It's time to get the RV fixed up. The dash air conditioning hasn't been working. It's getting a new compressor. Then next week it's the refrigerator's turn since it failed a couple of weeks ago. I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to get them done before leaving in a couple of weeks but, luckily, it appears both will get done in time.
I had a nice visit at my old workplace on Thursday. It's nice to see folks every now and then. I don't get homesick though. I always leave happy to be retired. Too much like work there.
Friday, April 29, 2005
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Done Enough
The fence job in San Jose is done enough. The fence is in, the mess cleaned up. There is some tinkering to do to the gate and a lattice work needs to be added to part of the fence by the neighbor’s deck but nothing is urgent any longer. It's amazing how much stuff you can carry in a Volvo 240 station wagon. Two loads of wood from the old fence and forms. a load of broken concrete and two loads of dirt and gravel. All completed before the rain began Wednesday afternoon.
Their side.
Our side.
Their side.
Our side.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
More Fence Work
On returning Monday Don poured the concrete for the fence post anchors. A long day.
A new post anchor above.
Pouring the landing for Dawn's steps.
Tuesday, to relax and let the concrete for the fence post anchors cure, a concrete porch landing was poured for Dawn's entrance door. Wednesday, a sidewalk to dawn's door was poured.
Thursday, the fence posts were installed and some work on the baseboard was done as well as work on the neighbors arbor which is attached to the fence.
Friday, the fence was installed but half of the boards need more screws and some detail work remains. A busy week!
More pictures to follow.
A new post anchor above.
Pouring the landing for Dawn's steps.
Tuesday, to relax and let the concrete for the fence post anchors cure, a concrete porch landing was poured for Dawn's entrance door. Wednesday, a sidewalk to dawn's door was poured.
Thursday, the fence posts were installed and some work on the baseboard was done as well as work on the neighbors arbor which is attached to the fence.
Friday, the fence was installed but half of the boards need more screws and some detail work remains. A busy week!
More pictures to follow.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Highway 198
We left Tulare Saturday evening stopping for dinner and the night at Harris Ranch at I-5 and Hwy 198. In the morning, we headed West through Coalinga toward King City and Hwy 101. Hwy 198 is a much nicer drive than Hwy 152 further North.
Above is the usual shot with the RV.
The red flowers in the two pictures above are the reason we stopped. We haven't seen them before. There was no place to pull over so we had to hike back about a 1/4 mile to get the pictures. It's a good thing we hiked back. We didn't see any others like them.
Some day, maybe, we'll try to start putting names to the flowers. For now, we just enjoy them.
We're back home again in Palo Alto.
Above is the usual shot with the RV.
The red flowers in the two pictures above are the reason we stopped. We haven't seen them before. There was no place to pull over so we had to hike back about a 1/4 mile to get the pictures. It's a good thing we hiked back. We didn't see any others like them.
Some day, maybe, we'll try to start putting names to the flowers. For now, we just enjoy them.
We're back home again in Palo Alto.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Tulare Antique Farm Equipment Show
We made it to the Tulare AG Expo Center for the Antique Farm Equipment Show by about 8am. We pulled into the RV parking area ($5 for the weekend). We had breakfast and went inside. It was perfect weather until about 1pm and then it turned warm.
Lou and Dawn look over one of the old tractors.
One of the best things is that everything works. The old farmers and farmer wanna-be folk get to ride there equipment around, including in the parade but also just up and down the isles.
There are a lot of buddie seats.
A matched set, big and small, diesel and peddle.
There were some other vehicles like cars, milk trucks, pickups etc.
And there were old big trucks.
Lou and Dawn look over one of the old tractors.
One of the best things is that everything works. The old farmers and farmer wanna-be folk get to ride there equipment around, including in the parade but also just up and down the isles.
There are a lot of buddie seats.
A matched set, big and small, diesel and peddle.
There were some other vehicles like cars, milk trucks, pickups etc.
And there were old big trucks.
Friday, April 15, 2005
On The Road to Tulare
We're on the road to Tulare for the California Antique Farm Equipment Show. We left late Friday night and stopped in Selma for the night. This is our third year at the show. On leaving the show two years ago, we stopped at Paul Evert's RV in Fresno. We left with our motor home.
California Antique Farm Equipment Show.
Earlier this week, the refrigerator died. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, so for now, it's just an ice chest.
California Antique Farm Equipment Show.
Earlier this week, the refrigerator died. I haven't had a chance to look at it yet, so for now, it's just an ice chest.
Tax Time
I'm glad tax time comes only once a year. We always wait till the last minute to do them. Lou prepares them and Don reviews them and enters them into TaxCut for printing and another review. It was interesting this year due to Don's retirement.
Now we can say we've done our part! It's time to find a more favorable state to reduce taxes and living costs to a more reasonable level. It's too bad we like living here in Palo Alto because the savings will have to override the fact we like it here.
Now we can say we've done our part! It's time to find a more favorable state to reduce taxes and living costs to a more reasonable level. It's too bad we like living here in Palo Alto because the savings will have to override the fact we like it here.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Dawn’s Honors
Dawn and Don attended the San Jose State History Honors Luncheon. Dawn loves history and we were seated next to a retired professor who had taught military history, one of Dawn's favorites.
Above Dawn and Don waiting for lunch.
building.
Lunch was at Bella Mia in downtown San Jose. OK food in a nicely restored building.
Above Dawn and Don waiting for lunch.
building.
