Month: April 2024 (Page 1 of 3)

–CKF Evo 4.0 came in. Stiff action, much improved after hydraulic-pressing down the detent ball.

–Took a ride on the InnerLight to the dog park, ~11 miles. Seemed easy. Super breezy.

–Replaced hearing aid batteries around 7 PM.

–Went to Bel Air for milk, cheese, cream cheese.

–Ordered and picked up a dozen sesame bagels from NY Bagel Cafe.

–Looking for a Leica Q-P. Turns out everyone and his brother is looking as well.

–Took the BMW to S*T Strawberries. Prices are up, but berries are incredible.

–Lunch at Subway Hazel. Not good, won’t be back for a while.

–Watered plants and trimmed around abutilon. The Chinese Pistache tree in back almost completely blocks the sun all day. So much for bird of paradise, satsuma, etc.

–Got the new website wsf.ac set up finally last night.

–Took Grace shopping for birthday presents at Daiso (disappointing) and Target.

–Bought a used Leica Q2 Reporter at Fred Miranda.

–Papa Murphy’s pizza for dinner. Was reminded that it’s my least favorite pizza.

–Big crane truck came this morning to replace leaking skylights across the alley. Knocked off a couple branches from the Chinese Pistache tree.

–For reasons not totally clear, I decided to drop vstat.com and instead set up wsf.ac at Namecheap. After a few failed attempts, got the WordPress journal working. Hoping I can set up the website to be a more useful repository for photos and such.

–Youxin Ye finished CLAing the Leica lens: $455. Crap.

–Tried to buy a new Leica Q2 Reporter from Canada. They don’t ship to the U.S., so I had it sent to a reshipper in Canada. They figured that out and cancelled the sale.

–Grace is in a big snit, since I wasn’t wild about her idea of getting a potato to give to Kenny to pay him back for his potato.

–Picked up the Zeiss Distagon lens. A couple shots suggest it’s nice, but I’m not bowled over yet. [edit] Tested with night shots. Turns out Sony’s 3 and 5 metering options are best at night (Spot Standard and Highlight), with 3 having a little edge. OTOH, the Q2 Hodinkee lens wipes out the Zeiss Distagon wrt focus: On the sign, “Speed Limit” and “MPH” were quite readable with the Q2, totally unreadable with the Zeiss. Same with the red flowers. So much for the “sharper” Zeiss. Seems I haven’t learned that you can’t believe everything you read on the web. So what lens on the Sony? I guess its own 55mm for auto-focus, and Biotar/Contax 85mm etc. for art.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Was going to ride with Tom in El Dorado Hills, but it turned chilly, so we cancelled.

–The Leica Q2 Ghost Hodinkee Edition came in. Accurately billed as new, I didn’t even bother to check with Leica Sync. The little Leica black bags (for example) had the usual knot in the string, and the battery was sealed in cellophane. Magnificent camera.

–Kenny gave us a half-baked potato. Had it for dinner with sausage and leftover barbecued corn. Yum!

–Got the Fellow Ode back together and working. Was not easy. That machine has at least four poorly-designed features that really make it hard to work on. Worse, the first batch of coffee I made with after repair was pretty much tasteless. I did manage to free the ball/spring on the old dial assembly, so we have a spare.

–Rode the InnerLight 14.4 miles total to the Harold Richey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge and back. Return trip was very slow, as I’m old and it was warm.

–Went to the Sunrise framers market. Got satsumas and some of Kathy’s Peach Jalapeno jam (still $8).

–Opened the barbecue season with Bel Air pork chops (good), corn (not yet) and Creole potato salad (not so good).