June 29th

I started my day taking the car to the dealer for a software update.  They said 4 hours, and I figured they'd be done a lot quicker than that, as, hey, it's a software update.  So I wandered over to the Roseville Honda motorcycle dealer, hoping to see a 2022 Grom - their web site says they have some in stock, but that's not the case :o(

I was wandering over towards Wendy's to get a drink or something when Randy called to say he was trying to figure out some stuff on his air conditioner.  When he said it wouldn't start a while back, I suggested the start capacitor, or maybe the motor.  He's changed the capacitor, and it's still having problems, so he bought a new motor and was trying to figure out the wiring.  I said I was free if he wanted to come and get me, so he did.  We had to go through the drive-through at Wendy's as there's still no inside service :o(

We got his AC fixed and running, then took a quick look at his breaker panels - we'd been intending to run in a 60A socket for a car charger for a while.  I'd ass-u-me'd that the power went from the outdoor breaker panel sideways to the panel in the garage that's right next to it, but obviously it actually runs up, which means passing a wire between the two would be tricky.  We agreed to try a 40A socket off the inside panel, and he dropped me back at the car dealer while he went to a retirement lunch.

I sat and played with my phone for a while, and when they called me, I assumed the car was finished.  It seems they needed a battery for the device that does the upgrade, but it should be done by the end of the day.  I said I was in the lobby already (as the car was pretty much due to be finished,) so how about I come and get it and we can try again later in the week.  After a brief pause, it was agreed that it would be done in about an hour, and it was.

I took the car home and got the van, then went over to Randy's to pick him up.  He was replacing the heater / AC fan in the car he's about to sell, so we got that done, then went and bought the stuff we needed for his car charger and picked up another toilet so I can replace the one in the master bathroom with the same one that's in the guest bathroom.  We also bought gas, lots of gas, and dropped it at the airport.

Back at Randy's we found that the only 40A breaker that Home Depot had was the wrong one, but we'd turned off the power by then, so we pressed on and got everything ready for the breaker.  We went and got a refund for the wrong breaker, and had to go to Lowes for the right breaker.  That got wired in, installed, and as of the time of writing, his house hasn't burned down yet.  Of course, the charger won't be here until the end of the week.

June 28th

I'm off this week to get some things and stuff done.  I'd been supposed to meet Randy, but he wasn't feeling well after a dodgy taco or something, so I figured I'd start installing the new toilet in the guest bathroom - Vic had pointed out that it didn't flush properly, and was talking about trying to unblock it.  I suggested it would be easier to just replace it - it's over 25 years old, after all.  Anyway, I pulled the old one out, then went and tinkered around on the interwebs for a bit.  Then I figured I'd see how I did installing the new one (they're heavy) by myself.  I got it all installed and bolted together, then ran into a problem (other than the wall where the old tank was needing painting) - the water hose isn't long enough.

It's not as easy as just replacing the hose, as it's all one unit, including the tap, so I need to turn the water to the house off.  I went and got the parts I needed, then went to the airport and took the plane out for a while - I flew over Randy's, Chris' and Vic's work, but nobody came out and waved at me, so I went back to Lincoln.

When I got home, we shut off the water and installed the new hose for the toilet.  I couldn't get the old olive out, and the tap leaked the first time we turned it on.  We tightened it up a ridiculous amount, and it seems fine now.  The new toilet's a lot quieter than the old one :o)

June 27th

I went to the airport to meet Jarron with his Bandit gyroplane - we got it out of the trailer and put it all together.

We then flew over to Cameron Park in the Magni to see how Chris and Tim were getting on installing his exhaust..

It was mostly on, and I built up the heater box before we went and got pizza.  T'other Chris was having problems with the fuel pump on his Sportstar, but he'd gone by the time we got back.

Having installed the heater box to the exhaust, we flew back to Lincoln.

You can just about see the crashed Cherokee from our gate into the airport.  It's easy to see from the pattern.

June 26th

We got up and headed out to Folsom to pick up Vic's new bicycle at Folsom, then went home.  I headed out to the airport to fly to Auburn, and Vic rode her motorcycle up to meet Chris and Tim.  I was early, so I may have meandered around a little on the way :o)

I followed Jimmy in, in his Q200, and he parked over where we usually stop to say "hi".

There was also a couple of guys in a CGS Hawk and Team Mini-MAX, but I didn't see them to say "hi."  We've seen the aircraft before, we just don't know where they're based.

Dave and family were at the driving range in Roseville for somebodyorother's birthday, so I flew over there on the way home.

I chatted to a guy flying in in a Bonanza, to start with I pointed out that the wind was favouring (just) 33, and offered to orbit so he could fly straight in (he was coming from the South.)  He landed after me, and said he'd hit my rotor wake (doubtful, but I humoured him) on finals, and his stall warner had gone off :o)

Before leaving the airport, I went to see Tony, and find out what the Cherokee was doing in the field just to the East of the airport.  Seems the kid had fuel starvation (we won't suggest he ran the tank dry just yet) and dumped it into the field.  Sounds like it's a write off :o(

June 24th

I went to the airfield to meet a guy who's interested in putting one of his single seat gyros in the hangar.  He's gone away to figure out which one :o)

June 20th

Randy wanted to go for a flight before heading down to Disneyland for a few days, so we went for a flight along the Bear Creek.