Lunch was at Bella Mia in downtown San Jose. OK food in a nicely restored building.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Macromedia Users Group
Don often attends the Macromedia user group meetings in San Francisco. There are two groups one with meetings at LearnIt and the other with meetings at Macromedia headquarters. They usually have different topics so both are of interest. 
Waiting for the crowd to arrive. The BAAMUG, the group at LearnIt has held several of their meetings using online as well as at LearnIt. I've attended several of those meetings while in the middle of nowhere in my travels. It's nice to be online anywhere thanks to Datastorm and Motosat.
The real reason to attend, in person, is for the pizza!
Waiting for the crowd to arrive. The BAAMUG, the group at LearnIt has held several of their meetings using online as well as at LearnIt. I've attended several of those meetings while in the middle of nowhere in my travels. It's nice to be online anywhere thanks to Datastorm and Motosat.
The real reason to attend, in person, is for the pizza!
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Fencing
Working on the Fence at Dawn's House in San Jose.
The house was built in 1917 and for some reason the fences didn't last?
The fence replacement required the removal of the old post bases and some concrete retaining wall. New Steel post anchors are being installed.
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Lucky Us
A bit of a scare this afternoon. The Toad was parked in front of the house and there came a knock on the door. "I just ran into your car" she said. A lady visiting across the street backed into the side of our car when leaving the driveway. It looked bad but turned out to be just a lot of paint transfer from her bumper and when it was cleaned off there was no damage to our car, not even a paint scratch. Her bumper didn't look good though. Lucky this time.
Us.
Them.
Us.
Them.
Friday, April 8, 2005
View From Our Satellite
I was reminded last night of another feature of Google, Maps.
Google Maps are easy to use and satellite images are available as well.
View from "Our" satellite.
Map of our location.
Our current location is always available using the link on the top right sidebar under "Locate Us". This map is from the Datastorm Users website which also shows the location of many of the other Datastorm users. (The Datastorm Users forum is what reminded me of the Google maps) I tried this out several months ago after selecting "more" from the Google search screen. They're working on some interesting stuff. The Google map seems more detailed and the satellite view is quite interesting.
Enough fun, Since I returned home to Palo Alto last weekend, I started working on the "never ending" fence project. Our daughter's house in San Jose needs a new fence on one of the side yards. I wisely poured a concrete retaining wall/footing to the fence twenty years ago when I installed the existing fence and replacing the posts isn't a small task for a perfectionist like myself. Most of the concrete and old post bases have been removed but three stuborn post bases remain. I'm not as young as I once was and the fact it started to rain yesterday and continues today is quite helpful in that I have time to recover from my work alergy attack. I'm installing steel anchors for the posts so I hopefully won't ever have to do this again.
Google Maps are easy to use and satellite images are available as well.
View from "Our" satellite.
Map of our location.
Our current location is always available using the link on the top right sidebar under "Locate Us". This map is from the Datastorm Users website which also shows the location of many of the other Datastorm users. (The Datastorm Users forum is what reminded me of the Google maps) I tried this out several months ago after selecting "more" from the Google search screen. They're working on some interesting stuff. The Google map seems more detailed and the satellite view is quite interesting.
Enough fun, Since I returned home to Palo Alto last weekend, I started working on the "never ending" fence project. Our daughter's house in San Jose needs a new fence on one of the side yards. I wisely poured a concrete retaining wall/footing to the fence twenty years ago when I installed the existing fence and replacing the posts isn't a small task for a perfectionist like myself. Most of the concrete and old post bases have been removed but three stuborn post bases remain. I'm not as young as I once was and the fact it started to rain yesterday and continues today is quite helpful in that I have time to recover from my work alergy attack. I'm installing steel anchors for the posts so I hopefully won't ever have to do this again.
Friday, April 1, 2005
Home Again
Arrived home in Palo Alto last night.
The arbor wisteria is in full bloom. Wow!
When I disconnected the Toad last night, I couldn't get the Remco driveline disconnect to connect so we just parked it for the night. In the morning, I looked underneath and decided the cable sheath had come loose from the holding clamp so it didn't apply any force to engage the disconnect. I crawled under and wrapped some wire around the sheath and reinstalled the clamp. It now works like it should have all along. We often had to roll the car around to get it engaged. Sometimes it took a lot of rolling. Now it snaps right in with just a slight roll to mesh the cogs. I intended to adjust it sometime but necessity forced this to the top of the list. It's probably been loose from day one. I had the Remco disconnect installed but I don't blame the installer. It looks like the clamp wasn't sized appropriately.
More about the Remco Installation on our toad.
The new solar panels trying out the Palo Alto sun.
More about the solar panels may be found in the Electrical System Article.
The arbor wisteria is in full bloom. Wow!
When I disconnected the Toad last night, I couldn't get the Remco driveline disconnect to connect so we just parked it for the night. In the morning, I looked underneath and decided the cable sheath had come loose from the holding clamp so it didn't apply any force to engage the disconnect. I crawled under and wrapped some wire around the sheath and reinstalled the clamp. It now works like it should have all along. We often had to roll the car around to get it engaged. Sometimes it took a lot of rolling. Now it snaps right in with just a slight roll to mesh the cogs. I intended to adjust it sometime but necessity forced this to the top of the list. It's probably been loose from day one. I had the Remco disconnect installed but I don't blame the installer. It looks like the clamp wasn't sized appropriately.
More about the Remco Installation on our toad.
The new solar panels trying out the Palo Alto sun.
More about the solar panels may be found in the Electrical System Article.
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