what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Dreamer]

Glad to hear that all went well with you Walt. You were so smart to immediately get the help that you needed. Happy mending!

 

[REWahoo]

Hey Walt, I see you were busy while I was gone. When you have an 'adventure' you don't go half way do you?

Really great to hear all is well and you are on the mend!

 

[braumeister]

I had the pleasure of cooking at Eggfest today. Ate a ton of really good food, met others who share the same passion for cooking and shared tips with others just getting started. All in all a very good day! Now I have to complete a two hour workout tomorrow to burn it off!

Did that for the first time a couple of months ago and also had a ball. Eggfests are the bomb!



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[Walt34]

Nicely done Walt! The cherry? frame really goes well with the poster and matting.

It looks like cherry but isn't. They're made of some compressed/glued sawdust product but whatever coating they use looks like real wood to me. I suppose a "real woodworker" could see it but he'd have to stand close. I bought a couple standard sizes from Amazon but Amazon doesn't offer the custom size that I needed for the train poster. Craig Frames Inc. The web site does.

Hey Walt, I see you were busy while I was gone. When you have an 'adventure' you don't go half way do you?

Really great to hear all is well and you are on the mend!

I'm doing well but I think I caught a cold while in the hospital. I'll ask the Doc about it when I go in Tues to make sure it really is just a cold.

Re posting from ICU, it really wasn't that big a deal. I had no symptoms when at rest so felt fine. They just wanted me there in case there was bleeding from the site on the femoral artery. Of course that can go from "fine" to "very, very bad" in seconds.

 

[Gumby]

Re posting from ICU, it really wasn't that big a deal.

Since you're too modest, I'll say it -- you are one tough dude.

 

[ls99]

Load of wash, went for coffee, put UV blocker on new kayak, thought about doing some useful stuff, but lost interest.

Excuse for doing wash, DW is off on a sisters trip. Regressing to my batchelor days rapidly.

 

[NW-Bound]

We have been back to the boonies home the last few days to escape from the low elevation heat. I had plans to spend time to edit the tags of the MP3 files that I converted from my CDs, but forgot to pack the power adapter for my laptop. Arghhh!

So, I have to make do with my wife's netbook, which is sloooowwww. But I remembered to bring up the 18-element Yagi boom and the external WiFi adapter to experiment with accessing my neighbor's router from 300 ft away (with his permission and password of course). This is to prepare for the upcoming motorhome trip, to allow better internet access at commercial campgrounds which tend to have very iffy WiFi. And while on the road, it may allow me to snatch McDonald's WiFi inside Walmarts without having to bring my laptop inside the store. Heh heh heh...

So, I set up the 2-ft Yagi boom on a camera tripod, and compare it with an 8-in long rubber ducky. The monopole antenna claims a 5dBi performance, while the Yagi claims 25dBi. However, I see only a 10dB difference. Hmm... By the way, I found that my neighbor's signal radiation is horizontally polarized rather than vertical. I guess he points his router's antenna that way.

I also managed to replace the windshield washer pump in the car. I had to remove the front plastic bumper cover to get to it, hence did not want to do it in the heat at the low-elevation home. Here, the temperature dropped down to the 60s when the rain arrived, as it tends to do every afternoon. Nice!

PS. The combination of the external WiFi/Yagi increases the signal strength about 15dB over the internal WiFi of the netbook. For non-EE types, 15dB is a power increase of 32X, and assuming that radiation power decreases as square of distance, that is equivalent to getting 5.6X closer to the source. So, instead of being at 300ft distance, it is now as if I were at 54 ft. Indeed, the link was so marginal before I had to reconnect every 15-20 seconds, but the link is now solid.

 

[Moscyn]

Yes and no. It's my 6th visit to an ophthalmologist in the last year (sigh). I have macular degeneration as well, some retina damage already, and this complicates the cataract removal. Next visit is Monday with the cataract guy, so I need to decide before then.

There have been a couple of eye related threads over the past year or two, I'm going to reread them.

Same here. I feel so frustrated with my eye problems. Had surgery done for macular degeneration and retina tearing, followed by cataracts. After the cataracts, I enjoyed clear eyesight (though problems with glares and flashes) for 3 years but now left cataract is blurring and need a procedure called laser capsulotomy. Seeing the ophthalmologist this Friday and rereading all the threads relating to this subject.

 

[braumeister]

Just harvested my first ever crop of potatoes.
Those who have read The Martian - A Novel by Andy Weir will understand why I can never look at these plants the same way again.

 

[Walt34]

Last Saturday DW's grandnieces and her nephew visited briefly on their way back from SIL's house. A couple of months ago when I got the new 13x19 printer I printed out a photo of the older grandniece, then 7, just to see what a huge print like that would look like. I put it aside and didn't think much of it. I just like the image because of the child's sheer exuberance and hamming it up a bit for the camera.

She sees it on the visit and says she'd like to have it, "Sure" but in the confusion of leaving it was left behind. So I framed it for her. Now, she has a younger sister and I don't want to foster any jealousy, sibling rivalry, or any of that and of course if I give one something then it's just unfair to neglect the other. So I framed one of her too.

