A Moving Experience

Thursday: (09/26) The last of the enchilada leftovers for breakfast. Lou was off to the market. Dawn and I headed to Santa Clara. I dropped Dawn off at the bookstore and I headed to Kaiser. They did a sonogram of my heart.. Fortunately, they found it. While there I also got my flu shot. After that, I picked up Dawn and we stopped at Lowe’s for some spray varnish for her project. Then we stopped to pick up my lunch. She had eaten at the bookstore. Then off to the Mountain View Library where she picked up a book she had reserved. I ate my lunch while she was there. And a final stop at the Palo Alto Main Library where she picked up another book. Back home, I decided to take a nap. That finished my day. While I was asleep. Lou and Dawn went to see a movie at the last movie theater in Menlo Park. it will be closing in a little while. Lou made fish with corn on the cob and toast for dinner.

Friday: (09/27) I was out early to start moving Ernie’s Shed. While he was moving things out, I was preparing the path for the move. I had to lay some paving bricks across the garden. Dawn had been busy saving some of the plants that were in the way. We picked up the building and placed four moving carts under it. Then we rolled it back to it’s old home on it’s new slab. We just parked it there. Then we erected the tent that I got and moved all the stuff back under the ent. After that i took a nice nap. Granola for breakfast. LUU Noodles for lunch. Leftover enchiladas for dinner.

Saturday: (09/28) Ernie and I took the shed off it’s carts and placed in position on the slab. The shed lays at just the right height to match Dawns but it needs some new sill boards for the front. I made a material list and headed off to Lowe’s. I got plywood for the roof. And some flashing and cement board for the base. The metal roof always causes condensation that drips on the shed contents. Adding the plywood eliminates the drip and makes a more solid roof. The cement board is placed over the baseboards to match the look of the other sheds in the yard. After tying down the load really well, I had to drive home very slowly because of some high winds. After unloading the car I called it a day. Granola and banana for breakfast. Lunch at Sweet Tomatoes Buffet. Leftover enchiladas for dinner.

Sunday: (09/29) I mounted Ernie’s shed. I also replaced some of the sill boards. And finally I rehung the door. The morning was quite nice but the wind picked up about noon. I didn’t want to work on the roof in the wind so I made a parts list for the electrical in the shed. Th headed off to the Sunnyvale Lowe’s store to get the materials I needed for the electrical. They were out or never had most of what I needed. Since I won’t shop at Home Depot and because most other options are gone in out=r area, I drove further South to the North San Jose Lowe’s. Eventually I located all that I needed. It was 1700 by the time I got home so i just unloaded the materials and took a shower. A chicken sausage and some granola for breakfast. BBQ veggies for lunch. Lou’s chili beans for dinner.

Monday: (09/30) Ernie and I installed the plywood roof sheathing on his shed. After lunch the wind was picking up. I needed some more screws for the roof and my tin snips from the house in San Jose. Lou needed to stop by at the RV shop and pick up some things from the RV. So we all went South. At the RV shop I learned the RV was ready. Good timing. I drove it home. Lou stopped by to pick up my snips. I stopped to get LPG and gas in the RV. The LPG tink shwed ¼ full and took 10 gallons to reach ¾ when it stopped. Nice to know it all works snow. At home The jacks and slides worked well. Because I got the RV, I didn’t stop by Lowe’s to get my screws so another trip is needed tomorrow. Granola for breakfast. A hummus and chicken sandwich for lunch. Leftover enchiladas for dinner.

Sunday: (09/29) I mounted Ernie’s shed. I also replaced some of the sill boards. And finally I rehung the door. The morning was quite nice but the wind picked up about noon. I didn’t want to work on the roof in the wind so I made a parts list for the electrical in the shed. Th headed off to the Sunnyvale Lowe’s store to get the materials I needed for the electrical. They were out or never had most of what I needed. Since I won’t shop at Home Depot and because most other options are gone in our area, I drove further South to the North San Jose Lowe’s. Eventually I located all that I needed. It was 1700 by the time I got home so i just unloaded the materials and took a shower. A chicken sausage and some granola for breakfast. BBQ veggies for lunch. Lou’s chili beans for dinner.

