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

[Goonie]

I slept in 'til about 10am, and then went to the grocery store to pick up some stuff that we needed that was on sale only for today. They were having their first weekly cookout of the year today also, so we had ribeye sandwiches for our late breakfast! Ha!

Then came home and sat on the patio 'til the rain started, then went for coffee. Came back home and sat on the patio between rain falls, then went back to the coffee shop to meet up with a friend of mine who does lawn care, and told him to swing by and I'd give him my old (but still very reliable) self-propelled lawn mower since I bought a new one yesterday!!!

He came by and got it, and now we're both happy....he got a lawn mower, and I got rid of a lawn mower (and made space for my shiny new one)!

Had a late supper, and then went for coffee....again!

 

[Nords]

Spent the day catching up on e-mail. I had a bunch of things I needed to research & write up, and apparently a lot of people in my contacts list had the same idea.

Two-hour taekwondo clinic today with a coach from the national team. It started with nearly an hour of static stretches. I'm pretty flexible but I discovered parts of my glutes and hip flexors that I never knew I had. He's always a good guy to learn from, and he makes you think.

I was typing away quietly a few minutes ago when I felt something crawling on my foot. Not that unusual here in a tropical climate. I looked down to see a six-inch centipede taking a shortcut. We both cleared datum impressively quickly for our respective species sizes...

If you did, wouldn't you get to deduct $600 to $1,200 as a Charitable Contribution deduction? Check with your Tax person.

I think I'd rather have $600-$1200 in my pocket...

 

[RonBoyd]

I think I'd rather have $600-$1200 in my pocket...

Me too. However, I was merely offering "if needed" incentive to validate his "give-away" urge.

 

[Tesaje]

I'm sitting here looking at the radar onshow a severe cell with rotation heading right at me! Shud I watch it or go to the basement? This after spending the whole getting a basic CPR & 1st Aid certifications.

 

[REWahoo]

Seems like the best option would be to watch it from the basement...

 

[Tesaje]

Seems like the best option would be to watch it from the basement...

If only. I have no windows or TV in my basement so I have to choose whether to watch or hide. That one zipped by fast but there's a few more heavy cells headed this way.

 

[W2R]

Take care, Tesaje!

 

[WhoDaresWins]

I drove into Pittsburgh today to see a play/operetta based on the songs of Stephen Foster, "Beautiful Dreamers". Foster, born and raised in Pittsburgh, is also buried here. Like Tesaje, we had fairly violent storm roll through while I was at the theater as I could hear the thunder(must have been around 3:30). At first I mistook as as part of the production. When I left it had stopped, but there was much debris about in the form of small branches and leaves, also some traffic lights knocked out of commission.

 

[Nords]

I'm picking spouse up at the airport tomorrow morning so our daughter and I are commencing field day in a few minutes. It really hasn't been too bad for the last three weeks, but I'll be glad to have two grownups in the house again.

Of course we went surfing first this morning-- gotta have priorities.

Our kid is collecting "Hawaii photos" for college. I thought we'd take a shot of her with her board and Diamond Head in the background, but she wanted action in the water.

*Sigh.* I'm using an Olympus Stylus 1030 SW. Great shock resistance, waterproof to at least ten feet, and compact enough to fit in a pocket of my surf shorts. But the LCD viewfinder lacks contrast in bright sunlight (I think every LCD has this problem) and I'm almost too presbyopic to get her in the viewfinder, let alone fiddle with the settings.

Add to that some bodacious 4-6 footers (rising even higher tonight) and I was having a fun time coordinating all the various challenges. We finally had to get out of the bigger stuff (I was just getting slammed around) and head for the shorebreak.

Luckily the weather was sunny, memory is cheap, we had plenty of time, and statistically I knew that the more I shot the luckier I'd get. But we also got a couple for the blooper file:

 

[TromboneAl]

I knew that the more I shot the luckier I'd get.

Hey, let's see the good ones. And that's a new board, huh?

 

[TromboneAl]

Well, I have to admit that I really do love my iPod touch. I have to rethink this "buying things doesn't make you happier" thing.

 

[NW-Bound]

Perhaps a little larger vehicle to haul these new toys the next time you make a cross-country trek?

 

[W2R]

Well, I have to admit that I really do love my iPod touch. I have to rethink this "buying things doesn't make you happier" thing.

I am so glad to hear that! And as for me, I just love my Kindle. I have it with me constantly all day long.

As the ancient Greeks said, "Know thyself". I think that if it is exactly the right thing it can make you very much happier. While there are lots of other things that I know I supposedly "should" want, they aren't quite as good a fit for me as the Kindle.

 

[bbbamI]

I bought two pounds of gorgeous, plump strawberries today. Gonna add some whipped cream and have my way with them.....

 

[W2R]

I bought two pounds of gorgeous, plump strawberries today. Gonna add some whipped cream and have my way with them.....

Oooh!!! Real whipped cream, maybe? Even fatfree kool-whip sounds pretty fabulous to me right now (yum yum yum)

 

[bbbamI]

....news flash...I got word from a bird to post this.....


