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

[Khan]

To conserve water, just remember the old California saying. If it's yellow let it mellow, when it's brown flush it down.

That's my philosophy.

 

[Gumby]

Today -- went to church in the morning, then got the roadster out to enjoy a beautiful autumn drive here in coastal Connecticut. Had lunch at a little seafood restaurant on the water, then went apple picking. Bright blue sky, cool dry air, leaves starting to change -- it doesn't get much better than this.

 

[ls99]

Last year planted Mr. Lincoln. That is a rose bush. Today I plucked a nice big fat rose off the bush and gave it to DW. Later took her for a spin in my new to me 1995 XJ.

She made a very nice dinner.

 

[Meadbh]

Tomorrow is Canadian Thanksgiving. I am having friends over and we are doing the 100 mile diet. I am at my vacation place in the Okanagan Valley , British Columbia. Spent my morning shopping and my afternoon grappling with a 4 lb squash. I'm making this recipe:

SAFEWAY

Currently, it's simmering on the stove and I can tell that I need to blend some of it to reduce the particulate matter content. Right now the kitchen smells of parsley, sage and thyme: wonderful!

Tomorrow, I am baking some wild salmon, roasting some local sweet potatoes, beets and courgettes (zucchini), and making bread pudding with apples and cranberries. And, if time permits, some poached local pears....

Okanagan wines and artisan goat cheese will compliment the meal and the casing of the squash will provide seasonal decor.

 

[TromboneAl]

Water's back on, Yay! The still-unlocated leak is on another branch, so they shut that off, and turned our water on.

I'll tell you, losing water (or power) for a while sure makes you appreciate it fully. What a luxury to turn the tap and have water come out. I'm so happy, I'm going to just prance around in my apron!

 

[GregLee]

... I am baking some wild salmon, roasting some local sweet potatoes, beets and courgettes (zucchini), and making bread pudding with apples and cranberries.

It sounds delicious. My wife and I have always made fresh cranberry relish: grind in a food processor 2 packages of cranberries, 1 orange, sugar to taste, brandy to taste. Let marinate a few days in the fridge.

 

[NW-Bound]

Yes, we people in developed nations take too many things for granted, and think that electricity, running water, and sewage drainage are birthrights.

I would dance in my apron too, if I had one!

 

[Moemg]

Tomorrow is Canadian Thanksgiving. I am having friends over and we are doing the 100 mile diet. I am at my vacation place in the Okanagan Valley , British Columbia. Spent my morning shopping and my afternoon grappling with a 4 lb squash. I'm making this recipe:

SAFEWAY

Currently, it's simmering on the stove and I can tell that I need to blend some of it to reduce the particulate matter content. Right now the kitchen smells of parsley, sage and thyme: wonderful!

Tomorrow, I am baking some wild salmon, roasting some local sweet potatoes, beets and courgettes (zucchini), and making bread pudding with apples and cranberries. And, if time permits, some poached local pears....

Okanagan wines and artisan goat cheese will compliment the meal and the casing of the squash will provide seasonal decor.

That all sounds delicious & ambitious ! Have a great day !

 

[W2R]

Water's back on, Yay! The still-unlocated leak is on another branch, so they shut that off, and turned our water on.

I'll tell you, losing water (or power) for a while sure makes you appreciate it fully. What a luxury to turn the tap and have water come out. I'm so happy, I'm going to just prance around in my apron!

Wonderful!! I am so glad to read that you have water again. Our water, sewage, and electricity are some of the great advantages of modern civilization.

 

[Nords]

Our college kid called this morning to [-]touch home plate[/-] deliver an ops sitrep. She's doing fine but she's definitely making the most of her educational opportunities... or perhaps I should say that they're making the most out of her. She didn't actually use the word "homesick" but they have a four-day weekend, her roommate's off with the boyfriend until Tuesday, and this is the first chance our kid's really had to pause and reflect on the last couple months. I think she's beginning to realize that she's left the nest and she's not comin' back.