Monday: (09/30) Ernie and I installed the plywood roof sheathing on his shed. After lunch the wind was picking up. I needed some more screws for the roof and my tin snips from the house in San Jose. Lou needed to stop by at the RV shop and pick up some things from the RV. So we all went South. At the RV shop I learned the RV was ready. Good timing. I drove it home. Lou stopped by to pick up my snips. I stopped to get LPG and gas in the RV. The LPG tink shwed ¼ full and took 10 gallons to reach ¾ when it stopped. Nice to know it all works snow. At home The jacks and slides worked well. Because I got the RV, I didn’t stop by Lowe’s to get my screws so another trip is needed tomorrow. Granola for breakfast. A hummus and chicken sandwich for lunch. Leftover enchiladas for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/01) A nice chicken sausage and PB toast for breakfast. I went off to Lowe’s to get my screws. At home, I eventually went to work on the shed and was ready to get on the roof when I discovered I had the wrong sized screws. Back to Lowe’s again. Back home I had some chili beans for lunch. I was tired already so a nap got my attention. In the evening we all went to dinner at The Fish Market. I spent some time after dinner vacuuming the RV.

San Jose Mid Week Hikers Pot Luck

Wednesday: (09/25) Granola for breakfast. In the afternoon I went to the San Jose Mid Week Hikers Pot Luck Dinner. It was at member Anne's house. there were just 60 of the 4000 members there, the most active and involved. Most leaders were there and, even though i have only done a couple of hikes this year, I was asked to come. It turns out I've been a member longer that everyone else at the party. I joined when the group was announced but didn't do a hike with the group for 5 months. By my third hike I was a leader doing a hike in Big Basin State park.

San Francisco Walkabout

Tuesday: (09/24) Leftover enchiladas for breakfast. I walked over to the Caltrain station, then checked my wallet to use my Clipper card for the fare. No wallet. Soo, I walked home. I found the wallet in the pants I washed and dried last night. So I’m a money launderer now. Lou drove me back to the station. I caught the 0909 train to San Francisco. I walked out to see the new Chase arena in Mission Bay then headed over to 24th Street. I wanted to have lunch at the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor but they were closed. They have weird hours and are only open a few hours a day and only 1730-2130 on Tu-Th. So, my alternate was next door at the La Torta Gorda. I had a junior poblano, onion, and avocado torta. Good thing I ordered the junior. It was bigger than a whopper. The regular would feed three people with leftovers. It was probably the best torta I’ve ever had. I continued up 24th Street. To Castro the over to Market Street, then to Embarcadero. I had a nice banana and a Chai Latte along the way. I caught a Muni train to Caltrain and headed home. With the 3 miles to and twice from the station and the above 10 miles of walking, I made a 13 mile hike today with only 800 of climb. Only a little difficulty. Today was a hot one, 97 high in Palo Alto, 88 high in San Francisco.

Meatless, Cheeseless Enchilada Casserole.

Meatless, Cheeseless Enchilada Casserole.

• One large can of black beans
• Two large cans of medium hot green enchilada sauce
• One cup of rice
• One small can of diced tomatoes
• One red and two green peppers
• Two onions
• Large package of tortillas

I dice two green peppers, one red pepper, and two onions and saute them. I prepare a cup of rice. When it is done, i place in a frying pan and add some of the green enchilada sauce and simmer. In a large pan, (Mine is something like 2” x14”x22”) place a layer of corn tortillas. 6 tortillas to a layer in mine. On that I put a layer of green enchilada sauce, then some of the pepper and onion mix, then some black beans. Add some more green sauce then another layer of tortillas. A little more sauce on the tortillas then the remainder of the peppers and onions and black beans. Add a layer of diced tomatoes then top with rice. The top with another layer of tortillas and pour the remainder of the green enchilada sauce on top. Place in a 400 degree oven for one hour.

Enjoy.




History: I had to cut most meat and cheese out of my diet. I usually made this with a mix of 1# chorizo and 1# hamburger. With a large bag of shredded Mexican cheese blend. Those are replaced by an additional pepper, the rice and a second can of sauce. Still really good.

