Golden Gate Park Arboretum

Wednesday: (10/06) I was off to San Francisco early to Golden Gate Park for a walk. I parked on the West Side of the park a mile or so away from the Arboretum. I made it to the Arboretum at 0850 so I could enter for free. I checked many of the trails and when my stomach started to growl, I left to go get breakfast about 1030. I wanted something interesting and cheap and happened upon the Peasant Pie Shop. I got a sausage, egg and cheese pie which was excellent. I then continued my walk around the park. On my walk I explored Stow Lake. Upon my return to the car about 1430, I had hiked 10 miles. I needed to get gas and then I returned to the pie shop for lunch, a nice beef and potato pie. I took the slow way home via Junipero Serra and El Camino Real. We picked up dinner from my usual Lucky Chinese Bistro.

Thursday: (10/07) Granola and a banana for breakfast. Leftover Chinese food for lunch. Dinner at Appleby’s. Other than a little project supervision today, I only drove Dawn to an afternoon appointment in San Jose. Lou was busy with own appointment to pick up her hearing aids. We met for dinner at Appleby's..

Friday: (10/08) Granola and banana for breakfast. After a little watching of the construction down the street we headed off to San Jose. Dawn had a prescription to pick up. It took a while but we finally headed on to our destination, Gilroy. We stopped on the way at camping world to use a credit I had that would expire in a couple of weeks. We then stopped at the Longhorn Restaurant for lunch. Cowboy garlic pork chops with eggs. Outstanding!. Then we dropped Dawn off at the bookstore and Lou and I explored other places. I want a Promaster van, preferably low mileage and cheap. For some reason, that is hard to find, especially in our current times. No luck. Then a couple of stops at thrift stores before heading home. Back home ham, crackers and cheese for dinner.

Saturday: (10/09) Lou made pancakes for breakfast. Mashed potatoes with cheese and diced ham for lunch. Chinese food from Lucky Chinese Bistro for dinner as Ernie’s treat. I tinkered today. I dug out a little more trying to find my leaky pipe. I exposed the two places I thought it might be and neither leaked when I turned on the water. I also replaced the shower nozzle and the kitchen water filter cartridge.

Sunday: (10/10) Leftover Chinese food for breakfast. I turned on the water in the garden again and watched for a leak. Nothing showed up all day. Must have fixed itself? I also started the energy monitor installation. I took a bike ride to Ace Hardware and bought some parts for the energy monitor installation. I finished most of the Energy Monitor installation. Only 8 of 16 probes installed but may not be room for more. Tuna and crackers for lunch while I rode back via the Baylands trails. Stuffed squash for dinner.

Monday: (10/11) Granola and banana for breakfast. I delivered the Hyundai to Say Ray Garage to have the air conditioning fixed. Also an oil change. At home, I tinkered with the power monitor. It really works well. Nice to monitor the wattage consumption of each circuit. Bacon and cheese sandwich for lunch. Macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/12) Soft boiled eggs for breakfast. The Wilton Court project was very busy today. Two trucks delivering wall panels and lumber and a concrete pumper truck. They poured concrete footings in the basement ramp area, the steps for the courtyard emergency exit, a ramp connecting the second level parking and the street entrance, and some footings in a mechanical room. I also went to Kaiser to get my flu shot. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Tuna cheese toast for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/13) Granola and banana for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Soup for dinner from Panera Bread. I gave myself a hair and beard cut this afternoon. I also supervised the construction project down the street.

Thursday: (10/14) Lou made squash with sausage for breakfast. Trail snacks for lunch. Chili for dinner. A little construction inspection to start the day. We all went to Hidden Villa around noon. Lou and Dawn visited the animals and garden. I took a 4 mile hike around the farm. It would have been 6 miles but one of the trails into San Antonio Preserve was closed.

Friday: (10/15) Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Pot roast for dinner. A little construction inspection. I installed a new GFCI device for the outside washer and gray water pump. I had to replace one extension cord and modify the cords so they were just the right length, no excess coils. This completes the separation of Ernie’s trailer loads from the house loads like the washer. No energy monitoring will be better.

