What did you do today? - 2021 version

[Yoheadden]

Not what I did, what I heard. My accountant just called me with good news. The new tax legislation just saved me $5,800.
Instead of having to pay, I’m getting back over $700.
Now this is a good day

 

[Yoheadden]

Yesterday we drove up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National park.

Dungeness spit in the distance from about halfway up.

Today we packed up and headed home, driving down 101 along Hood Canal.

Beautiful pics

Thank you for sharing

 

[Gumby]

So far today, I disassembled one of the faucets on my bathroom sink, took the leaking cartridge out and went to our local plumbing supply store for a replacement. After about a 20 minute search, turns out they don't have any. But the guy did tell me what to order from Amazon, which I thought was very nice of him. I also installed hooks on the back of a kitchen closet door so that I can hang up all my baseball caps (and my wet raincoat when necessary). It's raining again, so the garden is out today.

 

[pacergal]

Put together 11 foot cantilever umbrella for the front deck, helps keep the house a bit cooler by keeping the afternoon sun out of the window and doorway. We used a sunbrella fabric shade in the past, but it finally bit the dust.
The deck is an odd shape and I have been trying to find a ready made deck cover/gazebo. I think we will need to either make one ourselves or hire it out. The umbrella probably will not last more than a couple of years.

 

[NW-Bound]

Unfortunately even fresh potting soil needs to be sterilized to be safe.

Here's a nice link about sterilizing potting soil: https://www.senior-gardening.com/how2s/sterile_potting_mix.html

Yes, spores of Fusarium fungus are everywhere. As mentioned in my earlier post, I found quite a few scholarly papers about "solarization" to kill the spores. Solarization is just a fancy term for covering the soil with a plastic sheet and let the sun ray cook the soil to kill fungus spores.

Surprisingly, the spores of Fusarium Oxysporum can be kept in check at temperatures higher than 60C. That's a mere 140F. Here in the Southwest, the ambient temperature can get up to 120F in the shade. Inside a closed vessel put out in the sun, you get to 160F easily. The surface of my PV solar panels was clocked at 160F, and they are exposed to ambient air.

The problem is "cooking the earth" in situ does not let the high temperature penetrate very deep. For planting in pots, I should be able to sterilize the soil more thoroughly. I have been thinking about something like a cement mixer barrel painted black, put out in the sun and rotated by hand slowly each day to "roast" the damned fungus spores.

Who says a guy does not have anything to do if Covid keeps him from traveling? Heh heh heh... I can spend some time in the summer to bake soil for winter planting.

PS. By the way, I did harvest quite a bit of snap peas this past season. However, the pods were small because the plants struggled to get the sap flowing to nourish them. And the plants died off one by one while in their prime and peak production, starting from the base going up to the top. Exactly as shown in so many YouTube videos. It enraged me, and I have declared war on Fusarium Oxysporum.

 

[braumeister]

Ordered a new toaster oven last week since the old one was on its last legs. Tracking it on Amazon showed it went from a warehouse near me to a distribution point about 40 miles away. Then Amazon lost it. Not really a big deal and they were good about refunding me.

Today it was delivered, but by UPS instead of the usual Amazon truck. I guess they found it and were embarrassed to deliver it themselves?

I doubt they will want their money back since the website still says it's lost. A free toaster oven!

 

[Walt34]

I doubt they will want their money back since the website still says it's lost. A free toaster oven!

That happened to me once with a small R/C airplane. They lost it, I got a refund, then six weeks or so later it showed up on the front porch. I emailed them about that, then got a huffy reply back that they'd already refunded the money. Okay, sorry to bother you, won't do so again....

Today was a trip to Home Depot to get some weed killer (I do just spot treatments) and Roundup for other spots, and got some wood to put up finished model airplanes on the ceiling in the shop area of the basement. Then did that, put airplanes up on the ceiling. Because of weather and scheduling issues I now have four completed airplanes that have never been flown. I have to correct that! And teased DW that when the shop area ceiling is fully covered in airplanes then I can start on the storage room and later the garage and shed.

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^ It's different dealing with smaller vendors.

I recently bought a replacement battery for my smartphone. It was very late in arrival. I contacted the vendor, thinking he might be able to make some claim if the shipment was lost. He refunded my money nearly instantly.

Later that day, my wife brought out a package, saying she picked it from the mail box a few days earlier and forgot to tell me. I immediately installed the battery in the phone, and saw that it was a really good one and might even be a genuine LG battery as its label said, compared to the junky batteries that I had bought from other vendors.

