Second Week In San Jose

Saturday: (02/29) I walked over to La Victoria Taqueria for breakfast. I love their Orange Sauce. After breakfast, I took a walk around downtown and checked out the restaurants. Back home I went through my ballot and finished it then drove it over to the Registrar Of Voters Office. Done. Then I called Lou and Ernie and cleared the calendar for our Pinnacles visit. Unfortunately there were no RV sites available for reservation. There are a number that are first come first serve so I’ll hope we can get one since we will be arriving Sunday. I prepared and published my next Pinnacles hikes. I had a Lou’s chorizo chicken meat patty with mashed potatoes and carrots for dinner.

Sunday: (03/01) I worked inside the apartment cleaning out and organizing the closet. In the evening I worked on the taxes. Waffles for breakfast. Cottage cheese and fruit for lunch. Dinner was pizza from Sammy G's Pizzeria a couple of blocks from home.

Monday: (03/02) Granola with banana for breakfast. After breakfast I went grocery shopping at Smart and Final and Walmart. I stocked up on some extra food in case I do get quarantined, or want to be. I also got some more tubs to use on the shelves in the closet for tools and supplies. I had some chili beans with sausage for lunch. After lunch I got busy outside stripping the paint from the outside of the eves and then sanded it. After that I was able to move my scaffold back closer to the house and on the sidewalk so it’s more stable. I removed the other rafter support arm so it can be stripped and then adjusted to fit better. Then I cleaned up. After a welcome shower, I prepared some leftover chicken and artichoke with rice for dinner.

Tuesday: (03/03) Granola and banana for breakfast. I picked up some Smart And Final store brand granola and tried it this morning. It;s about ⅔ the cost of Sprouts, which is ⅔ the cost of everyone else. Pretty good. It’s not my favorite French Vanilla. It’s an oat based granola and is gluten free as well. I worked removing more paint until my heat gun failed. I headed off to Harbor Freight to get another, actually two. Doing the last half of the house used up three of them. In the afternoon I finished up the under eaves and upper wall. I prepared a hamburger for lunch with one of Lou’s chorizo chicken patties. For dinner I went to Sweet Tomatoes Salad Buffet to get some vegetables.

Wednesday: (03/04) Waffles for breakfast. I relaxed until just before 0900. Lou requested that I drop by her pot shop to get some CBD oil. So, I'm now a registered pot customer. After returning home I started to get ready to work on the paint job. But, I then attended my 1000 webinar before actually starting. I stripped the paint off the vent louver and detailed the removal from the cracks and seems as well as a little stripping lower down around the window. After cleaning up I walked down to a different nearby 7Eleven to pick up some sanding sponges I ordered on Amazon. My local 7Eleven didn’t have space in their Amazon Lockers. I tried to get dinner at a Mexican restaurant but failed. With 4 wait people and few customers No one ever took my order. I stopped by Subway for a sandwich before getting home. Lunch was a English muffin chorizo burger and some cottage cheese.

Thursday: (03/05) It was hard to get to work today. It was made harder because I had to watch the tree crew removing several trees from a neighbor. Fun to watch the aerial show climbing with ropes and a chainsaw 60 feet in the air. I did finish stripping the wall by Dawn apartment except for about 5 square feet below a window. Granola and banana for breakfast. A sausage sandwich and cottage cheese for lunch. Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes again.

 

Rancho Canada Del Oro Hike

Friday: (02/28) I headed off to Rancho Canada Del Oro in Morgan Hill from San Jose for our hike today . Colin was the leader and we hiked the hills for 9 miles on a wonderfully clear day with flowers starting to bloom. The car had its problem with the power steering again when I tried to leave the park. Good thing it cleared itself since there was no cell signal there. Back home I had lunch and scheduled an appointment for 3/12 to have the car looked at. Hopefully it holds out for that long. I drove home to get my pills and do laundry. Fortunately Lou and Dawn said they are better so I also had dinner with them before returning to San Jose. Waffles and sausage for breakfast. Leftover noodles for lunch.

 

 

Paint Prep

Monday: (02/24) I managed to delay starting work through the morning. I did some organizing of the apartment. I ordered some things online. I went over to the 7Eleven Amazon locker and picked up my new Battery Voltage Monitor (BVM712). My old BVM702 seems to be dead and the 712 has bluetooth so I ordered it as the replacement. I also got a couple of fans to use for a crawl space vent fan after I make a mounting plate for them. So then it was near lunch so I picked up a sandwich at Subway and a Chai Latte as well and had lunch before work. At work I set up my big scaffold and stripped more of the hose near my apartment door. Breakfast was peanut butter and jelly waffles. Lunch was a meatball sandwich. Dinner was artichoke chicken and rice.

Tuesday: (02/25) I went out shopping at Lowe’s in the morning. I really don’t like the cool mornings. After lunch, I tried to start stripping but the wind was too strong and my debris would have ended up all over the yard and lawn. So, I went off again to Harbor Freight and bought more tarps and clips. Back home I setup my second scaffold and hung tarps on the outside of the scaffolds attached with the clips.But after that was near 4pm and no reason to start. So, tomorrow I may have to start early in the cool air when hopefully, it won't be windy. Waffles for breakfast. A tuna and cheese sandwich for lunch. Chicken soup and toast for dinner.

