Chris is getting over a cold and the symptoms are just peaking for me, so we did not do too much this weekend. Chris met my mother Friday night after work and went to a boat parade in Newport Beach. I grabbed some Vietnamese noodle soup and went right to bed. Saturday I replaced the starter in Chris Honda and started installing an aftermarket cruise control in the pickup. I had it completely installed, but couldn't get it to work. We made a few changes, but it just wouldn't work. Sunday we went out to Dim Sum for brunch. We took another try at getting the cruise control working and Chris figured out what the problem was. It's working now, which is fantastic. The best part is we found in at a lock auto parts chain on clearance for $14. The kit normally costs about $130. Talk about a bargin. We went to my mother's house for an early Christmas dinner. They made a prime rib and a ham. The cold medicine hit me and I was dosing off after dinner.
We are spending Christmas in Oregon this year, with Chris' family. We are both eager to go. Being sick and with all the holiday activities, we're scrambling to get ready to go. Me more so than Chris. We are leaving early Tuesday afternoon, stopping over night in Williams, CA and then continuing Wednesday morning. This usuaully gets us into Coos Bay, OR by about 4 PM. Hopefully the weather won't be a big problem.
10/27/08
Not a lot going on right now. Chris is in Orlando, FL this week for a conference. She flew out Sunday morning. She is going to Disney World on Monday, attending the conference Tuesday through Fridan, and will be returning Friday night. We didn't do much Saturday. We ordered a new back door for the cabin, and we looked at cabinets for the laundry room. Besides being small, our house could used a little more storage. Who's couldn't right? After I dropped Chris off at the airport Sunday morning, I went up to the cabin. I needed some tools that were up there. While I was there I swept the parking area, swept the pine needles off the roof, and raked up three bags of pine needles. When I got home, I washed both cars and the pickup. The dogs were a little klingy. I guess they are feeling a little neglected.
My latest project is working on the pickup. Apparently the 88 to 95 TBI fuel injected GM pickups have a tendency to run a little lean. I ordered an adapter and pressure gauge for the fuel line and an adjustable fuel pressure regulator. Our truck runs pretty good, but it idles rough and I'm surprised that even with a 5.7 L (350 cid) that it doesn't have more power. I have decided to approach the project in two stages. The first stage is to determine what the current fuel pressure is, install the adjustable fuel pressure regulator and adjust it up to 13 PSI and see how it reacts. If that works out well, the second stage will involve installing a Throttle Body Spacer, injector spacer and Hypertech Powercharger from CMF Technologies. I do not intention to make this truck a screamer. I just want to make sure it's breathing as well as it should be, and if I squeeze a little more horsepower out of it so much the better. The previous owner said that the motor was replaced about 25,000 miles ago. It's got 275k, and runs very strong. I'm assuming that he was being truthful. A little extra performance will come in handy when trailering the bikes or driving up the mountain in the snow. My stepfather gave us a couple pairs of old chains. I'm hoping one of the sets will fit the truck.
10/13/08
Chris and I went to the cabin again this weekend. It was quite a bit cooler this weekend than it has been. Last week I replaced the knock sensor and wire lead in the truck. It seemed to run better, and the Check Engine light did not come on. Saturday morning I got up at 4 AM and started the smoker. The coals were ready around 5:15, which was when I put to pork shoulders on. I had quite a bit of trouble maintaining a constant temperature. I figure that was because of the lower outside temperature and a little bit of a wind. The smaller one was finshed around 6 PM. Just in time for dinner. It was not quite as tender as I had the first two that I did. The bigger shoulder took a little longer. I finally took in out of the smoker and finished it off in the oven. I did not shred it, but it felt more tender. Chris decided to start on the entryway. We purchased some solid Oak flooring to make repairs on our house in Buena Park. We decided to use that in the entryway of the cabin. Chris used all of the oak that we had up to the cabin, and finished all except about 8". She did a great job. It looks really nice. When she's done, I will tack down the carpet and trim it. I will look for some trim for the transition from the carpet to the oak.
