October 28th

We watched Captain America, which didn't suck too hard.  Now we need to see Thor before the new Avengers movie next year.

We went to watch CSI:NY only to find it was CSI:Miami, which we hate.  I wonder what happened to cause the change?

October 26th

After work, we got to sit in the hot tub for a soak :o)

October 25th

After work we went out and started on the hot tub.  I undid the heat sensor (that was caulked in!), then cut the sensor off the wire while Vic plugged the hole, then I plugged the hole while she taped the new wire to the old wire and pulled it through.  Then I screwed the new sensor (with it's la-di-da O ring) in, and went to wire it to the connector.  Here's where I discovered that it looks like there was possibly nothing wrong with the old one - the wires didn't look to be pushed in properly, and I'm betting that the controller fails to a high temperature when it's getting an intermittent read.  Bugger - still, I've cut the old wire, and the new one's fitted.  On turning the power back on, it read 88F, which is probably a lot closer to the truth than the 118F the old sensor was reading.  Yay.

We went out to get something to eat to celebrate, and so Vic could show me a local house that's decorated with spiders for Hallowe'en.  Some people here really get into their holidays :o)

October 24th

Vic took the van to get smogged, and the place I usually go couldn't do it "because they don't have the specifications".  I want it tested, not tuned, and they were perfectly happy to just test it the last 2 times it's been there.  Anyway...

Luckily the 2nd place she went were quite happy to just test it.  It passed, but the NOx was high on the 15mph test - I'm thinking that's because there's no exhaust gas recirculating system on it.  I'm not going to worry unduly, I'll just try and remember to put some good premium gas in it before the next smog test in 2 years.  I registered the van so I can cross that off my "to-do' list, even though it's not due until December.   It's $90, so I don't think the loss of interest on that'll kill me.

Oh, I went to the gym, and it wasn't as bad as I'd feared it was going to be.  Yay.

I spoke to the guys at the spa place, and they agreed that swapping the sensor out is fairly easy, but said I shouldn't just let the water leak out of the hole while I change it - apparently it can (so, with me, will) end up on the pumps and stuff, and that's bad.  Or something.  Anyway, I went ahead and ordered 2 sensors online (so I'll never have this happen again), as they have them in stock and the spa place suggested 2 weeks to get them in.  The place I ordered them from is in Roseville, by the look of things, so it would be nice if they arrive tomorrow.

We had a call from the pet microchip people, as our next door neighbour's put us down as an emergency contact for his dog.  That he's given to somebody else.  Of course, we can't find him at the moment, so Vic had a long conversation with the people who have found Jacobi... it sounds like he's not far from his new home, we just don't know where that is yet.  Hopefully we can grab Bill later and get him to sort all this out :o)

October 23rd

I got up early and went out and cursed the hot tub, as the temperature sensor has failed again, so it thinks it's running waaay too hot, and turns itself off.  I managed to get it to run long enough to add the last chemicals (to increase the water hardness), but it's now switched off.  I called the spa place, and they say the sensors are temperamental, but they'll look into things and call me tomorrow.  I did a little research, and it looks relatively easy to replace the sensor, and they're cheap enough that I'll just order 2, to make sure the first one lasts forever.

We were (well, Vic was) expecting a guinea pig looper to show up, so I cut the grass (the green waste bin is now full... shame I need to cut the grass again next weekend before it gets emptied) and wore Tilly out before she showed up, with 4 pigs that Vic's fostering for a while.

In the evening we watched Bad Teacher (predictable, but funny in places), and I then failed to get to sleep until about 4am.  Dunno why.

October 22nd

The Apocalypse was a bit of a disappointment.  Again.  I'm starting to think that Harold Camping hasn't got a clue WTF he's babbling about.

We went out and cleaned the hot tub, and filled it with water.

As I was sore, I spent a goodly chunk of the rest of the day pulling bits off the hedge down the side of the house.  I'm trying to make it less cluttered so it grows in better, to replace the volume we lost when Bill cut it back to the fence on his side.

After that, I ran some errands in the van, and looked at a few toys in Best Buy.  We'll see what happens when the Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales are on.  I got the water tested, and dumped a pile of chemicals in (calcium, cleaners and so on) while it was heating up.

In the evening, we walked Tilly down to Coldstone to get some ice cream.  I had something without any chocolate in it, so she could lick to tub clean when I was almost finished.

October 21st

After work we braved the coming Apocalypse and barbecued.  Scott and Becky came over, and brought Bug with them to entertain Tilly.

October 20th

My back's getting a little better, but now my shoulder's started to hurt - I usually tense up when I'm aching, so I think that's caused me to pull that muscle.  At this rate, I'll never get better :o(  I've been deliberately not going to the gym, so I don't screw myself up any more, but I'll try and get back there next week even if my back's still bad.  At least I can go on the stepping machine or a bicycle or something.

October 19th

Vic and Christina had watched Bridesmaids yesterday while I was working, and declared it to be funny, so Vic and I watched it after Christina had gone back to Monterrey.

