I wish I had more to say. One day drips into another.
Oh, the kitchen faucet came out. Well, there is a bit of a story there. There is a main nut that holds the faucet to the sink. The nut is, of course, underneath and hard to get at. But I have the tool for that, and I was able to get it off. But there is a strange nit there and the water connection bits are too big to fit through the nut. The fittings were soldered on. So I think either a pro or a bad amateur put them on. Why would you not want to get the faucet off?
My dream was to take the faucet apart and clean it up. The main nut had a tendency to loosen and that made the faucet a real pain to use. You couldn't tell from the temperature control lever's position if it was set to full hot or medium temperature. The hot water is hot here -- yes, I know we are destroying the earth, but hot water is a wonderful thing.
When it was clear it was not going to come out, we did what Barb has been interested in doing for awhile, and that was to get a new one. The old one is 25 years old and the water causes a lot of mineral buildup, so it was probably time.
That made it easy to get the old out out, just saw off the water pipes and pull it out and toss it into the garden.
We went off to the store to get a new one. Barb was freaking about walking past anyone, but we found one that looked ok and wasn't too expensive. Installation required the water to be turned off. There are valves at the pipes under the sink. The valves were very tight and as I turned off the old one, a drip of black gunk came out. They did shut off and the rest of the installation was pretty easy.
When the water was turned back on both valves have a drip. I'm going to give them a day to stop dripping. If not then that will be the next project. Ball valves are a better way to go and hopefully the old ones will come off the pipe and not break and create a nice leak into the wall. But, tomorrow is another day.
Otherwise, the weather is still crap -- gray, damp, cool to cold. I'm ready for the stay at home stuff to be over and the Winter to get out of the way. Though if the weather was great the stay at home stuff would be more bothersome.
We are going to cook some Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches tonight. Our large chunk of frozen chuck came out a lot like ground beef but with more texture. It's in little bits, but should make a nice sandwich.
Sunday, March 29, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Thursday and I had to check my Watch
Yes, the days are running together. Back in the day, I have pickleball and golf to keep me somewhat mentally aligned with the true day of the week.
I don't have a lot of news to pass on. The wash machine is still leaking - a job for another day. We did manage to get the laundry done, so there is no real hurry there. I was going to hit some golf balls at the school, but got there and was rained out. Didn't want to soak my shoes and freeze me feet. The stock market is up again. And the news, what I see of it, seems to be mixed.
The federal response to Corona was unprecedented in my life time. When the smoke clears and assuming we have no vaccine what will we do next year? The head task force guy (not really sure about his title and I'm too lazy to look it up) is talking about seasonal uprising as the flu does. (Life Pro Tip - there is empirical evidence that this rise is due to the lack of Vitamin D! So get out in the sun and or take your supplements!) So will we shut down the country every year for 3 months? Kind of expensive especially if Congress votes themselves $39,000 salary increases each time.
There is a guy who looked at the numbers. His take is that while the death rate from Corona is higher than the flu, the infection rate is about 160 times lower. The flu is the bad actor based on that. Basically, if those numbers are true, we should do nothing. If we find a drug that heals or a vaccine, that's inexpensive and easily doable, so, yes, do that. But shutting down the economy and have a million new folks on unemployment compensation is too much. Others are interested in the new roles that government might decide to take on... They rarely contract.
Still cold here in Northern California. Rained some. We're still cooking. We did tilapia again tonight. Quite nice, pan fried, with a complex tossed salad. We will try to tackle some of the beef tomorrow.
I don't have a lot of news to pass on. The wash machine is still leaking - a job for another day. We did manage to get the laundry done, so there is no real hurry there. I was going to hit some golf balls at the school, but got there and was rained out. Didn't want to soak my shoes and freeze me feet. The stock market is up again. And the news, what I see of it, seems to be mixed.
The federal response to Corona was unprecedented in my life time. When the smoke clears and assuming we have no vaccine what will we do next year? The head task force guy (not really sure about his title and I'm too lazy to look it up) is talking about seasonal uprising as the flu does. (Life Pro Tip - there is empirical evidence that this rise is due to the lack of Vitamin D! So get out in the sun and or take your supplements!) So will we shut down the country every year for 3 months? Kind of expensive especially if Congress votes themselves $39,000 salary increases each time.
There is a guy who looked at the numbers. His take is that while the death rate from Corona is higher than the flu, the infection rate is about 160 times lower. The flu is the bad actor based on that. Basically, if those numbers are true, we should do nothing. If we find a drug that heals or a vaccine, that's inexpensive and easily doable, so, yes, do that. But shutting down the economy and have a million new folks on unemployment compensation is too much. Others are interested in the new roles that government might decide to take on... They rarely contract.
Still cold here in Northern California. Rained some. We're still cooking. We did tilapia again tonight. Quite nice, pan fried, with a complex tossed salad. We will try to tackle some of the beef tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
Wednesday
It's about 10 am and we've completed the Census and found the washmachine leak.
The leak is in the drain pipe going into the wall. Looks like it's plastic and maybe just needs to be tightened. Or it's been cracked and due for replacement. A wrench should tell the story.
Still cloudy and cool.
Later that day...