 

Wednesday: (02/26) I worked a little in the morning. At 1000 I attended my Wednesday webinar then returned to work. I stopped a little after 1700 and took a shower. Lou called and said she and Dawn had colds so I’m staying in San Jose for a while. I drove home to get my hiking backpack and clothes. I also replaced a light bulb for Dawn and looked at the new Roku stick in the living room. It no longer responds to the remote. Must be a dud, only a week old. Waffles for breakfast. Tuna sandwich and chicken soup for lunch. Chinese food from Lucky Chinese Bistro in Mountain View.

 

Thursday: (02/27) I managed to get out later in the morning and strip the rest of the paint under the eves by Dawn’s apartment. I finished that about 1330 and broke for lunch. Dawn and Lou had some online orders they wanted me to do, so I did them at lunch. After lunch I walked over to 7Eleven to get two Amazon packages. One was my new Wen sander. It accepts velcro sanding sheets. For some reason I thought it came with 12 sheets but it only had one sheet in the box. I did order more sanding sheets but they don’t arrive until next week. Then I moved my scaffolding away from the house more so I could reach the outside of the eves. By then it was nearly 1600 so I called it a day. No need to get more dirty. I cleaned up and vacuumed the debris before enjoying my shower. Granola and banana for breakfast. For lunch I had a chili size. Dinner at Sweet Tomatoes Salad Buffet.

The Hyundai has a new problem. The EPS (Electric Power Steering ) light came on both when I left home for dinner and for the return. Restarting the car several times fixed it? Time to get it looked at.

Relaxing and RV Tinkering

Saturday: (02/22) I worked on relocating the battery monitor and inverter remote panel. Unfortunately, the battery monitor didn’t work at the new location. I swapped the cable and it still didn’t work. I must have killed the module somehow. Oh well, something to keep me busy for a while. Waffles for breakfast. Cooked pears with pecans for lunch. Dinner at Harry’s Hofbrau.

Sunday: (02/23) I mostly relaxed all day. I did get outside to close up the RV refrigerator vent which I had to remove and open the wire to remove the cables to the old battery monitor location. About 1800 I headed off toward home. I stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on the way to restock the apartment. Biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Crackers and hummus for lunch. Baked fish with asparagus and rice for dinner.

Windy Hill OSP Hike

Friday: (02/21) I carpooled with Alex to our 0900 hike in Portola Valley. We hiked up Razorback Ridge Trail then down Hamm's Gulch Trail in Windy Hill Preserve. It was a 10 mile hike. I was home by 1330. I relaxed the rest of the day. Granola and diced apple for breakfast. Trail tuna snack for on trail lunch. Leftover rice when I got home. Lou made chicken soup for dinner. Dawn isn’t feeling well.

 

No Paint Work Because Schools Out

Monday: (02/17) Granola and banana for breakfast. I drove down to San Jose to pick up an Amazon package from a locker convenient to Dawn’s apartment but not too convenient to Palo Alto. I had planned on being there when it came but because the plan changed due to the tenants holiday week, I had to drive down. On the way home I stopped at Sprout’ Market to get my ciabatta bread and some hummus. I met Lou and Dawn at Goodwill to look at a couch. Then I picked up a burrito for lunch at Super Taqueria. At home I watched a movie. Later I went outside and repaired the fence between us and the South neighbor. There was a broken fence board and the redwood tree had pushed the fence loose from a post. Fortunately separating the fence section and raising it 2 inches allowed it to be reattached with the posts. It took some time to complete but was a successful repair. Lou made sausage and baked potatoes with leftover sauerkraut or dinner.

Tuesday: (02/18) I tinkered in the office in the morning. In the afternoon, I rode the bus down to San Jose to pick up a couple of more Amazon items at the 7Eleven near the apartment. One item was a Roku stick which I installed on the living room TV. The internal app for Youtube was disabled by Visio and it also could tune in Roku TV which we get Acorn TV on. Hummus toast for breakfast. Leftover Mediterranean bowl for lunch. Clam chowder and toast for dinner.

Wednesday: (02/19) I attended my Wednesday programming webinar and studied some in the morning. I dropped Dawn off at her writing class downtown. Lou and I went up to the Costco in Redwood City for a few things. I tinkered a little in the yard. A little weeding. I also started relocating the power meter panels in the RV. I quickly ran into a need for things I didn't have. In particular blue masking tape. To show how lazy I am, I ordered it on Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. That allows me to ignore working on it a while longer. Granola and banana for breakfast. Lou and I shared a veggie burrito at El Grullense Taqueria in Redwood City. Lou made chicken cashew rice for dinner.

Thursday: (02/20) I was studying the computer some in the morning. A little weed eating in the yard. I took a bike ride to go by some of the big construction sites nearby. Granola and banana for breakfast. Lou Cecelia and I went to lunch in Menlo Park at Ann’s. Leftover chicken cashew rice for dinner.

A Weekend Off

Saturday: (02/15) A relaxing morning accomplishing little. So nice. Lou watched her Saturday morning animal TV shows. We went out before lunch to the Ace Hardware store and bought a replacement light switch for our bathroom. At home I replace the broken switch. More relaxing was necessary before and after that task. Granola with diced apple for breakfast. Lou and I had lunch at Luu Noodle House. Dawn made a Mediterranean dinner with eggplant and chicken.

Sunday: (02/16) Lou made open faced breakfast toast of egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon. I managed to take the whole day off, doing nothing. No lunch but Lou and Dawn did make my mom’s oatmeal cookies. Leftovers for dinner.I did get my laundry done and was all ready to go and I got a call from our tenant asking that I take the week off because their daughters are on school vacation this week. So, I will have to direct my efforts to the RV this week. I do have a hike scheduled for this Friday as well.