Category: Uncategorized (Page 20 of 232)

–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.

–Paid State Farm $95.73 for (difference in) insurance on BMW 230i.

–Went to Home Depot for a hacksaw. Used it to saw off bolts that hindered drawer opening after I mounted the vise (finally).

–Put gas in the Honda and washed the windshield.

–Got 3 Red baron pizzas at Smart & Final. Had one for dinner: good.

–Took the Beemer to REI in Sacramento, bought 3 Pairs of cargo shorts, size 40 (up from 38). Ready to roll.

–Took Grace to Hallmark at Sunrise Mall to look for birthday stuff for Kathy. There are like 3-4 jewelry stores at that mall, and I can’t imagine how they pay rent when it looks like the mall is mostly deserted.

–Tried to paint in the RB logo on the new Reggie Barber tamper–with BMW Alpine White paint and then with Testors enamel. Total failure. Wiping off the over-paint just screws up the paint in the letters. I suppose I could try a thinner paint and a micro-brush so there’s no paint leaking out of the grooves; hard to do though.

–Finished tweaking the last of the Silca pumps. It took (finally) a 9mm dual-wire spring clip to fit the pump hose. We’re rollin’ now.

–Took the BMW to Nai’s Berry Farm. Closed. Open tomorrow. Really liking the Beemer. It gives me sort of a God feeling when driving. I vaguely recall the Mustang was like that, though it lacked the smoothness, pickup, tautness, etc. of the BMW. Siri works great in the car–no wires needed. I tell her where to go; she directs me, with aplomb.

–Took the Beemer to Michael’s to get Grace some glue for her photo assemblage. Picked up varnish at UPS on the way back. Turns out I didn’t need it: 99% isopropyl alcohol removed the water spots from the Capitola miniature paintings without damage. Not sure what happened when I tried it a couple days ago and it seemed to remove the original varnish. Less-pure alcohol? I don’t know.

–Watered the plants in back.

–Raley’s rising-crust pizza for dinner. Not good. Back to Red Baron.