It took some work to get the washing machine fixed. We'll return to that in a moment. I wander off to Lowe's, a home goods store, and prowl the empty aisles looking for the plumbing section and then for washing machine parts and then for a clerk. He was on the phone but pointed me back where I was. I wander aisles 42 and 43 and still no luck. But one of the plumbing guys comes by and helps me out. Of course they don't have the specific part, but I've a new nut -- the old one split -- and new washers that didn't have the same shape, but might (a bit of foreshadowing there) fit.
I take a stab at the Trader Joe's as I have a little list in my pocket. There are the usual items, plus words of caution, e.g., "WASH YOUR HANDS" and "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING" and "DON'T GET NEAR ANYONE!" Barb is a bit nervous about the whole thing. There is a line of four, so I get a cart and get in line and then two gals decide independently to cut in front of me. Am I turning into chopped liver or something? This seems to be a regular thing at TJ's. I need to cough more or something.
I find everything and get it back in the car and home again. "Wash your hands," I'm told. Ok, ok.
Then I start on the pipe for the washer. The water here is pretty bad in re corrosion and mineral build up. It doesn't always smell real good and has been known to kill fish. I have to clean the parts I'm going to reuse and that takes some time with scrapers and metal brushes and probes and such. I've got it pretty clean and wander back to the utility room to assemble it all. Now the new nut is made of plastic and section I'm got to bolt to is made of metal. How do you spell cross thread? In all cases, the fit is not great, so I take it apart and just try to dry ft the nut. That seems to be a problem. I go and fetch my brushes and files to clean up the threads on the pipe. File and fit, file and fit. I finally got it to go on. I pull it off, reassemble the pipe to the washer and the new nut and then it's again a struggle to get the washer to compress and the threads to align.
I manage to get it together and it all looks ok. Hand tight and let's test! I run a small load with no clothes in it and we have a leak. It's pretty small, maybe two table spoons. The old leak was measured in multiple cups. I put down a bowl, grab a big wrench and tighten it a bit more. Well, it doesn't tighten much. We are going to give it a go and if it's still leaking I'll try some Teflon tape and maybe some liquid gasket. The surfaces of all the parts are not in great shape, but there is not a lot of pressure, so maybe I'll get lucky.
We found a restaurant supply company and bought some beef strips. A quarter of an inch or so, in a large five pound block. We tossed it into the freezer, I think it was frozen when we got it. We were going to do stir fry with beef and broccoli, but there was no way we were going to whack a chunk off of it. So into the fridge to thaw and we'll cook all of it and freeze cooked parts later.
So back the freezer to find something smaller and we grabbed a cooked chicken breast and thawed that and stir fried some broccolli and it came out pretty good.
It was strange to be out. Not much happening, nice light traffic. The stores have taped marks on the floor to keep people away from each other in lines, but as you wander the store you can crash your cart into others or have near misses -- all good. Some folks were in masks.
Will this become seen as just another flu? I'm guessing yes. I think the death rate is going to be pretty low and maybe the anti-malarial drugs will be effective. But it's early. Last I heard there were two cases in Pleasanton.
The leak is in the drain pipe going into the wall. Looks like it's plastic and maybe just needs to be tightened. Or it's been cracked and due for replacement. A wrench should tell the story.
Still cloudy and cool.
Later that day...
It took some work to get the washing machine fixed. We'll return to that in a moment. I wander off to Lowe's, a home goods store, and prowl the empty aisles looking for the plumbing section and then for washing machine parts and then for a clerk. He was on the phone but pointed me back where I was. I wander aisles 42 and 43 and still no luck. But one of the plumbing guys comes by and helps me out. Of course they don't have the specific part, but I've a new nut -- the old one split -- and new washers that didn't have the same shape, but might (a bit of foreshadowing there) fit.
I take a stab at the Trader Joe's as I have a little list in my pocket. There are the usual items, plus words of caution, e.g., "WASH YOUR HANDS" and "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING" and "DON'T GET NEAR ANYONE!" Barb is a bit nervous about the whole thing. There is a line of four, so I get a cart and get in line and then two gals decide independently to cut in front of me. Am I turning into chopped liver or something? This seems to be a regular thing at TJ's. I need to cough more or something.
I find everything and get it back in the car and home again. "Wash your hands," I'm told. Ok, ok.
Then I start on the pipe for the washer. The water here is pretty bad in re corrosion and mineral build up. It doesn't always smell real good and has been known to kill fish. I have to clean the parts I'm going to reuse and that takes some time with scrapers and metal brushes and probes and such. I've got it pretty clean and wander back to the utility room to assemble it all. Now the new nut is made of plastic and section I'm got to bolt to is made of metal. How do you spell cross thread? In all cases, the fit is not great, so I take it apart and just try to dry ft the nut. That seems to be a problem. I go and fetch my brushes and files to clean up the threads on the pipe. File and fit, file and fit. I finally got it to go on. I pull it off, reassemble the pipe to the washer and the new nut and then it's again a struggle to get the washer to compress and the threads to align.
I manage to get it together and it all looks ok. Hand tight and let's test! I run a small load with no clothes in it and we have a leak. It's pretty small, maybe two table spoons. The old leak was measured in multiple cups. I put down a bowl, grab a big wrench and tighten it a bit more. Well, it doesn't tighten much. We are going to give it a go and if it's still leaking I'll try some Teflon tape and maybe some liquid gasket. The surfaces of all the parts are not in great shape, but there is not a lot of pressure, so maybe I'll get lucky.