Saturday: (10/16) I made it outside about 0840 and walked down to see what was going on with the Wilton Court project. Nothing happening except I noticed one guy opening up the construction yard across the street. Back home, I prepared one of my ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches for my breakfast. Then I got outside and started backfilling the holes I dug to expose the water pipe under the new garden. I had dug it up trying to find a leak that was saturating the garden soil. I never found anything and everything dried out so possibly it was just being way over watered by the drip system. I was interrupted shortly after i got started by Lou who said they was activity down the street. A crew was at Wilton Court loading a truck with some of the form bracing from the second floor pour. After they filled the 40 foot trailer with a huge load of 4x4, they got busy removing the last of the form materials and stacking it up for another load. Since they worked on Saturday, I suspect they will be pouring some more concrete Monday. The ramp walls, the second level courtyard walls, and other concrete and shotcrete are still to be done. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I finished backfilling the garden but need to get some more soil to bring it to the proper level. This may be the first hole I ever dug that didn’t generate more dirt than I could stuff back in the hole. Later, I welded up a bunch of EMT tubing to make a support for Dawn’s Dragon Fruit plant. Later Leftover pot roast for dinner.

Sunday: (10/17) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. A little tinkering in the yard this morning. I set the large pot with the welded support in the front yard and added back the rock and soil and then Dawn and Lou planted the plant. I was busy on the computer much of the day determining our calendar, making reservations for a pinnacle visit next month and setting up hike descriptions for my hiking group for when we are at Pinnacles. About 1400, I went to Lowe’s and bought some garden soil. I stopped at the Wok On Chinese Restaurant in Sunnyvale to get lunch. I finished up the hiking plans. In the evening we had some rain showers. Lou made green three bean salads for dinner.

Monday: (10/18) Leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Lou’s green salad for lunch. In the late afternoon I worked on Lou’s walking scooter modifications. I got the new front wheels replaced temporarily to check for size. Looks good. Leftover Chinese food for dinner

Tuesday: (10/19) We tried out Lou’s walker scooter for size and to see what I need to modify for it to work for her. The end result is I need to widen the front axle by 2 inches on each side and move the rear wheels back a foot. After checking my project down the street, we all headed off to the Westfield Valley Fair for a look. They finished remodeling and expanding the mall recently so we looked around. We needed to see it before all malls disappear. In the evening I responded to a request to lead a hike on Thursday. The hike leader was unable to do it so I accepted it. Granola and banana for breakfast. Lunch from Panda Express. Chili for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/20) I made a breakfast ham egg and cheese sandwich to start the day. I attended my usual Wednesday webinar about AlphaAnywhere. After some office tinkering, I was off to Ace hardware to get some nuts and bolts for Lou's scooter. I also went to Lowe’s to get tubing for Ernie’s smokers shelter. That took some time determining how best to build it. My original thoughts went away upon seeing the cost of EMT and fence tubing. The cost has increased 2.5 times in the past year. Covid price gouging. I bought the tubing for the revised design. Next, I needed brazing rods and acetylene gas. Since Harbor Freight usually has good prices on many supplies, I stopped by there to see their price. They don’t even stock brazing rods, just TIG rods. After a stop for lunch at Panda Express about 1530, i headed off to welding supply.

Thursday: (10/21) I got my usual hikers breakfast from Happy Donut, a sausage, egg, and cheese English muffin. I headed up the mountain at 0830 to Monte Bello OSP to lead a hike for the San Jose Mid-week Hikers. The original hike leader, Fred, had to bow out so I took over the hike. It was only 5.6 miles through Los Trancos and Monte Bello OSPs. The weather forecast said to expect a 70% chance of rain at 0900 but only 30% thereafter. It proved correct. There was heavy rain starting about 0900 on the last of the drive up and it lasted until about 0925. It was sprinkling as we did the check-in and introductions. But shortly after we started out on the trail, it was perfect hiking but with a little extra mud. The rain settled the dust and brightened the colors of the fall leaves and trees. Of the 19 hikers signed up for the hike, only 7 of us started out and an 8th caught up with us later. A half dozen decided not to continue due to the rain but did arrive, the rest just didn't show up. I decided to be lenient because of the rain but normally not canceling or contacting the leader would earn a no-show and other hike leaders put hikers like that lower on the list. We finished about 1200 and I headed down the mountain.

