Author: wsf (Page 1 of 231)

–Went to UPS for KAP bearing tool (simplest/nicest yet), also copper Paradigm razor (nice).

–Re-re-re-visited taxes. Discovered I had put Grace’s union pension 1099-R in the 2023 folder. That explained a lot, and dropped the Federal refund from $6k to $3k. Good to go now, I think.

–Made pizza for dinner.

–Took a shower and shave.

–Did taxes. $6k+ back from Feds, $950 from State (applied to estimated payments this year). Will re-check.

–Wind blew all day; downpour finally came at 4 PM. Seems we have another clogged downspout, Grace reports.

–Right upper back teeth are starting to ache. Probably time to get the 2nd and 3rd root canals that Creekside Endodontists wanted to do. Speaking of which: I called Delta Dental to ask about DD PPO vs. DD Premium. Turns out that (in theory) we can go to either one. Dentist is supposed to do the billing. PPO costs covered 100%; Premium costs covered at 50%. So when dentists say “We don’t take PPO,” what they’re really saying is “We won’t go to the trouble of billing when we only get 50% from Delta and have to fight for 50% from the patient.”

–Went to Smart & Final for dessert and tangerines.

–Picked up many things at UPS: 3M sanding pads, and tiny Vader superconductor spinner (utterly useless), a Damasteel Mothership spinner with “stump” buttons (nice), Koala microfiber cloths (they seem nice; we’ll see).

–Took my InnerLight wheels to Bob’s Bikes on Fair Oaks, as the front tire was dead flat. I suspected the valve had torn off the tube from all my Silca pump testing; true. They put on two new tubes while I waited. Great shop–they even remembered me and the InnerLight.

–Got the Rolex 1680 back off to Rolliworks via FedEx. Hoping they can make it nice, then I’ll put nice dial and movement in the recent 1680 case and have a 100% original 1680 in a nicely-polished case.

–Daylight Saving Time.

–Didn’t do much except change clocks and buy spinners.

–Took Grace shopping at Bel Air.

–Picked up at UPS: (1) Link 2.0 spinner, long time coming, pretty nice; (2) Senkichi pick mattock, handle only. Unbelievable. Tried to get the head from Amazon, but their impenetrable help system had me return the handle and they’ll send another pick. (a) They’ll probably ding me for the head, and (b) they’ll probably just send another handle. (3) Indy Thicc Yeti in bead-blasted brass (ho-hum) along with a gorgeous set of timascus buttons (nice). Won in a drop, thanks to the speedy Shop Pay.

–Checked out the plants in back. A couple seem to be getting nibbled by snails, and the Clementine was getting no water at all: I had two drippers going to the Bird of Paradise. I routed one over to the Clementine. I need to check if water is actually flowing: I upped the schedule to every other day, and the BoP is looking miserable.

–Made pizza for dinner. Pretty good.

–Took Grace shopping at the nearby Smart & Final.

–Went to UPS for (1) Tekna regulator (tilt needle seal gone, plastic collar broken, etc.); (2) Nossa coffee beans (from Shop Pay rewards); (3) NJT tungsten Nebu 2.0, oil slick (WAY too heavy, will sell).

–Took a shower and shave, after cleaning the shower.

–Had my tele-visit with Dr. Firoz. He was 30 minutes late, and I could see no discernible reason for the visit.

–Red Baron for dinner.

–Went to New York Bagel for bagels and bagel dogs; Koreana Plaza for chicken thighs.

–Stopped at UPS for a couple of spinners.

–Bagel dogs for dinner.

–Rolex 1680 came in. Very nice. Runs okay on the Timegrapher. The current 1680 (Rolliworks had it for 6 months) is now running terribly: amplitude and beat error are okay, but timing is all over the place. I have a vague recollection that this is what caused them issues and was so hard (expensive) to fix. Back it goes.

–Went to Sac Eye to pick up the Ray-Ban sunglasses. They seem okay; I haven’t put them under a microscope. I showed her the smudge on the Flexon lens, and she quickly agreed to get new lenses. It was hard to talk her out of UV and anti-glare coatings, but I did. She also said (I think) that the smudge was a scratch. Possible, but I’m skeptical: it’s quite wide, not like a grain of abrasive but more like a piece of sandpaper.

–Stopped at UPS for the KAP Mothership mokume (nice, but not compelling) and the bronze Pose XL (nice). Then to Bel Air for dessert.

–Spent much of the day over at Kenny’s, watching Mike the contractor replace a couple of trellis beams. He did good work, and so we asked him to look at our gates. He suggested cheap fixes for both, so we’re on in a couple of weeks.

–Went to UPS for (1) Hiroshi Nagai books (great artist), (2) MonoSkate spinner bearing tool (nice tool), (3) TwoEDC copper Soft Triangle spinner: really nice.

–Visible phone service seems top-notch so far. I was able last night (after some issues) to get my iPhone working as a hotspot (fast) and got a nicely transcribed voice mail from Kenny this morning.

–Red Baron for dinner.