We found a restaurant supply company and bought some beef strips. A quarter of an inch or so, in a large five pound block. We tossed it into the freezer, I think it was frozen when we got it. We were going to do stir fry with beef and broccoli, but there was no way we were going to whack a chunk off of it. So into the fridge to thaw and we'll cook all of it and freeze cooked parts later.
So back the freezer to find something smaller and we grabbed a cooked chicken breast and thawed that and stir fried some broccolli and it came out pretty good.
It was strange to be out. Not much happening, nice light traffic. The stores have taped marks on the floor to keep people away from each other in lines, but as you wander the store you can crash your cart into others or have near misses -- all good. Some folks were in masks.
Will this become seen as just another flu? I'm guessing yes. I think the death rate is going to be pretty low and maybe the anti-malarial drugs will be effective. But it's early. Last I heard there were two cases in Pleasanton.
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Tuesday
Some good new from the President and the market rallied. As it should. Probably shouldn't have fallen actually, but every taking time off for work probably will make for distressing quarterly news.
Word of the day: bourse, which is a stock market usually European in origin.
Dinner was left overs, still quite gourmet. A melange without perhaps no focus, but it tasted good. Pulled pork, some hamburger, boiled cabbage, Mexican guacamole sauce, some olives and red wine. Hmm, not a sentence, but I think it's fairly clear.
We've been watching The Chef Show on Netflix, which is, as cooking shows go, is quite well done. Enthusiastic, bright guys doing their thing. Finding new skills and flavors and actually showing enough technique to be interesting on that side.
A very quiet day. I went out the metal detector for half an hour and a quarter and some iron bit. Nothing too exciting. It's still cold and it started to rain so I didn't spend much time outside. Spent time reading for the most part, finished the wood part I mentioned yesterday. It's been passed on to Barb for evaluation before it goes to Barb II.
Otherwise I have no news to pass along. I did see a cute 5 second video of a guy who decided to care for 5 kittens while he was at home. They were pretty cute. I do miss the cat days, but it's nice not to worry about them too. Ah, life, what an act of balance you are.
Word of the day: bourse, which is a stock market usually European in origin.
Dinner was left overs, still quite gourmet. A melange without perhaps no focus, but it tasted good. Pulled pork, some hamburger, boiled cabbage, Mexican guacamole sauce, some olives and red wine. Hmm, not a sentence, but I think it's fairly clear.
We've been watching The Chef Show on Netflix, which is, as cooking shows go, is quite well done. Enthusiastic, bright guys doing their thing. Finding new skills and flavors and actually showing enough technique to be interesting on that side.
A very quiet day. I went out the metal detector for half an hour and a quarter and some iron bit. Nothing too exciting. It's still cold and it started to rain so I didn't spend much time outside. Spent time reading for the most part, finished the wood part I mentioned yesterday. It's been passed on to Barb for evaluation before it goes to Barb II.
Otherwise I have no news to pass along. I did see a cute 5 second video of a guy who decided to care for 5 kittens while he was at home. They were pretty cute. I do miss the cat days, but it's nice not to worry about them too. Ah, life, what an act of balance you are.
Monday, March 23, 2020
Monday, or Something Like That
I've been thinking all day that it was Thursday or something. With my usual activities put on hold, I'm lost and confused.
I did a little wood work today. Barb's friend, Barb II, wanted a wooden presser foot for quilting seam work. I cut a chunk from a local tree trimming project from across the street and turned it down. I'm applying a number of coats of sealant and then I'll polish and wax it. Nothing special, but might be useful. Always good to make tools.
We had another nice dinner. We had some cooked pulled pork and heated that up with some sauted onion, tossed in the mushrooms from yesterday and did some Mexican style eats. We had a sliced avocado and some salsa and cheese. It came together quite well.
I opened another bottle of wine. I seem to be going through them quickly. A French Merlot also from 2009. I didn't think it was very smooth, but Barb liked it. It was certainly drinkable!
Cool today and I really didn't get outside other than to bring in the trash bins. It's still cool and windy. The rain came last night, so the forecast wasn't totally incorrect. Not sure when we will see sun again.
That's all I have to contribute. There is an attempt to pass some economic aid for the country, but Pelosi thought it needed some progressive clauses and special projects, so it hasn't passed. It would be nice if She and others would not see every emergency as an opportunity to push their pet projects and be a bit more supportive of legislation that is neutral in flavor. What the hell, there are a lot of folks out of work at this point and $1000 might be very useful to them. Color me naive and idealist I guess.
I did a little wood work today. Barb's friend, Barb II, wanted a wooden presser foot for quilting seam work. I cut a chunk from a local tree trimming project from across the street and turned it down. I'm applying a number of coats of sealant and then I'll polish and wax it. Nothing special, but might be useful. Always good to make tools.
We had another nice dinner. We had some cooked pulled pork and heated that up with some sauted onion, tossed in the mushrooms from yesterday and did some Mexican style eats. We had a sliced avocado and some salsa and cheese. It came together quite well.
I opened another bottle of wine. I seem to be going through them quickly. A French Merlot also from 2009. I didn't think it was very smooth, but Barb liked it. It was certainly drinkable!
Cool today and I really didn't get outside other than to bring in the trash bins. It's still cool and windy. The rain came last night, so the forecast wasn't totally incorrect. Not sure when we will see sun again.