After a shower, I picked up a super veggie burrito from Tacos El Grullense. I ate half for lunch and later, the other half for dinner.

Friday: (10/22) We had heavy rain earlier this morning and until about 0830. Lou even saw our sump pump discharge to the street. Granola and a banana for breakfast. About 1030 I headed off to Welder’s Heaven in Santa Clara to get a full acetylene tank. My local supplier didn't have any small tanks. My how the Covid shortage has affected prices. The cost for the gas was probably about 4x what my last tank was. The shortage is why my local supplier had none. I stopped by a Walmart Neighborhood market for a couple of things then picked up lunch at Lucky Chinese Bistro. Back home I put things away but then relaxed the rest of the day. I received my new trail runner shoes from REI so I put them on for a test walk. Perfect. Lou made split pea soup with toast for dinner.

Saturday: (10/23) I made ham and eggs with pan toast for breakfast. Later, I made a run to Harbor Freight for a few things. I needed more gloves for my fellow hikers on the Pinnacles Pig Fence Hike, knee pads for the caves, and, of course, a few other tools. Otherwise a relaxing day. I had leftover Chinese food for lunch. Ham and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Sunday: (10/24) I made ham and eggs with some home fried potatoes for breakfast. Another good rainy day. With our long lasting drought, it’s nice to have gotten 1 inch of rain in the past week or so. Lou made chili beans and cornbread for dinner.

Monday: (10/25) Granola and a banana for breakfast. Lunch from a new place, the China Wok on Mary Ave in Sunnyvale. Not the most inspiring chow mein but they have coconut shrimp, one of my favorites. I watched the chaos at the construction project down the street. Our weekend rains amounted to over 3 inches with super high gusty winds. The construction site was saturated and the security fence blown away, However, the project must go on and it was as if nothing was different. Delivery trucks arrived, Erection of the third floor wall panel began, even the concrete contractor was setting up for some shotcrete. It was all slowed a bit with a transit bus broke down blocking access to their storage yard, trapping the forklift when it was needed for all those deliveries. They continued as if nothing had happened. I headed off to the San Jose house to see how it had weathered the storm. No problems, the pumps worked. Salton gave me a succulent plant start that I had been admiring as well as some pomegranates. I stopped at Walmart and Nob Hill Markets on the way home for a few things. Leftover Chinese food for dinner.
 
Tuesday: (10/26) No rain. The project down the street looks like it will be busy with welders doing the stairways, shotcrete being sprayed and poured, and framing the third floor. Too bad I’ll be gone this morning. I picked up my hiker's breakfast at Happy Donut. I headed off at 0840 and picked up a passenger at the Page Mill P&R on the way up to Monte bello OSP. I had 17 hikers join me on today’s hike up to the top of Black Mountain. It was a fairly quick hike finishing about 1230. Hack home I picked up a super nachos at Tacos El Grullense for lunch. Then a nice shower. Later, I went to Lowe’s to get some chicken wire for an anti-slip surface for Ernie’s ramp. Leftover chili for dinner.

Wednesday: (10/27) Granola and banana for breakfast. I, of course, spent some time watching the construction down the street. They did get the upper courtyard wells poured (Sprayed) so they were removing the forms today. Also cleaning up the ramp area so they can backfill it to be ready to pour the ramp. I also attended my Wednesday webinar. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. In the afternoon, I installed the chicken wire anti slip protection on Ernie’s ramp. Seems like it might work well and better than the sandpaper like strips often used. Leftover BBQ ribs with baked potatoes and a carrot raisin salad for dinner.