Month: August 2024 (Page 3 of 4)

–Played with Silca pumps. Had some issues with check valves (Silca calls them inner valves). Don’t know all the symptoms, but one (which I experienced) is that pump handle will rise up after a down stroke if you let it. As I suspected. So I checked Silca’s website, founf the inner valve, bought 8 of them. I know this will solve the rising pump handle issue, and I’m hoping it will solve the issue where the gauge goes back to zero after every down stroke. That’s not so clear, though. Don’t skimp on the teflon tape…

–Took a shower and shave.

–Heard back from PJ, whose friend Andrew will hook me up with salesman Moe. Here we go…

–Played with Q cameras all day. Q2 Hodinkee gets a downgrade for numbers on dials being impossible to read in the sun. I’ll likely go with a Q or Q-P. Thing is, I really like NEW, so might end up making the Q I bought at LSB (?) permanent. Big test tonight in the dark, after last night’s fiasco where the Q-P pic in Lightroom turned into a complete soft blurry smudge. The Q2 pic had 10 times the detail. If Q doesn’t work out, I may try a different Q2–a Reporter, say. Or drop the whole Q thing and get on with SL2-S. That’s a thought, actually: I went through 6-8 M’s before realizing I didn’t care much for them. Q’s have fixed lenses, are not pocketable, etc.–why bother?

–Speaking of Q2 Reporter, I wish I would hear from PJ about a contact at Niello BMW.

–Surprise! Whole Latte Love sent me an invoice for an ECM water tank! Amazing!

–Finally got all 6 Silca tire pumps together. Even the last 3 “slapdash” ones are very smooth.

–Picked up the “like new” Leica Q-P at UPS. It wasn’t, of course, but it was in pretty good condition. Took some daytime photos and noted the lack of contrast and saturation in my 3 Q’s (Q, Q-P 1, Q-P 2) compared to my Q2 Hodinkee. Took some night shots, and, though different light levels may have affected the results, I was aghast at how bad the Q-P looked compared to the Q2. I might finally be seeing some resolution and dynamic range issues. I just highly doubt I can talk myself into the Q-P, lovely though it is.

–Spent some time looking for a replacement tank for the ECM. Couldn’t find one (that would ship to U.S.).

–Got some bird seed and Gorilla tape at Home Depot; Triscuits at Bel Air.

–Put the ECM back together. Not easy, not horrible. Two small leftover screws.

–Went to see Michelle Hoyt, OD, at Sacramento Eyes in Folsom. She said I need cataract surgery, and maybe stents to reduce intra-ocular pressure. Got an appointment for a consult in late October. Maybe I’ll be seeing in 2024…

–Lunch (free) at Jersey Make’s.

–Got a market report for the BMW 330i from Patrick James. Seems it’s worth ~ $26,000. That’s a $12,000 bath in one year.

–Hot hot hot.

–Went to Luxury Auto Haus and sold Patrick james my recently-acquired Leica Q2 Reporter for what I paid: $4,400. He said he would get me a contact at Niello BMW who might help in pursuing a 230i.

–Moved and started up the ECM espresso machine. Grace heard a drip. Took it all apart with some difficulty, discovered I needn’t have: there’s a 4″-5″ crack radiating out from the little hole in the bottom of the water tank. CRAP! Nobody on the planet seems to carry those tanks any more, so I’ll glue/tape it and wrestle it back together.

–Got bagels at New York Bagel Cafe, where the owner engaged me in brief conversation. I’m in! Then to Target for shopping for Grace.

–Went to Home Depot for dual-emitter caps. Put one on a riser in back and ran a short line to the Bird of Paradise. Works good.

–Heard from Leica that they will replace the cologne-smelling Kevlar fabric on my SL2-S Reporter with the same stuff, so wrapped it up and dropped it off at UPS. Looking forward to what will be virtually a new camera with great eye sensor relief.

–Called and emailed Patrick James re Q2 Reporter sale. He finally called back late and we’ll meet tomorrow.

–Strongly considered a “like new” Leica Q-P at MPB. Took a couple shots in back comparing Q2 Hodinkee with rat Q-P. Q2 wins.

–Left a review on Yelp of HD Lawn Care.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Tried to balance the fan over the dining room table. Made it better at low speed only.

–Picked up ECM portafilter from UPS. It’s bottomless. Don’t know if I ordered bottomless or not–they were out of double spout. Bought a cheaper single spout at Clive Coffee; will remove the spout.

–Discovered yesterday that one reason I’m having so much trouble with the two Creminas is that (a) their portafilter baskets really don’t like more than 17 grams; I’ve been using 18.5; (b) My 49mm tamper is > 49mm, and won’t really go down far enough into the basket to tamp well. Combined, these issues mean I’m really forcing an untamped portafilter onto the grouphead. No wonder it complains. I had a much better time scraping out some of the (over)dose and using my Thor tamper, which seems to be a better size. Grrr….

–Heath fromHD Lawn finally texted me and said our warranty had expired. I texted him back that it had NOT expired, but my text failed to go through–he has blocked my number. What a dirtbag. Yelp, Nextdoor, etc. here we come.

–Finally dawned on me that the BMW 230i, small and powerful though it is, is a two-door, and I’ve had trouble getting into those. Guess I’ll have to screw up my courage and try a test drive.

–Re-tried a few photo editors again, for fringing and to see if I can drop Lightroom. Lightroom still wins.

–Warm and muggy.

–Got a message at Fred Miranda forums from Patrick James (sold me the SL2-S Reporter). He noticed I bought a nice Q2 Reporter there, and wants to buy it. Coincidentally, I’m looking at a BMW 230 at Elk Grove Niello. Perhaps Patrick can help buy it/sell BMW 330i while avoiding some of the dealer BS/markups. We’ll see.