That's all I have to contribute. There is an attempt to pass some economic aid for the country, but Pelosi thought it needed some progressive clauses and special projects, so it hasn't passed. It would be nice if She and others would not see every emergency as an opportunity to push their pet projects and be a bit more supportive of legislation that is neutral in flavor. What the hell, there are a lot of folks out of work at this point and $1000 might be very useful to them. Color me naive and idealist I guess.
Sunday, March 22, 2020
Sunday, day 7, I Think
Not a bad day at the house. Did some trimming outside. The weather was nice. I would have liked more sun. It's still cool for this time of the year.
The garage was getting full again, so we pitched some cardboard boxes and did some organizing and now there is room for the bikes and walking again.
We had pork chops again with some stir fried asparagus pieces and sauted mushrooms. We used a vegetable spice mix on the mushrooms and that was very nice. Enough salt to really make the flavors shine. Barb had added some lemon, but it didn't register with me. All in all the food we're eating is a real step up from the usual.
I read a post about how the virus might not be any big deal and I ran with that. It got stomped down, not sure on fully technical grounds, but enough to have it pulled from Reason.com. I suggested to my pickleball people that I would come out and play if there was interest. That didn't go over very well either.
We both went for a bike ride today before dinner and before the rains came. It's been three hours and the rains are still not here. What's up with that?
So we are still in place and have not gone shopping for awhile. We have pounds of food still to cook. I'd like to pick up a few things, but no real necessities. Tuesday is seniors' day at the market, so we might try that then.
Reading, various Hallmark Mysteries on the tube, the odd jaunt out in the yard has been the order of the day. I broke out the metal detector and found 5 coins in the yard. So I'm 51 cents up on the day!
The garage was getting full again, so we pitched some cardboard boxes and did some organizing and now there is room for the bikes and walking again.
We had pork chops again with some stir fried asparagus pieces and sauted mushrooms. We used a vegetable spice mix on the mushrooms and that was very nice. Enough salt to really make the flavors shine. Barb had added some lemon, but it didn't register with me. All in all the food we're eating is a real step up from the usual.
I read a post about how the virus might not be any big deal and I ran with that. It got stomped down, not sure on fully technical grounds, but enough to have it pulled from Reason.com. I suggested to my pickleball people that I would come out and play if there was interest. That didn't go over very well either.
We both went for a bike ride today before dinner and before the rains came. It's been three hours and the rains are still not here. What's up with that?
So we are still in place and have not gone shopping for awhile. We have pounds of food still to cook. I'd like to pick up a few things, but no real necessities. Tuesday is seniors' day at the market, so we might try that then.
Reading, various Hallmark Mysteries on the tube, the odd jaunt out in the yard has been the order of the day. I broke out the metal detector and found 5 coins in the yard. So I'm 51 cents up on the day!
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Saturday Breaks...
It breaks nice and cloudy!
But a few things have been attended to: the bike tires are pumped up -- exercise to come, I took apart the wash machine and if there is a leak, it's small and not obvious. We will run a load and see what we can see. We installed printer apps for our phones. All before 11!
I also read the article: https://medium.com/six-four-six-nine/evidence-over-hysteria-covid-19-1b767def5894
Which suggests that: you can't get infected easily, the panic is just that, hoarding and such are anticipations of what government might do and not what the virus could cause, and closing businesses and schools is going to cost a fortune and it is not the way to go... It's a good read if you have any angst. I'm just hoping our political masters will relax a bit.
I've put out an appeal for players on the pickleball list, so I'm hoping to play some next week.
OK, on the menu for today: we're going to make some guacamole (Wow, I spelled it correctly!), then some bone in pork chops for dinner. The 'fridge is loaded with food. Choices abound and deciding what to eat is more of a problem than anything.
I'd still like to wander to Trader Joe's, I officially out of roasted and salted nuts and dried Italian sausage. It's amazing what one can eat if all you restrict are carbs!
That's the morning news! Hang in there all of you.
But a few things have been attended to: the bike tires are pumped up -- exercise to come, I took apart the wash machine and if there is a leak, it's small and not obvious. We will run a load and see what we can see. We installed printer apps for our phones. All before 11!
I also read the article: https://medium.com/six-four-six-nine/evidence-over-hysteria-covid-19-1b767def5894
Which suggests that: you can't get infected easily, the panic is just that, hoarding and such are anticipations of what government might do and not what the virus could cause, and closing businesses and schools is going to cost a fortune and it is not the way to go... It's a good read if you have any angst. I'm just hoping our political masters will relax a bit.
I've put out an appeal for players on the pickleball list, so I'm hoping to play some next week.
OK, on the menu for today: we're going to make some guacamole (Wow, I spelled it correctly!), then some bone in pork chops for dinner. The 'fridge is loaded with food. Choices abound and deciding what to eat is more of a problem than anything.
I'd still like to wander to Trader Joe's, I officially out of roasted and salted nuts and dried Italian sausage. It's amazing what one can eat if all you restrict are carbs!
That's the morning news! Hang in there all of you.
Friday, March 20, 2020
Day 5, Friday
We tried Cheetah groceries today as a food source. You can find them at gocheetah.com, they have an app and you select what you want and, for us, we picked it up today, which is two days later. You can amend your order until midnight the day before.
Prices were reasonable. They did short us our dish soap, but we were not going to eat that, so it's all good for now. The quality looks good. We got some meat and celery and 5 avocados. Had a big salad tonight as the avocados were nice and ripe.
