Hike Preparation

Monday: (03/17) St Patrick’s Day. We already did our St Patrick’s Day thing yesterday so today is just another day wearing green. Nice weather today but cooler than last week. I completed sanding the porch eves and study wall.  Should be ready to paint tomorrow.  After cleanup I headed out to complete my grocery shopping to my hike. I also stopped by REI for some fuel for my stove. That was a mistake. I browsed too long and I was too late for Cost Plus (shelf safe cheese) and Grocery outlet (jerky steak). Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. Cheese burger for lunch. 3 bean chili soup (dried soup mix, one of my backpack candidates) for dinner.

Tuesday: (03/18) I got to work about 0910 and finished the first coat of primer by 1900. After peeling as much of the paint from my hands and arms as I could and taking a shower I headed out to Cost Plus and Grocery Outlet to complete my food stocks for the hike. Leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. Peanut pop tarts and yogurt for lunch. A bacon and cheese wrap for afternoon break. A late dinner at Super Taqueria.

Wednesday: (03/19) I walked downtown to breakfast at La Victoria. Nice chorizo burrito. Last night I forgot to pickup more primer and I was out. A trip to Orchard fixed that. I finally got to work around 1000 putting a second coat of primer on the front of the house. It now looks pretty good but needs a third coat to be perfect. I finished painting about 1600, earlier than I thought I would. Lunch was a bacon and cheese wrap and some yogurt. I had a turkey pot pie for dinner. In the evening I prepared all my food for the test hike to Santa Cruz. There is a ziplock bag with a breakfast, lunch and dinner in it and there is one for each day. I’m taking 6 days of food. The pack is pretty heavy. A good test? Obviously I need to loose some things.

Thursday: (03/20) Another breakfast at La Victoria. I then rushed off to a 0900 dentist appointment. After the appointment I immediately went out to the car and at 1000 attended a webinar on AlphaAnywhere. On the way home I stopped by Best Buy and bought a Nexus 7 tablet computer to take on the hike. With much of the day gone I then decided to finish up some office work and then put away my scaffold and packed to leave. I need another primer coat and want it fresh to accept the color coat better so both can be done week after next. So I got back to Palo Alto earlier than usual. Dawn made kale sausage soup for dinner.

Another Rainy Week

Monday: (02/24) I didn’t head down to San Jose last night. Still here in Palo Alto. Lou and Dawn were off early to appointments. I repaired the leaky kitchen faucet. Fortunately it was only loose. I borrowed an Allen wrench and a crescent wrench from Ernie and it was all better and I was on my way by 1000. I stopped at Harbor Fright Tools for some ear plugs. I’ll need them for my hike and if I do some concrete sawing this week. It seems counter productive to be out in nature and turn off your ears but it evidently is needed to get some sleep. I then stopped at Jack In The Box for breakfast. I was settled in San Jose by 1130. I then didn’t get right to work but spent some time online locating and ordering some parts for Ernie’s trailer. My work for the day, since we expect rain and it ws late was to do some stripping by the breakfast nook. I didn’t feel like getting really dusty for just a short period of time. Dusty tomorrow is OK. Looks like we will have a really good rain Wednesday and some Thursday so may not be too much work this week. For dinner I prepared another trail meal test. Dried black bean soup with spam. Very good.

Tuesday: (02/25) Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. I started sanding the house at the peak of the porch. I haven’t done sanding in a couple of months now. It wouldn’t seem to be much but it took a while to set up. Vacuum, hoses extension cords sander, sandpaper. Everything in place and away I went. I stopped for a break which turned in to lunch. I had a license plate bridge toll invoice for going across the Golden Gate bridge last month. They mailed an invoice, I went online to their website and paid it, got a confirmation but there was never a charge to the CC. So I checked and it was still open. I tried to call them yesterday and today and the machine says ” do to a high volume of calls we cant talk to you call back some other time. That obviously wasn’t the real reason which is likely that their phone system works a well as the invoice and payment system. I finally gave up and just processed another payment to them online and got another confirmation. This time I also got the charge confirmation from the bank. So, maybe now, I wont be hauled off to jail. I grilled a pork chop and had some carrots for lunch. After lunch I finished sanding the upper area then caulked it. Then I moved my scaffolds but didn’t do any more work up front because I didn’t want to spend the clean up time for another short work period. I spent the rest of the work day stripping paint by the breakfast nook. I finished up about 1750. For dinner I prepared another trail meal. Some dehydrated potatoes, mixed vegetables, peppers, corn and cheese. Everything rehydrated for 10 minutes with very hot water. Quite good.

 Wednesday: (02/26) I enjoyed some pecan granola for breakfast. it was dry outside so I planned on doing some work before the likely rain. Plans change. About 0758 it started to rain. O-boy! No work today! Lou and Dawn will be coming by for appointments, as usual for a Wednesday. So now I’ll tinker until I go to lunch with Lou. The weather forecast as of now says 70-100% chance of rain for the next three days. There are no good holes in the forecast now. There was a hole for Thursday when I checked yesterday and last week there was a hole on Friday. Right now my planned group hike up the mountains to Alice’s Restaurant for lunch on Friday doesn’t look promising. Even so, there are now 32 hikers signed up so I’m not the only optimist. Today I’ll probably do a little shoe shopping. One thing I’ve been hearing and my Mt Diablo hike proved is that I need hiking shoes about 1-1.5 sizes bigger than my normal size. Also, almost all PCT hikers wear trail runner shoes rather than hiking boots. I like my boots. I like the extra ankle support. But they are much heavier than what amount to tennis shoes with good soles. So, i’m going to try a pair of trail runners. I’ve been reading PCT hiker blogs and several mention that they or the people they observe start out with boots or other shoes and end up in trail runners to solve their foot problems. The most recommended is Brooks Cascadia so that’s what I’ll try. Why reinvent the wheel, so to speak.


Thursday: (02/27) The ground was wet but the skies were clear as I walked to get my breakfast burrito at La Victoria. Due  to the rain there was no construction on the building I’ve been watching them build. After breakfast the clouds started returning and in the afternoon it rained some. I was working under the porch stripping the porch ceiling. Its about half done now. Lunch was a couple of ham and cheese wraps. I packed up in the evening and returned North. I stopped at the Los Altos Taqueria for dinner, a chili verde plate. After dinner i stopped in at the Mountain View REI store for a presentation of Backpacking Basics. rather interesting but, even though I haven’t back packed yet, i could have done just as good a presentation. It was free.

Due to the heavy rain we’ve had and the fact that tomorrow is forecast to be the same as Wednesday when we had so much rain, I tried to cancel my hike for tomorrow. Of course nothing went right. The Meetup.com website was down. Went out about 0730 and is still down du to a denial of service attack. So I couldn’t cancel it online. I received an email from the site though so something must be working. So I checked the Meetup app on my phone and it was working. I was able to cancel the hike via the app. i figured it would email everyone that was signed up. My co-host said he and his wife received the email but I never received one so I’m not sure everyone did get the email. So tomorrow I’ll go to the site and meet anyone who didn’t get the word. If, by chance, the weather is good, we may do a hike. I did reschedule the hike for next Friday.

Friday: (02/28) Lou fixed bacon, eggs and potatoes for breakfast. I had to cancel my hike this morning but due to problems on the Meetup.com website some hikers may not have been informed so I went out to the trailhead. None showed up so they must have gotten the word or maybe they just didn’t feel like hiking in the rain. I then did some shopping at Redwood Supply an REI picking up a few thinks for my hike. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I then spent my time tinkering with my hiking stuff. Lou and Dawn were busy all day with appointments. We had pizza for dinner. We have decided to head out and will visit Pismo Beach for a few days starting Monday.

Saturday: (03/01) We started our day with the usual grocery shopping trip. I had leftover pizza for breakfast. Lou and Dawn had yogurt. In anticipation of dinner, I started a pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lou and Dawn went to some rummage sales.


