Month: April 2021 (Page 2 of 4)

–Rode 17.5 miles with Tom Elken. I was hoping he’d show me how to get through Folsom to catch the north part of the Lake Natoma loop, but we initially came out at Mel’s diner, so had to backtrack to get to Folsom. After that, instead of turning right toward Mike’s Bikes, turn left and go over the bridge, then cross the street and head right toward Negro Bar. Sort of.

–Pool Time guys came at 3:30. I noted what they did with valves (one on the roof!), but (1) he said nothing is needed on the controller except a schedule change (really hard to believe), then (2) he increased the speed of the booster pump (Aux2) after I mentioned I had it set low, then (3) he went into this thing about Aux4, which he said was the solar pump. He upped its speed from 0 to 2600 (maybe on the pump itself), then went into this totally confused explanation of how Aux4 is the same as the main pump.

(a) There is no Aux4 on this system (Aux1–Aux3, Feature1–Feature4). (b) How can you set one pump to run at different speeds at the same time? The guy might know pumps, but he’s clueless wrt controllers. And the pump blew air into the pool the full time it was on today (over an hour).

This really sucks.

–Made a crusty pan pizza for dinner. Good stuff.

–Left hearing aid died. Took it to Costco and they replaced the wire that leads from body to earpiece. Works fine now.

–Motorola Razr came in. Wrong model of course: had a slot for a memory card (maybe), but not a SIM. CDMA phones (e.g., Verizon) don’t use SIMs. Okay, so why does my iPhone, running on Verizon, use a SIM? I really need to find out the differences among CDMA, GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, EVO, etc. etc. It’s still not likely I’ll get a Razr (or any vintage flip phone) working, plus the Razr, while unblemished, really felt and sounded like a piece of crap. One loses sight of how good the iPhone is.

–Hung the fruit crate labels in the dining room.

–Got tomatoes, cara cara oranges, strawberries, giant Brussels sprouts ay Sunrise farmers market.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries at 4:30 PM.

–Mowed the lawn; tried to prop up the wilted-looking basil plant.

–Went to Devon’s to pick up the refurbished Rolex Datejust. Rolex replaced the entire case (and nothing else), then inscribed the caseback with 16000/EX123 (old serial)/K567 (new serial). So it has a new serial, with evidence of the original 1971 serial.

–Aztec canceled on the solar startup. Called Pool-Time; they’ll be out on the 20th.

–Walked to Bel Air for a couple of prepared salads to have with grilled turkey burgers. Good stuff.

–Noticed the skimmer has a high-speed spin going–and the level appears to be only an inch or so above the shelf. Kind of annoying that the skimmer works best when the pool level is close to being too low.

–Went to Bel Air for milk, dessert, oranges, apples. Got a basil plant as well, and planted it. looks really droopy. Hope it picks up.

–Went for a 9-mile ride in Folsom with Tom Elken. Then lunch at Karen’s Bakery & Cafe (I brought cinnamon rolls back for dessert). Then Tom bought a Specialized Turbo Vado just like mine (except yucky gray) at Mike’s Bikes.

–Took a shower. Put a blade in the Barbaros and the gap looked large, so reboxed that razor and went with the Gillette double ring. Though the gap looked like it was too small to shave, the blade feel was substantial and the shave was close. Decided to toss the Personnas in the white paper that came with Blackland razors (I believe) and go back to “real” Personnas, Derbys, and Wilkinsons. Plus there are some others (Feather, notably) which I’ll try.

–Got bagels at Noah’s.

–I thought PayPal had lifted the ban, based on what looked like a clean login, but found out there was zero progress from last night while buying a bike saddle on eBay–I had to use my BofA credit card. PayPal account is still “limited,” photo ID is “completed,” credit card verification is “submitted.” This is extremely annoying, as I lost a chance to call them today thinking all was well. Further, I’m fearful that the eBay Squale refund won’t go through because of this problem.

–Painted the solar downspout that was replaced.

–Played with the Gibbs razor for a while. From what I can see it’s a piece of crap. With no blade, the cap gap seems relatively even, but when I tighten down on a blade, it warps and the blade gap is a mess. I flattened some surfaces (that already looked fine) to no effect. I thought my first shave with that razor was great, but the second was awful–after I had carefully taken it apart, figured everything out, and put it back together. Don’t know whether to pursue the brand or not. It gets some rave reviews, but there’s the occasional report of a rough shave. Curiosity will probably win out.

–eBay “limited” my account (shut it down, essentially) due to suspicious activity. I had to send them a photo ID and a credit card statement. Really annoying.