I went to the school yard after lunch and worked on my golf swing. I'm using rubber balls and I don't need a lot of room. It's fun and it's getting me out of the house a bit.
It's still a bit cool, maybe 60 today. Some sun, which is welcome.
But we are still shut ins for the time being. I'm going to have to do something about that. I want to keep my activity level up. I need a solitary sport. Might be time to get a bike moving and maybe some metal detecting, though not a lot of aerobic side to that.
Barb worked today. The coming weekend will probably drive her nuts a bit. I hope all of this does not extend to months.
I think that's the news. I'm sensing a desire to repeat stuff from yesterday. Not enough new stuff is happening. I'm reading a lot, but it's a book I've read several times before. I'll come out of this, I feel the pressures building.
The main street press, in my humble opinion, are still making asses of themselves. There is also an insider scandal going on with some Senators who saw fit to dump millions of dollars worth of stock on virus information before the knowledge was common. Usually considered to be bad form. We shall see how all that shakes out.
And, if this might be a historical document at some point, I ought to mention the unhappiness with certain portions of the MSM who are calling out Trump for being racist as he continues to call the virus the Wuhan virus or China virus. Of course it wasn't racist when they called it that. What a difference three days make. So, more of the usual crap from the press. Panic, stress, anything for a click seems to be the order of the day.
Ok, perhaps more happiness tomorrow! But I think there is rain coming and the washer has not been looked at...
Prices were reasonable. They did short us our dish soap, but we were not going to eat that, so it's all good for now. The quality looks good. We got some meat and celery and 5 avocados. Had a big salad tonight as the avocados were nice and ripe.
I went to the school yard after lunch and worked on my golf swing. I'm using rubber balls and I don't need a lot of room. It's fun and it's getting me out of the house a bit.
It's still a bit cool, maybe 60 today. Some sun, which is welcome.
But we are still shut ins for the time being. I'm going to have to do something about that. I want to keep my activity level up. I need a solitary sport. Might be time to get a bike moving and maybe some metal detecting, though not a lot of aerobic side to that.
Barb worked today. The coming weekend will probably drive her nuts a bit. I hope all of this does not extend to months.
I think that's the news. I'm sensing a desire to repeat stuff from yesterday. Not enough new stuff is happening. I'm reading a lot, but it's a book I've read several times before. I'll come out of this, I feel the pressures building.
The main street press, in my humble opinion, are still making asses of themselves. There is also an insider scandal going on with some Senators who saw fit to dump millions of dollars worth of stock on virus information before the knowledge was common. Usually considered to be bad form. We shall see how all that shakes out.
And, if this might be a historical document at some point, I ought to mention the unhappiness with certain portions of the MSM who are calling out Trump for being racist as he continues to call the virus the Wuhan virus or China virus. Of course it wasn't racist when they called it that. What a difference three days make. So, more of the usual crap from the press. Panic, stress, anything for a click seems to be the order of the day.
Ok, perhaps more happiness tomorrow! But I think there is rain coming and the washer has not been looked at...
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Day 4, Perhaps
In any case, it is Thursday.
We had some sun today and it's close to 50. I did some software for the Quilt guild this morning and then I took a golf club and some rubber balls over to the school yard. It's about a block away and they have a portion of the grounds mowed. That's important if I don't want to lose any balls! Well, they are a $1 each, one must be prudent.
And there were people about. Walking dogs and just walking and some kids on skateboards. There was some vehicular traffic and it seemed like a quiet afternoon and nothing just short of the end of the world.
But, we are getting low on two buck Chuck Merlot. It not forbidden on my diet and, well, it's always 4pm somewhere as my dad used to say. I'm running low on nuts too, so it may be a trip to Trader Joe's later for a stock up.
Otherwise it is fairly normal. The sun felt good and when I got back I spent a bit more time doing a bit of bathing in it. The investigation in the diet I'm on has led to some interesting material. One researcher was talking about vitimine D and how that was a real good thing to have. He was asked about UVA issues. UVB is what drives the body's production of D in the skin layers. His answer was that he thought that UVA was also probably useful and beneficial in the proper doses. Sure enough I ran across another research who was looking at that and if I remember correctly, UVA seems to create antioxidants, another important portion of the body's defense structure. Don't burn, mind you, but 10 minutes a day seems to be a real good idea.
We are going to make a bacon, cheese, and asparagus fritata for dinner. We made one before and ate it for days. It made a good dinner and worked well for lunches too.
There were announcements of some drugs that seem to be effective in re the current virus. They are common and used for other things, but seem to be safe and to work. There maybe some reasonable therapies in the near term.
Tasks ahead: One of Barb's friends wants a quilting turning -- a small seam flattener, I'm waiting for the garage to get warmer before I tend to that. Also the wash machine has some kind of leak and I want to take a look at that. My back is a bit testy so I'm not looking forward to strange positions, but these machines don't have a lot to them and it might just be a minor issue.
That's all folks!
We had some sun today and it's close to 50. I did some software for the Quilt guild this morning and then I took a golf club and some rubber balls over to the school yard. It's about a block away and they have a portion of the grounds mowed. That's important if I don't want to lose any balls! Well, they are a $1 each, one must be prudent.
And there were people about. Walking dogs and just walking and some kids on skateboards. There was some vehicular traffic and it seemed like a quiet afternoon and nothing just short of the end of the world.