I helped Ernie replace the shower faucet in his trailer and setup his trailer to use hot water from our tank.



After that we washed his trailer. Lou was busy planting more strawberry plants. Dinner was very good.

Sunday: (03/02) We were busy preparing to leave most of the day. Lots to be done. Chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. Lou’s homemade chicken soup four lunch. Dawn seemed to be coming down with a cold so Lou made soup. Dinner at LUU Noodle House.

Another Rainy Week

Monday: (02/24) I didn’t head down to San Jose last night. Still here in Palo Alto. Lou and Dawn were off early to appointments. I repaired the leaky kitchen faucet. Fortunately it was only loose. I borrowed an Allen wrench and a crescent wrench from Ernie and it was all better and I was on my way by 1000. I stopped at Harbor Fright Tools for some ear plugs. I’ll need them for my hike and if I do some concrete sawing this week. It seems counter productive to be out in nature and turn off your ears but it evidently is needed to get some sleep. I then stopped at Jack In The Box for breakfast. I was settled in San Jose by 1130. I then didn’t get right to work but spent some time online locating and ordering some parts for Ernie’s trailer. My work for the day, since we expect rain and it ws late was to do some stripping by the breakfast nook. I didn’t feel like getting really dusty for just a short period of time. Dusty tomorrow is OK. Looks like we will have a really good rain Wednesday and some Thursday so may not be too much work this week. For dinner I prepared another trail meal test. Dried black bean soup with spam. Very good.

Tuesday: (02/25) Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. I started sanding the house at the peak of the porch. I haven’t done sanding in a couple of months now. It wouldn’t seem to be much but it took a while to set up. Vacuum, hoses extension cords sander, sandpaper. Everything in place and away I went. I stopped for a break which turned in to lunch. I had a license plate bridge toll invoice for going across the Golden Gate bridge last month. They mailed an invoice, I went online to their website and paid it, got a confirmation but there was never a charge to the CC. So I checked and it was still open. I tried to call them yesterday and today and the machine says ” do to a high volume of calls we cant talk to you call back some other time. That obviously wasn’t the real reason which is likely that their phone system works a well as the invoice and payment system. I finally gave up and just processed another payment to them online and got another confirmation. This time I also got the charge confirmation from the bank. So, maybe now, I wont be hauled off to jail. I grilled a pork chop and had some carrots for lunch. After lunch I finished sanding the upper area then caulked it. Then I moved my scaffolds but didn’t do any more work up front because I didn’t want to spend the clean up time for another short work period. I spent the rest of the work day stripping paint by the breakfast nook. I finished up about 1750. For dinner I prepared another trail meal. Some dehydrated potatoes, mixed vegetables, peppers, corn and cheese. Everything rehydrated for 10 minutes with very hot water. Quite good.

 Wednesday: (02/26) I enjoyed some pecan granola for breakfast. it was dry outside so I planned on doing some work before the likely rain. Plans change. About 0758 it started to rain. O-boy! No work today! Lou and Dawn will be coming by for appointments, as usual for a Wednesday. So now I’ll tinker until I go to lunch with Lou. The weather forecast as of now says 70-100% chance of rain for the next three days. There are no good holes in the forecast now. There was a hole for Thursday when I checked yesterday and last week there was a hole on Friday. Right now my planned group hike up the mountains to Alice’s Restaurant for lunch on Friday doesn’t look promising. Even so, there are now 32 hikers signed up so I’m not the only optimist. Today I’ll probably do a little shoe shopping. One thing I’ve been hearing and my Mt Diablo hike proved is that I need hiking shoes about 1-1.5 sizes bigger than my normal size. Also, almost all PCT hikers wear trail runner shoes rather than hiking boots. I like my boots. I like the extra ankle support. But they are much heavier than what amount to tennis shoes with good soles. So, i’m going to try a pair of trail runners. I’ve been reading PCT hiker blogs and several mention that they or the people they observe start out with boots or other shoes and end up in trail runners to solve their foot problems. The most recommended is Brooks Cascadia so that’s what I’ll try. Why reinvent the wheel, so to speak.


Thursday: (02/27) The ground was wet but the skies were clear as I walked to get my breakfast burrito at La Victoria. Due  to the rain there was no construction on the building I’ve been watching them build. After breakfast the clouds started returning and in the afternoon it rained some. I was working under the porch stripping the porch ceiling. Its about half done now. Lunch was a couple of ham and cheese wraps. I packed up in the evening and returned North. I stopped at the Los Altos Taqueria for dinner, a chili verde plate. After dinner i stopped in at the Mountain View REI store for a presentation of Backpacking Basics. rather interesting but, even though I haven’t back packed yet, I could have done just as good a presentation. It was free.

Due to the heavy rain we’ve had and the fact that tomorrow is forecast to be the same as Wednesday when we had so much rain, I tried to cancel my hike for tomorrow. Of course nothing went right. The Meetup.com website was down. Went out about 0730 and is still down du to a denial of service attack. So I couldn’t cancel it online. I received an email from the site though so something must be working. So I checked the Meetup app on my phone and it was working. I was able to cancel the hike via the app. i figured it would email everyone that was signed up. My co-host said he and his wife received the email but I never received one so I’m not sure everyone did get the email. So tomorrow I’ll go to the site and meet anyone who didn’t get the word. If, by chance, the weather is good, we may do a hike. I did reschedule the hike for next Friday.

Friday: (02/28) Lou fixed bacon, eggs and potatoes for breakfast. I had to cancel my hike this morning but due to problems on the Meetup.com website some hikers may not have been informed so I went out to the trailhead. None showed up so they must have gotten the word or maybe they just didn’t feel like hiking in the rain. I then did some shopping at Redwood Supply an REI picking up a few thinks for my hike. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I then spent my time tinkering with my hiking stuff. Lou and Dawn were busy all day with appointments. We had pizza for dinner. We have decided to head out and will visit Pismo Beach for a few days starting Monday.

Saturday: (03/01) We started our day with the usual grocery shopping trip. I had leftover pizza for breakfast. Lou and Dawn had yogurt. In anticipation of dinner, I started a pork roast with sauerkraut and potatoes in the slow cooker. Lou and Dawn went to some rummage sales.


I helped Ernie replace the shower faucet in his trailer and setup his trailer to use hot water from our tank.



After that we washed his trailer. Lou was busy planting more strawberry plants. Dinner was very good.

Sunday: (03/02) We were busy preparing to leave most of the day. Lots to be done. Chorizo scrambled eggs for breakfast. Lou’s homemade chicken soup four lunch. Dawn seemed to be coming down with a cold so Lou made soup. Dinner at LUU Noodle House.

Spring In January

Saturday: (01/18) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. Lunch at LUU Noodle House for our usual chow fun noodles, pad Thai and egg rolls. I did some work in the greenhouse re-potting some plants. I added some drain rock at the bottom of the planters. They hadn’t been draining properly. For dinner Dawn made Lentil soup.

When it was time to hit the sack, I actually did. One of the tests to determine if I’ll be doing the Pacific Crest Trail hike was to try sleeping on the ground. I haven’t don that in more than 10 years since we got the motorhome. Further, even then it was on really nice air mattresses. Not too much different tonight. I inflated my new ThermaRest Neo Lite mattress after laying down a ground cloth in the rear of the back yard on the lawn. Earlier today I pulled out my 35 year old down sleeping back and tossed it around in the drier to freshen it. It’s far to big and heavy for the PCT hike but good enough for the sleeping test. I tucked myself in and fairly quickly remembered that we have lawn sprinklers. I got up and made sure they were off for the night. No need to be awakened at 2am. I wonder if I can do the same on the trail? Nice sleep except for the full moon that I couldn’t turn off. Test one complete.

