Water Line Repair and Printer Fix

Wednesday: (03/28) A pork bun from Hong Kong bakery for breakfast. Lou picked them up yesterday. The City had scheduled this morning to turn off our water. I haven't had a good job to "supervise" in the neighborhood for quite a while. I spent the morning watching the crew replace part of the water valve. The old actuator had frozen even though it was just installed a year ago.Actually since it was so new it was easy to replace just the part that needed replacing rather than having to replace the whole valve body as well. Still, it took all morning. There was a crew of five for the actual work. The hole had been dug a week or so previously so the job was just to repair the valve and fill the hole. There was a lot of waiting around and because there was so much waiting needed, they needed assistance. Two supervisors came by, an engineering test technician, another two man crew, and they were also visited by four other utility workers while they were there. I had to leave before this crew successfully filled the hole. They were having a problem meeting the compaction test requirements, as I suspected they would. They filled the entire hole with sand and baserock and then used to compactor on the filling. I don't know if they ever actually reached the require compaction or had to dig it out again and fill it correctly in small lifts each compacted individually. They had tried four times to re-compact it and hadn't passed the test when I had to go. Fun to watch and easy to see why our utility rates are skyrocketing!

I took Lou to LUU Noodle House for lunch. We each enjoyed their Pad Thai lunches. I left Lou to find her on way home (bus). She mentioned that Walmart had some of my shirts on sale. I picked out some but left them at the checkout stand when they rang up costing more than the sign. I could have probably gotten them but then Walmart would have made the sale and not buying them seemed better at the time.

I stopped by Central Computer to pickup a cable for Dawn , a USB print server for all of us, and a micro USB Wifi adapter for Lou's laptop. I also finally located a Hyundai dealer so next time I take Lou out to test drive the car I'll be able to find it.


We heard the stump for the cedar tree in San Jose had been removed so I stopped by for a look. The tree stump in San Jose is now gone.

In the evening, I installed the print server for our label printer. Now any computer on the network can print to it. I also installed the micro USB Wifi adapter on Lou's laptop. Her internal Wifi doesn't work and the USB adapter she has been using is to big and has to be removed when storing the computer. There was a high likelihood of the adapter breaking the socket eventually so the tiny adapter can be left in place and doesn't present any hazard of breakage.

For dinner we had homemade vegetable soup.

Thursday: (03/29) Cereal for breakfast. I met Dawn and took her to an interview in Campbell and to the dentist in Cupertino. Vegetable soup for lunch. We had Papa John's pizza for dinner.

Friday: (03/30) Latkas with applesauce and sausage for breakfast. Lou had a doctors appointment this morning so I went down to San Jose and met Pete, one of our neighbors and friends there that also does wood floor refinishing. We looked over the house there to get an estimate to remove the carpet and refinish the hardwood floors. After that I met Lou and we went to the Sunny Buffet in Sunnyvale for Chinese buffet lunch. I've managed to come down with a cold so I relaxed the rest of the day.

Saturday: (03/31) For breakfast, leftover latkas served with ham today. My cold is more like a real cold today and I tend to take advantage of colds to relax even more than my normal. Lou baked a pumpkin pie using some of the  pumpkin Dawn grew last year. Pumpkin's are pretty big and go a long ways. She had three.  One is still in the yard. One was lost due to a freezer failure and part of the other is in the pie. Of course, she also baked some cinnamon tarts with leftover dough. I tend to prefer  the tarts to the pies anyway.  I did manage to corral Lou to go over our tax return before I file it. This year may have to go down in our history book. It will be the first time in years we have completed our return on time. Lou and Dawn were off to the bank and shopping in the afternoon. leftover soup, pizza and bread sticks for dinner.

Sunday: (04/01) Cereal for breakfast. Salmon rice for lunch. Ernie's beef stroganoff for dinner. Lou and Dawn did a few garage and rummage sales. I felt sick and lounged all day. I usually don't get too sick but my hair even hurt so there was little to enjoy about getting to relax all day. Fortunately Lou and Dawn aren't sick as well.

Monday: (04/02) Cereal for breakfast. Pork buns for lunch. Dawn's hot and sour soup for dinner. More of the same for me. Lou was busy about the house and shopping.