October 17th

After work we watched Zookeeper - it was predictable, but funny enough.  Tilly enjoyed the animals :o)

October 16th

I was still feeling my back, so I pretty much just bummed around the house today.  It sucks to be getting old :o(

October 15th

Vic and Christina got up early and headed down to Lake McClure for their Oktoberfest meeting.  I stayed in bed, and after a while of not being able to get back to sleep, got up.  I tinkered around with the computer for a while before breaking down and cutting the grass.  At some point I've managed to hurt my back, I'm not really sure how.  I finished cutting the grass, and sat inside feeling miserable for a bit.  I had some errands to run, so I eventually dragged myself out to run them.

While I was out, Larry called and said he and Vince were going flying, so I toddled out to see if I felt like flying - I didn't.  There's a bunch of new junk in the hangar, as Ken's obviously been on some sort of buying spree.  Vince showed up, and has some very colourful bruises after his adventures on Thursday.  I went home, and just watched TV until the ladies got back, when I got to watch them unload the hang glider.

October 14th

Christina was coming up to stay with us for a while, so we waited around for her to show up.  Apparently there were 5 separate accidents on the way up.

While we were waiting, we got the Jeep all racked up - I've included a sacrificial aluminium bracket on the light bar that Dad suggested - the idea is that it'll stop the light bar being worn away by the ladder bouncing on it.

October 13th

Vince called me to say he'd been knocked off his bike for the first time in over 20 years.  It appears that some old dear did a U-turn from the right hand lane without looking, scooping him up on her way.  He's fine, but the bike'll be written off for the scuffs and dents.  He rode it over to show us before going to A&S to get a written quote.  As the fuzz showed up, and she admitted everything was her fault, it shouldn't be too hard to get this all sorted out.

October 12th

Despite the stupid holiday that nobody who doesn't work for the government celebrates, the new wheel nuts for the van showed up, and got fitted.  Yay.

Vince and I rode over to the Chinese buffet place for dinner, and he signed the annual off for the plane.  Yay.

October 10th

I received my wheel nuts for the van, only to find out I'd been sent 20 wheel bolts.  No, I don't understand the logic - stock Vanagons have 10 bolts and 10 nuts, the Syncro and vans with the big brake kit have 20 nuts, _nobody_ has 20 bolts :o)  I spoke to Van-Cafe, and they're sending the correct nuts and a label to send the bolts back :o)

In the evening, we watched X-Men: First Class, and thought it pretty good.

October 9th

We got up - I'd hardly slept as Russ snores like a train - and headed over to the Glen Canyon Dam.  After that we had the worst breakfast experience at a Denny's that I've ever had, then headed in to town to get the Antelope Canyon tour, where we took a bunch of pictures.  After that, we went to Horseshoe Bend, and then back across the Glen Canyon bridge on our way back to Las Vegas via Utah to fly home again.

October 8th

We got up early so Vic could drop me at the airport, where I flew to Las Vegas to meet Russ and Dad.  We rented a car (I'd hoped for a Cadillac CTS, but they were all out, so we got a Lincoln Towncar) and headed to the Hoover Dam to take some pictures.  After sorting out the GPS, we actually got there :o)  From there we drove to Page, Arizona, where we crashed the night.

October 5th

I sloped out of work a little early, and headed out to get the new tyres fitted to the van.  I was just up the road when there was a lot of noise coming from the back, so I was slowing down to pull over when I saw the wheel nuts fling off the rear wheel in the mirror.  I carefully stopped off the road, and went back to look for the wheel nuts.  I found 3, and put them back on, and went back to look again, and found another one.  At this point the police showed up.  2 cars.  Apparently somebody had called to say I was wandering around looking for something.  I gave up looking for the last nut, and just did the 4 I had up really tight and headed over to get the new tyres fitted.  They didn't have a spare that would fit, so I carefully drove home, then put on one of the stock wheel nuts.  Obviously I'm not driving with my usual wild abandon, but the new Geolandar tyres seem quiet and well mannered, which is what Stephan said he's seen with them on his Syncro.

I'll order a whole new set of wheel nuts tomorrow.

October 3rd

It's good to get back to work for a rest :o)

October 2nd

I ran Mum and Dad to the station so they could head down to Los Angeles, then went home to rest up and watch TV with Tilly.  Tilly's very tired, having had to entertain 4 people for the last week.

Vic went to Barktoberfest, but I just laid around the house.  Oh, and cut the grass.

October 1st

I was disappointed to find that the new tyres for the van won't be here until next week, so we dinked around the house most of the day, playing with Tilly while Mum and Vic went to an eggplant festival.  In the afternoon, Dad and I went to pick up another iPad Touch from Fry's, then on to the airfield so we could go up for a short flight - there was a cold front coming through, so we cut things short.

New month, new solar readings...

Power we've been billed for

Power we've generated

September 30th

We pretty much sodded about all day.  I did replace the worst of the wheels on the Vanagon with the spare, for the drive over to the tyre place when they're ready.

In the evening, we barbecued, and Vince and Jen came over to eat.