But, we are getting low on two buck Chuck Merlot. It not forbidden on my diet and, well, it's always 4pm somewhere as my dad used to say. I'm running low on nuts too, so it may be a trip to Trader Joe's later for a stock up.
Otherwise it is fairly normal. The sun felt good and when I got back I spent a bit more time doing a bit of bathing in it. The investigation in the diet I'm on has led to some interesting material. One researcher was talking about vitimine D and how that was a real good thing to have. He was asked about UVA issues. UVB is what drives the body's production of D in the skin layers. His answer was that he thought that UVA was also probably useful and beneficial in the proper doses. Sure enough I ran across another research who was looking at that and if I remember correctly, UVA seems to create antioxidants, another important portion of the body's defense structure. Don't burn, mind you, but 10 minutes a day seems to be a real good idea.
We are going to make a bacon, cheese, and asparagus fritata for dinner. We made one before and ate it for days. It made a good dinner and worked well for lunches too.
There were announcements of some drugs that seem to be effective in re the current virus. They are common and used for other things, but seem to be safe and to work. There maybe some reasonable therapies in the near term.
Tasks ahead: One of Barb's friends wants a quilting turning -- a small seam flattener, I'm waiting for the garage to get warmer before I tend to that. Also the wash machine has some kind of leak and I want to take a look at that. My back is a bit testy so I'm not looking forward to strange positions, but these machines don't have a lot to them and it might just be a minor issue.
That's all folks!
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Day 3
The question is if I number all the days and this takes a while, will I be able to remember it all?
Barb showed me a presentation from her work folks. A respected scientist went over the data and what's happening. Guarded optimism is the result. There are double digit infections in out county, which is the lowest number in the surrounding counties. It also looks like the first hump of infection, etc., may be over. Their big fear is a second hump.
He also mentioned that the number of hospitalizations required is probably severely over estimated.
So, lots of good news on that front.
On a local note, I called the golf course today and asked about the chipping area. Sam said, "We're closed, the restaurant is closed. That's all I'm going to say." There may have been wink or two in all of that. But no armed guards are there. I'm still thinking about wandering off and chipping a few. But I can do that over in the school yard with less travel. Besides it's still cold out.
A couple of weeks ago I added some dark film to my windshield over the area above the rear view mirror. This area is not covered by the visors. While the film was not as dark as I expected, it did a pretty good job blocking the glare of the morning sun. What it do was to show me another bright spot along the left edge of the windshield, also not covered by the visors. I had left over film and made the effort to make another piece to cover that. I got the film at Tap Plastics.
The wash machine decided to leak on Monday after a large load. I'll probably take a look at that. Last time was the pump, which is a plastic impeller type unit. The new one didn't fit in great, but it's lasted a good 5 years. It might be a cracked hose or something. The hardware stores are open, I've been told.
I bought some stocks yesterday. Buy the dip! Be courageous when others are in a panic. I'm thinking it's that kind of a time. The stuff I bought was off about 60% over the last few months. Freddie, my broker, mentioned that tech stocks have been hammered too. I still have some cash, I may buy some more.
That's about it for the morning entry! It's quiet and calm here. We found a grocery outlet that will pick and prepare orders for pickup. Rumor has it the local Safeway will open for a couple of hours for seniors on Tuesday and Thursdays. If so, we'll probably wander over tomorrow. We could use some fresh salad stuff and miscellaneous items. Nothing critical and if the hours are not true then we will probably not bother. Though, we are running low on $2 Chuck.
Barb showed me a presentation from her work folks. A respected scientist went over the data and what's happening. Guarded optimism is the result. There are double digit infections in out county, which is the lowest number in the surrounding counties. It also looks like the first hump of infection, etc., may be over. Their big fear is a second hump.
He also mentioned that the number of hospitalizations required is probably severely over estimated.
So, lots of good news on that front.
On a local note, I called the golf course today and asked about the chipping area. Sam said, "We're closed, the restaurant is closed. That's all I'm going to say." There may have been wink or two in all of that. But no armed guards are there. I'm still thinking about wandering off and chipping a few. But I can do that over in the school yard with less travel. Besides it's still cold out.
A couple of weeks ago I added some dark film to my windshield over the area above the rear view mirror. This area is not covered by the visors. While the film was not as dark as I expected, it did a pretty good job blocking the glare of the morning sun. What it do was to show me another bright spot along the left edge of the windshield, also not covered by the visors. I had left over film and made the effort to make another piece to cover that. I got the film at Tap Plastics.
The wash machine decided to leak on Monday after a large load. I'll probably take a look at that. Last time was the pump, which is a plastic impeller type unit. The new one didn't fit in great, but it's lasted a good 5 years. It might be a cracked hose or something. The hardware stores are open, I've been told.
I bought some stocks yesterday. Buy the dip! Be courageous when others are in a panic. I'm thinking it's that kind of a time. The stuff I bought was off about 60% over the last few months. Freddie, my broker, mentioned that tech stocks have been hammered too. I still have some cash, I may buy some more.
That's about it for the morning entry! It's quiet and calm here. We found a grocery outlet that will pick and prepare orders for pickup. Rumor has it the local Safeway will open for a couple of hours for seniors on Tuesday and Thursdays. If so, we'll probably wander over tomorrow. We could use some fresh salad stuff and miscellaneous items. Nothing critical and if the hours are not true then we will probably not bother. Though, we are running low on $2 Chuck.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020
St. Pat's Day II
We did the corned beef in cabbage in the pressure cooker. Along with that, various chef shows and some nice $2 Chuck Merlot.