Tuesday: (04/03) Subway breakfast sandwiches.  Hot and sour soup for lunch. Pasta with fresh asparagus and Swedish meat balls for dinner. I actually felt much better today. My hair didn't hurt as much and the congestion was breaking up. By the end of the day I was mostly normal. Quite nice.

Wednesday: (04/04) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Nachos for Lou and a torta for me from Chaves Market for lunch. Ham and pepper salad for dinner. I did take a drive to San Mateo to pick up some things Dawn wanted from Freecycle. I also check the Jeep codes and it still hasn't clear the internal tests so it just has to go in for exploratory surgery since it isn't going to tell what's wrong with itself.

Thursday: (04/05) I'm mobile but am consuming mucho cough drops to fight the nagging cough that is remaining. Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Actually the eggs were not leftovers. For lunch leftover pepper and ham salad and hot and sour soup. Dinner was leftover hot and sour soup with pan toast. Otherwise just another day at home not doing much except recouping.

A Wet Walk-About In San Francisco

Tuesday: (03/27) We were up early. Lou had a doctors appointment and i was off on a walk-about. Lou dropped me off t the Caltrain station. I was headed to San Francisco for an evening computer group meeting. So why did I catch a train at 0830? Because I'm crazy! Actually, or partially the reason is I like to make a day of it, though today didn't look promising. I stopped in Millbrea and caught a South bound train back to Burlingame. The train I had caught North was an express so it didn't stop at some stations. The cost of going to San Francisco and back is the same as a day pass so it didn't cost more to ride around some. I got off in Burlingame, found a nice donut shop for breakfast and got my maple bar and then walked through the neighborhoods down to San Mateo. I picked up a cup of soup at a Trag's Market by the train station.


Then I caught another train on up to San Francisco arriving a little before noon.  It was raining lightly when I arrived. I caught the Muni train out to the beach. Pretty heave surf today. Since the rain was picking up I stopped by a mall for a look. Then I caught another train back toward downtown.


I stopped in Hayes valley at the Crepevine for an early dinner about 3:30. I had their Philly savory crepe. beef, mushrooms, grilled sweet onions, peppers and Swiss cheese crepe served with home fried potatoes and a green salad. So good!. After the meal I decided to try to do some geocaching. The cache was near the Mission Delores. While I was hunting it the rain started in earnest so I got drench and didn't locate the cache. I then headed off to my meeting at the Adobe building. The meeting was to learn about the direction of the
Flex programming language now that Adobe has abandoned it and it is moving to the public domain. It actually looks like it may survive and possibly even thrive still.  Interesting discussion but very few attendees possibly due to the rain. I caught the 940 train back home. Now to try to dry off.

Cat Sitting and Taxes

Sunday: (03/25) Fried bananas with ham for breakfast. Our front fence needed a little attention. When I built it I set the bottom of the fence up one inch off the concrete base to keep it dry so it wouldn't rot too soon.  It was evidently a mistake. The neighbors gardener keep blowing the bark in their flower bed onto our walkway. That wouldn't be too bad except our gardener comes the day before theirs so ours is only clean for a few hours. The neighbor and I closed the gap today. Otherwise, I was busy doing our taxes which I finished, or at least ready for the first review. Lou's been busy cat sitting the last few days for Courtney. She really enjoys visiting with Spunky. Lunch was leftovers. I had a hot chicken opened face sandwich. Pot roast with fresh asparagus for dinner.

Monday: (03/26) Lou made strawberry waffles for breakfast. She used a mix for whole wheat waffles from Trader Joe's which we all agreed we don't need to try again. In fact, the leftovers went to the dogs. We had leftover pot roast for lunch. Lou made BBQ ribs for dinner served with baked beans and potato salad. Otherwise the day was spent in the office.

Vintage Radios And Bluegrass Music

Saturday: (03/24) Oatmeal for breakfast.


After breakfast we all went to HSC Electronics Supply store to an Antique And Vintage Radio Show. Neat to see all the old radios, many fully restored. Of course most were for sale as well.


Fortunately we have two as nice as the ones at the show. My grand mothers radio and Lou has one that she inherited.


I used to have a shed full of similar old radios but got rid of most of them about twenty years ago. Lots more room now.