Sunday: (01/19) We had leftover corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. We all took a trip down to the Farmers market on California Avenue.  I had leftover pepper steak for lunch, Lou and Dawn had leftover lentil soup. The weather was so nice that we had root beer floats for an afternoon snack. In the evening I drove down to San Jose. For dinner I had a chicken pot pie.

Monday: (01/20) Granola for breakfast. I finished replacing the siding around one of the vents on the middle bedroom. I then completed preparing the openings for the rebuilt covers. I also stripped apart the old covers and ripped the boards to the narrower width for the new covers. The new covers are inset while the old ones were just tacked on the outside of the siding. Ham and cheese sandwich with yogurt for lunch. BBQ ribs and a baked potato with a citrus salad for dinner.

Tuesday: (01/21) Breakfast burrito from La Victoria which i ate while watching a building under construction on the San Jose State campus. I finally got to work about 11am. I assembled the vent covers for the two vents by the middle bedroom. After lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich I started work on the vents to my bedroom. There are four and I completed one. The vents on my bedroom are different than most of the vents on the house because the floor joists change directions and because the method of construction differs. As I was hurrying to complete my last vent cover as it was getting dark, the tenant came and said her dryer was venting steam inside the house. They recently replaced their washer dryer with a over under set. When the man of the house did the change, the vent pipe was torn up and was now not connected. I pieced it together and hooked it up. Good enough. I hurried back to finish my task and clean up as it was getting dark. For dinner I warmed a pork chop and some jambalaya rice followed by some honey yogurt.


Wednesday: (01/22) I walked over to Jack In The Box for a loaded breakfast sandwich which I at watching the construction at San Jose State.  I got to work about 10AM and did some more work on the vents on my bedrooms crawl space.


My bedroom was an addition to the house so is constructed a little differently. I finished rebuilding one of the vents and made and installed its cover and prepared the materials for the other two.


I also worked quite a while chipping the foundation so a piece of siding that I had to replace due to it being split in many places, would not split again once replaced, which I also completed.


The remaining cover (on the right) is much larger and is the access opening for the addition. I’ll get that tomorrow. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. BBQ ribs and a baked potato for dinner.

Thursday: (01/23) I started out for my morning walk to breakfast and had to dodge a bunch of stuff from the tenants laundry room. There was a big truck out front delivering something that looked like a set of new washer and dryer. So why did the tenant have me fix the vent on the dryer yesterday? And why are they replacing what I thought were a new washer and dryer set?  I continued for my walk going downtown to Carl’s Jr where I got a loaded omelet sandwich. I brought my saws outside and got all set up to start work and discovered I had lost my countersink bit which I need to rebuild and install the remaining vent covers. I headed over to Home Depot and got a new bit and then rebuilt and installed  the remaining small cover.I then rebuilt the large vent opening in preparation for the rebuilt cover. A late lunch at 2PM of a sausage patty and some honey yogurt. As I was about ready to start assembling the final cover, the tenant came out and said there was water leaking under the sink. I think she wants to keep me busy. I completed the final cover but didn’t have all the screws I needed to attach the wire fabric. I stopped and looked at the sink. I found the small puddle of water but it looked like it hadn’t been there long, now damage. I didn’t find anything supply or drain leaks. I placed a bunch of blue paper towels on the bottom and told them to call me if it leaked. Pretty soon, I was told there was water on the towels. The source was one of the unused holes  under the sink faucet. All the water lines are collected into using only one of the three openings. Another is used for a soap dispenser and the final one is just covered up by a base plate. Evidently the caulk failed so I added some more. Hopefully that stops the leak. If not I’ll have to remove and reinstall the whole faucet. With that accomplished, I headed off to the hardware tore again to get some screws and washers for the vent cover. I added them to the cover which completed the last of the cover reconstruction and the cleaned up my stuff. I also cleaned up myself and then Dawn dropped by and we went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes Salad Buffet on our way back home.

I had 32 people signed up for my hike tomorrow. About 8 are first timers so my actual total hikers will be less. This hike isn’t really extraordinary so it must be my description of the hike.

Last Month To Do Something This Year

Sunday: (12/01) We did our weekly grocery run first thing in the morning. Then I fixed a nice chorizo, eggs, peppers and onions scramble for breakfast. Turkey sandwiches for a late  lunch. I returned to San Jose about 1700 and unloaded all the crushing load of lumber from the top of the jeep. For dinner I had baked beans and sausage.

Monday: (12/02) Breakfast at Jack In the Box, a Loaded Breakfast Sandwich. I did a little shopping to start the day. I picked up some 2×12 boards for the base of the fence. Unfortunately, the first Home Depot only had scraps so I had to go to another. I then got ready to start assembly of the fence and found I needed a drill bit of appropriate size. Lunch was a super burrito from Super Taqueria. I didn’t return to work too fast because I was “busy” watching the last episode of The Mentalist TV show. I then had to put a bevel on one of the posts to match the angle of the fence. I got the posts up and the rail brackets installed. I had some rice and sausage for dinner. Not a really productive day. Tomorrow should be better.

Tuesday: (12/03) Leftover chorizo potato and onion scramble for breakfast. I tacked up all the fence boards including two special boards which had to be beveled and ripped in width for the begin and end of the angled section of the fence. I only tacked the boards because the screws I bought so many of were too long so I used some appropriate sized but incorrect screws to tack the boards up. They are not intended for treated lumber and would rust. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich. Then I removed the temporary fence. I quit early to go shopping to get more screws. Once out, I goofed off stopping at Mel Cottons Sporting Goods to look at hiking gear. I picked up a pair of hiking socks to try out. I stopped for dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, the salad buffet, on the way home.


This is our side. The tenants still need to move things back and I do hope the bougainvillaea plant survives to cover the fence.


The view from the neighbors side of the fence.


A couple more views from the neighbors side

Wednesday: (12/04) I finished adding the rest of the screws to the fence including replacing the screws I used to tack it up. They are all now stainless steel screws. I then cleaned up the dirt pile putting the last of it into buckets and into the Jeep. Now the yard looks better than original. I still need to tighten and level some of the older fence posts which have dried out and shrunk making them loose. Unfortunately when I installed some of the fence, I covered the post anchor bolts with the 2×12 base boards. I sawed out holes to expose the bolts so I can tighten the posts without removing the base boards. Unfortunately, I need to get a large deep socket to reach the bolt head. Something for tomorrow or? I picked up Dawn and we returned to Palo Alto. Lou and I have an appointment tomorrow morning. Granola for breakfast. Pork chop and potatoes for brunch. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Turkey and cheese panini sandwich for dinner.

Thursday: (12/05) Lou and I went to her PT appointment then stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet. We also visited the Grocery Outlet, which is across the street from Kaiser,  for a few things. Obviously I wasn’t thinking because later in the evening I had to go out to get something for a lunch for tomorrows hike. Granola for breakfast.

Quick Trip To Napa

Saturday: (11/30) I started my day with a shopping run to Orchard Hardware to get my post and rails and Home Depot to get my fence boards. Yes, I’m picky. It was quite a load hauling 3 4×4′s, 9 2×4′s and 44 fence boards. Too much for my yuppy Jeep. I broke the rack. I just barely made it home. No problem with the load, just that Dawn and I had to depart toward Napa at 1000. I parked the Jeep. I’ll look in to what I’ll do to the load tomorrow. I need to get it down to San Jose. I don’t want to loose it on the road.

We jumped in the Hyundai. It did start and didn’t give us any problems on the trip. I still need to find out why the battery died yesterday. We cruised up through San Francisco, across the new, terribly expensive, Bay Bridge on Highway 80 to Vallejo then up Highway 28 to Napa. We arrived there at 1230, plenty of time before our 1300 appointment. While we waited for the appointment, we discovered an outstanding market, Vallergas Market. It is possibly the best market I’ve ever been in. Not a big market but they have everything. The produce section is definitely the best ever.

