Bad Jeep

Friday: (07/31) A frustrating day. Lou gave me three items to accomplish for her today. One was to order her Redrose decaffeinated tea. We get it from Walmart because they carry it and it’s cheaper than anywhere else. They are out of stock. Failed. Order some 30” planter saucers. Couldn’t find any online. Faled. Get her Jeep looked at. The Start/Stop feature on the engine doesn’t work. It hasn’t for most of the time we’ve owned it. We’ve had it in for repair at least five times and they have fixed it twice on those visits. Once replacing the battery, the other replacing the “intelligent battery sensor”. It also returns to not working. The beeping and alarm messages annoy Lou, and me. So another try to get it fixed. This time it was at Sunnyvale Jeep. They looked at it a couple of weeks ago and found the second battery low and charged it and tested it and sent us off with no repair, a $124 bill for an item covered by our lifetime warranty and with the usual instructions it will take a day or two for the Intelligent Battery Sensor to allow it to actually start working again. Well two weeks and 330 miles and still not working so back we went. Same thing, They checked the battery, looked it over and found nothing. This time , at least, it was covered by our warranty so we only had to pay the $100 deductible. Of course it still didn’t work and had no hope of working. They said that to do more I’d have to remove all the accessories I installed because they must be draining the battery. The only accessory is the towing brake system and I have no intention of removing that. I feel like telling them they can remove the brake system and then if it still doesn’t work they can reinstall. I’d pay for the removal if it fixed the problem but I'll pay nothing, not even the deductible if it didn't and expect a refund. Of course that will never happen either. So, we have a Jeep with a Start Stop feature that supposedly improves gas mileage but never has worked well or often. That feature likely was considered when they published their city/highway mileage estimates which seems deceitful So our next action may be to contact the feds and the state consumer folks and see if we are the only ones affected. Checking online shows it seems to not work for anyone but most just want to disable it. What they want to disable mostly is the constant failure messages and alarms that can not be disabled and are not recorded as errors by the system. I actually like the feature, when it works. So, my first decision is how much do I want more frustration in my life or should I forget about it? It may be time to involve a TV consumer reporter. Another Fail. I called at 1000 in the morning, got an appointment for 1115, waited for word about it, rode my bike down to Sunnyvale to get it back about 1630. Pretty much a wasted day. Leftovers for dinner.

Little Basin Eagle Rock Hike

Thursday: (07/30) I picked up my sausage egg and cheese English muffin and a donut at Happy donut for my breakfast. I was then off to do two short hikes. Both these trails I haven’t done before. I stopped at the trailhead for the John Nicholas Trail on Black Road in Los Gatos. The trail winds from Black Road up to Skyline Road but I just hiked the first 2 miles to the pond. I’ve hiked the rest many times. This portion of the trail opened just a couple of years ago. It’s a mostly flat dusty road trail with lots of bicycles but the pond and a couple of streams were nice. Total 4.2 miles. After that I drove out to the Little Basin area of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. I hiked the Eagle Rock and Little Basin Loop Trails. This hike was mostly through oak and bay tree forest. The views from the Eagle Roak were the best in the area looking out over the valleys all around and out to the ocean. There was a radio repeater building nearby and the burnt remains of an old fire lookout tower. Total 4.6 miles. So, together these two hikes made one good length hike on trails I haven’t done before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Jose Tree Trimming

Tuesday: (07/28) I headed off early to San Jose. I stopped for a breakfast burrito from La Victoria Taqueria. Then on to Dawn’s place. The neighbor was trimming their giant tree and I was there to watch to make sure they don’t damage anything for our tenants. I also cleaned the leaves off the roof and tops of the rain gutters. The foam seemed to keep them clean. I also packed up most of the food I had stocked up on for the painting project that had to be deferred due to the Covid-19 response. They finished really quickly and I was off by 1100 toward home. I stopped to pick up lunch in Sunnyvale at the First Wok restaurant in Sunnyvale. Back home I help Lou a little by putting things back into the clean yard shed. The gardener may come tomorrow and the lawn needs to be empty. I also attended a campfire where I burnt up a lot of junk wood. I still have another day's worth of wood to burn another day. Lou grilled some vegetables from the garden and baked some sausage filled squash and roasted some tomatoes for dinner. All from the garden except the chicken sausage. 

Wednesday: (07/29) Granola and banana for breakfast I had my AlphaAnywhere webinar in the morning. Dawn had her online writing class. I had leftover Chinese food for lunch. We all drove over to Santa Cruz for the afternoon and did some walking around downtown. On the way home we stopped at Aqui Mexican restaurant for dinner.