On our way home we first stopped at a nearby Costco store to use their rest rooms and then snacked on their samples before leaving. Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch. We stopped at a few other places on the way home. Lou made a meat loaf with baked potatoes and broccoli for dinner.

After dinner we went over to the First Presbyterian Church where the Redwood Bluegrass Associates had a concert cosponsored by the Northern California Bluegrass Society. The guest artists were Chris Stuart & Janet Beazley, Brittany Haas & Lauren Rioux.


The first half of the show was  performed by Brittany and Lauren playing their fiddles and banjo. Brittany first appeared with this group eight years ago. She was raised in the area.


The second half of the show was performed by Chris and Janet. They have a really nice act with comedy and really demonstrated their musical skills.


They were joined by Brittany and Lauren and by Paul Shelasky for a few songs as well. What a great show! It was neat to hear Janet was raised in the Western country music capital, Bakersfield, where Lou and I were raised.

It Doesn't Seem Like Spring?

Sunday: (03/18) Oatmeal with yogurt and honey for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were off to a craft swap meet. They loaded a box of stuff to take to swap and came back with more than they left with. Dawn fried up some sopapilla  served with honey for lunch. I tinkered at teh computer all day. In the evening we went over to IKEA and had Swedish meat balls for dinner. We checked out a mattress Lou had found there, stopped at home Depot across the street to get a couple of blueberry plants and look at flooring. Most a nice day with almost no rain. There was a deluge lasting a second or two just as we tried to have lunch outside.

Monday: (03/19) We started the day with a free breakfast at IKEA. The normally serve a 99 cent breakfast everyday of scrambled eggs, home fried potatoes and two strips of bacon, a good deal. But on Mondays it's free. That's hard to beat. Lou needed something at Home Depot next door anyway. Lou and I tried to go look at cars but that didn't work out so thrift stores had to do. For a late lunch we stopped at KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) for their #2.99 chicken and corn Tuesday special. Today my Scottish roots are showing. There wasn't much need for dinner. some leftover pancakes worked for me, Lunch meat and cheese for Lou.

Tuesday: (03/20) A pretty nice morning with no rain and a bit warmer than recent days. I fixed sausage and eggs with toast for breakfast. I worked at the computer most of the day studying and organizing. Lou made open faced hot chicken sandwiches for lunch. Dinner was salmon with rice and Brussels sprouts. In the evening I worked on the tax returns. A fun fun day!

Wednesday: (03/21) Oatmeal with yogurt and honey for breakfast. I worked in the office while Lou worked in her doll shop most of the day. We went to LUU Noodle House for combination chow fun and egg rolls for lunch. Homemade pizza for dinner. In the evening we went to Stanford University to the Memorial Church for an organ concert.

Thursday: (03/22) We had Subway breakfast sandwiches this morning. I bought two foot longs which were twice too much. Turns out one would have done. So guess what was for lunch. I fixed chili sizes for dinner. More of the same otherwise.

Friday: (03/23) Lou made an asparagus omelet served with toasted blueberry bread for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were busy with errands all day. Used books to the second hand book store, recyclables to the recycle place for some cash and other errands. I was busy in the office all day. Leftover Subway sandwich for my lunch. Lou and Dawn had a wrap in Mountain View. Dinner was fish and chips with green beans.

St Patricks Day And A Play

Saturday:(03/17) St Patrick's Day. Lou Dawn and Meili were off to more garage sales this morning. I worked on adding some pictures to recent posts.

• Cedar Tree removal In San Jose


• San Francisco History At The Mint


• Garden Preparation


• San Francisco, Rather Cool

We had leftover Spanish rice for lunch. At 2pm we went to Menlo Park to the Menlo Atherton High School to see a play. "Once Upon A Mattress" the variation on the "Princess And The Pea." They have a new theater that is really nice and the play was very professional. All the actors were really good but the girl that played Princess Winnifred, Hanna Berggren was outstanding. We expect to see her on the big screen sometime in the future. Of course she's only a junior so that may be a while.


For dinner we had corned beef and cabbage. How original. Lou usually cooks it in the slow cooker but baked in the oven this time. After dinner we watched the movie Darby O'Gill And The Little People. The evening was topped off with strawberry shortcake for desert.