Starting To Fix Things

Monday: (09/16) I spent the morning printing manuals and used guides related to our RV systems. I also tinkered with the rear yard sprinklers. I cleaned out the valve innards for the sprinkler that had stuck on. I’m having trouble connecting the yard sprinkler controller to the new Internet SSID. I shutdown the old internet modem and packed it to ship back to Sonic. Granola for breakfast. A green salad for lunch. Chicken chorizo hash for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/17) Granola for breakfast. I took a walk to and through the Stanford campus this morning. I stopped for a mushroom omelet for brunch on campus. I walked about 6 miles. Back at home I tinkered with the RV slide problem. I also finally got the sprinkler controller connected to the new Internet and test the controller. Lots of drip emitters to fix. Spinach quiche with sautéed mushrooms for dinner. 

 

Distant view of new housing. On the right the layout of the new Stanford housing.

 

Nearing completion of the new Stanford housing complex.

Breakfast from Coupa Cafe on Stanford Campus

 

Stanford cactus flowers

 

Sanford Cactus garden.

Lou's new scooter arrived.

Wednesday: (09/18) I worked at cleaning out my shop enough to find my sprinkler parts. Other cleanup distracted me so not much work on the sprinklers after I did find the parts. I attended my Wednesday AlphaAnywhere webinar. In the evening we went to Stanford Mall to get some veggies at Sigona’s Market and take a walk. Lou got to use her new electric wheelchair. Granola and banana for breakfast. Chicken with hummus sandwich for lunch. Leftover chicken chorizo hash and a green salad for dinner.

Thursday: (09/19) Granola and banana for breakfast. I started by filling a second compost bin with leaves from behind the playhouse. I hate to leave an empty bin when something needs to be cleaned up. I had to do it early before the pickup, usually the first thing today but fortunately today was later. After that, I took a walk and watched some roofing material being delivered to the rooftop by a folding crane that could reach 80 feet across the roof. Back home I repaired Dawn’s zappy scooter headlight mount. I had to figure out how to reattach it without too much destruction and still be firmly mounted. I fabricated a new mount from a piece of 1” PVC pipe. I cut and bent it to allow it to be tie wrapped to the light and camped to the handlebar. After that I had lunch at Lucky Chinese, some chow fun noodles and black bean fish. Back home, I took a nap. Dinner was a baked potato.

Friday: (09/20) I worked on the sprinklers. I pulled in drip tubes through the conduits I installed under the sidewalk. Effectively, my days work brought a drip nozzle to the planter in front of the garage. I also called Leale's for an appointment to get some work done on the RV. English muffin with hummus for breakfast. Chill size for dinner. Chicken sandwich for lunch. 

 

Dawn's Zappy headlight mount repair.

Saturday: (09/21) Lou watched her morning dog shows. I spent some time moving stuff out of the RV. We both went down to San Jose to regrout the kitchen sink at the rental house. Granola and banana for breakfast. A late lunch at Sweet Tomatoes. Chill size for dinner.

Sunday: (09/22) We all went out for a drive looking for plant share markets. Ours in Palo Alto disappeared. Dawn tried one in Redwood City but it didn’t exist as Google had led her to believe. We then tried one in Sunnyvale but arrive after they were through but the organizer gave Dawn information about hers and others. We also snagged a couple of strawberry plants from her. On the way home we stopped at the Goodwill store in sunnyvale for them to look around. I spent some time exposing some of the sprinkler pipes so that I can recircuit a couple of the pipes. I will need to get a couple of fittings tomorrow to complete the job. I also started all the burners and oven in the RV to burn off any remaining LPG. Unfortunately, even though it is beyond empty it still may have up to 6 gallons of LPG left? Lou made home fried potatoes with salsa and a side of grapes for breakfast. We stopped for lunch at a new Coupa Cafe in Los Altos on El Camino Real. It opened while we were gone and is the same cafe I enjoy on the Stanford Campus during my walks and the same Dawn enjoys downtown. BBQ fish for dinner.

Monday: (09/23) Granola and banana for breakfast. I drove the RV down to Leale’s in San Jose. Lou followed in the Jeep. The RV is having the inop jacks and slides and the LPG valve looked and an oil change. A stop at Lowe’s for a few PVC fittings for the sprinklers and some grocery shopping at Smart And Final before getting home. I recircuited the sprinkler pipes to reduce the number of emitters on the drip circuit. It wasn’t easy but eventually I prevailed and backfilled my hole. I still need to redo some drip tubing in the greenhouse to complete the job. After a shower, I got busy cooking. I made some meatless, cheeseless enchilada casserole. It turned out really good.