At 1300 we stopped by for our appointment. Dawn had found a braille printer for $49 on Craig’s list. They are worth several thousand dollars new. It’s a very heavy little suitcase with the printer in it. If it works, and it looks in like new condition, great! If not it will easily hold a door open in a hurricane.  With printer in hand, stopped at the market for lunch. I had a ham and guyere cheese panini, Dawn had some olive loaf and cheese with dried cabbage chips. After lunch we drove to downtown Napa walked around the old town area, found out the Christmas Parade was this evening, and visited a nice bookstore.


We enjoyed the parade then left town at 1830 stopping in Vallejo t the Buttercup Grill for dinner. We shared a chicken with garlic and artichoke dinner followed with a peanut butter cup pie. All very good. The traffic was a little heavy on the drive home.

Oh Pour Me

Monday: (11/25) Nice weather. Clear skies and no wind. But, it is fall and those pesky leaves continue to fall. I prepared to pour some concrete today. When I tried the mixer it threw it’s chain . I bent the motor shell when I was bring it down to San Jose when I dropped it. I thought I had it straightened out but no so. I took it apart and took the hammer to it again to pound it into shape. Last night I stopped on the way down at Orchard Hardware for some concrete mix. I also brought my big black dump wagon to save my back when hauling the bags to the back yard. I poured about half of the base I had formed and used more than half of my bags so I blocked it off short and returned to the nearby store for more concrete. I got there in about 10 minutes then discovered I didn’t have my wallet so returned home and got the wallet and then back to the store for the concrete. With all that, I still was back pouring concrete in 35 minutes. The concrete was all shaded so it took a long time to dry enough to complete the finish. While it was drying, I had lunch. Then I started digging out the remainder of the fence base near a big redwood tree. I will be angling the fence there to protect the tree. I had to get my jackhammer out to remove about three feet of 8″x8″ concrete fence base where the old fence connected to the garage. It made really quick work of the removal. I really should have gotten the jackhammer years ago. The concrete eventually finished up nicely.

Granola for breakfast, a turkey and cheese English muffin sandwich for lunch. For dinner I walked to La Victoria Restaurant for the chili relleno plate dinner.





Tuesday: (11/26) I started by stripping the forms off the fence base I poured yesterday. I also back-filled the edges. Then I constructed the form for the last section of fence base. It was a little tricky because it angles toward the end post to avoid a big redwood tree. I completed the form and installed the rebar by 1230. I then dashed off to pickup to more bags of concrete mix. I tried to calculate more exactly today so I don’t have any leftover bags left to become bricks over time. I finished pouring the concrete by 1400. I then cleaned up and waited for it to dry enough to finish. I poured it a little wet and it’s a late pour so I may be out after dark doing the final troweling. I picked up a clip light earlier just for such an occasion. I needed to cutoff the form boards so I finally opened up my new cutoff miter saw. It made quick work doing needed 15 degree miter cuts. Don’t know why I hadn’t brought it out before I got it to use for the siding repairs. I did the final troweling after dark about 1800. Should be ready to put the fence up next week. Now to find the best price of the fence  materials.

Pancakes with peanut butter and jam with sausage for breakfast. Turkey and cheese on English muffin for lunch. A confusion pizza from House of Pizza for diner.



Wednesday: (11/27) I stripped the form off the section I poured yesterday then cleaned up the area and back-filled around the fence base. I then loaded up about 15 five gallon buckets of concrete debris and excess dirt. The dirt I add to my growing dirt pill probably ending up with another raised flower bed until I collect enough for another dumpster. The concrete ends up in the garbage a little at a time. I started home early visiting Lowe’s, Home Depot and Orchard Supply Hardware looking for lumber for the fence. It looks like the pressure treated wood is best from OSH while the fence boards might be better from Home Depot. Sunday or Monday I’ll do a shopping run for the lumber. Might be a fence by Tuesday.

Leftover pizza for breakfast, brunch and lunch. Leftover spaghetti for dinner.

Be Happy

Sunday: (11/17) We did our weekly grocery trip this morning before breakfast. Dawn has been looking for a “HappyLite” and found one on FreeCycle. A person at Stanford university was getting rid of it. We stopped by their lab to pick it up.  Always nice to find what you want for free. A HappyLite provides a bright light that is supposed to mimic a bright sunny day making a person happier. They are used a lot in Alaska. Our donor was from Chicago. Must be dreary in the winter there too? I finished moving a couple of more plants into the greenhouse, the last of them.

 

In the evening I drove down to San Jose for more work on the house tomorrow. I hate the traffic in the morning. Leftover Don’s home fried potatoes with sausage and eggs for breakfast. Leftovers du jour for lunch. I made a green pepper, hamburger, rice and tomato meal in one. It’s really my stuffed pepper recipe but I use the last of our green peppers from the garden and many were small so I just cut all the peppers into large chunks.

Monday: (11/18) The neighbors tree has buried the yard in leaves so I spent the morning removing the leaves to a pile in the street for the City to remove. Dawn provided some materials for me to deliver to the Library which I did at noon and picked up my lunch on the way. During lunch I planned and posted a hike for my hiking group for this Friday. My lunch wore me out so I took a little nap then got to work digging my two post holes for the fence. In the evening I stopped by Home Depot and got some lumber, stakes, rebar and concrete dobies for the fence base. Since I was next to a Best Buy store, I stopped in to peek at what’s new. For breakfast leftover Don’s home fried potatoes with peppers and onions served with sausage and eggs. Lunch was a La Victoria carnitas super burrito. My lunch lasted so I just had a slice of cherry pie with a glass of milk for dinner.

Tuesday: (11/19) This morning I was busy digging more dirt for the fence base. After lunch with the crew, I stopped in to Home Depot for some more lumber. I decided I would raise the fence base two inches from the level of the adjacent fence so that the high ground by the old garage slab next door isn’t higher then the base. This required 2×6′s instead of the 2×4′s I bought before because I had already dug out the trench. When I got home I installed 3/4ths of the forming before it got too dark to continue. In the evening it started to rain heavily and about 0030 the power went out for a couple of hours. I know because I had to get up to turn off the light I had left on. More leftover Don’s potatoes with sausage and eggs for breakfast. I met Lou, Dawn and Ernie for lunch at the Harry’s Hofbrau on Saratoga Avenue after her PT appointment. Dinner was leftover green peppers and rice.

Wednesday: (11/20) We had a really heavy rain last night, first in a very long while. Today is cloudy with a threat of rain. I finished installing the forms for the first two sections of the fence and added the rebar. It was ready to pour by 11am but with the 70% threat of rain today and a 20% chance tomorrow, I won’t be pouring the concrete until this weekend or next week. I’ll have to shift back to some protected paint stripping under the porch or take some time off now.Well, that didn’t happen. We had a really heavy long soaking in the afternoon. I never got back to work.



 

I did enjoy some web browsing, especially reading a blog by an Aussie who just completed the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) this year. She had never done backpacking prior to starting the 2663 mile journey from Mexico to Canada. It is quite interesting following her trials and tribulations along the trail. Her success provides even more inspiration for me to attempt it. I’ve been considering doing it piece-meal but may attempt the whole enchilada instead. Of course, I’d find out if I really can carry a backpack and do 20-25 miles a day continuously with a few trial hikes first. It would take five months to complete.

Granola for breakfast. Cheese sandwich an yogurt for lunch. Italian sausage, potato and cheese sandwich for dinner.

Thursday: (11/21) Today was quite windy and cold in the morning with lots of dark clouds but the afternoon was pretty nice. I tinkered in the morning moving the cement mixer in place for the pour next week. I also moved the scaffolds into place for more paint prep and then spent some time with the heat gun stripping some siding until my heat gun died. Number two dead. Based on the life expectancy of these two heat guns I suspect I’ll need about 5 more to complete the paint job. It isn’t too bad since they only cost $15 each. I picked up a new one on the way home. Chorizo and eggs with cheese for breakfast. A chicken pot pie for lunch. For dinner I took Lou to a new restaurant in the neighborhood, The Corner Bakery. I had a Parmesan chicken with mac and cheese wile Lou had a chopped salad.