Rain and No Power

Wednesday: (03/14) Today is one of Lou's days off. Breakfast wasn't memorable, yet?
Dawn and I were headed to Costco for a few things and lunch but ran into a problem. The Jeep's battery was dead. It started fairly easily when jumped using the old Volvo but wouldn't run. Something more seriously wrong, probably the new battery we got at Walmart in October. But it's raining today so no hurry to fix it because no emergency to go anywhere. I don't trust the old Volvo enough to drive it anywhere even though it started easily for the first time in weeks. I don't really feel like walking home. We're looking to donate it pretty soon to make room for a new car. The other Volvo was busy elsewhere. Dawn made olive loaf with horseradish cheese sandwiches for lunch. We met with an energy consultant to confirm there is no way to make solar power work here at the house. Too many big trees on the South side. Seems the sun needs to hit the panels, or something like that. Who knew? No way to mount them elsewhere. I made creamy ham, onion, and potato soup for dinner.

Thursday: (03/15) Breakfast burritos for breakfast using the leftover kale omelet from a couple of days ago. Today is another of Lou's days off so she's busy doll making. I played in the office. Lunch was cottage cheese and fresh pineapple. I hooked up the Jeep's battery to the Volvo and ran it during lunch to charge the battery. Unfortunately it seems to be OK meaning the problem is deeper in the jeep. We had a good rain yesterday and last night but today has just been overcast with no rain. After lunch, the battery was charged enough and held it's charge. Darn, can't blame the battery.  I reinstalled it in the Jeep and the thing started right up. Gremlins? Actually there was a bit more spark than I thought was right so I checked and it was drawing 2.4 amps. Seemed high. I thought it might be the sticky brake light switch but it wasn't. More checking disclosed that the interior lights were staying on. Should go out after about a minute or less. They didn't seem to go out. Might just be a symptom of reconnecting the battery but I removed the fuse for the lights as a precaution. I then took it for a spin to get some run time on the engine. I still need to get the smog check completed and can't do that until the car decides to finish it's internal diagnostic tests. The dead battery causes the computer to reboot in the Jeep so the tests begin again, so no progress in the past week. I made Spanish rice for dinner.

Friday: (03/16) Dawn made toast and ham for breakfast.  Lou, Dawn and our neighbor Meili were out at the Stanford rummage sale and other shopping details in Redwood City. I took the Jeep to the shop but it still isn't ready to get it's smog test, of course. I hoped it might have had a miraculous cure,. It didn't.  The two diagnostics still haven't completed. I also installed some LED lamps in Ernie's trailer. We had leftover Spanish rice for lunch. We all returned to Redwood City for more shopping as the rain started. Lou made Chinese vegetables, tofu and noodles for dinner. In the evening the storm really picked up to deluge mode, the heaviest rain in quite a while. It stopped by midnight and was gone.

Cedar Tree Removal In San Jose

Tuesday: (03/13) We used the alarm clock, a rare use for us since retirement. We headed to San Jose to watch the removal of the cedar tree in front of Dawn's house. We had requested the city to remove it. We stopped on the way at La Victoria Taqueria in downtown San Jose for breakfast. We both had the chorizo breakfast burritos with their great orange sauce. Lou shared hers with Dawn.


We made it to the house just on time. The tree crew was there waiting for 8am when they could start making noise. Lou and Dawn got ready to watch. It really didn't take long (by 10am) for them to have the tree stripped of most of it's limbs and ready to bring down the rest.


All the lower branches were brought down either thrown by hand to the street or lowered with a rope to the street.


It was a very tall cedar tree, much higher than their aerial truck can reach so it made it more interesting to watch how they removed the top without causing damage to the picket fence in front of the house. The aerial lift truck only got the man up so far so the top 30 feet came down in one piece and broke in to 3 foot pieces when it hit the roadway.


Chipping the pieces of the top of the tree. Those chipped limbs filled the truck so one of the men took the load to the dump while the other two men removed the rest of the tree. They brought down the main trunk of the tree in about 3' chunks each with a rope attached. They successfully removed the tree and caused no damage to the picket fence below.


Ready to fell the main trunk. By noon the rest of the tree was on the ground. Lou headed on home but I remained to watch. While they took lunch, I returned to the La Victoria for a milanesa torta (breaded steak sandwich).


