Month: December 2023 (Page 3 of 4)

–Played with knives. Discovered (again) that when detent ball is too low, (a) knife can be flipped open and (b) there can be serious lock rock.

–Noticed a squirrel on the back patio (maybe a new one) eating berries from the Chinese Pistache tree.

–Polished the meteorite a bit with 80 grit paper. Might be pretty close to flat.

–Sent off Rolex 5512 and Day-Date to Kirill Yuzh for consignment.

–Blaze pizza for dinner.

–Had lunch at McDonald’s–pretty good.

–Played with cameras.

–OysterQuartz crystal came in. Replaced chipped one with much trouble. Later, bought another OysterQuartz: the Mark I model, without “Officially Certified…” on the dial. That model MIGHT have wider chamfers, though it’s hard to believe Rolex would change how they made the cases. Turns out the OysterQuartz is really low production: 25,000 in 25 years.

–Some rain came. All downspouts seem okay.

–Red Baron pizza for dinner. Good as always.

–Picked up powder-coated Cremina case at Perfect It. Cost $175. They did have to drill a small hole in one of the inside brackets, but finish is impeccable. Dropped off the Maximatic cover for them to do in black.

–Took lots of pictures, trying to figure out why some cameras seem to have given up the ghost. Part of it, I fear, is that I’m getting old and forgetful, and don’t always set things up optimally for the prevailing conditions (less light now than in April, for example). Ugh…

–Removed Lightroom CC and installed LR Classic (desktop). Turns out it STILL requires CC to be installed. So I ran one more showdown between LR and Affinity/ACDSee/RAW Power on a tough photo (tiny white lights in the dark). Scary how easily LR blows the others away with the simplest adjustments of exposure and highlights. Don’t like it, but nothing else comes close.

–Took the Beemer to Hooverville to get some jams and pastries. Nice ride.

–Bought Omeprazole on Amazon. WAY WAY WAY cheaper than anything on eBay.

–Had mild success lately getting rid of sour taste in lighter-roaster coffee (Black Sails The Moans, Queen Anne’s Revenge) by using hotter water and finer grind. It could be that in the old days a kettle without PID would get to 212; the PID in the Stagg kettle slows it down so much at high temp (so as not to overshoot) I’m usually at 208 when I start brewing.

–Took a shower and shave. Used a Wolfman WR2. Fabulous shave and further evidence of cognitive decline. I swore off all Wolfman razors thinking even their small gap ones were too harsh. Turns out, as legions of smart shavers know, harsh can be efficient, so you don’t have to keep going over and over the chin (say), causing bleeders.

–New neighbors (renters) moved in.

–Went to Bel Air for bagels (slim pickin’s), milk and lunch fruit (after forgetting about today’s farmers market). Grrr…

–Polished up the Maximatic and turned it on briefly. Machine is in fantastic shape. The only 54mm bottomless portafilter I could find has a big lip at the bottom (as noted at Home Barista), so likely won’t take baskets any bigger than a standard portafilter. So, 49mm it is.

–Red Baron Classic Crust pizza for dinner.

–Took Grace shopping at Target.

–Tapped in detent balls on a couple of Shamwaris. May have helped a little.