Painting Season About To End

Thursday: (11/07) I drove down to San Jose early. I made a couple of stops along the way. Smart And Final for some detergent, best location to get the unusual gentle and free version. Also stopped at Orchard Hardware for some screws, washers, and a piece of sheet metal to use for flashing. I didn’t like the way the roofers flashed the front porch gutters. And then I stopped for breakfast at Burger King, a sausage croissant sandwich. And with all that, I still pulled up at the house in San Jose by 0800. I sanded my spackling, vacuumed and brushed everything and finally caulked all the gaps and cracks. I finished caulking right about 1700 as it was getting dark. Possibly some primer paint tomorrow. Hopefully the clouds don’t turn in to rain yet, even though we desperately need rain. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with some carrots. For dinner, leftover spaghetti and wieners with some rice pudding.

Friday: (11/08) I was up at 0700 for a visit to Home Depot for more primer. It was quite foggy out. I returned some things before picking up my primer and more caulk. On the way home I stopped for a breakfast burrito at La Victoria Restaurant. By 0800 the fog was gone and the sun shining though the roof was still a bit wet. I started my painting by putting a little around the vent opening I modified. I wanted to get two coats on that today. Then I was up on the roof. By noon I had finished one side of the top. I had a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Then back on the roof to finish up there then down to the scaffolds for the lower side sections. All now has it’s first coat. It all needs at least one more coat and some of the redwood will need three. Our forecast now calls for rain next Wednesday and probably more fog until then. Might make for interesting painting. After working quite a while to get all the paint off of me, I was off to Palo Alto via a dinner at the Hometown Buffet.



Saturday: (11/09) Dawn wanted to go to Santa Cruz to the bookstores downtown there so I drove her over. The Santa Cruz Book  store is outstanding and there is also Logo’s bookstore. We also visited a thrift store. We had lunch at the 99 Bottles Of Beer bar sharing a blackened chicken super nacho and a glass of hard cider. In the evening we took a walk at the Beach and Boardwalk Amusement Park and a walk on the pier where we had bowls of clam chowder for dinner. Granola for breakfast.



Sunday: (11/10) Dawn’s birthday today. Grocery shopping was delayed from Friday due to my working Friday and our trip yesterday. She bought herself a Google Chromecast dongle as her birthday present. We all went downtown for lunch. Lou and I took a drive up in the hills so I could look over some potential trails for future hikes, It was just a drive-by to see available parking and trail connections from different parks. It’s no fun to help everyone get lost when I lead a hike. Dawn made apple Dutch babies for breakfast. Lunch at the Crepevine in downtown Palo Alto. I had a great club sandwich, Lou and Dawn shared a salmon crepe, Ernie had spaghetti and Courtney had chicken soup. Lunch lasted, I had yogurt for dinner.

Monday: (11/11) I put on a second coat of primer paint today. The weather was good all day, even though a storm was supposed to be coming in for rain tomorrow? Eggs, sausage, and toast for breakfast. Chicken and cheese sandwich for lunch with lemon Greek yogurt. Chicken pot pie for dinner.





Tuesday: (11/12) I put the third coat of primer on today. I think it finally sealed the redwood. There is one troublesome spot that may need more attention, it has five coats now. And this is the best primer for sealing redwood. You would think the 100 year old redwood would get tired of leaching it’s color through paint. I think I’ll be able to put some color on tomorrow. The weather was cloudy but the rain never made it to town.  Eggs, sausage, and toast for breakfast. Chicken with asparagus and a baked potato followed by some grapes for lunch. Spaghetti with asparagus for dinner with more grapes for desert.





Wednesday: (11/13) I put the first coat of color paint on today. I finished on the roof and it was only 1200, earlier than normal so I just had a snack and returned to paint the lower areas on either side of the porch. I finished at 1340, put everything away, showered and had lunch. It looks pretty good. This is my last work day this week. I’ll be busy with Lou tomorrow and Friday. Dawn was in San Jose for a meeting so I picked her up and returned to Palo Alto. Granola for breakfast. Yogurt for lunch at 1200. Baked beans and wieners for lunch at 1345. Dinner at Chili’s Restaurant. I had CFS while Lou and Dawn had garlic chipolte steaks.

Thursday: (11/14) I took Lou to the Hospital for an appointment. While she was there I was off to breakfast at the Country Inn for a wild mushroom omelet with Swedish pancakes. I then dashed off to a dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned. All’s well. I then visited Harbor Freight, looked around and bought some things I needed and some things I wanted. That’s often the case when visiting a toy store like Harbor Freight. For lunch I had a chicken sandwich at Jack In The Box. It wasn’t what I ordered but it was good. Then I waited for Lou and returned her home. Dawn was out for a walk about Palo Alto but had started Jerusalem Artichoke soup in the slow cooker before he left. She harvested the Jerusalem Artichoke from the yard this morning. When she came home we had the soup for dinner.

Friday: (11/15) We dropped Dawn off at Barnes and Nobles bookstore nearby and I took Lou to an appointment. We  then stopped by Hometown Buffet for lunch before returning home. We raided the fridge for leftover dinners. I had some cheese bread for my dinner.

Where Did The Hour Go?

Saturday: (11/02) Friday is our shopping morning. We are out early to be at Walmart’s when they opened at 0700 and visited Trader Joe’s and Sprout’s as well after they opened at 0800. All before breakfast. Dawn has a Tai Chi class that she was off to before Lou and I got back home. She enjoyed her buckwheat cereal for her breakfast and I made some more corned beef hash and eggs for our breakfast. Lunch was leftover biscuits and honey. For dinner Lou made fried fish with rice and asparagus. Otherwise it was a tinker and relax day.

Sunday: (11/03) Daylight Savings Time started this morning so I had a couple of clocks to make right. I was busy doing the laundry much of the day. We all drove over to a new Container Store location that opened up at the Stanford Mall last week. Fun to explore. We also visited an estate sale in Los Altos. I headed off to San Jose in the dark tonight due to that missing hour. Leftover corned beef hash and some eggs for breakfast. For lunch Lou ground up some tough steak into a pate and we had sandwiches with tomatoes and cheese and the pate. Dinner was pasta with mizithra cheese.

Monday: (11/04) I guess I’m not used to the new time. I slept until o750. After breakfast I got to work. I started the post holes for the new fence. I got the holes about one foot deep each and then filled them with water to soften to more easily finish the holes later. I then started sanding the right side of the porch. I then started rebuilding the vent area that had the water main and the sump pump discharge hose going through it. I closed part of the vent area and added siding making the vent smaller. To compensate, I increased the cover opening by shrinking the frame size. When finished the vent cover will be inset rather than over  the siding. Should be neater and more efficient when finished. More to do tomorrow including remaking the cover and sanding everything. As part of the job I had to remove some not currently operating sprinkler valves that were in front of the vent. To complete that I had to go buy a pipe plug because the shutoff valve only almost shut  off the water to the sprinkler valves. On the way home I picked up lunch. Corned beef hash, eggs and pancakes for breakfast, the best of the leftovers. A chili relleno burrito for lunch from La Victoria Taqueria. Chili beans with biscuits and honey for dinner.

Tuesday: (11/05) I was out early, helped by a call from Lou about 0645. I don’t set an alarm and have occasionally slept a bit late. I finished modifying the crawl space vent and cover. I also finished sanding what I’ll be painting next. And finally I spackled most of the holes. Still have to sand the Spackle and caulk but may get to painting Friday. I finished up about 1630, cleaned up and hit the road to Palo Alto. I’m taking tomorrow as my day off to do a San Francisco walk-about. Wednesday is the warmest day this week and the sky should be clear, all unlike forecast for Friday. I’ll catch the train up to the city tomorrow morning. We got a call from the Hyundai dealer. Our new airbag is in so Ernie wall take it in sometime. I delivered our absentee ballots to the polling place. Kind of a waste of money and effort. Only one measure on the ballot for a planned development in a location where it shouldn’t be. Typical effort to try to slip something in on an election when few vote. Granola for breakfast. Avocado, tomato and cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner at home, leftover sauerbraten , baked potato and cauliflower.