Four Open Space Hike At Russian Ridge

Monday: (07/27) Lou and I were off early to Smart and Final for groceries. Back home, I readied for a hike then stopped for breakfast at Happy donut, a sausage egg and cheese English muffin and a donut. Then off to Russian Ridge again and did my Four Open Space preserve hike. Usually it is around 8.5 miles but I did a shortcut eliminating the Ancient Oaks Trail and it was only 6.5 miles. I had promised Lou I’d finish by 1500 and I’d have been late if I needed the additional hour for the hike. The hike goes from Russian Ridge OSP into Skyline OSP then down into Monte Bello Ridge OSP and finally through Coal Creek OSP before returning into Russian Ridge OSP. This makes a nice circular loop hike. On the way home I stopped at Jack In The Box for a Milkshake. A little tinkering in the yard in the afternoon. Lou and Dawn worked putting things back into the yard shed much of the day. We had shepherd's pie for dinner.

 

 

 

More Tinkering In The Yard And Shop

Friday: (07/24) I did a bunch of little jobs today. I replaced all the lamps in the kitchen There are five lamps in two fixtures and we were down to ½ a lamp working. Quite dim in there. So I had to finally work on them .It isn’t an easy task changing the lamps on one because it is a custom lamp fissure and is hard to remove and install the lens. With that done I got to work replacing the faucet in our main bathroom. Fortunately, that went well but always fun to reach around behind the sink. I then repaired Lou’ smoker. The heating element wasn’t properly installed so I reassembled it properly and it worked. Funny how it wrecked for quite a while before. I took a short bike ride in the afternoon. I stopped for a chai latte on the way. Lou and Dawn have been busy cleaning out the old yard storage shed. Most of the stuff in there has been in there un disturbed for over 20 years. Our old camping stuff was in there. We sat it out front for give away. Granola for breakfast. Leftovers for lunch. Dinner from the German restaurant in Redwood City. 

Saturday: (07/25) I made ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches for our breakfast this morning. A little work outside putting things in order in the sop. I also cleaned out the drain gutter in the greenhouse. I had to make a few slots bigger to pull out the roots that invaded. Not it drains again. I also finally got the communications to work on the last new Bhyve faucet timer for the overhead sprinkler in the greenhouse. We all headed up to Redwood City and got lunch at El Grullense Taqueria. I like their veggie burrito. Lou and Dawn shared carnitas Meaty Fries and some fried plantains. We also stopped and got Lou an ankle brace. Back home I napped. That seems to be one of my favorite inactivities. Pastrami and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Sunday: (07/26) Granola and diced apple for breakfast. Pastrami and cheese sandwich for lunch. Roasted zucchini, tomatoes and onions with French fries and corned beef for dinner.

We worked in the yard on the old yard shed contents. Lou and Dawn were organizing. I hosed out the shed. A little gardening as well.

Russian Ridge Hike

Thursday: (07/23) Granola for breakfast. I drove up Pagemill Road to Skyline Rd and the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. I hiked the ridge trail North to its end at Skyline Road, about 5 miles. I came back via the Charquin, Hawks Ridge and Ancient Oaks trails that parallel my way out. I stopped for a snack overlooking what could have been an ocean view, if it were not foggy below. I enjoyed a plum from a loaded wild tree beside the trail. I was happy that it was foggy for parts of my hike and not at all hot. Pea soup with toast for lunch. Chili covered baked potatoes for dinner.

 

 

 

 

Car Washes, RV Tinkering, Gardening, Etc.

Friday: (07/17) Granola for breakfast. I washed the Hyundai this morning. About 1300 I headed off to Redwood City to look over the new Outdoor hardware Supply (That replaced one of the old Orchard Supply Hardware stores). Nicely stocked with some unfamiliar brands and a little too high of prices. I picked up a veggie burrito from El Gruelense Yaqueria on my way home.

Saturday: (07/18) Granola and banana for breakfast. I finished setting up the new, and old faucet sprinkler timers for access via the web. After a pastrami sandwich for lunch, I tinkered in the RV for a while. Grilled veggies with chicken and potatoes for dinner

Sunday: (07/19) We had breakfast from a good morning. I was tinkering in the garden and also anchored the vent fan in the RV battery compartment. I had to fabricate the mount. I had been thinking of trying to install ducting to get the air into the lower compartment but couldn’t figure a workable way so I opted to just mount the fan. If it needs more I’ll install a second fan to move air between the compartment sections all without ducting. Otherwise I was relaxing in my man cave (RV). A pastrami and cheese sandwich for lunch. Leftover stew for dinner.

Monday: (07/20) Granola and banana for breakfast. I took the Jeep in to get the Start/Stop feature working again. It’s been inop for months. I walked back home from Sunnyvale Jeep. A pastrami and cheese sandwich for lunch. Steak with baked potatoes and corn on the cob for dinner.