9/29/08
Chris and I had another nice weekend. Friday night we went out for sushi and then packed up and headed for the cabin. Traffic was a little heavier than normal, but not too terrible. Saturday morning we just relaxed. Around noon we drove down the mountain, to Home Depot. We picked up some lumber for our next project and some plywood to finish the livingroom floor. Saturday afternoon, I laid tar paper on the sub floor, then cut the plywood to lay on top of the tar paper. We covered all of the area of the repaired section except a small area in front of the door. We are going to install some pre-finished solid oak in the entry area. Chris put some steaks on the barbeque while I finished up the floor. She cooked them perfectly. Sunday we had breakfast and just kind of hung out at the cabin. We talked about going to the outlets at Lake Arrowhead, but never made it. We stayed at the cabin long than we normally do. We had lunch at one of the diners by the cabin, and didn't leave until around 3:30. It was so nice at the cabin, I hated to leave.
9/22/08
Chris was feeling a little under the weather this weekend, so we kind of took it easy. We did not do much Saturday. Sunday we went to the Los Angeles County Fair. The weather was nice. Not too hot. We checked out the animals, watched a horse race, browsed through the products area, and of course sampled the food. For lunch we split a smoked turkey leg and a roasted ear of corn. For dessert we had a deep fried twinkie, deep fried Snickers bar and Indian fry bread with honey on it. I wanted to try a deep fried White Castle burger, but was kind of full by that point. The deep fried Twinkie was pretty good. The deep fried Snicker's bar was good but a little too much sugar. The Indian fry bread was good. Hot off the grill. We left early and I finished off the day by mowing the lawn. Next weekend is cabin weekend and I can't wait.
9/8/08
We did not do much this weekend. It was the weekend of international dining. Friday night we went out for German food. The meal was excellent. Saturday morning I rode the Suzuki down to Huntington Beach to get a hair cut. Late Saturday afternoon, Chris met my mother and they went to get massages. Saturday night Chris and I went out for Persian food. I really like lamb served at Persian restaurants. Sunday morning we took the motorcycles out for a ride. Chris and I swapped bike back and forth. This was Chris' first real opportunity to ride the Suzuki Bandit that we picked up recently. We went out to Trabuco Canyon. It was beautiful out there. In the mid afternoon, we went out for Indian food. The food was really good this weekend, but it's back to the diets again.
9/2/08
It's hard for me to believe that Labor Day has passed already. Chris and I had a real nice weekend. Friday night we had dinner with my mother and then headed up to the cabin. Early Saturday morning I took the wheels to the Suzuki down the hill to Chaparral and had them install some tires. My brother Marc and his wife Mary and their two dogs came up for a visit. They arrived shortly after I returned from the motorcycle shop. We visited for a while and then went for a hike with the dogs to the water fall. The water was very low, but there was plenty of shade. There was almost no water flowing over the waterfall, but there was still about three feet of water at the bottom. The dogs got to swim and play in the water. After hiking, we dropped the dogs off at the cabin and went to the village at Lake Arrowhead. We found a few bargins at the various shops. Marc and Mary treated us to a very nice dinner. After dinner we returned to the cabin to feed the dogs. We sat out on the deck and chatted until it started to get dark and cold. Marc and Mary left around nine. We really enjoyed having them over and hope the come up again soon. Sunday morning after breakfast I went down the hill to Home Depot. I bought some supplies to replace one of the rim joists for the mud room and build a new cripple wall connecting the rim joist to the foundation. I started by mixing a couple bags of cement and filling the brick foundation under the rim joist that I was replacing. I sank some "J" bolts into the wet cement. The "J" bolts were connected to some 2" x 8" pressure treated sill plates. Next, I turned my attention to replacing the old 2" x 3" rim joist. I notched a new 4" x 6" rim joist and worked it into place. Once the new rim joist was in place, I installed some 4" x 4" studs between the new sill plates and the new rim joist. Overkill for sure, but it was probably only an extra $15 to go with the thicker materials. I was exhausted after that, so I cleaned up and had Chris take me out for Chinese. Sunday we packed up and headed home early. I installed the new tires on the Suzuki when I got home. I took it out for a test drive and to scuff up the new tires. I was pretty happy with the results. I grabbed a pocket full of quarters and took it over to the car wash to clean as much of the grime off the bottom and brakes. I topped off the fuel on my way home. Chris made a ham for dinner. It was delicious. For dessert, I made some brownies from scratch. Definitely not on our diet, but oh so good.
