What did you do today? - 2020 version

[LRDave]

Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. (DW has the patience of Job to have tolerated me for this long.) We are keeping to ourselves for the obvious reasons. We had a long walk with the dog, then we went for a hike in a county park not far from us (sans dog) - one of the premier rock-climbing areas in the eastern US. We are preparing a dinner of shrimp & fresh mushrooms over pasta plus steamed broccoli and a small salad - a few seared sea scallops for an appetizer. No desert - we mostly lay off sweets these days. No gifts for each other, just cards. Probably catch up on the 2 latest episodes of "The Mandalorian" after dinner.

Good day.....

 

[MBAustin]

My Weber Genesis is 10.5 years old and stays outside uncovered all year (I grill once a week or so even through the winter). I replaced the igniter and the 2nd one went out so I've just gone with the butane lighter. I have replaced the grates and bars once. Just noticed yesterday that the wheels are starting to crack. But I don't move it often so i'm not going to deal with that anytime soon.

Put up the outdoor lights this afternoon and then started on the indoor trees. Usually takes me 2-3 days to put up all the ornaments as I like to take my time and only do a few at a time.

 

[MichaelB]

Thanks for clarifying this. I bought a Weber E-310 32,000 BTU 3 burner grill when we moved into our current home a few years ago. I don't recall having too much difficulty assembling the grill but do recall the paper manual was not as "refined" as it could have been. It really looked unprofessional for such a highly rated grill seller.

Although the grill has performed very well, my biggest gripes with the grill have to do with the quality, as the push button igniter quit about a year or so after normal use and the plastic wheels disintegrated last year. The grill is kept outside under a cover and I really didn't expect the plastic wheels to deteriorate as quickly as they did.

I’ve had 2 previous Weber Genesis and like the grill. Both had problems with igniter and wheels, also grates and flavorizer bars.

This time I got another Genesis, with 4 burners. My DD and SIL have one and I like it much more. This is my “blow that dough” treat for the year.

The things I didn’t appreciate during assembly are the large number of plastic or vinyl screws, the plastic screw anchors that can’t be removed once pushed in, the dexterity needed for some of the screws, the lack of clear identification of the parts, and the desynchronization between the print assembly guide and the 3d assembly app. It’s still a good grill and I’m sure it’ll get lots of use, but the assembly was a PITA. Their engineers could learn a lesson from Ikea.

Note - Home Depot and Lowe’s sell them assembled but had none in stock, and even if they did have some, they are for store pickup. I have no way of getting one home so not an option.

 

[steelyman]

Note - Home Depot and Lowe’s sell them assembled but had none in stock, and even if they did have some, they are for store pickup. I have no way of getting one home so not an option.

That’s a drag. My newer Weber is from Lowe’s and they assembled and delivered.

I agree with comments about assembly instructions and lifespan of igniters (although my 2018 igniter still works).

 

[skipro33]

Stocked up on the groceries today. We have enough now to make it through to 2021 at least. Beef is a little sparse, with a decent rib eye at over $11 a pound. I'm hoping Christmas prime ribs will go on sale and I'll carve my own. But if not, then that's o.k. too.
Met the oldest son with two of our grand daughters in the Starbucks parking lot where we tailgated a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate and shared Christmas lists for the cherubs. The weather is warm, mid 60's and almost no wind. Very pleasant. Tomorrow is soon enough for decorating, just gonna keep the chill going with a glass of wine.

 

[finnski1]

Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. (DW has the patience of Job to have tolerated me for this long.) We are keeping to ourselves for the obvious reasons. We had a long walk with the dog, then we went for a hike in a county park not far from us (sans dog) - one of the premier rock-climbing areas in the eastern US. We are preparing a dinner of shrimp & fresh mushrooms over pasta plus steamed broccoli and a small salad - a few seared sea scallops for an appetizer. No desert - we mostly lay off sweets these days. No gifts for each other, just cards. Probably catch up on the 2 latest episodes of "The Mandalorian" after dinner.

Good day.....

Congrats. Sounds like a great day to me.

