–Bike stem spacer came in. Way too narrow, though it could be an issue of bizarre steering tube on the Turbo. I just clamped the stem on as high as it would go, and left it open below. Should be fine.

–Put gas in the Honda, got apples and yogurt at Bel Air, got some take-out at Jack’s Urban Eats. Decent food, but a long wait outside.

–Installed new hearing aid batteries around 8 AM.

–Heard beeping while in garage, eventually noticed that the freezer was “in alarm” at 34 degrees. Pushed buttons, unplugged/replugged, and it seems okay (16 degrees after 40 minutes or so. Close one.

–Another do-nothing day.

–Left hearing battery went out around 6 PM.

–Back is still bad.

–Got pork chops, corn, heirloom tomatoes and a portabella mushroom; barbecued them. Dee-lish.

–42nd Street camera is bad, bad news. Leica ordered on the 15th with USPS shipping is now due on the 26th via UPS. Looking for a way to leave lots of negative feedback.

–Took a swim and shower, after taking a painkiller.

–Went to Home Depot for weed/feed and a spreader.

–Made pizza for dinner.

–Got some gout in right second toe, due no doubt to dehydration.

–Swam .5 miles.

–Aztec guy came by at 8:00, repaired leak.

–Took a swim.

–Revived the “great white” Rolex 1680. Swapped the LAWW new hands with the hands from the 5513, successfully, to my great surprise. Don’t know why I was going to abandon it. It did have a newer bezel with luminova pearl, but I put the period-correct bezel on it that I bought recently on eBay. The case is really nice–a little wear, a little polish, but thick crown guards. It also has a same-year (1984) rivet bracelet. And it runs great.

–Went to Bel Air for pork chops, corn, apple strudel. Put some farmers market rub on the chops, ate with a farmers market heirloom tomato–what a feast!

–Repotted a couple of cacti.

–Took a swim in the newly-arrived rash guard sun shirt.

–Bought tomatoes, pears, peppers, onions, artichokes at Sunrise Mall farmers market.

–Read “Heart of Darkness.” Apocalypse Now is almost a scene-for-scene, word-for-word takeoff. The horror, the horror…

–Hot, lazy day.

–1971 Rolex rhodium Datejust was running super-bad. Banged it around some, and it now seems to be running fine. Had thought the rhodium dial was newer, but noticed it said “O T SWISS T O” at the bottom. There’s some controversy about this–could be a “sigma” dial, could just be short for “Or” which is French for gold. For sure, markers, hands and (maybe) bezel are white gold, and these dials only existed in the early 70s. This does not explain why the tritium markers and hands glow like crazy under UV, and fade slowly, as the watch is nearly 50 years old. A mystery…

–Took a swim.

–Sent defective Leica V-Lux 40 back to Russia.

–Got some burger patties and corn at Bel Air for barbecue. Harris Ranch patties were terrible.

–Got scuba tanks filled at Dolphin.

–Took a swim.

–Took a ride. Bike remains sweet.

–Leica V-Lux 40 came in. Could be a nice camera, but has a noticeable dent on the front and (I later noticed) a scratch through the paint on the side. Told seller I want to return it, he’s resisting mightily.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Got a stiff neck.

–Took a swim.

–Went for a 9-mile ride around the neighborhood.

–Found out that one should release the clutch on the Turbo before trying to get the rear wheel off. It loosens the chain a bit. Also verified there’s no mechanism to lock the derailleur down, as there is in SRAM products (and maybe some Shimanos, just not mine, though the locking pin is there).

–Decided to keep the Leica C-Lux 3. Yes it comes on in snapshot mode, but it takes good pics in that mode (bigger than the 2, perhaps better metered), and program mode is there if needed.

–Made a pizza for dinner with tomatoes and basil. Kinda mushy.

–Took a bike ride, used Turbo on return, averaged > 14 MPH!

–Went to Sunrise Mall farmers market, got lots of tomatoes (and stuff).

–Got some corn at Bel Air, made some good turkey burgers.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–Leica C-Lux 3 came in. Dead mint, but turns out it was (allegedly) designed for a camera-naive segment: it ALWAYS comes on in Snapshot mode, and must be switched to Program mode manually. Unbelievable. Its metering also seems slightly inferior to the C-Lux 2, which is the one I’ll keep.

