travels and images

WEEK 9 2016

Last Week- Sun- Mon- Tue- Wed- Thur- Fri- Sat- Next Week

Picture of the Week

MAIN PAGE

Oxnard Weather Underground

Lancaster Weather Underground

Martinez WeatherUnderground

Fourteen
Years
Ago,
This
Week
2002

Thirteen Years Ago, This Week, 2003

Twelve Years Ago, this week, 2004

Eleven Years Ago, this week, 2005

Ten Years Ago, This Week, 2006

Nine Years Ago, This Week, 2007

Eight Years Ago, This Week, 2008

Seven Years Ago, This Week, 2009

Six Years Ago, This Week, 2010

Five Years Ago,
This Week,
2011

Four Years Ago,
This Week,
2012

Three Years Ago,
This Week,
2013

Two
Years
Ago
This
Week
2014

One
Year
Ago
This
Week,
2015

Saturday 27 February 2016

Saturday - Went to yard sales in the morning, picked up a few small office stationary supplies. Then lunch with friends and back to the house.

My hands have swollen up again and hurt, and I couldn't type or work in the yard, or - really - do much at all. I wanted to paint, but it'd be stupid to aggravate this problem more.

Annoying, as the weather was really nice. My peach tree is blossoming, as are all the Douglas Pear and Cherry trees around town.

The Matilija Poppy I planted last week seems OK, happier than it was in the little pot at any rate.

The new Defender marine catalog showed up, yay, there are things I need and it's a lot less pricey than West Marine.

Book #11 was Ghost Story (Dresden Files #13). At the end of the last book Dresden gets his daughter back, kills the entire Vampire race, and dies. Now he's a ghost, but you know how it is: a wizard detective ghost's work is never done....

Friday 26 February 2016

Friday - Back in Lancaster, tired but happy to be mostly done with the inspection stuff.

Thursday 25 February 2016 Thursday - OTR. A little bit of work stuff, but mostly working on the boat.

Just another tequila sunrise... (Actually I ran out of liquor, the boat is dry right now.)

I pulled the batteries, an interesting task. These were Group 27 flooded lead acid, maybe 70 pounds each, and very difficult to reach. I had to take a few other things apart to get them out, then lifting them at strange angles and extensions of my arm.

I thought I'd replaced them when I bought the boat, but they are dated the fall of 2004, two years before I bought the Norsea, so I guess not. Twelve years is a really long time for lead acid batteries, so I can't complain I guess.

I talked to Tim about what to replace them with, the cheaper stuff at Walmart or more pricey but more reliable Trojan or Diehard (people who use the Walmart Exide batteries as trolling motors say they replace them yearly!).

Those just taken out were manufactured by 'PowerStride', which Tim's contacts say is roughly equivalent to a Trojan, but costing about $60 more, per battery. I think I'll pick up some Trojans next week.

I also did some other minor chores and cleaning, and did another fit of the new sail cover, this time taking pictures so that Sheryl could see what it looked like.

I was going to put up the new running rigging, but didn't have a needle and thread to connect the new & old. Next time.

Late in the day I headed home to Lancaster, where the cats just yawned at my return.

Wednesday 24 February 2016

Wednesday - OTR. Down in Saticoy, looking at punch list items that Tim sent me, and a few of my own. Then over to his office to discuss things, then over to the PRD office to finalize some as-builts, drop them off, and discuss them with Chris, our draftsman.

Dave was there, and I finally got (I think) a complete copy of the Grand Canyon trip last fall.

Back at the boat at roughly 8pm. For some reason I thought this work day would be shorter than the usual 12 hours. Not so...

The boat looked OK, despite our little rain the other day the bilges were dry. The batteries, both completely disconnected after charging for 48 hours last week, were completely dead. Guess I'll swap them out tomorrow. In the meantime the 110V lighting is fine.

The bollard forward was OK, hadn't pulled out. I haven't got the line snubbers yet, but when I do I'll attach them.

Tuesday 23 February 2016

Tuesday - I spent a full day getting what I could done on the final inspection stuff. It always takes longer that you thought...

Not much else to say.

Book #10 was Changes (Dresden Files #12), by Jim Butcher. Harry Dresden has a daughter, unknown to him, who has been kidnapped. This turns out to be a very bad idea for the kidnappers...

Monday 22 February 2016

Monday - It was warm again, in the 80's. Crazy stuff for February.

I did a bit of yard work in the morning, finishing a little flower bed around the new Matilija Poppy, picking up assorted debris and putting it away. There is still a lot to be done, but I had (paying) work to be done.

So I spent the entire afternoon doing that.

I also ordered some line snubbers from Amazon, for the boat. I really need to get that fixed up. They are about half price, compared to West Marine in store prices.

Sunday 21 January 2016

Sunday - Suffering from a bit of eyestrain, and didn't do much in the morning, but got back to things in the afternoon.

In the morning I did a bit of cleanup around the house, collecting books to go back to the library, putting away a few tools in the garage.

I haven't begun painting the trailer, I've been putting it off because of the review stuff I've been busy with,but it needs to be done.

I finally got around to digging up a spot for the Matilija Poppy that's been sitting on my kitchen counter for weeks, and was starting to look a bit droopy. I have to say, the dirt in my yard is pretty darn hard, once you get down a few feet.

I haven't done anything about that lot in Antelope Acres still, I'll call my guy tomorrow.

Picture of the Week

A dry canyon somewhere in Ventura County.

Last Week- Sun- Mon- Tue- Wed- Thur- Fri- Sat- Next Week