'Freebird got crabby today on board the Marine Discovery Center (New Smyrna Beach) ECOTOUR boat adventure'

 

[Dreamer]

I have been visiting my daughter,SIL and two year old grandson . We've had a ball but I am now soooo tired . I've played cars on his GEO tracks ,been to the zoo , went to chucky Cheese and just tried to keep up with a toddler .Im ready for some rest .

Sounds like you are having a great time. I am envious. I can't wait until June when I get to see my DD, SIL and almost 2 year old granddaughter. I am sure that I will feel pleasantly tired after that visit also.

 

[Ronstar]

Strolled through Chicago and caught a few sights

 

[CuppaJoe]

Pretty day, no wind? in Chicago. Thanks, Ronstar.

Rainy again here.

 

[Nords]

Hey, let's see the good ones. And that's a new board, huh?

Only one of them turned out good enough for a model's release. We'll keep shooting.

It's an early high-school graduation present. Eight days left; it looks like she's going to make it. Only 102 surfing days left before Christmas break.

Her old 7'9" [-]barn door[/-] BiC Natural Surf weighs 15 pounds and is kinda sluggish. She was doing OK on the North Shore but she was interested in going lighter. She was originally going to get a Surf Tech epoxy although those have a reputation for being extremely hard and inflexible (yet durable). Selection was limited and she let herself get talked into a custom job. I let myself get talked into paying for it.

I didn't know that the "epoxy" is extruded polystyrene foam with epoxy resin. It's harder, yes, but if a ding cracks the resin then the EPS can absorb water more easily than a traditional polyurethane foam board. They use more resin on the board and it takes a special repair kit.

She got a 7'9"x22x2¾ with a swallowtail. It uses three Proteck FCS 4.5" fins (all three are the same size) and she added a safety bumper to the nose. Compared to the BiC it's like surfing a potato chip-- much more buoyant, much easier to paddle. The ride is a lot livelier and it turns on a dime. She can really dig in and keep control with that swallowtail and three thrusters. She's also a lot more honest with her skills & effort. It's no longer "This board sucks", it's "If I practice more then I can really get a lot out of this board".

It was fun watching her talk with the shaper. They use a CNC lathe (very cool) and there was a long discussion of materials, rocker, rails, dimensions/buoyancy, tail selection, and fin sizes. Then when the engineering design wound down he asked as an afterthought "Oh, what color do you want?" and she went all girly on us. It took another 20 minutes of color chips and coordination discussions, but I can spot that green all the way across White Plains.

By mutual agreement, I'm not going to ride it until she's on the Mainland and needs someone to keep it wet...

 

[Ronstar]

Pretty day, no wind? in Chicago. Thanks, Ronstar.

Rainy again here.

yes - a rare sunny day in Chicago, but it was very windy (maybe 20-25 mph) and about 40 degrees in the morning

 

[TromboneAl]

Looks good, here's some fixup on the photo:

 

[W2R]

Wow, Al, you are really good at that. You could make money doing that (if you weren't retired, that is).

 

[travelover]

Weird day. I was doing volunteer work at the local state park, fixing a pump at the boy scout camp with a friend. We went back to the HQ to pick up a few parts and the superintendent came running out of the office, jumped into the back of the truck and said "get to the horse stables now!" It was just a short ride, and we soon found a jogger collapsed (I assume from a heart attack). The park employees did CPR on him for a few minutes until EMS showed up. They hooked up the defibrillator to him, but it is automated and kept recommending that they continue CPR and not jolt him. Eventually they put him on a stretcher and took him away. I hope he made it, but it didn't look good.

All the time they were working on him I was pretty dispassionate, but later it hit me how tragic it was. This is the second time I've been involved with a heart attack victim - makes ya feel kinda mortal.

 

[Nords]

Looks good, here's some fixup on the photo:

Thanks, Al, it looks great!

Today was something that I needed plenty of patience for-- fixing a microwave oven. It's a Kenmore and part of a matched set of microwave-over-gas-range/oven appliance. When the tenants called in the broke report last December, spouse and I decided to just buy a new one and fix the old one on our time. (18 months old, just six months out of warranty.) That way I could troubleshoot at my leisure (on the comfort of our lanai) without someone peering over our shoulders asking "Is it fixed yet?"

It's completely dead; not even a display. At first I thought it was the circuit card controlling the display (plus everything else) and I ordered a new card. Our local parts store paid no attention to its "backlogged" status for four months, so I finally paid the big bucks to Sears and got the card. Ooops... the card wasn't the problem.

I spent a long time on the Appliance Samurai's website, including posting the circuit schematics and diagrams, and another poster pointed out that AC voltage had to get to the card's low-voltage transformer before anything else could happen. Before it got to the card the AC voltage went through a fuse block (which was fine), a noise filter/transformer circuit (also fine), and two temperature-cutout relays that monitored both the oven cavity and the magnetron.

After a couple hours of tracing wires and checking voltages, but not being able to actually see the TCO relays (let alone check voltages), I finally got the courage to pull off the microwave's metal top & sides. The photo shows the cavity TCO lying next to the scorched/melted plastic lug cover with the TCO's retaining bracket in the background to the right. Oh, and the magnetron TCO looks fine.

This seems to be one of those situations where the troubleshooting ends when the charring is found. I'm surprised it didn't trip a breaker or even start an electrical fire.