We barbecued for the first time this year, and Geri, Jen, Jim, Kathy and Gwen showed up to throw the ball for Tillamook. John and Jana came over when they were finished flying trikes in Lodi, and before doing anything else, John took Vic's Bolt out for a test ride and pronounced it acceptable.
After discovering that the marinade was flammable, it looks like I'll be eating chicken for the next few days.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
May 27th
Vic's been watching "Game of Thrones" clips on Youtube, so we got the first 3 seasons on DVD, and started watching them.
May 26th
Today was the day off for Memorial Day, when Americans celebrate their war dead by going shopping. I fixed the central locking on the van (the sliding door had stopped working, and it turned out to be a bad earth), and cut the grass. Good times.
May 25th
We were both tired after a long day yesterday, so we watched "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "I, Frankenstein". Both good films, but I think they're trying to build Frankenstein into a series.
May 24th
We went to San Rafael for Jim's 50th birthday party. Well, his birthday was months ago, but that was the excuse. There were a bunch of kids there, playing in the pool, including a fully clothed John. We saw some people I haven't seen in years and years, so it was nice to get out of the house :o)
Saturday, May 24, 2014
May 23rd
I'd managed to get an invitation to the BMW i3 launch event at Roseville, so we went over and took a look at those. They're interesting to drive, as when you take your foot off the gas, it starts regenerative braking. I think I only used the brakes a couple of times on the test drive. I like it, and would probably go for the middle of the range "Giga" version, as the cloth seats seem more practical in this climate. I wanted to see the range extender in action, but they're not around just yet.
On the way home, we did some shopping, and got some pots and a dragon statue for the garden.
We then watched "Gravity", which was a good movie. I did wonder if they ever found her though :o)
Later, I went to Lincoln and changed the spark plugs for the plane, and re-routed the cylinder head temperature gauge probes, as one of them still seems to read stupidly high some times. I took the plane out for an hour or so, and if the gauge is to be believed, one cylinder still seems to read a fair bit higher than the other one - not into the red though, so I'm not overly worried yet. I think it needs a new probe.
When I got home, I threw the pictures I have into a couple of timelapses:
While I was up, I saw this, and from a distance, it looks like a crashed plane.
As I got closer though, it doesn't look as real. I found it on Google Maps, so it's been there for a while. I think it's a sculpture :o)
On the way home, we did some shopping, and got some pots and a dragon statue for the garden.
We then watched "Gravity", which was a good movie. I did wonder if they ever found her though :o)
Later, I went to Lincoln and changed the spark plugs for the plane, and re-routed the cylinder head temperature gauge probes, as one of them still seems to read stupidly high some times. I took the plane out for an hour or so, and if the gauge is to be believed, one cylinder still seems to read a fair bit higher than the other one - not into the red though, so I'm not overly worried yet. I think it needs a new probe.
When I got home, I threw the pictures I have into a couple of timelapses:
As I got closer though, it doesn't look as real. I found it on Google Maps, so it's been there for a while. I think it's a sculpture :o)
May 22nd
I've discovered that the faucet fitting under the sink in the bathroom is leaking somewhere, so I replaced the washer on the cold tap side. I've left newspaper on the bottom of the cabinet so I can hopefully see where it's coming from (I'm not convinced that it was the cold tap).
In the afternoon I went over to the airfield and took the Flightstar out for a bit. It was an odd day, with the wind coming from the West, but it wasn't too bad while I was up. After I'd landed, I was putting the plane away when Vince showed up. You can see our hangar door is open from miles away, so he'd come over to see what I was doing. Jim Volk also appeared, as it seems he's got a Piper in a hangar at Lincoln now, and doesn't have a rag and pole plane at Freedom Field any more. We agreed to meet at the house, and went for a (late) dinner with Vince.