We chatted to Bill for a while when we got back, then I dropped Randy home.

Vic and I had looked at getting her a new bicycle earlier in the year, but there was nothing available.  We have talked about the Rad Mission as a beginner electric bike, but the Trek dealer in Folsom was listing an orange Dual Sport 3 in stock, so we went to take a look.  It was in the warehouse, unbuilt, so we couldn't look at it, but she sat on the right size in the wrong colour (but couldn't ride it because it was sold,) and saw the right colour in the wrong size, and liked it so we paid for the one in the warehouse intending to pick it up next weekend.

And then they called to say it was actually already built so we could go back and see it and take it home if she wanted it, but we missed the call.  Oops.

I got to track down and fix a problem with one of the speakers at home, and replace a malfunctioning timer switch for the house fan.  Progress.

In the evening, we watched "Thor: The Dark World," so I believe I'm currently up to date on Marvel movies.

I asked Tilly who's her favourite, and she looked at Vic, then went and stood by her, leaning against her.  So, if anybody wants a dog, she'll be tied to the lamp post out the front of the house.

June 19th

Randy's bought a Chevy Bolt down in Lancaster, so needed to go and get it.  Chris was going to take him in his RV-6A, but Randy needed to get to Cameron Park.  He'd talked about flying his gyro over and leaving it out overnight and having me take him over to pick it up on Sunday, but I pointed out that it would make more sense for me to take him over on Saturday morning.

When I got back to Lincoln, I went and had breakfast at the EAA hangar before heading home.

Vic had taken Tilly to the dog park, so Tilly spent the rest of the day whining about her poor feet, her poor legs, her poor back and so on.  She got a couple of rubs of the CBD roller in her ears, and that fixes everything for a few hours :o)

Randy picked up his car, and I fielded questions that the damn Chevrolet dealer didn't seem to know the answer to about the recall (that's affected 5 cars in the whole fleet so far - far more internal combustion engine'd cars have burnt up in the same period.)  I then talked him through his first DC fast charge  on his way home, and helped figure out his next stop.

Oh, and we watched "Iron Man 3."  I'd been disappointed in "Iron Man 2" so never bothered watching it.

June 13th

We flew to Auburn for breakfast.

After lunch, we flew back.  It's suddenly warmed up, so it's been quite bumpy.

On the plus side, you can see all the way to Tahoe or the Coastal Range.

June 12th

I got to Randy's early to pick him up, but he wanted to haul 20 gallons of gas, so we took his truck to the airport.  We got our stuff packed up and flew to Placerville for their Young Eagles event, getting there pretty early (Judi had said the pilot briefing was 08:00, but it turned out to be closer to 08:45).

Chris joined us, and the gyros then flew 4 kids each (everybody else did 3 at most) - we'd agreed we'd fly North of the airport to keep out of everybody else's way :o)

My favourite kid was probably the last one, as he's afraid of heights, so I said we could land at any time - he really enjoyed the flight :o)

When it was all over, we flew back to Lincoln - it was much bumpier, and I guess I'd got used to having extra weight to damp out the thermals and gusts.  Still, it was like 14:00, so I'd have been at home if I was still flying the Flightstar.

Randy drove me home, and we watched "Tenet," a movie he's been on at us to watch since he saw it at the cinema.

After the movie, we went back to his place to look at his breaker boxes - he's set his mind to getting an electric car, and wants to install a level 2 charger in preparation, so we peered at things and made plans.  I'm not making up a shopping list until we've taken the covers off everything, but we want to shut the power down to the house to do that.

June 7th

Woo... my new passport arrived.  Now I can go... oh, right, nowhere.

June 6th

I pottered around the house for the morning, then went to the airport to do some work on the plane.  I did the basic torque checking stuff, then went out for a flight - I did a big loop.

When I got back, I pulled the wheels off and cleaned everything, then put them all back together again in a bid to fix the squeaking brakes.  Ken and Tony are supposed to be figuring out how to mount Matco wheels and brakes, and I'm interested to see what they come up with - it should be a lot cheaper than the $3000 Beringers.

June 5th

We got up early and flew to Placerville for their pancake breakfast.

It was supposed to be Canards West's fly in at Columbia, and they were supposed to be at Placerville, but there was only one Long-EZ there :o(  There was, however, a nice old Waco and an Austin 7 :o)

After breakfast, and chatting with people about the gyroplanes, we flew home again.

In the evening, we watched "Angel Has Fallen."

June 2nd

We fired up the barbecue, for the first time in forever :o)

June 1st

A new month, so here are the stats...

Power billed

Power generated

May 31st

Today was Memorial Day, when Americans honour their war dead by going shopping.

Randy and I had talked about flying early, so he texted me first thing, and I picked him up on the way to the airport.  We flew a big loop around the Beale class C airspace.

I stopped at his place on the way home, as he's trying to convince himself, and his wife, that they want an electric car.  So Elise, and then Randy, drove around playing with the regenerative braking and suchlike.  He also checked the interior leg room with him in the front seat and his freakishly tall teenage son in the back.  It passed, so they're going to carry on looking at them.

After tinkering around at home for a little while, we went and met Randy and Elise for lunch before coming home to stay out of the heat.