Category: Uncategorized (Page 23 of 232)

–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.

–HD Lawn Care guy’s dad came over at 9 AM to replace the two leaking control valves. Talked to his son on the phone, son decided to charge us $350. This was ONE YEAR after the son replaced these same two valves for $370. Pretty sketchy in my opinion.

–Tried to swap in the new portafilter gasket on the Maximatic, discovered it’s 54mm, not the correct 49mm. Emailed Great Infusions. Meanwhile, the reinstalled Orphan Espresso silicone gasket seems to work. On the other hand, it appears I gave away at least one of my extra-large portafilter baskets, as the standard 18.3g dose caused all sorts of over-spilling problems. Grrrr….

–Went through a “sell the BMW” exercise at Carvana. They offered $24,300. This is going to be ugly.

–Took Grace shopping at Smart & Final.

–NOS red Tekna regulator came in. An unused beauty, but of course the tilt needle seat had turned to goo and all but disappeared. Tried some other innards in it, but it never did breathe great. Into the bin; will play with it some more later.

–Barbecue for dinner: corn, Corralitos Cheesy Bavarian sausage, Bel Air potato salad (red bliss potato–not great), Thao tomato.

–Stopped at Corralitos Meat for Cheesy Bavarian and Gizdich apple pie, then drove home. The GPS put me on 5/99/Grantline. Kind of grueling. The BMW drove beautifully, but still smells and has started making more noises. Finding a replacement will be really hard: smaller cars are really small (like Coopers); similar-size cars are hard to justify. Why spend $10k-$20k to trade a fast smooth beauty for one that’s the same size, slower, less sexy, etc.?

–Picked up the Leica SL2 extension grip from Patrick James at Luxury Auto Haus. Quite manly. Grrrrr…

–Leica won’t adjust eye sensor relief under warranty for my new SL2-S, as it was bought from an unauthorized dealer (All Good Friend in Hong Kong). Not sure what to do. After testing, turns out the original SL2 has the worst relief (the slightest head movement blacks out the EVF); my SL2-S is better; and the SL2-S Reporter is far better (but has wear on the cover and smells). I could send mine in and pay for adjustment, but it’s not at all clear that it would come back like the Reporter (which Patrick James claims is untouched) and everything I’ve sent to Leica costs > $600. Dilemma.