The wine made Barb flush, not unusual in such a fine vintage. The meat came out real good, 90 minutes in pressure cooker, then another 3 minutes with the cabbage.
It was a quiet day. It's cold right now and there is a prediction of hail tonight. We moved some plants just in case.
Food stocks remain ok. We ate through a lot of the corned beef tonight. It tasted well and we were hungry. Basically, we may have to replenish our proteins at some point.
That's about it for now. Stay safe my friends and family!
The wine made Barb flush, not unusual in such a fine vintage. The meat came out real good, 90 minutes in pressure cooker, then another 3 minutes with the cabbage.
It was a quiet day. It's cold right now and there is a prediction of hail tonight. We moved some plants just in case.
Food stocks remain ok. We ate through a lot of the corned beef tonight. It tasted well and we were hungry. Basically, we may have to replenish our proteins at some point.
That's about it for now. Stay safe my friends and family!
St. Pat's Day
When we went shopping yesterday, all the meat was gone except for a couple of hams and a lot of corned beef.
I grabbed one of each and when I got back to the cart, Barb had grabbed a corned beef too. We did put the second one back.
We have some cabbage and we're going to cook it up in the pressure cooker today.
One of the big problems we are having is in which order to cook food. Normally there is not a lot on hand so we tend to go out a lot. It's been nice to cook more and we're getting better at making the cleanups and washing less of an onerous task.
The sun is shinning today and I'm going to get some exposure. It is still very cold in the high 30s at the moment. It's about 9am. I've been doing a keto type diet and that's led to vitamin research, etc. D3 is on the top of the list and I've even bought some pills! A first for me. Keto diets seem to be lacking in magnesium and potassium and, ready?, sodium. I've got pills for those too. How about omega-3 fats? Ok, add those.
I don't want this to be a diet blog, so if there is interest, let me know and I'll pass on what I am up to. Quite interesting actually in terms of new information.
We are sheltered, we walked around the neighborhood each evening. There is a family that's playing tennis - I may introduce them to pickleball. My pickleball group seems to have shut down. The golf courses are closed. I may hit some rubber golf balls at the school or get out the Frizbees for some exercise.
March 17, 2020
I grabbed one of each and when I got back to the cart, Barb had grabbed a corned beef too. We did put the second one back.
We have some cabbage and we're going to cook it up in the pressure cooker today.
One of the big problems we are having is in which order to cook food. Normally there is not a lot on hand so we tend to go out a lot. It's been nice to cook more and we're getting better at making the cleanups and washing less of an onerous task.
The sun is shinning today and I'm going to get some exposure. It is still very cold in the high 30s at the moment. It's about 9am. I've been doing a keto type diet and that's led to vitamin research, etc. D3 is on the top of the list and I've even bought some pills! A first for me. Keto diets seem to be lacking in magnesium and potassium and, ready?, sodium. I've got pills for those too. How about omega-3 fats? Ok, add those.
I don't want this to be a diet blog, so if there is interest, let me know and I'll pass on what I am up to. Quite interesting actually in terms of new information.
We are sheltered, we walked around the neighborhood each evening. There is a family that's playing tennis - I may introduce them to pickleball. My pickleball group seems to have shut down. The golf courses are closed. I may hit some rubber golf balls at the school or get out the Frizbees for some exercise.
March 17, 2020
Monday, March 16, 2020
Shelter in Place
The whole area is now under a shelter in place order. Wente, a high end course, has closed. Probably others. It seems to be essential services only.
Barb and I went shopping today to pick up a few things as we are supposed to be shutdown for three weeks.
The store wasn't real busy, but there were a lot of empty shelves. They had Coke and even their generic cola, which can be rare in the best of times. No toilet paper and limited paper towels. The check out gal said that if one came by in the morning, you could get TP.
Barb bought some Donuts, powered sugared, of course. The gal in line in front of us has some too along with a fifth of Jack Daniels.
It looks like we have enough food and stuff. Bought a ham and some corned beef and we have lots of eggs. Father used to say, "The definition of eternity is one ham and only two people to eat it." We'll see!
Stocks took another beating today. As long as all this doesn't last too long, I can't see it as a permanent condition. The economy will come back and the market will rise. Now there is also an oil war going on. The barrel price is about $30 and the gas prices around here are coming down.
So maybe this is a short, bumpy ride. It's too soon to tell, of course.
Barb and I went shopping today to pick up a few things as we are supposed to be shutdown for three weeks.
The store wasn't real busy, but there were a lot of empty shelves. They had Coke and even their generic cola, which can be rare in the best of times. No toilet paper and limited paper towels. The check out gal said that if one came by in the morning, you could get TP.
Barb bought some Donuts, powered sugared, of course. The gal in line in front of us has some too along with a fifth of Jack Daniels.
It looks like we have enough food and stuff. Bought a ham and some corned beef and we have lots of eggs. Father used to say, "The definition of eternity is one ham and only two people to eat it." We'll see!
Stocks took another beating today. As long as all this doesn't last too long, I can't see it as a permanent condition. The economy will come back and the market will rise. Now there is also an oil war going on. The barrel price is about $30 and the gas prices around here are coming down.
So maybe this is a short, bumpy ride. It's too soon to tell, of course.
Sunday, March 15, 2020
Lock Down!