Dave's Ranch Weekend, San Antonio Valley Ranch

Friday: (09/13) Granola and banana for breakfast. We did the finish loading of the RV. I went to the market to get some drinking water and a few things. We rolled away about 1045. We crossed the bay on the Dumbarton bridge and took Highway 84 through Niles Canyon to Livermore. We had lunch at the El Charro Mexican restaurant in Livermore before heading up Old Mines Road to Dave’s Ranch in San Antonio Valley behind Mt Hamilton. We arrived at the Ranch about 1520. It was hot so we mostly relaxed in the RV with the AC on and chatted with Dave. Later Others arrived. We had leftover Greek food from last night's dinner for tonight's dinner. Fortunately it cooled down nicely and we enjoyed a nice campfire in the evening.

 

Saturday: (09/14) Diced apple and potato pancakes for breakfast. I took a morning loop walk around the ranch and out by the homestead cabin. No wildlife too be seen but we did hear elk bugling last night. Much of the day was just relaxing and chatting. I did take a paddle and float in the lake later in the afternoon. For dinner most of us went to the Junction Restaurant.

  

 

Nice views of the ranch.

Sunday: (09/15) Dawn and I took the same walk as I did yesterday. We had peach blintzes for breakfast. After breakfast, I took a drive with the Jeep up over the ridge. A good workout for the jeep since it is only normally used by motorcycles and ATV’s. Added a few pin stripes on the narrow trail but exercised the low range and the hill descent features. We cleaned up and put things away then chatted until a bit after noon and we all left the ranch. We had to make a stop at the Junction Restaurant to pick up Lou’s keys before heading down the hill. We stopped at a Greek restaurant in downtown Livermore for lunch then on to home arriving around 1600. A nice chicken sandwich for dinner.

 

Ranch views.

 

Some tent campers and our RV.

 

The eagle in the tree. More ranch views. 

Upgrading To Fiber Internet

Wednesday: (09/11) Up at 0715 to have my breakfast and get ready for the fiber installer. The window to get our Internet upgraded to fiber is today from 0800-1600. It would be nicer if they were able to limit the window or at least provide updates on expected arrival. Of course, the locksmith called to say the new key FOB’s are in and they can only do the programming on Tuesday or Wednesday when there are two people working at the shop. I thought I’d have to wait until next week then Lou volunteered to take the Jeep down to have it done. While I waited for the ATT tech to arrive, I searched for information on the RV’s leveling jacks. Nothing in the information pack in the RV. I eventually found the appropriate information and tried to get the jacks to work. I did learn how to retract them manually or by jumper but haven't done it yet. To top that outage, the bedroom slide isn’t working. It has worked before without the jacks down but the jack error alarm may be inhibiting it now. The ATT tech, Francisco, arrived about 1430 and finished the install by 1630. The fiber required a relocation of our modem to the living room and likely the phone base unit. Also need to get a line to the fax. I updated the password and also setup the repeaters to work with the new unit rather than the old DSL. The down speed isn’t too much more that the DSL but the up speed is 10 times faster. Since a lot of the problems we’ve been having were likely a bad cable to the study where the old modem was, the system should be more reliable now. Lou brought me a nice Impossible burger from the Counter burger joint for lunch. She and Dawn had lunch there with Cecelia after their errands. For dinner Lou made fish, garlic potatoes and carrot salad.

 

Fiber cable pretty well hidden behind the vinyl siding channel.

The error code for the RV jack system

Thursday: (09/12) Lou made potato pancakes with sausage for breakfast. I got busy trying to raise the RV jacks. I eventually got them all up using my electric drill and a socket wrench. I lot a crawling under the RV. I finished getting them all up by about 1200. After a lot of scrubbing to get the grease off my hands and a shower, Lou and I headed off to an appointment with stop for lunch on the way. Sweet Tomatoes Buffet provided a good lunch. We had a Cardio Class at Kaiser where we basically learned how to eat and exercise to help my heart. While getting the jacks down, I trapped a 5 gallon bucket under the side of the RV. I sure wasn’t going to raise the RV again so I cut the bucket into pieces to get it out. Dawn made a nice Mediterranean eggplant and chicken dinner (Moussaka).