Cool, Man

Sunday: (10/27) Fall is really bring in cooler weather recently Lou put a pot roast in the crock pot in the morning. I loaded the cement mixer and jackhammer into the Jeep to take to San Jose. I completed doing the laundry. Leftover corned beef hash with eggs for breakfast. Pot Roast for dinner.

Monday: (10/28) I drove down to San Jose early taking Dawn to an appointment. After that we stopped at La Victoria Taqueria for breakfast. Dawn went out exploring and shopping around San Jose most of the day while I tried to get some work done Since I forgot to get new work gloves and my existing gloves had too many holes to fully protect my hands from heat or the abrasiveness of the roof, I did other tasks today. I need to install some fencing where the neighbors garage was removed. The tenants had planted a beautiful bougainvillea against the garage which the people who removed the garage had to disconnect from the garage and it was laid over into our yard. I fought all the one inch thorns trimming the plant and disposing of the cuttings into a compost bin and separating the wire and lattice work that was supporting the plant. The plant likely won’t be able to be saved because it is either right in the fence alignment or really close. I’ll be installing the usual concrete base for the fence so the plant may have to go. If not, it will be in the neighbors yard anyway. I quit early because I had setup an appointment to get the Hyundai serviced tomorrow and needed to return to Palo Alto to get it. On the way home I picked up Dawn. I located the set of wheels I was missing for one of the scaffolds. They move so much nicer with wheels. Lunch was two cheese coated hot dogs. I picked up some chicken dinners at KFC for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/29) I started early stopping at McDonald’s for a McGriddle sandwich for breakfast. I visited Harbor Freight and bought some work gloves. I also stopped by a house in Santa Clara to pickup some Freecycle page sleeves that Dawn wanted. I finally started work a little after 0900 working until 1315. Lunch was leftover pot roast . I took the car in for it’s service and on the way noticed the airbag fault light was on. They did the oil change and check the airbags while I relaxed in the waiting room. Hopefully my snoring didn’t bother the other people too much. They determined the airbag was bad and ordered a new one. For dinner I had cottage cheese and fruit with a toasted English muffin coated with honey.

Wednesday: (10/30) Today I started sanding above the porch finishing the left side. Toasted English muffin with a sausage patty for breakfast. BBQ ribs with Spanish rice for lunch. Egg rolls and shrimp balls from King Eggroll for dinner



Thursday: (10/31) I started by determining the fence line. I can’t spend more time today but now I can start digging the post holes when I find time. I finished sanding the right side today. I have only done the part over the porch roof.I still have both lower sides todo but may get a coat of primer by the end of next week. Granola for breakfast. Sausage and cheese English muffin with carrots for lunch. Tri-tip roast with mashed potatoes and a green salad for dinner.

Up On The Roof

Saturday: (10/12) Grocery shopping day early this morning. We headed out at 0700 to Walmart to avoid the crowds. By 0800 The Milk Pail and Sprouts are open to complete our shopping. In the afternoon, Courtney and her sister Dawn, visiting from North Dakota, stopped by for a visit. Lou made bacon eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast. I prepared steak, beaked potatoes and broccoli for dinner.

Sunday: (10/13) Lounging around most of the day. We did take a walk in the neighborhood and looked at a couple of open houses in the afternoon. After dinner I packed up and headed back to San Jose for the night to get an early start on my paint stripping. tomorrow. Dawn made donut holes with bacon for breakfast. Lettuce and fruit salad ala Dawn for lunch.  Zucchini with sausage for dinner.

Monday: (10/14) More paint stripping up on the roof today. I started early because by 1300 it’s too hot to work on the roof. I can still work in shady spots down below. I finished up the right side of the high eaves over the porch. Buttermilk Bar and a sausage for breakfast. Grilled cheese sandwich and yogurt for lunch. Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/15) I removed the paint on the short wall above the porch and below the eaves on the right side today and some more under the porch. After quitting and cleanup I visited Harbor Freight to pick up a miter cutoff saw that was on sale for a way low price. I also got a dolly to use with the HEPA vacuum. When it gets fuller, it gets hard to move around and it’s wheels are not great on uneven surfaces. It can hold 90 pounds so it starts for be noticeable when I have to pick it up. Some leftover peach blintzes from the freezer with some pastrami for breakfast. Leftover KFC chicken with a baked potato and some carrots and tomatoes for lunch. Dinner at the Country Inn, chicken fried steak breakfast with Swedish pancakes for dinner.

 
Wednesday: (10/16) I made it over the hump today stripping paint over the porch and under the house eaves. The eaves above the porch are only about two feet higher than the porch roof so there isn’t much room for me to fit in and be able to get the paint off. It’s worst at the peak so work was slow but eventually I persevered and am starting down the other side now. I had to stop work for a 1000 webinar and returned to finish work on the roof at 1300. After lunch I returned to work down below almost finishing the eves on the right side of the porch. The new dolly makes moving the vacuum around a lot easier. Granola with diced apple for breakfast. Roast beef and cheese sandwich with carrots and tomatoes for lunch. Rice and BBQ ribs for dinner.



Thursday: (10/17) I was up on the roof at 0800 but managed to call it quits early because my hot air gun died. Since I was supposed to wrap up by 2pm and head home early, I just called it quits for the week and stopped by Harbor Freight to get another heat gun on the way home. Breakfast burrito at La Victoria started the day. KFC Cup2Go (chicken strips and fries) snack for lunch.


We BBQ’ed hotdogs over a campfire in the backyard with deviled eggs, macaroni salad and other fixings for dinner.

Moving On To More Of The Same

Monday: (10/07) I left Palo Alto about 1000 and stopped by the bank, then did a little shopping then finally got to San Jose. Along the way, I stopped for donuts for my breakfast. Lunch was a little pizza from Sprouts which wasn’t  bad. After lunch, I stripped off my masking, which on the windows was quite a task with so many tiny panes. Dinner was some roast beef with Spanish rice.

Tuesday: (10/08) I did a lot of pruning and installed my scaffolds on either side of the porch. I did some concrete patching on the porch where the down spouts used to go. I also patched a hole in the foundation by the fireplace. Not much other work because I wasn’t feeling 100% today. Granola with a banana for breakfast. Grilled tuna and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chicken pot pie with some cottage  cheese for dinner.


Wednesday: (10/09) I started removing paint under the eaves over the porch. In the morning I “attended ” a webinar on computer programming and then returned to the roof. In the evening, I returned to Palo Alto for the night. A chorizo breakfast burrito at La Victoria Restaurant. Tuna and cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner was some leftover Shepherd’s pie.

Thursday: (10/10) I spent my day on my back on the roof removing paint from under the eaves over the porch. By 1400 the roof was so hot I stopped for lunch and then spent a little time doing a section of the eaves on the shady side of the porch. Breakfast at Bill’s Cafe on the Alameda in San Jose. I had an avocado ortega chili omelet.  I had a late lunch of a sausage and cheese sandwich with some cottage cheese and peaches. For dinner, I stopped in Mountain View at Los Charros Restaurant and had some chili rellenos for dinner.

Breezy Autum

Thursday: (09/26) Rather breezy still. Not good for spraying paint. All painting today was by brush. I spent the morning doing the wall on the other side of the fireplace, the afternoon doing the front section. Home fried potatoes, sausage and eggs for breakfast. BBQ ribs with potato salad for lunch. I finished the second and third areas so the areas I'm painting all have their first coat of primer. I returned to Palo Alto and had a late dinner of what had been a tri-tip roast cooked as sauerbraten. Evidently Lou and Dawn had enjoyed it because there was very little meat and lots of stewed onion and raisins. I topped that with some dried apricots and glazed pecans.