In the afternoon they chipped up the rest of the tree, all of it. Rather a waste of good cedar. It would have made for an awful lot of good fire wood or lumber but I certainly couldn't make good use of it. Too bad that they couldn't use it. The main trunk of the tree was cut into pieces small enough to pass into the chipper (less than 18" in height)


Go head, count the rings. I counted the rings on the tree and it's between 90-100 rings, a very old tree, probably older than the house, which was built in 1917. It's amazing how large of pieces they feed in to the chipper. They ended up filling their truck with cedar tree trunk chips but still had more unchipped and not enough time to do it so they loaded the chunks of wood onto their other trucks and swept the rest into piles left in front of the house.


The tree's all gone, only sawdust and a stump left as the trucks drive off. They'll pick those piles up tomorrow. In a few days, after the utility companies can locate their lines, they will grind out the stump. Since we wont get notified of when they will be back we'll probably miss it.  I caught the bus home as it started to rain. Lucky crew. Lou made some Chinese noodles with vegetables ,bacon and nuts for dinner.

Some videos of the tree removal below:

• Video: Felling the top of the tree, most of it above the highest reach of the aerial truck.
• Video: Preparing to fell lower portion of the tree.
• Video: Felling the lower portion of the tree.
• Photos: Movie of the photos taken during the tree removal

Less Power To Us

Wednesday: (03/07) Oatmeal with peanut butter and honey for breakfast. LUU Noodle House for lunch. We shared a Pad Thai, a combination Won Ton Soup and egg rolls. Lou was busy in her doll shop making dolls. I was busy installing my latest tech device. I ordered a TED5000 system to monitor power usage in our house. Our power bill is out of control. This is the first step, providing feedback on how much it costs when something is turned on. It's sort of like a speedometer for power usage. We just have to learn to take our lead foot off the electric panel. It actually installed quite easily. Since it communicates over the power lines there was some tweaking needed to get it all working. I still need to get a line filter so I can turn on the florescent lights in my study where the monitor is. Our power use can be monitored via an app on my phone as well. Cool! Dawn made sausage and kale soup for dinner.

Thursday: (03/08) I started the morning taking Dawn to the trolley in Mountain View. On the way we stopped at the Hong Kong bakery to pick up some breakfast. Dawn enjoyed her's on the trolley. Lou and I enjoyed ours in the back yard.

Today is the second day of Lou's weekend. She picked two days a week to not do any cooking or cleaning and to just spend time doing what she wants to do, like doll making. Sort of like Dawn and I act all the rest of the week. Imagine! So either myself or Dawn needs to cook or? That's why we tend to eat out more often on her days off. Lou and I went to lunch at the Sunny Buffet in Sunnyvale. Very good as usual.

I spent the afternoon working in the backyard. I moved some garden planters that will be used for Wolfie's garden. Wolfie is one of Ernie's dogs and he likes to eat fresh vegetables from the garden. He is very careful picking only what he wants to eat. Usually he works on our garden. This year he'll have his own. I also moved our swing. I made some room for a new dirt pile I needed to start. When I dig out for the new sidewalks and storage shed pad, I'll create quite a lot of fluffed up dirt for the pile. I'll get even more when I do the last three sections of the fence. Now that our city dump has closed, getting rid of the dirt will have to be done in a dumpster, so since I work slowly, I'll need to collect a pile to add to the dumpster all at once. I also replaced some hardware on Lou's new glider chairs.

This afternoon, I received the other part needed for my energy analysis. A Kill-A-Watt meter. It's a device that plugs into an outlet and you just plug whatever you want to monitor into it. I intend to check everything that plugs in to see what the residual and on usage is for each item is.

For dinner I made spaghetti and fresh asparagus.

Friday: (03/09) Lou made latkas with apple sauce for breakfast. We worked in the yard and garden this morning. I worked in the office the rest of the day. Chili Beans for dinner.

Saturday: (03/10) Lou was off to a rummage sale with Dawn and then Dawn went to the library sale. I walked over to the bank and stopped for breakfast at Jack In The Box. haven't been there in a while. i had their egg, cheese and bacon melt sandwich. We did some gardening. Lou and Dawn  transplanted the asparagus. I worked some more power monitoring stuff. it's now working well. Lunch was a Chinese cashew chicken salad.  Dinner was leftover spaghetti and asparagus. We watched the first two Indiana Jones movies this evening.