I E-mailed DW's nephew and his wife with this photo and they're happy to have them. It's the kind of thing that is cute now and priceless 30 years from now.

 

[aja8888]

Walt, you are on a roll with that framing hobby! Looks great!

 

[FIREd]

I went on a walk through Chinatown this afternoon, looking for tea. According to my pedometer, I have walked 800 miles year-to-date. I am running a bit behind to reach my target for the year, but back/neck problems have kept me off my feet lately.

 

[M Paquette]

I went on a walk through Chinatown this afternoon, looking for tea.

I hope you found tea there. Every time I walk north through Chinatown, I seem to wind up at Tony's Slice House or Stella Pastry. It's a dangerous neighborhood, I tell ya...

 

[FIREd]

I hope you found tea there. Every time I walk north through Chinatown, I seem to wind up at Tony's Slice House or Stella Pastry. It's a dangerous neighborhood, I tell ya...

Yep, dangerous for the waistline. I like Molinari Delicatessen too.

 

[seraphim]

Jeesh, Walt. I was going to post about our U.P. travels the past couple of weeks, but you got us one-upped. Certainly glad you were smart enough to get checked out and are doing well. Halfway through your story, I wanted to remind you take pictures, but it seems like someone else took care of that for you. Hope your back to your normal exercise routine soon. Take care of yourself...


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[Calico]

Last Saturday DW's grandnieces and her nephew visited briefly on their way back from SIL's house. A couple of months ago when I got the new 13x19 printer I printed out a photo of the older grandniece, then 7, just to see what a huge print like that would look like. I put it aside and didn't think much of it. I just like the image because of the child's sheer exuberance and hamming it up a bit for the camera.

She sees it on the visit and says she'd like to have it, "Sure" but in the confusion of leaving it was left behind. So I framed it for her. Now, she has a younger sister and I don't want to foster any jealousy, sibling rivalry, or any of that and of course if I give one something then it's just unfair to neglect the other. So I framed one of her too.

I E-mailed DW's nephew and his wife with this photo and they're happy to have them. It's the kind of thing that is cute now and priceless 30 years from now.

Great pics - cute kids - a couple of little hams!

How did the checkup go today - was the cold just a cold?

 

[MichaelB]

Yesterday was a "get out of the house" day so I went to see "The Purge". Toward the end it took on a strong sense of "The Warriors", but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Walt34]

How did the checkup go today - was the cold just a cold?

Yes, the cold is just a cold, slowly getting better, as is normal.

Today is 26 years of wedded bliss with DW. Went to the Bavarian Inn for dinner, our go-to place for a splurge on a meal. Chateaubriand For Two and an ice cream dessert. That's whipped cream on top, chocolate syrup, crushed nuts (I think pecans) and vanilla ice cream.

We're stuffed.

 

[rodi]

Happy Anniversary Walt!

I started the day with an early 3 mile walk on the beach with the dog. Returned in time to schlep my boys to their 1/2 day sailing camp. (They're having so much fun I signed them up for 2 more weeks. They'll be real pros by the end.)

Later I did some yard work (weeding... yuck...) then went and got the boys. Made quinoa and black beans for lunch for all of us. Tonight it's schlepping one boy to basketball practice, then off to see older boy play a basketball game at the rec center.

I wonder how I ever fit work into my schedule.

 

[Calico]

Yes, the cold is just a cold, slowly getting better, as is normal.

Today is 26 years of wedded bliss with DW. Went to the Bavarian Inn for dinner, our go-to place for a splurge on a meal. Chateaubriand For Two and an ice cream dessert. That's whipped cream on top, chocolate syrup, crushed nuts (I think pecans) and vanilla ice cream.

We're stuffed.

Happy Anniversary!

 

[FIREd]

Ever since we started considering retirement in coastal California, DW and I have been testing increasingly lower levels of spending to find the bottom limit of our comfort zone. We have finally found it. I am looking forward to loosening the purse string a little bit next month. But now we have a good baseline for planning retirement in this location.

And this is my 10,000th post on this forum.

 

[W2R]

Happy Anniversary, Walt!

Ever since we started considering retirement in coastal California, DW and I have been testing increasingly lower levels of spending to find the bottom limit of our comfort zone. We have finally found it. I am looking forward to loosening the purse string a little bit next month. But now we have a good baseline for planning retirement in this location.

And this is my 10,000th post on this forum.

Congratulations, both on the 10,000th post, and on figuring out the bottom limit of your comfort zone (not an easy task).

 

[FIREd]

Congratulations, both on the 10,000th post, and on figuring out the bottom limit of your comfort zone (not an easy task).

Thanks W2R. And I just realized that today is the 4th anniversary of my retirement!

 

[W2R]

Thanks W2R. And I just realized that today is the 4th anniversary of my retirement!

Woo-hoo! Congratulations on that, too.

 

[travelover]

Bought a new car yesterday. We took our grandson, who is visiting us, along to pick it up. He didn't even flinch when DW took out the checkbook and paid cash. I hope he learns the right lesson from that - i.e. the reason we can pay cash is that we LBOM.