The governor had decided that all old folks, thank you very much, should stay home and not mix.
Is a walking golfer mixing? Hard to say.
Also restaurants and bars are supposed to be closed. Take out is supposed to be ok. I've seen anything official, so do not rely on me for accurate information.
Exxon is now mid 30s... Just saying.
Is a walking golfer mixing? Hard to say.
Also restaurants and bars are supposed to be closed. Take out is supposed to be ok. I've seen anything official, so do not rely on me for accurate information.
Exxon is now mid 30s... Just saying.
Saturday, March 14, 2020
Putting in a Time of Cholera
As things with the covid-19 virus are unfolding, it seems that it might be a good time to jot down what's happening around my life, and Pleasanton and the small sphere I call home.
First anecdote: Barb says, "Go over to Trader Joe's and get some mixed nuts and a small cake and some ice cream for my investment club." Sure, no problem...
I wander over and it's yesterday, March 13, 2020, and the parking lot seems busy. This is nothing too unusual, but it's only 2:30 and it does seem strange. It's crowded a lot after 5 to 7 or so as folks shop after work.
I go inside and it's crowded. Every check out line is running and the lines are long. And there are a lot of empty shelves. I've seen this before, but it was in Budapest... I was astounded. I'd heard about toilet paper being horded, but I've not seen TJ's sold out of soup, most meats, all the milk, and all the eggs. Yes, eggs were on the list too.
I was looking for salted mixed nuts -- sold out of what I wanted. I get to the check out counter and the guy in the checkout line next to me has a cart with 50 bags of nuts in it -- and nothing else, he just bought all the nuts. "So that's where all the nuts went," I say with maybe just a touch of disapproval in my voice. The guy looks at me and says nothing.
I took a picture and a couple of videos of the store shelves and meat counters.
So, did I stock up? No, I did buy a couple of things not on the list, but I made no attempt to hoard.
Today, Saturday, we stopped in Safeway after a cup of coffee. They had almost everything. No TP, those shelves were cleaned out. Some of the fruits and vegetables were in short supply and avocados were $2.50 each. Not sure if supply lines are an issue at this point and it's raising prices.
We bought $100 worth of groceries, which is a lot for us. But we are going to do some cooking and it will get eaten.
I've not heard of any restaurants having supply issues. At this point it all is strange, perhaps/hopefully pointlessly strange. I'm not worried about the future at this point. There are no reported cases of the virus in our area. People are being careful touching things and shaking hands and the post golf luncheon discussions touch on this topic. And except for the TP issue, everything is available.
Future thoughts: It might be a nice time to replace the cars if things get bad. We bought on the dip in 2008/9 and saved about $5000 each. I probably have one more car purchase in my life time and it might be useful to do it now. The same can be said for the stock market. It's been jumping and dipping. Business has to be slower due to government actions, so quarterly news is probably going to be lower. For example I looked at Exxon the other day. It's down about 50% in cost and the dividend yield is over 8%. I have a long window and one might expect that investment there would have long legs. I'm sure there are other stocks that have been punished.
That's the news for the moment.
First anecdote: Barb says, "Go over to Trader Joe's and get some mixed nuts and a small cake and some ice cream for my investment club." Sure, no problem...
I wander over and it's yesterday, March 13, 2020, and the parking lot seems busy. This is nothing too unusual, but it's only 2:30 and it does seem strange. It's crowded a lot after 5 to 7 or so as folks shop after work.
I go inside and it's crowded. Every check out line is running and the lines are long. And there are a lot of empty shelves. I've seen this before, but it was in Budapest... I was astounded. I'd heard about toilet paper being horded, but I've not seen TJ's sold out of soup, most meats, all the milk, and all the eggs. Yes, eggs were on the list too.
I was looking for salted mixed nuts -- sold out of what I wanted. I get to the check out counter and the guy in the checkout line next to me has a cart with 50 bags of nuts in it -- and nothing else, he just bought all the nuts. "So that's where all the nuts went," I say with maybe just a touch of disapproval in my voice. The guy looks at me and says nothing.
I took a picture and a couple of videos of the store shelves and meat counters.
So, did I stock up? No, I did buy a couple of things not on the list, but I made no attempt to hoard.
Today, Saturday, we stopped in Safeway after a cup of coffee. They had almost everything. No TP, those shelves were cleaned out. Some of the fruits and vegetables were in short supply and avocados were $2.50 each. Not sure if supply lines are an issue at this point and it's raising prices.
We bought $100 worth of groceries, which is a lot for us. But we are going to do some cooking and it will get eaten.
I've not heard of any restaurants having supply issues. At this point it all is strange, perhaps/hopefully pointlessly strange. I'm not worried about the future at this point. There are no reported cases of the virus in our area. People are being careful touching things and shaking hands and the post golf luncheon discussions touch on this topic. And except for the TP issue, everything is available.
Future thoughts: It might be a nice time to replace the cars if things get bad. We bought on the dip in 2008/9 and saved about $5000 each. I probably have one more car purchase in my life time and it might be useful to do it now. The same can be said for the stock market. It's been jumping and dipping. Business has to be slower due to government actions, so quarterly news is probably going to be lower. For example I looked at Exxon the other day. It's down about 50% in cost and the dividend yield is over 8%. I have a long window and one might expect that investment there would have long legs. I'm sure there are other stocks that have been punished.
That's the news for the moment.
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