–Barbecued some chicken and corn. Turned out pretty good.

–Took Sirrus to Mike’s Bike’s Folsom for consignment. They don’t consign. I could have gotten trade-in value the day I bought the Turbo Vado, but now I can only get store credit. This was not well explained at the time. Dropped the Sirrus off at Goodwill.

–Took a swim; took a shower. The Gillette Fat Boy (plus Proraso) with Derby blade continues to shave closer than a Mach 3 and without nicks. I don’t get it: double-edged blades used to cut me to ribbons, and never seemed to shave close.

–Rode the Turbo on JSMBT. No creaks or rattles; 14-15 mph out, 12-13 back. Onboard computer and Mission Control app worked nicely, with slight disagreement on mileage. The nose of the seat rose up, so I degreased the split seatpost and re-tightened. Should not be a problem going forward.

–Took a swim.

–Rode the New Specialized Turbo Vado SL EQ  with Tom in El Dorado Hills. No problem staying up with him. Put the Ritchey adjustable stem on and realized I couldn’t use the Specialized Turbo Connect Display, so took it off and re-mounted the original stem with TCD. There exists a TCD mount for the Ritchey stem, but it’s such a pain to adjust–requires re-aligning the stem every time. Might look for a stem that can be adjusted without loosening the whole thing.

–Took a swim.

–Mowed the lawn.

–Went to Mike’s Bikes in Folsom and bought a Specialized Turbo Vado SL EQ (super-light equipped). Oozes quality compared to the Sirrus X 5.0–cable sheathing and routing, for example. And it gets up and goes. No more hill limitations, or struggling to keep up with Tom.

–Made a pizza with Bel Air refrigerated dough. Quite good.

–Made some strawberry jam. Used Instant Clear Jel, but cooked briefly. Tried to cut sugar, but still too sweet. Also thick, maybe too thick. Will keep adjusting recipe.

–Left hearing aid went out around 8 PM.

–Went to a couple of farm stands and the Sunrise Mall farmers market. Jackpot! Also got some pork chops and potato salad at Bel Air to barbecue. Good stuff.

–Was going to raise the temp on the Cremina, but it seemed to be cycling between .75 and 1 bar, so I left it alone. Somehow can’t get excited about the machine, so will likely sell.

–Ordered a Leica from Tamarkind in Chicago and a large gift basket from Corralitos Meats.

–Saw four rats under the (absent) bird feeder behind the pool. Yow!

–Travis from Aztec Solar came out for air bubbles and leak. They’ll have to schedule two guys to come back and fix leak. Air bubble problem seemed to be a consequence of too-low pump speed. He mentioned something about (1) wrong pump model number entered into the solar controller, and (2) some confusion over RPM and GPM (gallons per minute). Key to diagnosis was him demonstrating that vacuum relief valve wasn’t the issue, by uncapping it to show water spurting out–except water didn’t spurt out, showing that pressure was too low. After applying (an unclear) fix, water spurted out.

–Took a swim. Pleasant.

–Shopped at Bel Air for corn, ice cream, apples, oranges, etc.

–Rope-tailed squirrel came by again for peanuts, as did (what looks like) someone’s pet rat at the bird feeder (now empty).

–Went on a 10-mile bike ride with Tom Elken to Hovnanian-land.  Former empty lots are now all built out.

–Took a swim; took a shower.

–Played with regulators. A little surprised at how weak the Scubapro first stages were. Also disappointed with Conshelf second stage. Will rebuild Conshelf first and hope that incoming NOS Scubapro second is as good as the current one. Oh, brass-bodied Tekna is also awesome.

–Noticed algae in pool. Crap. Shocked it.

–Roasted caf and decaf beans.

–Shopped with Grace. Got a couple bagels at Panera, some stuff at Sprouts, and much great produce at the Sunrise Mall farmers market. Will return.

–Saw a really nice-looking rat on the poolside bird feeder. Looked more like a pet than a wild rat.

–Went to Callen Pool Supply to take back cyanuric acid I didn’t need and to pick up another strainer basket and a replacement catch bag for the robo-sweeper.

–Marie for dinner.