In the afternoon I went over to the airfield and took the Flightstar out for a bit. It was an odd day, with the wind coming from the West, but it wasn't too bad while I was up. After I'd landed, I was putting the plane away when Vince showed up. You can see our hangar door is open from miles away, so he'd come over to see what I was doing. Jim Volk also appeared, as it seems he's got a Piper in a hangar at Lincoln now, and doesn't have a rag and pole plane at Freedom Field any more. We agreed to meet at the house, and went for a (late) dinner with Vince.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
May 21st
I'm supposed to be staying out of the sun, so I just tinkered around the house all day. I did ride the DRZ up and down the road, and the new front sprocket doesn't seem to be causing any sort of problem.
In the evening, John came over, and we went out for a late dinner and drinks.
In the evening, John came over, and we went out for a late dinner and drinks.
May 20th
After tooling around in Warcraft for a while, I went and got a couple of new tattoos. I managed to get home just in time for a teleconference at work, then spent the rest of the day playing around on the computer.
May 19th
I'm off this week, as I'm running up on the vacation time cap (again). I went and got my eyes tested in the morning, and the pupil dilation meant I was pretty much unable to do anything meaningful for the rest of the day. That's my excuse for playing Warcraft most of the day, and I'm sticking to it.
Monday, May 19, 2014
May 18th
We woke up pretty early, and after breakfast packed everything into the van to drive up to the launch zone and see everybody before heading home.
We didn't do a whole lot once we got home, as we were all pretty tired.
We didn't do a whole lot once we got home, as we were all pretty tired.
May 17th
We all woke up a bit later than we thought in the van and got everything packed up and to the launch zone. Vic went in the speed glide, but didn't banzai down the hill (or into the flag pole, eh John?) so she was probably 3rd. After that, we watched the rest of the flying, while Tilly played with her new friend Tucker, an 8 month old silver Labrador.
Friday, May 16, 2014
May 16th
They came an installed the new inverter. Now I just need to watch it to make sure it's all betterer. The new one looks slightly smaller to me, but it's still 3KW, so that's all that matters.
After work, we packed the van and Tilly up and headed to Lake McClure for the Coyote Howl, getting there pretty late.
After work, we packed the van and Tilly up and headed to Lake McClure for the Coyote Howl, getting there pretty late.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
May 12th
I installed a 16 tooth front sprocket on the DRZ. After notching the chain guard on the swingarm. I then had to trim the case saver. The idea is that this'll stop the poor little thing screaming its guts out at freeway speeds, and not cause the chain to be too long like going to a smaller rear sprocket. Now I just need to get the time / inclination to test ride it.
May 11th
It was still to gusty to think about flying, so I just wasted the day pottering around the house and playing Warcraft.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
May 10th
It was stupidly windy, so I wasted the day playing Warcraft, catching up on TV and cutting the grass (I'm hoping it'll be better tomorrow and I can go flying or something...).
In the evening, we watched The Dark Knight.
In the evening, we watched The Dark Knight.
May 9th
I emailed my CAA letter to my aviation doctor, and he said it looked fine, so he'll send that on to them. No, I don't know why they won't work directly with me, as it's not like he can add any value at the moment.
In the evening, we went to Scott's to see Jason, who's in town for the weekend. It was cool to see a bunch of people we haven't seen for ages.
In the evening, we went to Scott's to see Jason, who's in town for the weekend. It was cool to see a bunch of people we haven't seen for ages.
Friday, May 9, 2014
May 8th
I've been battling with the Campaign Against Aviation about my medical, and they've finally started listening. I need to send them a letter explaining how I fly (really?), so we went to the airfield to take pictures of the modifications to the Flightstar. Hopefully I can get that sent to my doctor tomorrow, and he can send it on to them so we can argue about it next week.
