cleaned the bird fountain; put the two hoses back in place.

–Got oranges, apples, radishes at the Folsom light rail farmers market.

–Dental pick, Froggy the Gremlin and long rubber gloves came in.

–Made pan pizza.

–Leica C-Lux fell prey to a “Mode dial is not in the proper position” fault last night. Very frustrating: sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Looking on google today showed this is a fairly common issue with point-and-shoot mode dials–Nikon, Lumix, etc.–probably all from the same factory in China. I played with it today. Took the back off and unclipped/reclipped a connector; blew a lot of compressed air on it; etc. It works now, but I may buy another just to avoid the anxiety over the next failure. [edit: Failed again just now (3 PM). Bought another from Amazon.]

–Started dough for a pan pizza tomorrow.

–Did big shopping for Grace’s list at Bel Air.

–Leica C-Lux came in. It also feels good to hold. There was some scary stuff at first (uncentered focus point, cluttered screen), but after a second round of setup all looked good. And the photos are astounding. Using mega-zoom and auto focus on the hummingbird feeder, I can read all the text on it. Further, the jpg’s seem to allow as much manipulation as the rwl’s; don’t know that I even need to shoot raw on this camera. FINALLY!!

–Grace is in a snit again.

–Took a shower. New Pearl razor is okay, but really heavy. Vintage Gibbs razor is small but superb. A winner!

–Replaced hearing aid batteries at 9 AM.

–Got error messages trying to install Lightroom on Grace’s Mac. Turns out she wants to repair photos anyway, not just optimize exposure and such. So she’s going with GIMP, already on her computer. After a fair amount of hassle and a chat session at Adobe, my Lightroom activation count was reset to zero. I uninstalled it then reinstalled it, and it sings now. A win.

–Finally sorted out the Leica C-Lux rwl photo editor mess. Can use MetaImage to change make/model to PANASONIC/DC-ZS200, which will allow Affinity to edit files–though not Lightroom. Considering upgrading the Mac OS to the latest, thus losing Lightroom. Will probably depend on how slick I can make the Affinity interface.

–Left hearing aid out at 5 PM.