–Added chlorine to pool

–Got the Cremina working. Leaked at over-pressure safety valve (as always), so I went back to the old valve/washer with new poppet and tightened the crap out of it. Another leak at the steam wand fitting (big issue on the older machines where steam comes directly out of the frame). O-rings to the rescue. First espresso was tepid, perhaps due to “false pressure.” Ordered a boiler cap with vacuum release valve from Cerini. Even with all the issues, it steams better than the Rocket.

–Shopped with Grace at Bel Air. Got some steak, corn (best ever), heirloom tomato, potato and antipasto salads and barbecued. Yum!

–Conshelf reg came in. Nice. Tried it in pool, seems good.

–Played with Sirrus in attempt to stop creaks. No dice. Returned it to dead stock, called Roseville Cyclery to schedule 90-day tuneup.

–Left hearing aid went out at around 8 PM.

–Rode the last of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Trail with Tom Elken. Nice project!

–Made pizza with fresh basil and cherry tomatoes.

–Fixed Xeoleo grinder after stupidly breaking it.

–Took a shower. Shaved with vintage Gillette adjustable + Derby blade. Surprisingly close and comfortable.

–Took Grace on scouting run to Beals Point and parking lot near the trail around mile 22. Put gas in the Honda. Been getting a “service needed” alert, and today it added a “tire pressure” warning. I made both warnings go away.

–Took Cremina apart. Discovered a blob of silicone under the over-pressure relief valve, and (mind-boggling) what appeared to be a purpose-built, right-angle, blue silicone plug in the bottom of the sight glass. That explains why the sight glass didn’t work, but why did they plug it?

–Took a swim. Grace used the pool today for the first time, for exercises.

–Got some strawberries from Vai and corn/squash/peaches/tomatoes from Perry’s.

–Barbecued.

–Took a ride. Mostly quiet, but a little clicking when ascending, as is often the case. Need to remember to get off the seat to try and pinpoint the source.

–Took a shower.

–Played with noisy bike. After several hours, found the Park Tool video on rear derailleurs and adjusted mine. No change in noise. Finally re-re-re-lubed the seatpost (inside the split as well as outside), and all seems quiet now.

–Surprised to see that plants, which haven’t been hand-watered in two days, look fine.

–Went to Green Acres Nursery in Folsom for bird seed, barrel cactus, and 4 gph emitters.

–Walked to Bel Air for dessert and comet Neowise. Got dessert, not Neowise.

–Rode miles 9-15 of the JSMBT with Tom Elken. After all my efforts to quiet the bike, it made all sorts of noises.

–Roasted (charred) some caf beans.

–Took a swim.

–Replaced crystal on Rolex 5513. Not trivial, but worked out well.

–Discovered that the solar down-pipe trickle originates on roof fitting, not on the elbow that I so beautifully sealed. Crap.

–Spent a while trying to fix the tiny leak in the solar return pipe. No luck until (a) it stopped leaking with the pump off (and thus got dry), (b) I used some moldable epoxy. We’ll see tomorrow.

–Cleaned up fountain, which had started looking a little green. Doves and squirrels been at it all day (it’s hot).

–Took a bike ride. Easy out, less easy back (13.8 miles). It’s hot.

–Lubed the bike seatpost again (it was clicking again). Stuck some rubber pieces in cable housings to stop their noise. Bike seems quiet now, except for a muted whir while pedaling. Could be the derailleur is a little off; could be nothing.

–Got a free Red Vine pizza at Blaze (with coupon). Good, not mind-boggling.

–Picked up Sirrus at Roseville Cyclery. They Loctited some bolts.

–Took a swim. Mighty nice.

–Took Specialized Sirrus to Roseville Cyclery for recall service.

–Added water to pool, and chlorine.

–Played with Exilims a lot. Discovered I’m an idiot: the 1100 allows adjustment of focus and metering areas, while the 260 allows adjustment of focus area only. Similarity of terminology (spot, multi) led me to think that I was changing metering with no effect on the 260. Wrong. I was changing focus area only. The 260 shoots all photos in multi-segment metering. Oh well…

–Rode miles 0 to 8 of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bike Trail with Tom Elken. Kind of a comedy of errors getting there because of construction, and the 1 and 4 mile markers were invisible.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Took Grace shopping to The Farmer’s Wife and Safeway.