Sunday: (03/11) I made Don McMuffin's for breakfast with a couple of leftover biscuits, an English muffin, a sausage, fried eggs, cheese, and some latkas. We placed some unneeded Olallieberry plants out front with "Free" signs on them. They were gone in less than an hour. Lou worked in the yard fertilizing the lawn. I worked in the office on the energy audit. They were served open faced for a change. Lunch was leftovers again. Chili and corned beef hash. For dinner we went out to Applebee's with Ernie for their TwoFor$20 dinners. I had bourbon chicken and shrimp. Lou and Dawn had steaks, and Ernie had ribs.

Monday: (03/12) Lou made an oven omelet for breakfast. Kale, red and green peppers, onions, avocados, ham and eggs. Lunch was chili. I was busy today working on my energy audit. I measured everything that was plugged in with the kill-A-Watt meter. I still have a few things outside that need to be checked. I think I found three major players though. The refrigerator, the RV, and the waterbed. Lou and Dawn were out on a thrift store run and didn't return until very late. For dinner I had leftover baked potatoes and steak. When they got home they had chicken and baked potatoes.

Garden Preparation

Sunday: (03/04) More French toast and sausage for breakfast. Lou and Dawn were busy working in the garden today. It's all prepared to plant now. I tinkered in the shop a little. Leftovers for lunch, corned beef and cabbage, savory coleslaw, and stew. In the afternoon I worked in the office. Lou made chili for dinner.


Monday: (03/05) Corned beef hash for breakfast. We worked in the yard most of the day. I unwrapped the strawberries, plucked them, and planted replacement plants as needed. I also cleaned out the front flower bed, pruning the geraniums. Lou was busy in the garden. Chili for lunch. We also moved some of the hanging plants out of the green house to the arbor. Tacos for dinner. For March it's more like summer. I hope it stays this way now. The bare naked arbor will hopefully soon recover and provide shade. It usually does. Lou and Dawns garden on the right. We should get a good berry crop this year.


Tuesday: (03/06) Granola for breakfast. A breezy and cold morning. Lou was busy planting the garden today. I trimmed the hanging basket plants in the arbor getting rid of the dead leaves. Quesodillas for lunch. I tinkered in the office much of the day. Salmon with rice and a green salad for dinner.

San Francisco History At The Mint

Saturday: (03/03) Lou made French toast and sausage for breakfast. We caught the train up to San Francisco. Lou and Dawn shared a gyro from the Oassis Grill at 200 4th St at Howard St. I could bring myself to have a gyro so I walked a block and found the Cravory Pie shop at 829 Mission Street and got one of their chicken pot pies. We then all went to the Old Mint for a history expo, a collection of all the historical societies in the city. The Old Mint building itself is quite interesting but is also the home of the San Francisco Museum And Historical Society. The building was built in 1870 but it is one of the few buildings in San Francisco that survived the 1906 earthquake. The architect recognized early the potential danger of earthquakes and built the buildings foundation to float the building and it worked. Of course that was 36 years after it was built. It performed as the  US Mint in San Francisco for another 30 year after that before a new mint building was built.


I didn't take many pictures at  the mint except for this bad one in the basement vault area. Now it is a generally vacant building on its way to becoming a museum. The various rooms were occupied by representatives of all the historical societies in town as well as speakers. One presentation we attended was about all the old garage buildings in town and what an architectural treasure they are. If only the buildings being built now days had a little of their style. When they closed down and we were thrown out we went over to the Amoeba Music shop on Haight Street by Golden Gate Park. They are a realy good used CD and DVD shop. Dawn thoroughly examined their stock and picked up a couple of things as well. We stopped at the nearby Siam Lotus Thai Cuisine restaurant for dinner (1705 Haight St). I had the Pad Thai while Lou and Dawn had coconut soup. For desert we shared a coconut ice cream and fried banana desert. This neighborhood is the famous Haight Ashbury neighborhood and there are still "interesting" people on the street. It was getting late as we hopped onto the Muni bus to the Muni Light Rail Station which took us to the Caltrain station and home. Interesting day! The weather was much nicer today than on my Tuesday visit just 4 days earlier. Today was clear and warm.