Friday: (09/27) Granola with yogurt for breakfast. This morning I took Lou to a doctor's appointment. She's doing fine. After the appointment we stopped at a nearby Chinese buffet for lunch. I planned hikes for the next tw0 Friday's and posted them for my hiking group. Some of Lou's chili beans from the freezer for dinner.

Saturday: (09/28) Today was National Plug In Day so I went to the 41th Annual Electric Vehicle Rally at De Anza College in Cuprtino. SOme very interesting home built and manufactured electric vehicles on display. I was very tempted by the Think Electric cars on sale for $15,700 after all the rebates. It's built something like an old Saturn with a plastic body on an aluminum tubing frame.  There was a very nice converted VW bug as well. I was very impressed by a portable solar array on top of an electric motorcycle racing tams van. I provided about a 16'x16' array.  Buck wheat with yogurt and honey for breakfast. Ham, cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch. Pork chops with rice and asparagus for dinner.

I received a call about 1840 from our tenant in Sn Jose that the garage next door was removed and their dog was gone when they arrived home. The reason the two go together is because the neighbors garage accounted for about 25 feet of our side yard fence and the dog is an opportunist. I collected some wire and EMT conduit and headed down to install a temporary fence for them. I was back home by 2100.

Sunday: (09/29) We mostly relaxed today. I did take Dawn on and errand and we also walked over to Fry's Electronics for a stroll. I also cleaned out the pond water. It collects leaves and stops flowing. I also helped Ernie while he washed out his holding tanks.  Ham eggs and home fried potatoes with onions and green peppers for breakfast. Grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. BBQ ribs with Baked French fried potatoes that Lou and Dawn made with broccoli slaw. About 7pm I headed down to San Jose to the apartment.

Monday: (09/30) I painted to second coat of primer today. Maple bar for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich with carrots for lunch. BBQ ribs with rice for dinner.

Tuesday: (10/01) A short walk through the San Jose State University campus for breakfast burrito at La Victoria restaurant. When I got back to the apartment I grabbed the Jeep and went to Home Depot for some supplies. About 11am I finally got to work painting. Lunch was my usual ham and cheese sandwich with some carrots. That was followed by more painting. I completed the third coat of primer about 6pm. A quick shower and I walked back to La Victoria for a chili relleno dinner.

Wednesday: (10/02) I painted about 2/3's of the walls with the color coat. It Looks pretty good as long as you don't stand too close. Granola for breakfast. A carnitas torta from Super Taqueria for lunch. Dinner at the China Wok in Sunnyvale on my way back to Palo Alto.

Thursday: (10/03) Dawn and I headed down to San Jose early stopping for breakfast at La Victoria Restaurant. I had my usual bacon burrito and Dawn had quesadillas. I painted the rest of the house and touched up the part i painted yesterday. It was really windy so I didn't do a second color coat. Lunch was a bowl of chili with some leftover fried potatoes. I finished painting about 2pm and then cleaned up early. I hope next week has less wind. Dawn returned about 4pm and we headed up to Palo Alto with a stop at LUU Noodle house to pick up dinner, the usual combination chow fun and a pad Thai and some egg rolls.

A Little Holiday Work

Sunday: (09/01) I fixed a eggs and a sausage hash with onions and some  green peppers from our garden. i helped Ernie to install a top to his work table. Lou installed some LED lights on the big bird cage which I then had to run power to. The i went over to Home Depot and bought a piece of plywood, which I had them cut for me since my table saw was in San Jose. Lunch was leftover Chinese fried rice and some grapes. After lunch I built two platforms for the steps into the house so Lou can more easily enter with her walker after her knee operation. Dinner was BBQ ribs with noodles and cauliflower. After dinner  Dawn made some banana ice cream, non-dairy of course.  I packed up and drove down to San Jose. Even though this is a holiday weekend, I need to get some work done and I'll be taking two weeks off soon to stay with Lou after the operation. After I got all my stuff into the apartment I returned outside because I had been hearing  a great band playing at the block party just South of our block. Of course, the music stopped just as I came out to listen. On the way home, I saw one of the best sunsets I've ever seen here in the valley.  I only got to see it in my rear view mirror but it was very impressive!

Monday: (09/02) The title is correct, just not what i planned. I did very little work. I did get some organizing, cleanup and other tasks done in the apartment. Chorizo with onions and eggs for breakfast. Ham, tomato and cheese sandwich for lunch. Pastrami with leftover hash for dinner.

Tuesday: (09/03) I continued stripping around the window up front. It's the one I rebuilt and today i stripped around it, sanded around it and reinstalled the window. Unfortunately, I managed to break two of the little glass panes on the rebuilt window when cleaning off the excess paint from the glass. This should teach me that it's easier to use masking tape than a razor blade. Not really a problem. I'll replace the broken panes later when I replace some other broken glass. I'm debating, with myself, whether to use the next two days to paint what I've prepared or continue stripping more wall. I don't want to be part way through two coats of primer and a color coat and have to remove my masking for my two week hiatus. Leftover chorizo and eggs for breakfast. Ham, tomato and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chili rellenos for dinner at the La Victoria.

Wednesday: (09/04) I did some caulking and spackling today. Later i started removing some siding to be replaced and some paint stripping. Granola for breakfast. Ham and cheese sandwich with some cherry tomatoes for lunch. Cottage cheese and fruit and a chicken pot pie for dinner.

Thursday: (09/05) A bacon breakfast burrito at La Victoria Restaurant started the day. I started my work day by installing some new siding pieces at the front of the house and finished it with some paint stripping on the porch area. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. I finished up early and went by Harbor Freight to swap the bad sawsall for a  new one. The old one would hold on to it's blades. For dinner I met Lou, Dawn, Courtney and Ernie at the Black Angus Restaurant in Sunnyvale. They are the only place that has prime rib on Thursday and Lou anted some for her "last" meal before her surgery tomorrow morning.

 

Cactus Needles Hurt

Saturday: (08/24) I made corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast. I tinkered in the yard a little in the morning. I finished sawing off the slide from the swing. I went through 4 blades because the 'new" saws-all kept loosing its blade, damaging the blades when they came loose. I did get the job done though. Later, we drove down to Gilroy for the day. I stopped at the Camping World store in San Martin on the way looking for some parts for my broken drain pipes on the RV. They had nothing, at all. I was rather surprised! We continued to Gilroy to the outlet mall there. We saw nothing of interest. It was a very nice day for a drive though. Lunch was at King Egg Roll for me and the Black Bear Diner for Lou and Dawn. They had wonderful fruit and green salads. I had egg rolls and shrimp balls. To each their own. We didn't finish looking around until after 4:30 then headed up to home. For dinner Lou and Dawn made Shepherd's pie.

Sunday: (08/25) I prepared eggs with leftover corned beef hash for breakfast. I tinkered with the computer mush of the morning setting up to record a bunch of the '40's music Lou listens to from XM radio so she can relax in the hospital during her stay there in a couple of weeks. Then I went outside and played in the garden the rest of the morning. I positioned Lou's gigantic bird cage in my new cactus garden and planted a few more cacti adding a few needled under my skin. It looks pretty good for a bunch of junk topped with plants. Dawn was out to lunch with a friend so Lou and I went to lunch at LUU Noodle Restaurant sharing a pad Thai dish and I had some egg roll as well (my food of choice). We stopped by Walmart, as well. We were looking for a tray for Lou's scooter for under seat storage. We found a nice plastic storage box of just the right size to hang and wedge into just the right spot. Some time soon, Lou will make a better one out of sun screen fabric that will be able to remain in place when the scooter is folded. She also needed a new MP3 player. We found a nice one for $15. In the afternoon I repaired my broken saws-all reattaching the blade collet. It works great, again. Lou made pastrami with corn on the cob and spaghetti squash for dinner. I then packed up and headed home to San Jose.