The NROTC instructors must be doing a good job. She said "I like civil engineering but I'm beginning to reconsider the SeaBees. I'd rather have command at sea!!" Yeah, well, hold on to that thought for a few years and get back to us when you're a department head.

Water's back on, Yay!
I'm so happy, I'm going to just prance around in my apron!

Still wearing pants, right?

It's going to take a while to remove those images from my cerebral cortex...

 

[kcowan]

Went to friend's for thanksgiving celebration Sunday. Turkey but also stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, brussel sprouts, squishy peas, yams and carrots. Yum.

Ate too much so will have to work it off today.

 

[HFWR]

At home, nursing a sinus infection. But it's still better than being at w*rk...

 

[antmary]

Quote from Y2R: "As for me... plumber done, painter done, electrician done, roofer done, handyman done, carpet installation done... today I acquired new doormats, stove under-burner plates, wall switchplates, and more. Frank is helping me to get the ceiling gratings off so I can clean them, or replace if necessary. Every muscle in my body aches so this day of light work is very welcome."

Y2R, you are such in inspiration! We have just spent 5 years building our retirement home, and the past one month moving. I just took 3 days to rest, and get over a sinus infection.

I am focused on holding the original vision of everything clean, pretty, and in place. Of course, now there is the clean-up for the old house. And then, we need to get it ready to rent...whew! But, each day I am thankful that there is no place that I have to go to; retirement for me means having more choices.

 

[W2R]

Thanks, antmary! Your post was so encouraging. Yesterday we managed to get the rest of my furniture except one bookcase put back where it belongs, and I managed to neatly stack all of my boxes of precious "clutter" in my closets, and they fit. I went through everything and downsized once again in order to do that: I decided to donate 7 more boxes of books to the library. So, I am making progress, even though things are still in a state of chaos at my house.

Right now I am over at Frank's and we are moving some of his more cumbersome pieces of furniture back now that his painters are done. It's nice to have his help when I need it, and vice versa.

 

[TromboneAl]

And today the power went off!

But it was only off for about four hours; a tree had fallen on the power lines.

 

[REWahoo]

Today one of these...

...pulled up in front of our RV. I called it when repeated attempts to start our motor home failed after spending the weekend at a nearby RV park.

Thankfully the [-]kid[/-] intelligent young man driving the big@ss wrecker knew a few tricks and was able to help me figure out the problem before dragging me 75 miles to the nearest repair facility. Air had gotten into my fuel lines preventing fuel from reaching the engine. I suspect a leaky fuel filter was the source of the problem and the leak is now repaired (loose drain valve).

Times like this are when an RV road service (I have CoachNet) really pays for itself. The service cost me $85 a year and the service call and 75 mile tow, had it been required, were at no additional charge.

 

[Nords]

New radiant foil insulation.

We have a 12'x16' storage shed on our property, with exposed roof rafters and just plywood sheathing on top, and it gets steamin' hot in the summer sunshine. Seven years ago we bought some of that newfangled radiant foil insulation, an early design that was large (1" diameter) bubble-wrap with silver foil on one side and a white layer of plastic on the other. The instructions even carefully specified installing it with the foil side down and the white side up. I guess installing it backwards would have turned the room into the grownups version of an EasyBake oven.

A few months ago we noticed that the white paint was peeling off the wall's top plates and leaving white debris on the floor-- at least we thought it was white paint. Then I accidentally bumped a stepladder against a piece of the radiant foil near the edge of the ceiling, and it began snowing in that corner of the room. We realized that the white plastic had become heat-embrittled and was just flaking off all the insulation.

So this morning we pulled it all down. It looked like a scene from the inside of a snow globe. When the dust settled (literally) we vacuumed it all up and put up new radiant foil. This stuff is much tougher, with small ¼" bubbles and foil on both sides. (I sure hope it doesn't shed.) Then we had to hose off the worst of the plastic dust from ourselves before we could track it into the house enroute the shower.