8/25/08
This past weekend we kind of took it easy. Saturday Chris and I smoked some pork spareribs. We tried a new cooking technique known as the "3-2-1 method". Essentially you smoke them for three hourse, wrap them in foil and continue cooking them for another two hours, then unwrap them and cook them for another hour. We brushed on some BBQ sauce at the last 30 minutes. The temp got a little high, so I actually pulled them off at 45 minutes, rather than letting them go the full hour. I didn't want the sauce to burn. I have to say that they were excellent. Easily the best I have ever made. While the ribs were cooking, I did some fine tuning on the Suzuki. Now that I have the carbs balanced, it runs quite nice. It needs a set of tires and a license plate light, and we can start doing some serious riding on it. Sunday morning I got up early and jumped on Chris Buell for a group ride. Chris puttered around the house and took it easy. I met up with five other Buell Blast riders and a couple other friens. The nine of us on seven bikes, rode up to the local mountains and had lunch. There were riders of all skill levels. We had a good time. I rode about 250 miles in all. I was a little sore and a lot tired when I got home.
8/17/08
Chris and I spent this weekend at the cabin. I drove up Friday evening after work, and Chris came up with the dog on Saturday morning. We really did not do anything Saturday. Chris brought up the second pork butt that we smoked the previous weekend. We put that in the oven for about an hour, then shredded it onto a pot. We put the pot on the stove, with a low flame under it, for about 30 minutes. While the pork was in the oven, I made some cold slaw. I'm telling you, that made the most fantastic pulled pork sandwich. Even after being in the refrigerator for a week and being reheated, the meat was still tender and moist. Sunday morning we put up some trim round the outside of the new front windows. The cabin is starting to look real nice. We headed home round 12:30. On the way, I stopped at Chaparrall to get an oil filter for the Suzuki. When I got home, I used the parts that arrived in the mail on Friday, to finish rebuilding the Suzuki carbs. I drained out the oil, which had a lot of gasoline in it. We went out and had sushi for dinner. On the way home we picked up some motor oil, then swung by the gas station for some gasoline. I added the oil to the Suzuki. I put about 1/2 a gallon of gas in an aux fuel tank that I bought for tuning the bikes. I connected the carb synch and fired it up. As I suspected the carbs were way out of sync. It took me about 15 minutes to get it pretty close. I will take it around the block one night after work, and then make some more adjustments to it. I'm going to need to play with it until I get the jet needle adjusted correctly. I'm pretty anxious to finish tuning it and get it on the road. While I was rebuilding the carbs I installed an stage 1 jet kit, a five degree timing advancer, and a K & N air filter. It never ran right from the day we brought it home. I have only taken it around the block a couple times, and it always flooded and stopped running after about a mile and a half. I would like to see what it can do when it's tuned and running correctly. Stay tuned and I'll let you know.
8/11/08
Chris and I stayed home this weekend. I really wanted to make some pulled pork on my Smokenator equipped Weber kettle barbeque. Chris and I went out to dinner Friday after work. We stopped at Costco and picked up an 8.8 lb. pork butt (which is actually the front shoulder). Saturday morning we went to the market and picked up some spice and yellow mustard for the rub. When I opened the pork butt, I discovered that it was actually cut in half. In the end, this probably worked out better. It took a lot less time to cook two smaller cuts of meat, then it would have taken to cook one large one. We coated the roasts with yellow mustard to give the rub something to stick to, then applied liberal amounts of a homemade rub. We wrapped them in plastic, and put them in the fridge to marinate. We spent the rest of the day running errands and finished the day with dinner at Thai Nakorn. Sunday morning I got up around 5:30 AM to start the smoke. It speeds up the process if the meat is not cold, so I put it in the oven to warm up after I started the coals. The two roasts went on the smoker about 6:00 AM. I left them on until then reached an internal temperature of 165 to 170 degrees. That was around 2:00 PM. At that point, we took the roasts off and wrapped then in a couple layers of foil, and put them back on the smoker. We left them on the smoker until they reached an internal temperature of 190 degress. That was about 3:30 PM. From there they went into an ice chest to rest for an hour. We unwrapped one of them and the meat just fell apart. It was tender and very delicous. I'm getting the hang of temperature control. I think that we are going to keep our eyes open for another sale on spareribs. If I get really brave, I'm going to try a brisket.
