Month: September 2024 (Page 3 of 3)

–Took the BMW to New York Bagel Cafe for bagels. Took Grace to Target, where she didn’t get much. I got protein bars and toothpaste.

–One red squirrel (child) came for peanuts. Yay!

–Compared Leica M10-P Safari to SL2-S, Summicron 50/2, 24 MP each. M was fine, but doesn’t really offer anything over the SL2-S, and was actually a little fuzzier here and there, which surprised me given the identical setups. That SL2-S sensor is pretty amazing.

–Played with small cameras. Was shocked to see that the the tiny Leica C beat out the C-Lux, which in turn outperformed the D-Lux 7 and 007. The C has the only Summicron lens among those cameras–though it’s from 2013 with only 12 megapixels. The single best performance was the C-Lux zoomed, but for point-and-shoot I seem to go with unzoomed then cropped. Wish I’d had the C in Bellevue. Also thinking of dropping the Qs and just going with C and SL2-S. It would be nice to find a wide L-mount auto-focus lens for the SL2-S that weighs less than 3 pounds.

–Put gas in the BMW. That car is fun to drive.

–Cleaned and set up the Plomb 1943 “War Finish” 3/8″ ratchet. Very sweet tool.

–Muffins in the hotel room; gas at a nearby Chevron; then to the airport. Siri crapped out for some reason and wouldn’t connect with Carplay. Dropped the car off at National: a really good experience overall. Then trudged through Security to the gate. Another full plane, with lots of cheaters trying to board early, screaming babies, dogs, etc. A totally not fun experience.

–Got back to Sac, made our way to the Daily lot (we were the only ones on the shuttle), and eventually found the Honda. Home at last, said hi to Kenny, got pizza for dinner at Bel Air.

–Really exhausting experience all around; I think we’ll drive the next time(s).

–Breakfast at the hotel–good.

–Went with Jan and Chuck to Crossroads. Lunch at some forgettable Vietnamese sandwich place, then Barnes and Noble.

–Then to Kathy’s. We all went to dinner at Tokyo Japanese Restaurant. Good stuff. Then back to Kathy’s for opening presents and birthday cake on her 80th. Then back to the hotel and sleep.

–Breakfast at the hotel–very good. Off to Jan and Chuck’s for family to chat.

–Got sandwiches at Potbelly (very good) and took them to Kathy’s. Family chatted some more. Jan and Chuck went to Safeway and Costco for rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes. Very good. Kathy isn’t drinking. Hard to tell with David: he seems chipper, but as I recall Kelly moved out in part because of his drunken abuse. Noah seems fine.

–Back to the hotel for muffins and sleep.

–Took the Honda to the airport. Parking wasn’t bad, but getting to the terminal, security, etc. was pretty tedious. Plane was chilly, but that was expected. Sparkling water and chips were provided.

–Getting to the National Car Rental area was also tedious–up and down escalators, a shuttle, etc. Once there: pick a car, any car. chose a Kia Kona (eventually) and–bless the saints–it started Apple Carplay automatically.

–Checked in at Eastgate BW Signature, got top (6th) floor. Not bad.

–We all went out to dinner at Las Margaritas in Issaquah–pretty good.

–Then to bed.

–Drove the BMW to Sacramento Airport just to get a feel for it–it’s been many many years. In fact, I can’t remember the last trip I took. Oh wait: early 2008, Minneapolis, for the SPSS weekend seminar. And…

–Picked up 3 Apple charging cables at UPS (all work); the Armstrong ratchet wrench (bad mechanism, very hard to switch off/on, tossed; and the replacement solar fountain pump–piece of crap, barely works, ordered another from Amazon, will toss.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Skipped Chalk It Up this year. Heat, travel prep, laziness…

–Took a shower and shave.

–A nothing day, pretty much.