 

[Time2]

I have a Char-broil tru infrared. It's probably 15 yrs old and I have replaced the infrared grates once and they need replacement now along with the covers that go above the flame. It's probably worth spending on because everything else is still good. But I have a question about a part that I have seen on many grills, I don't know it's use. I have a poor picture, it's still in the original bag. It is a stiff wire about 6" long and both ends are bent in a ring about a 1/2" in diameter. It is connected to a chain and hangs on the outside of the side of the grill. You can see the bottom ring pretty well, the one on top is the same.

 

[chicamuxen]

I have a Char-broil tru infrared. It's probably 15 yrs old and I have replaced the infrared grates once and they need replacement now along with the covers that go above the flame. It's probably worth spending on because everything else is still good. But I have a question about a part that I have seen on many grills, I don't know it's use. I have a poor picture, it's still in the original bag. It is a stiff wire about 6" long and both ends are bent in a ring about a 1/2" in diameter. It is connected to a chain and hangs on the outside of the side of the grill. You can see the bottom ring pretty well, the one on top is the same.

I think it is a match holder. Never used mine though,lol.

 

[Chuckanut]

I trimmed back my rosemary bush. An article I read suggested doing that in the late Fall so that the rosemary does not become very 'woody'. The rosemary also tends to overwhelm everything else in the area so it needs to be trimmed back to its assigned area of the garden.

 

[Gumby]

I have a dedicated rosemary bed. Because it will die off if the winter gets cold enough, I have a small greenhouse that I built for it several years back. I installed the greenhouse on Friday. That will allow me to have fresh rosemary all winter and also ensure that it survives until spring.

 

[steelyman]

PayPal has a current offer of no fees on crypto through 2020.

I bought a small amount of Bitcoin and Litecoin out of sheer curiosity. It was definitely easy. [emoji3]

 

[Walt34]

...But I have a question about a part that I have seen on many grills, I don't know it's use. I have a poor picture, it's still in the original bag. It is a stiff wire about 6" long and both ends are bent in a ring about a 1/2" in diameter. It is connected to a chain and hangs on the outside of the side of the grill. You can see the bottom ring pretty well, the one on top is the same.

I think it is a match holder. Never used mine though,lol.

Correct, it is a match holder. I haven't used mine either but I'm certain that if I throw it out I'll need it the next day. That's how those things work.

 

[travelover]

Withdrew from my IRA and had 100% withheld for Federal taxes. I don't do quarterly tax payments and this covers the dividends and capital gains in my taxable accounts.

 

[Souschef]

Well, it was a very interesting day. We were sitting in the house around noon and all of a sudden the sun was blocked out. We went outside and saw there was a fire in the river bottom about a half mile from our home. We had strong Santa Ana winds blowing the fire to the west away from us.

The river is almost dry most of the year, and an invasive plant called arundi grows there. It is sort of like bamboo, and is flammable. There are also homeless encampments in the river bottom, and numerous fires have been started.
Anyhow, we were told to evacuate, and we did along with a neighbor and her GD, as she did not have her car.
We went to the local senior center, where they were set up to receive evacuees, but we were the only ones there. Around 2:30 we got the all clear to return home. When we got home, we were surprised to find we had no power. So we got out the candles and battery lights and some blankets, preparing for a long dark evening.
At about 6:30, the power was restored, and all was well, except for resetting the clocks and timers.

 

[JP.mpls]

I've been working on my new (old Florida townhome).
The place is a little worse than I expected. There is a surprise.

Anyway, I started with replacement of the old carpet in the bedrooms. I'm painting both rooms in the process.

I decided on some of this new manufactured wood flooring. It should look nice. I brought all my carpentry tools down here, but ended up paying for an installation job, because it was reasonable, and I have plenty of work to do here.

We were scheduled for install this Thursday. I removed all the carpet, removed old base trim, removed all the doors, and painted the door and window trim.

I'm still going to add extra deck screws to the plywood floors, and paint the walls.

The flooring place just called, claimed my wood was late (it was in according to a previous call), and the installer is taking longer with an existing job.
They want to reschedule for after the holidays.