–Took a swim. Tried the kick board without fins. Went backward…….

–Roasted caf beans.

–Counted teeth on Specialized and InnerLight cogs. Looks like 4th (from high) on Specialized is closest to single-speed InnerLight.

–Cleaned up garage: brought bins of books and boxes inside, hung up the InnerLight, etc.

–Hand-watered plants (hot!) and put bird of paradise in the ground.

–Put some scuba gear together to try it out. Big tank was too heavy for me; used little one by carrying it (too small for tank pack strap). Things work okay, except Dolphin Scuba lost both tank valve o-rings. I have some spares, but they’re not great. Tested Oceanic, Tekna and Scubapro regulators. Scubapro blew the others out of the water–inhalation requires zero effort, the air is just there.

–Barbecued burgers and (for the first time from Bel Air, crappy) corn. Good stuff.

–Found some pitting on the Loveless knife. Sanded and polished a bit, to no great effect. Kind of amazing to me how that just knocks the wind out of my enthusiasm for the knife.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 8 AM.

–Loveless “double nude” hunting knife came in. What a beauty!

–Went to Green Acres Nursery in Folsom. Great place. Got gloves, bamboo supports, green tape, a “fogger” emitter, and a bird of paradise plant. Tomato now looks happy, supported rather than tied.

–Finally learned how to get the Exilim going: take it out of “silent” mode, which disables flash and timer. Since the various sounds can all be turned off anyway, that mode isn’t really needed unless you were at a funeral or something.

–Put tomato plant in the ground. Discovered more hidden emitters. This will never end.

–Still feeling a little peaked.

–Rode miles 16-22 of the Jedediah Smith Memorial Bike Trail with Tom Elken and took pictures of each mile marker.

–Took the Beemer to FedEx to drop off a mis-delivered box; get gas; look for plant tape again at Home Depot (website said they have it; they don’t); look for birthday dessert at Mirabelle Cafe and Bakery (slim pickin’s; got a couple little things).

–Noticed algae in the pool; added chlorine. Must do that EVERY DAY!!

–Went to Noah’s Bagels. Got 13 sesame for $8 (Monday special I think. On the soft side, but tasty. Bagel holder from Etsy makes slicing a breeze.

–Made pizza. Not my best.

–FINISHED the garden sprinklers. What a hassle. Put lime tree and basil plant in the ground. Debating the tomato.

–Took a swim. Nice.

–Had minor gastro distress last night, but woke up really dizzy and nauseous. Came downstairs, threw up, went back to bed until Noon.

–Still feeling a little peaked. Hope it’s just dehydration.

–Rode 12 miles.

–Took a swim, then finished plugging lines in bottom garden.

–Rode the bike. Power Ade gave me a second wind. Perhaps.

–Played with sprinklers off and on all day. Was pretty much done with the big garden at ground level, when several geysers arose. These are bitches to fix, as the pipes are (a) not 1/2″ drip line, (b) buried deep. Crap.

–Took a swim.

–Laconico compound blade knife came in–except it wasn’t compound. Crap.

–Went to a strawberry stand way out on Jackson. Great berries, absurd prices ($23/flat, compared to $14 at Nai’s).

–Took a swim.

–Went to Folsom to ride with Tom. Crapped out after a few hills. Tom mentioned that he blew 200% with his new spirometer. Oh well. Guess I’ll try to ride every morning and hope for improvement.

–Took a swim.

–Went to Davis Ranch at Sloughhouse for veggies. Not too impressed. Got some corn and ho-hum tomatoes, squash, blackberries.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 6 PM.

–Continued with sprinklers. Found a legacy PVC/riser system. Will cut off and cap any obvious ones that are sticking out. Not worth going that deep to try and trace it all.

–Took a swim; took a shower.

–Dug up more sprinkler line on station 4. Found multiple emitters doing no good–and a valve to shut them down. Found and fixed a couple of geysers. Slow work.

–Ordered a true pocketable Exilim on eBay, like the one I had years ago.

–Got water, Coke, etc. at Costco. Also a hot dog without onions (pandemic safety precaution; Costco employee poured my diet Pepsi).