Tuesday: (07/21) Granola and banana for breakfast. I had a dentist appointment this morning to get two fillings touched up and a plug put in my implant. Interesting what they are doing to make visiting the dentist the safest place you could be. On the way home I got lunch from a new, to me, Chinese Restaurant, the First Wok in Sunnyvale. I relaxed the rest of the day. Chicken with carrots and tater tots for dinner.

Wednesday: (07/22) Granola and banana for breakfast. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. I installed the new kitchen sink faucet in the RV. Looks nice. I did have to make a run to Ace hardware to get a couple of adapters and fittings. Leftovers for dinner.

 

New RV kitchen sink faucet, The new garden.

Los Trancos Loop Trail At Foot Hills park

Thursday: (07/16) Granola for breakfast. Hiked the Los Trancos Loop Trail in Foothill Park. Chopped salad from the Corner Market for lunch. Lou washed the Jeep, Ernie washed his car, and my little Hyundai only got to watch. I tinkered with all the Roku devices and TV’s to be sure they all work and have access to Hulu, Roku, Amazon, etc. Zucchini and sausage for dinner.

 

 

 

A Little Shop Work

Tuesday: (07/14) Granola for breakfast. I tinkered in my shop and did some cleanup and rearranging. I brought the table saw out and cut some stuff for the hobby drawer mods in the RV. A little trip to the hardware store to get some hardware to finish the hobby drawer. I spray varnished the wood for the drawer and kitchen cupboard door filler. We moved one door to allow access when the slide is in and that left a gap that will now be filled, tomorrow after the pieces are all dry. Salsa and chips for lunch. Shepherd’s pie for dinner.

Wednesday: (07/15) Granola for breakfast. I installed the latch on the hobby drawer and the kitchen spacer. A chopped salad for lunch. Stew for dinner.

 

 

Huddart Park Hike

Monday: (07/13) I picked up a sausage, egg and cheese English muffin for breakfast at Happy donut. I then headed off for a hike at Huddart Park in Woodside. I hiked about 9 miles on the Lonely Trail and Richards Road Loop with a few side trails on the way. I finished about 1300 and returned home for lunch. I enjoyed my leftover Lucky Chinese Bistro food from a couple of days ago. Lou and I then went down to San Jose to get my electric drill, batteries and grinder from Dawn’s place. Still no repainting being done by me. We also stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood market in San Jose on the way home. I relaxed the rest of the day. Chili beans for dinner.

 

Back Home

Thursday: (07/09) An almost do nothing day. First, and only thing I did today was to help resurrect the fallen tomato plants. They all fell or blew down while we were gone. Everything in the garden grew by more than 40% in size and it was too much for the tomatoes. Lou and Dawn picked the ripe tomatoes and then we stood them back up and added heavy duty stakes to the wire rings to keep them up. They don’t look good but will probably be back to their usual fast growth tomorrow. The corn is now fully tasseled and the ears of corn of significant size. Several squash are now 8-10” round now. PBJ toast for breakfast. Lou’s homemade tomato soup for lunch. Dawn made an interesting dinner with some zucchini, hamburger, cheese, tomatoes and onions.

Friday: (07/10) Lou and I headed off to get LED lamps and some grocery shopping. We got everything at Smart and Final market. Everything but my ciabatta bread. We also stopped at Nob Hill and Sprouts Markets and not ciabatta bread there either. It’s always a hunt to get my bread. At home I got the jacks on the RV back up. None would move and the Left front was the bad one stuck halfway. I’ve decided to try and replace the jack motor assembly or the whole thing so the hunt is on for parts. Otherwise a relaxing day.

Granola for breakfast. Chinese food from Lucky Chinese Bistro for lunch. Artichokes with deviled eggs and broccoli salad for dinner.

Saturday: (07/11) Granola for breakfast. I started the day with a bike ride. I rode down to Sprout’s Market to see if they had my chibatta in yet. Nope. So i got an alternate for now and more green tea to make the trip more worthwhile. I then took the bike path to Gunn then out Arastradero Road to Alpine Road in Portola Valley, then down to Stanford campus on Alpine Road. I stopped at the Coupa Cafe for a Chai Latte before heading home. I got back about 1130. Lou made a nice chopped salad with black beans, peppers, onions, ham, and tomatoes for lunch. I tinkered in my man cave (the RV) in the afternoon. It was 89 degrees inside but actually comfortable for me with the fan blowing on me.

Sunday: (07/12) We took a walk up to California Avenue to see the Farmers Market in the morning. Back home I spent some time weeding Dawn’s old garden section. In the heat of the afternoon I watched some British mysteries. Leftover home fried potato hash with ham and eggs for breakfast. Leftover lasagna and hot and sour soup for lunch. Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.