WTH: Welcome to construction in 2020.
I got pissed at first, but calmed down after a few evening beers. Life is too short to get mad.

I do have company coming over new years. Hope they dont mind plywood flooring in their bedroom.

Take care, JP

 

[ls99]

Driving to coffee shop, the ABS light came on in my 2012 Caddy.
Then displayed Traction OFF, etcccc... and finally AWD disabled. After coffee and chatting with the usual suspects in the coffee shop, headed to the nearest parts dealer. Needed some other stuff from them anyway. Asked if they could scan for the ABS codes. They usually do it for free.

No said the guy, they are not allowed per our protective father guardian, the Guv.. Some story about someone may have have sneezed in the car. OK. Asked if I can borrow the scan tool, he said yes, just need your license. Handed it over, walked to car, three minutes and some button pushing later the verdict: Right Front speed sensor intermittent. It really means a new hub with the embedded magnetic stuff. A royal pain to remove, steel bearing hub in Aluminium carrier. Hello favorite mechanic in a few days. What is money for anyway?

The upside, he noticed my veteran status on the license, got a nice discount on the stuff I wanted, as I returned the scanner.

 

[MRG]

We had an old buck mule deer this morning at our patio, laying there chewing it's cud. It's not supposed to be here now, should have migrated to lower altitudes for grazing in the winter. Perhaps he's too weak to make the trip or he knows we're not getting much snow this year?

I picked up breakfast at McDonald's on my way to have a phlebotomy done. I mentioned it to the gal at the drive through but she didn't understand. She thinks I had a lobotomy scheduled.

The draw went off with no problems; chatting with the gal as she was tending to the line and bag I mentioned I used to pass out when anyone looked at me sideways. She was concerned, made me sit and drink water, but it was all good. I'm a little dizzy and my BP is naturally dropping. I had one of these in March and had to go off my BP meds till October. My PCP thinks one a quarter will eliminate the need for meds.

 

[Nemo2]

She thinks I had a lobotomy scheduled.

A sure tip off will be if she charges you 20 times the going rate on your next visit.

 

[street]

Went to ranch and worked on a window shelf. One that extends out at the bottom of the window. Everything I do there is with hand tools so things get a little crude.

I then went down to the river willows and cut some 26 inch logs for carving and sledded them out. The beavah have downed these trees and have laid for 3 to 5 years. No snow yet and has been in the 40's and 50's so been taking advantage of that.

 

[harley]

I've been working on my new (old Florida townhome).
The place is a little worse than I expected. There is a surprise

Not really that bad. When we bought our place in Bonita we had new windows installed in July. When we got back in Nov. we opened one of the windows and about 10,000 fire ants poured in. It's always an adventure in SWFL.

 

[NW-Bound]

Made a quick errand to get some food items and hardware at Home Depot for a project before starting a self-quarantine tomorrow.

My children who live in town will also be starting their 10-day quarantine, so that we can get to enjoy meals together, starting on Dec 19.

 

[doneat54]

Lit up 2 brush piles at the farm. 4" of snow on the ground and NH requires no permitting, time of day restrictions if the ground is covered with snow. 20lb propane tank and that Harbor Freight flame thrower gets the job done.

Now time to eat the very last of the Thanksgiving leftovers.

 

[jollystomper]

Got the outside Christmas lights up. Got the tree up and positioned.

It looks like it will get over 40 degrees by 1pm here, so I plan to take a break and go golfing for the afternoon, then finish up with the tree garland/lights so that DW can decorate it.

 

[pb4uski]

Last week I ordered a couple pizzas for a gathering of our pod... the credit card alert on my phone and the receipt both say $53.50... the credit card says $56.50... I can't remember the last time I saw a discrepancy like that.

Disputed the $3 excess and it is all sorted but very odd in my experience.

 

[ugeauxgirl]

I got up and lazed around awhile. Then I worked out, planted some bulbs (I was supposed to have done that 2 weeks ago) and did a few house chores. After lunch I'm going to work on my potting shed, and tonight I have a girls night out. We're going to make wood crafts. And drink wine, of course.