–Got cheap gas at Costco ($2.68 vs. $2.85 at local Arco).

–Set up bike rack with a couple of interim bolts from Home Depot (replacements coming from 1UP). That rack is so much better than the Kuat it’s shameful.

–Casio EX-ZR1100 came in (quickly). Has a tilt screen (boo), but it is new (and does RAW, of course).

–Took a swim. Nice.

–Got strawberries from Nai. Perry’s not open yet.

–Cremina came. Not as unused as advertised (scrubby scratches on front and top). Doesn’t heat, nor does lamp come on. Could be a tricky fix–especially the heating indicator lamp, as it’s different from newer ones.

–Made some pasta sauce: tomatoes, butter, onion (discarded at the end). Good, but not mind-boggling.

–Added lotsa water and chlorine to the pool. Looks super clear, but Grace reports it still pumped some air.

–Took an 8-mile “training ride”: hard out, easy back. Hard is relative, of course.

–Re-covered main drip line on station 3 with bark. Found a control valve for the five plant clusters at one end of the pool. It was (part of) station 4. Removed a lot of excess emitter hose and gave each cluster one emitter. Slowly coming together.

–Took a swim, despite algae in the pool. Felt great at 86. Pool was still blowing air today despite adding water yesterday. Tomorrow will fill pool really full and clobber it with chlorine. Gotta get a handle on this.

–Rode with Tom Elken around his neighborhood. Still getting winded too easily.

–Pool pump was pumping air (Grace heard it; I wouldn’t have). Added water and all is okay. That pool needs a LOT of water and chlorine to be right.

–Made pizza for dinner.

–Got bagels at Big Apple Bagels, El Dorado Hills.

–Tried to do wire transfer to pay off Tunnel Hill loan at Heritage Community CU. They noticed discrepancies here and there, so I forwarded them the payoff email. We’ll see.

–Finished repairing/updating sprinkler station 3. What a buttload of work. Totally spent.

–Played with sprinklers.

–Got barbecue makings at Bel Air; made barbecue.

–Did more sprinkler work. Completely exposed station 3, end to end.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 6 PM.

–Got a flat of strawberries on El Centro and made a bunch of freezer jam (no-cook, instant clear jel). Seemed a little sweet to me, but Grace liked it.

–Barbecued pork chops and corn for dinner.

–Played with sprinklers. Found a coupler that works at Home Depot; used 3 of 4 I bought on one two-foot section of hose. Much to be done.

–Took a bike ride. Too hot. Saw a squirrel carrying a baby bird away, presumably to eat it.

–Went to Big Apple Bagels in El Dorado Hills (far away). Bagels look good; we’ll see tomorrow.

–Took a swim.

–Played with sprinklers some more. Tired.

–Added 18 ounces of dichlor to the pool. Stopped and started pump several times to get rid of air bubbles. Not sure why it needs so many restarts.

–Played with sprinklers. Plugged four in the side yard that were spouting, replaced a dead emitter on the crepe myrtle next to the toters.

–Went to Nugget Market in El Dorado Hills. No bagels, no Honeycrisp, no fresh corn, no good tomatoes, no Sac Bee, etc.

–Cleared brush behind pool, preparatory to working with sprinklers.

–Ordered dinner at Jack’s Urban Eats; walked over to pick it up. Like last time, my salad was missing something (egg before, chicken today). Annoying.

–Strawberries for dessert (again). These are way way way better than Watsonville strawberries.

–Konosuke Fujiyama (wide bevel Morihiro sharpened) came in. Absurd price, but it’s a killer.

–Michael Casserd called and thanked us for the business.

–Got “final bill” from Soquel Creek Water. Not clear if it SHOULD be paid or HAS BEEN paid. Will call.

–State Farm: canceled policy at 110 Playa; updated mileage for Honda Civic, for $100 refund.

–Canceled Soquel Creek Water; final bill will come to Tunnel Hill (heh heh, it rhymes).

–Took The Beemer to Perry’s farm stand, but it isn’t open yet. Strawberry lady was open: 3 baskets for $8. Yum!!

–Notary came by at 11 AM for 110 Playa signing. No mask.

–Tried to set up auto-pay for Sac county utilities via Heritage checking: 209214-8. We’ll see about the dash.