 Monday: (08/26) Granola for breakfast. I headed off to the stores this morning. I wanted to get another sample of paint and continue looking at paint sprayers. I finally decided on a Wagner Flexio 590. It's not an airless but is a handheld. The way I'm piecemealing this job, a big airless sprayer wouldn't be much help. The 1.5 quart cup on this sprayer should work well and get the paint on the wall quickly followed with a little smoothing with a roller and/or brush. I got back just before lunch of a ham and cheese sandwich. I spent some time reading the manual and playing with the sprayer. Then I finally started a little real work caulking some until I ran short of that. I'm really organized today. So off to get some more. A nice day playing around. I headed back to Palo Alto tonight so I could take the RV down to San Jose tomorrow to get the generator repaired.

We went over to IKEA. Lou had paid a visit earlier in the day and had found a nice (enough) TV cabinet to sit under our BIG TV. We purchased it and I loaded into the JEEP then we had dinner. I had meatballs, Lou had chicken and Dawn had salmon. After dinner we took a look around before going home. When we got home Ernie helped me get it into the house and I moved the DVD and VCR stuff to the new cabinet. It turns out the old cabinet will make a good end table for the bedroom.

Tuesday: (08/27) I was up early, hitched up the Jeep and drove the RV down to Air Cooled Engine's in San Jose to get the RV repaired. The starter just spins but doesn't crank the motor. I had an appointment this morning. Greg pulled out the generator (1 hour) Found a sheared gear on the starter, replaced the starter (10 minutes) and reinstalled the generator (1 hour). This is an example of bad design both by both the generator manufacturer, Generac, and by National RV. Slides or placing the starter on the outside would definitely have helped. The generator was all fixed up and I was headed home by 11:30 just a little over $400 less in my pocket. Actually much less than expected. Now we could take a trip if we needed to with all systems go. I got off so early and had planned to drop the RV and go have breakfast but I wasn't chased away so I watched the repair. It should help if something needs to be done in the future. Myself and the shop dog Chance made sure everything was done properly. Lunch was at home, ham and cheese pieces with corn chips and apricot jam. Interesting. I returned to San Jose with the idea of doing some more work. That didn't happen though. I evidently was a little under the weather so I didn't get into gear. I did remove one of the decorative arms that "supports" the roof. They really don't support anything but over time the edge of the roof has warped a little so the hanging roof joist on the outside edge of the eve had dropped nearly an inch causing the decorative arm to sag away from the wall leaving too much space to caulk and still have the work look good. It was held in with some rather big nails most of which were only penetrating the 1/2 siding. I removed one, cleaned up the area.

Wednesday: (08/28) Granola for breakfast. I spent some time re-installing some software on my computer. I then went out and reinstalled the decorative arm. I dropped it about 1/2 inch down the wall and it now looks straight. I used screws to attach it and made a spacer block to help support the bottom. Due to the beveled angle on the siding it only actually touches the wall at about four points. The bottom didn't quite touch to to prevent future sagging. Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich. After lunch I climbed onto the roof and prime painted the chimney. i also made and installed some molding to close off a large gap on the transom like windows near the fireplace. The wood looks better then 3/4 inch caulk. The windows aren't operatable any more nor have thy been previously. Dinner was some leftover apricot blintzes with sausage.

 

Hiding Some Dirt

Saturday: (08/17) A relaxing morning followed by a late breakfast. After breakfast I got to work in the backyard.



I moved a bunch of heavy concrete blocks to make a retaining wall for my pile of dirt. Someday in the future when the pile grows big enough I'll get another dumpster and get rid of the dirt but for now, I try to hide it. I then plated a few aloe plats and other succulents as additional camouflage. After that i gave our recycle bins a good wash.



Next I got the sawsall out and cut off part of our old swing that made up some monkey bars and or a playhouse and observation deck that Dawn could use when she as little. More recently it just collected junk. Above left is as it was and above right is as it is now. I managed to break my 30 year old AC powered sawsall in the process. Most of the scrap metal made it into the recycle bin but I still need to cut some more when the batteries for my battery powered sawsall are ready. Breakfast at A Good Morning Restaurant. I had a bacon avocado omelet. Lou and Dawn shared ham and eggs while Ernie had pancakes. Very good but due to the weekend crowd it was served slowly. For dinner Dawn made a red pepper, onion, tomato and chicken soup something like hot gazpacho soup. Desert was different. Dawn had made some cordial from some of the fruit of our Asian pears tree. She had a mash left which she decided to turn into something like apple butter. When is was boiled down it reminded her of pumpkin filling so she made it into a pumpkin pie like thing. Very good. We're still waiting for the cordial to finish.

Sunday: (08/18) A relaxing morning. After our late breakfast, I did a little work, just a little. I chopped up all the rest of the part of the swing that i removed except for the slide. That would be too much for my cordless sawsall so will have to wait until I get a new one or fix the old one. The slide is made from a lot of 1/2 inch EMT conduit that has been welded together. The flat middle section will make a good bench for the yard, with a little work. I also planted a few more plants in my new cactus garden / dirt pile. After dinner I packed to head to San Jose. I met Lou at Harbor Freight where i bought a new, cheap sawsall and some work gloves. Lou got so better fitting grip gloves. I then continued on to Home Depot to return some things and to Lowe's where they had a special on water softener salt. The house in San Jose needs a water softener and it needs a stock of salt. Lou made bacon and eggs with potatoes for breakfast. Leftovers for lunch. I had Lima bean soup. For dinner we had asparagus with ramen noodles and meat loaf.



Our tomato plants are doing pretty good. Still no ripe tomatoes but pretty soon the giant will climb down or Jack will go up.

Monday: (08/19) I spent some time on the computer doing some banking. Then i visited OSH hardware for some things and stopped by the bank then returned home to actually start work. I finished sanding the front of the house where i had been working, sanded all the v grooves in the eves and stripped some paint that I missed. I think I'm ready to do some caulking and filling tomorrow. Granola for breakfast. Carrot pineapple salad with a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Leftover red pepper, onion, tomato and chicken soup with leftover asparagus and some pastrami for dinner

Tuesday: (08/20) Our termite control maintenance requires a full inspection every three years so today was the day. No termites which is good but he did call a couple of minor fungi spots, white dust, so I'll probably have to crawl under the house sometime and spray them. After lunch I got to work, finally, doing some stucco patching on the fireplace and completing the paint removal on the chimney above the roof. I spent the evening repairing windows due to some windows being blank. Basically had to reinstall it so now I get to reinstall most of my programs. But I can see the windows now! Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. A super burrito from Super Taqueria for lunch. Chili and wieners for dinner.

Wednesday: (08/21) I repaired the stucco on the chimney around the flashing on the roof. I also did some spackleing and caulking. I then painted a section of the wall with primer trying a couple but the high build primer I got at Kelly Moore was worthless. I tried a couple of areas with the two sample colors I got a Kelly Moore as well. They look nice but the paint is very thin and will require a couple of coats and still be a thin coat. So, i stopped at Home Depot and got a sample of their paint to try. A chorizo burrito for breakfast at La Victoria taqueria. Ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Dinner at the Hometown Buffet on the way home to Palo Alto.

Thursday: (08/22) A doctor appointment visit in the morning. Lou had a dental appointment in the afternoon. Then we were off to San Jose where Lou got to look at the paint samples on the wall and I touched up the chimney stucco. Lou also stopped by and got our parking hangers for the Dan Jose house permit parking area. Spinach and tuna omelet for breakfast. Whole Foods for lunch. Lou and I had soup, Dawn a collection from the bar. A visit to Chevy's Fresh mex Restaurant for dinner.