On the way back from Lincoln, we stopped at Lowe's to look for some rubber cone grommets that fit on the hose into the tap in the bathroom - it's started leaking. Home Depot didn't have anything last time I checked, and Lowe's at least have them on their website. The Lincoln store said they'd stopped stocking them about 3 months ago, and on the drive to the Roseville store, I looked them up on my phone. They couldn't find any, and the search for the part number was fruitless. At ACE Hardware, we found them, so I bought enough to replace every one in the house and still have spares.
On the way back from Lincoln, we stopped at Lowe's to look for some rubber cone grommets that fit on the hose into the tap in the bathroom - it's started leaking. Home Depot didn't have anything last time I checked, and Lowe's at least have them on their website. The Lincoln store said they'd stopped stocking them about 3 months ago, and on the drive to the Roseville store, I looked them up on my phone. They couldn't find any, and the search for the part number was fruitless. At ACE Hardware, we found them, so I bought enough to replace every one in the house and still have spares.
May 7th
I went to the EAA board meeting. Sounds like we're moving forward well with the Young Eagles program, and should be flying kids in July.
I belted home to meet John for dinner :o)
I belted home to meet John for dinner :o)
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
May 5th
I've been tracking the problems with the inverter, and sending screenshots like this:
to the manufacturer and the installer. Today I sent them loads, and the new support guy on the ticket at the manufacturer said we should just replace it, and he's going to send a replacement to the installer :o)
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| Light blue is solar generation. |
May 4th
Happy Star Wars Day. We watched the excellent MotoGP race from Jerez. We also tried the Walkydog with the Mook and Vic running - we'd cycle past her, then turn around and chase after her. While she's still not all out running, Tilly's getting faster than the trot she usually adopts when bolted to my pushbike.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
May 3rd
I spent a little time removing the hot water pump in the bathroom, so I can send it back to be fixed... it seems to have a problem with one of the circuit boards, and I'm just done dealing with it.
I started out trying to install a 2 DIN JVC stereo that John gave us in the Jeep. I took the old Sony out, only to find that I needed an adapter, as there's no surround to connect the cage. I put the Sony back in. We went to lunch and stopped at Frys to pick the adapter kit up. When we got back, I installed the adapter on the JVC, and took the Sony out again. I then took the CANBUS adapter off the Sony, cut the wires and soldered that to the JVC loom, then went to install it in the Jeep to find that there are a couple of brackets that make this impossible. I'm not the first to find this, so it looked like I'd be doing some cutting in there. Joy.
After a bit of concentration, I figured out how to remove the mounting bracket at the back, and jam the stereo under the plastic bracket, without any cutting. With Vic's help, we managed to get everything plugged in and mounted. Yay us. It even works how it's supposed to :o)
I started out trying to install a 2 DIN JVC stereo that John gave us in the Jeep. I took the old Sony out, only to find that I needed an adapter, as there's no surround to connect the cage. I put the Sony back in. We went to lunch and stopped at Frys to pick the adapter kit up. When we got back, I installed the adapter on the JVC, and took the Sony out again. I then took the CANBUS adapter off the Sony, cut the wires and soldered that to the JVC loom, then went to install it in the Jeep to find that there are a couple of brackets that make this impossible. I'm not the first to find this, so it looked like I'd be doing some cutting in there. Joy.
After a bit of concentration, I figured out how to remove the mounting bracket at the back, and jam the stereo under the plastic bracket, without any cutting. With Vic's help, we managed to get everything plugged in and mounted. Yay us. It even works how it's supposed to :o)
Thursday, May 1, 2014
April 30th
I went with Vic to watch her water aerobics class. It's the first time I've been to the facility, and it's pretty good.
John's in town, and we met up briefly in the evening.
John's in town, and we met up briefly in the evening.
April 27th
We watched the excellent MotoGP race from Argentina.
I just wasted the day, as it was a weird weather time, but I did get out and cut the grass. It was full of leaves, so that took ages, and filled the green waste bin to the top.
I just wasted the day, as it was a weird weather time, but I did get out and cut the grass. It was full of leaves, so that took ages, and filled the green waste bin to the top.
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