–Pool seems to be okay now. Will have to keep water level up.

–Rode with Tom Elken. Got kind of wiped out on a ride I’ve done before (Hagan Park) on a not-too-hot day (mid 80s). Much work needed.

–Took a swim.

–Finally decided pool was blowing air because it was low. Added a lot of water. Also added more bleach, and, after reading some stuff, ordered 50 pounds of dichlor.

–Went for a ride around the neighborhood.

–Went for a swim. Close to zero chlorine in pool, after adding almost a gallon yesterday. Added another gallon, showed up fine an hour later. Tomorrow will tell. Starting to wonder if this pool is bigger than 15,000 gallons.

–Went to Home Depot for bleach, Simple Green, and drip irrigation repair kit.

–Got some rain at dinner time.

–Took a bike ride to Hagan Community Dog Park. Nice place.

–Dove slowly approached bird bath, took many sips of water. Yay!

–Got the Rolex 5513 (and bracelet) all back together, ready to sell.

–Tethered the floating chlorinator so it doesn’t get stuck in one part of pool.

–Got bagels at New York Bagels, food at Food Maxx, and supplemental food at Bel Air.

–Played with watches. Learned the unpolished 5513 had oil(?) damage on dial. Tried to clean it up; sort of succeeded, at the cost of some tiny lume flecks. Will reassemble and sell, along with all the others. Learned further that the ultra-sharp red Sub case had been polished. Three lugs measured ~3.1 mm (as do all four on the untouched 5513); one measured ~2.7 mm. Guess it was too good to be true.

–Took a swim and a shower.

–Discovery Park was closed because of a missing child (later found drowned in river), so Tom and I rode from Tunnel Hill. Way too hot at 10:30 AM.

–Picked up the Rolex 5513 from Ivanov’s. They JUST managed to get it open, and (miracle of miracles) the case is minimally corroded. Gasket is still pliable, and movement is pristine. Further, it appears to adjust with a lever, not a micro-stella. Keeper!

–Saw American Dad “Lost In Space (Majestic)” episode. Didn’t really remember plot specifics, and thought the song was different. Former = failing memory, latter = failing ears. Crap.

–Fixed sliding screen door. Maybe.

–New hearing aid batteries around 9 AM.

–Took a little bike ride around the neighborhood. Noticed a couple of villages (Gold Spike, Eureka) where parking is allowed in driveways, houses are not identical, and yards are a little scruffy looking.

–Added water to pool. Took a swim. Mastered the kickboard.

–Took a ride west on JSMBT. Windy.

–Left hearing aid went out around 8 PM.

–Took the Rolex 5513 to Ivanov’s so they could open it. She couldn’t, said husband Paul would when he came in. No word since. Worrisome.

–Barbecued.

–Rolex 5513 came in, dates to 1984 (bracelet too). Case is unpolished, but scratched. Crystal is bad, but new one included. No name on warranty! Running really strong: 280+, 0.2 ms, +15 s/d. Bracelet fell apart in 3 places after ultrasound. Fixed 2, but 3rd is beyond my ability. Can’t get case open, even with “big” tool.

–Took the Sirrus to Discovery Park; rode the Two Rivers Trail. It’s turned into a homeless encampment and garbage dump.

–Went to Roseville Cyclery to pick up Kuat rack. Installed it. Turns out the locking arm touches the fork. Crap. Looking into 1Up rack–which won’t be available until late June. Crap.

–Lots of algae in pool. Scraped, and added pool shock. Also put a chlorine tab (just discovered I still have a bucket of those) in the floater.

–Mowed the lawn. Need to do it more often, so I don’t have to stop and empty the bag in the middle.

–Got trailer hitch installed at Sundowner in Auburn. Took a couple of hours.

–Took a bike ride, crossing the river at Hazel. Got lost, got exhausted. Improvement coming soon, right?

–Pool Time came, 3 hours late, and denied responsibility for anything. Pool decided to work fine just before they got here, of course. I finally convinced them to replace the pressure gauge, whereupon the pressure shot up from 2 PSI to 16. Jerks.

–Had Creamy Bacon Mac and Cheese from the Pasta Queen. Yucko.