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WEEK 32 2019 

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Saturday 10 August  2019
Saturday - Low 90s, not bad.

I updated the Mac to the newest versions of Xcode and OSX.  I don't seen any big differences.


Mostly I took the opportunity to clean up the west office area, and the garage, in preparation for the termite people next week.  It was already pretty much cleared out in the bedroom, but took a bit longer than I expected despite that.

I put the concrete blocks I was using as desk legs for the standing desk out in the front yard. I think I'll dry stack them as a pony wall and see what it looks like. It was 7 blocks high, plus a 2x6 laid flat, and in fact felt a little bit too low at times.

And I found the other half of the lizard. Deceased and more than a little chewed upon by Budd.


Probably not much in the way of updates here for the next week or so while the work is being done.

Friday 9 August  2019
Friday - Into the low 90's, practically cold. Took a 2 miles + walk by myself in the morning, not bad despite starting well after 8.

Not much else going on. 

No progress on the car front. As a matter of fact my pre-approval from US Bank had lapsed and I redid it.  So it will be ready for any Labor Day sale.  Or whatever...

So far I've looked online at dealerships in San Diego, Los Angeles, Indio, Ventura, Simi Valley, Victorville, Barstow, Lancaster, Valencia, China Lake, Bakersfield, Modesto, Chico, Sacramento, Stockton, Red Bluff, Crescent City, and even Klamath Falls.  And others that I can't remember.

At this point I suppose am digging through the dregs of the 2019 inventory of the second most popular truck in the country.  So no surprise I can't get what I want.

Thursday 8 August 2019
Thursday - Hot, mid 90s.

I was scheduled to board Chihuahua's for a few days while my friends were out of town, but R is staying home, he has a cold, so I'm off the hook.


Q: What's worse than finding your cat with half a lizard?

Ans: Finding him with half a lizard...

Wednesday 7 August 2019
Wednesday - Hot, but not 103F!

Went for a walk in the morning, made some more car inquiries.  Not much going on - with the offices in disarray prior to the termite work next week there isn't a lot I can productively do.

Working on the sequel to Pacific Crucible.  It's not as "in detail" in the beginning, but gradually starts getting into it midway.  And now we are off Tarawa (Betio) getting ready to disembark the assault forces...and I kind of want to stop reading.  I know, generally, what happens next.

Tuesday 6 August  2019
Tuesday - Hot. 103F and slightly damper:  7% humidity.

Went for a walk in the morning, 83F when I started and 93F by the time I got home.

It is supposed to cool down a few degrees tomorrow.


Looking for a truck again.  Maybe I need to lower my sights, and settle for less.  Looking at a Victorville dealer now. The local guy, Hunter, is way too high.

Monday 5 August 2019
Monday - Hot. 103F and 4% humidity.  I think this is the lowest I've felt.  Kind of like being in Needles.


S had sent me a link about how car dealerships were pre-installing various gimmicky things and then charging beau-coup bucks to put the screws to the buyer. The Oxnard dealer is doing that.

With Truecar the dealer does not have to disclose "dealer-installed" equipment until you've made a specific inquiry.

In the case of this dealer the inquiry revealed a mandatory $900 GPS tracker, with GSM phone interface, for anti-theft, i.e. an increase of about 3% in the vehicles price. 

It's supposedly to the buyers advantage, but really it's so the dealer can shut down the car remotely, if someone doesn't pay their monthly or the vehicle is stolen from the lot.  I found the alarm-company-to-dealer sales pitch on slideshare.net: $50 for the hardware, $50 for the flat rate install, and $150 for dealer (not user) activation.  So the profit - remember they make it mandatory to pay the $900 - is $650 per vehicle.  If they turn over every vehicle in their lot in a year, 300 of them for this dealer, then they've made $195,00 free and clear!

The real kicker is that the system attached to the cars wiring with 10 or so T-taps, i.e. vampire taps.  And the ignition wire is cut and run through their box. Essentially they've vandalized the wiring harness of a new car or truck. And the unit is a piece of junk, the internet is full of people having problems with it and having to tear it out.

And those ten wires with nicked insulation have been sitting in the damp and moisture of Ventura for at least a year...

If the customer decides to activate it then it's another $200, and yes you can use an app to set up tracking, and a geo-fence, and a bunch of other stuff.  Pretty cool for a business or if you have kids, but utterly useless for me.  You can apparently get a better unit, installed, from Best Buy for much less than the $900 they want.

Sunday 4 August 2019
Sunday - Hot again. It was about 101F in the shade, as measured by me, and interestingly enough: 101F in the container without the a/c running and the metal doors just a few inches ajar..  In other words, it was outside air temperature, rather than 15 degrees higher, like the 119F I was seeing last week.  I didn't expect that.


Oddly enough I found a car dealer in Oxnard that seems to have what I want, vehicle wise, and I've made another TrueCar inquiry.



Picture of the Week

Suzy reaching for scooby snacks
Suzy intent on the bird feeder and visitor...

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