Catching Up While Doing Little

Monday: (09/02) I relaxed all day. I only have a 20# lifting limit but it’s too easy to abuse that limit doing anything. Granola with a banana for breakfast. Chicken artichoke rice for lunch. Bean soup for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/03) I relaxed all day catching up with mail. I also signed up for a weekend campout with my hiking group after posting the event for the host. Since I’m home early, I signed up for the Silicon Valley Code Camp which i would have missed if we returned in october. Granola with a banana for breakfast. Tomato and hummus toast for lunch. Dawn made a fish stew for dinner.

Wednesday: (09/04) I relaxed much of the day but did get out to the locksmith to order some new key fobs for the jeep and to schedule a smog test for the RV. The RV hasn’t had valid tags since April. Interestingly, I received a bill from Massachusetts DOT for a toll road fee. The invoice was only for the Jeep license plate. Have to wonder if it was cheaper thinking it was one vehicle or if they would have been interested in the out of date tags on the RV? Still going through the unimportant mail collected while we were gone. I also attended my webinar today. Lou made chicken chorizo hash for breakfast. Leftover bean soup for lunch with a toast. Sauerkraut potatoes and chicken for dinner.

Thursday: (09/05) Granola and banana for breakfast. I took the RV in to be smogged. It’s the first time I’ve done it with this RV but not it’s first check. It didn’t go well. It turns out a special tool is needed to remove the engine compartment cover and we couldn’t find the OBD2 connecter either. I brought it home without the test and spent the rest of the day trying to find the tool and connector.

 It took a while but I think I found a tool (7mm triangle driver) on Amazon. I ordered it but it will take a couple of days to arrive. More online exploration and I found out a 7mm hex socket will work. It doesn’t work perfectly but did open the cover. More breaking my back trying to see under the dash and eventually I found the connector about 1900. It is located behind the speedometer way up behind the dash and way down from the top access panel. Just to make it ideal, it also faces forward so there is little clearance to install the connector, but it can be done. I ordered a short extender cable to make accessing it easier in the future. Now to reschedule to smog test. Lou, Dane and I had lunch at LUU Noodle House. We had some chicken stew for dinner.

Friday: (09/06) Granola and banana. We were off to an appointment today. Lunch at Applebees. Leftovers for dinner.

Saturday: (09/07) Waffles and peanut butter for breakfast. 

 

Dawn and I visited the Mountain View Wine And Art Festival. Always interesting art there. I installed the OBD2 extension cable and OBD2 dongle in the RV and tried out the Torque Pro app. The connector works great so maybe the smog test can be done now. Tomato and hummus on toast for lunch. Salmon and shrimp with zucchini and green beans for dinner.

Sunday: (09/08) Breakfast at A Good Morning Restaurant. I located a new wheelchair / scooter for Lou and ordered it. I was released to normal duty today. I pulled weeds and trimmed some plants in the greenhouse. That was after a long afternoon nap. Salads for dinner. Lou and Dawn prepared some of the Asian pears today and we had some for desert. 

While on a walk we noticed this rubber driveway ramp which we will be getting.

Monday: (09/09)Granola and banana for breakfast. I had my post cardiac event visit my doctor and also my annual checkup. All good. I have some lab work to do and i got a new shingles shot as well. Veggie sausage, broccoli and cauliflower with garlic mashed potatoes for dinner. I did some minor tasks today. I replaced the cooler float valve, adjust the side gate latch so it engages.

Tuesday: (09/10) I had to fast so I was off early to get my lab work done at Kaiser in Mountain View. I returned home and had some breakfast then took the motorhome to bet a smog test at A1 Foreign Auto. I like them because they are a gold station and can fix it if needed to pass the test. I also learned that our's is one of only three motorhomes that they test for long time customers. They say no to everyone else. Lou made peach blintzes for brunch. We had leftover sauerkraut potatoes and chicken for dinner. I spent the rest of the day washing the RV, Jeep and Hyundai. Quite a project. For Lou and Dawn, it was laundry day.