In another 10-20 years when the roof needs new shingles, we'll tear off the sheathing and replace it with structural insulated panels. I've always wanted to try shingling a roof, and two squares sounds like just enough of a taste to suit my curiosity.

 

[freebird5825]

2 day report...
Yesterday I spackled and lightly sanded nailholes in one of the living room walls. I will be making my way around the room, slowly. It is SO frustrating to have tendinitis/carpal tunnel because I can only do a single wall at a time.
Today I drove to Tully NY to have lunch with a new friend (relax JUST a friend). The fall colors, especially on the hills between Cazenovia and LaFayette, were just FABULOUS.
I may have taken my last 'Stang ride today. A few state road workers on Rt 20W waved to me and some truckers on Rt 81S smiled down at me cruising along with the convertible top down and me all bundled up.
It was well worth it.

 

[Fireup2020]

After bonking my head (almost requiring stitches!!) on Saturday - on the newly relocated dip bars attached to to a different basement support pole, the work out area is complete now that SO replaced the "decided to stop working" cheapo DVD player. Now we can bounce around again to whatshisname for P90X in the mornings. SO picked up a new DVD player and hooked it up while I finished dinner prep. Been a strange day and a half since my head injury - slept all day Sunday - even missed Sun. football at one of our local hangouts. Well enough to get going to whip up a few batches of homemade pesto after harvesting the basil (mmmm!!)...work and dr. apt tomorrow...

 

[RonBoyd]

Air had gotten into my fuel lines preventing fuel from reaching the engine. I suspect a leaky fuel filter was the source of the problem and the leak is now repaired (loose drain valve).

Wow! Is this a common problem? Seems like there should have been some Service Bulletin or something. Wouldn't want that to happen while boondockng in a "no service" area.

 

[REWahoo]

Wow! Is this a common problem?

I posted my experience on a diesel engine forum and got confirmation of what I suspected was the cause. I don't think it is a common problem but is something the old diesel heads were certainly aware could happen.

The spin-on fuel filter was new, changed out last month when I went in for an oil change. The valve (allows water in the fuel to be removed from the bottom of the filter) either wasn't closed tightly and/or vibrated slightly open over time. This allowed fuel to slowly drip out of the filter when parked - and air to be sucked into the filter/fuel lines when cranking.

Not something I'm likely to allow to happen again - at least not due to a loose fuel filter drain valve.

 

[bbbamI]

Hunted and gathered at the grocery store today.

Was notified that my transfer of funds was received by Vanguard. For a day or two my balance seemed to be floating out there in cyberspace...but it landed today in my psssst...Wellesley fund.

 

[Emeritus]

Wedding in the woods

Posted First picture of DD wedding in the woods

Also lectured on aircraft design safety , but that is much less interesting. Even the engineering students preferred the wedding pictures

 

[Dimsumkid]

This morning, I discovered a nice possum in my 5 gal bucket that I use to collect water. Thing was showing me some nasty teeth, so I decided to stone him a few times and tossed him out in the garbage.

I finally finished my 3 day part time process of adding ridge ventilation to the house (2 stories). It certainly was fun lugging a 2nd ladder up the 1st ladder to get to the roofline. Nothing like cutting away at the top of your roof with a circular saw just to create air holes, my roof line is 40 feet long. Also added another passive vent cap to the 3 existing ones. Had to get serious since they're predicting rain after midnight, so I had to strap on a LED headlight when it got dark around 6:40pm, then with the cold air it started to get moist on the roof shingles. I finished at 8:20pm...I feel a sense of accomplishment, but my arms, legs and back are aching from all the hammering and bending over the last 3 days.

 

[kumquat]

DS and DIL bought a house. Started the bathroom reno (tub, flooring, john & vanity) today. Fortunately it's a bit easier than my last one. Just remove, clean up and replace. Only about 2 inches of mouldy drywall behind the cracked tub surround. And, they don't move in until Saturday. Life is good, life would be better with fewer kids buying houses.