I contacted the vendor again, and asked how to pay him back. He thanked me for being honest, and gave me his Paypal account so I can pay him directly. And that story came to a happy ending for both sides.

 

[street]

^ It is always great to hear honesty/trust still exists.

 

[NW-Bound]

With a large vendor or a corporation, there is not an easy way to reverse a refund.

It's more personal in dealing with small vendors, and I hate to see a guy losing money for trying to make an honest living.


PS. With the battery vendor, I was about to suggest that I could place another order, and he just would not ship it. But me repaying him directly worked out better.

 

[1242Vintage]

Spent much of the day weed whacking the banks of the creek that flows through the property. Also applied 10 gallons of herbicide and Brush-be-gone to keep the weeds and Blackberries brambles at bay. Now all the junk that flows down the creek from upstream properties will not get snagged, jam up the creek and overflow into my orchard.

Also fit in a workout at the gym and an early evening mountain bike ride. A good day!

 

[Ronstar]

Went for a hike, then installed our new bedroom ceiling fan. Couldn’t get the fan remote working, called support and found that our model fan doesn’t support remote. DW wants a fan with remote, but I’m not going to swap out our new fan for one with a remote. Wall switch is good enough.

Then put down grub control and crabgrass preventer/ lawn food. And spent another night binge watching Heartland.

 

[eeyore]

DW wants a fan with remote, but I’m not going to swap out our new fan for one with a remote. Wall switch is good enough.

Maybe change the wall switch to one with remote and make DW happy ?

 

[Ronstar]

Maybe change the wall switch to one with remote and make DW happy ?

Thanks for the idea. I'm going to check into it.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

One of the houses I lived in had switches for the bedroom ceiling fan on the wall immediately next to the bed's headboard. I'm not saying to add wall switches since that would be a major PITA, but if I ever renovate or build a house that's one little detail I'm definitely going to incorporate. Or I'll get a fan with a remote.

 

[Ronstar]

One of the houses I lived in had switches for the bedroom ceiling fan on the wall immediately next to the bed's headboard. I'm not saying to add wall switches since that would be a major PITA, but if I ever renovate or build a house that's one little detail I'm definitely going to incorporate. Or I'll get a fan with a remote.

DW showed me a full wainscoting type wall that she wanted behind the bed - instead of a headboard. If I do that, I could move the switch for the fan/light to the bedside.

 

[street]

Today sitting back and listening to some Aaron Neville, Phil Collins and Lionel Richie tunes. A beautiful blanket of snow this morning and will pick up DW from some volunteer work she does around noon.

A beautiful day in Paradise, enjoying a no commitment day.

 

[Time2]

I'm thrilled to have got my second Moderna shot at 7:20am this morning.
Helped my wife pull out a lot of Mighty Fine Junque to set up for a yard sale.
Then spent time surfing the internet and doing some browsing on Amazon.
I was looking for those little buttons that you install on a bulb receptacle to dim the bulb. Absolutely no luck, then I got a report that they were found to be a fire hazard in the 70s. I guess that's why I could not find them.

 

[harley]

Went for a hike, then installed our new bedroom ceiling fan. Couldn’t get the fan remote working, called support and found that our model fan doesn’t support remote. DW wants a fan with remote, but I’m not going to swap out our new fan for one with a remote. Wall switch is good enough.

Just give her a bell, and every time she rings it you'll get up and turn the fan on or off. Analog remote!

 

[Ronstar]

Just give her a bell, and every time she rings it you'll get up and turn the fan on or off. Analog remote!

Good idea! I told her that I would get up any time to turn it on or off, but the bell could wake me from a deep sleep if need be.

 

[Gumby]

Went out to the garden today. Planted more beets and more peas. Sprayed the whole plot with beneficial nematodes. Awaiting my new faucet cartridge from Amazon so I can put the bathroom sink back into commission.

 

[doneat54]

Went for first drive of 2021 in the Beetle.

 

[Gumby]

Went for first drive of 2021 in the Beetle.

That's a beauty!

 

[doneat54]

That's a beauty!

Thank you. After owning it 28 years (first 7 spent restoring it) I finally finished restoring it's original engine last summer and installed it in the fall. Ran it for 20 years on a "loaner" engine before that.

 

[braumeister]

Went for first drive of 2021 in the Beetle.

That looks like early to mid 60s. Have great fun with it!