7/21/08
We had another great weekend. I took Friday off to get the final inspection done on the cabin. I drove straight to the cabin after work on Thursday. We got everything signed off this time. The permit to repair the front wall of the house is done! While I was waiting for the inspector I installed a plug in the bedroom closet for the television and some trim by the front door. Chris and the dogs came up Friday evening. Chris and I had a nice dinner at the Chinese food place in town.
Saturday I decided to fix the front door. The repaired section appears to have settled a bit. The new foundation does not appear to have moved, so I'm thinking the wood dried and shrunk a bit. At any rate, we were having trouble shutting the new front door. Chris and I cut the door out and rehung it. Once again, it is perfectly level. Hopefully it will stay that way. We barbequed some steaks and had a really nice dinner.
Sunday morning we relaxed for a bit and then took the dogs hiking again. We went back to Heart Rock. Harley was so excited he was nearly dragging me down the trail. I tried to turn and walk back the way we came, to discourage him from pulling so hard. The smart boy that he is, he pulled loose from his collar a couple times. I got tired of fighting with him and let him off the lease. Chris let Rita off her lease as well. We called them everytime the started to get more than 15 or 20 feet ahead of us. That seemed to make everyone happy. The dogs played fetch at the bottom of the waterfall for about an hour and a half. Then we went home. We left the cabin around 1 PM. We played with the new motorcycle for a while, but I think we need to pull the carbs and give them a good cleaning.
7/14/08
This weekend was all about motorcycles and barbeque. Smoking actually, but I'll get to that later. Friday night Chris and I went to dinner and stopped at a motorcycle shop afterward. We picked up some motorcycle chain cleaner, chain lube and a chain cleaning brush. I was messing around with the cleaning brush after we got home. I was just going to clean a little, but ended up cleaning the entire chain, lubing it and adjusting it before I went in for the night.
Saturday morning Chris and I rode our motorcycles down to Huntington Beach to get my hair cut. After the haircut we stopped at a barbeque supply store to pick up some hardwood for smoking. We made up some rub from a recipe I found on the Internet. We prepped two racks of pork spareribs that Chris bought earlier in the week, coated them with the rub, covered them with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. I put the Suzuki Bandit back together and took if for a little ride. After I got home, Chris took the Bandit out for her first real ride on it. I followed her on my Vulcan. She seemed to get the feel for it quickly.
Sunday morning we went to Pep Boys to pick up some Seafoam to clean the carburetors. I lit some coals for the barbeque. I purchased a Smokenator online last weekend, so we could use our Weber Kettle barbeque as a smoker. I got the coals lit, and we put the two racks of rib on. While the barbeque/smoker was getting going I took the Bandit to the gas station and topped off the tank. I put 5 ounces of Seafoam in the tank when I got home. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the garage and watching the barbeque/smoker. We pulled the ribs off at about 5:15 PM. The ribs went on at about noon. The ribs were really good. Tender and juicy. The rub was a little spicy. We are going to have to work on the rub recipe. For the price, the Smokenator is definitely the way to go.
7/5/08
Another day in paradise. Chris and I got up, had a little breakfast, and then rode our motorcycles down the mountain to go to Chaparral Motorsport. I wanted to pick up some parts for the Suzuki Bandit we recently purchased. This ride was a new challenge for Chris. The highway down the mountain has a lot of turns and the speed limit most of the way is 55 MPH. There were a few cars on the road. I tried to keep an eye on her as much as was safe. In my mirror I could see that she was holding a pretty good line, and getting more comfortable leaning in turns. I'm really proud of her. It was getting warm fast on the valley floor, so we hopped on our bikes and headed back up the mountain. We took a litte detour on the way back up and cruised up a winding road that runs alongside the highway.
Around 11:30 we loaded the dog into the pickup and headed for a hiking trail the the neighbor across the street told us about. It was a short one mile hike along a creek. The dogs had a blast. This was the first hike for Harley. We started out with both dogs on the leashes. When we made it to the end of the trail, we let the dogs off the leashes and let them play. To our delight, Harley stayed on the hiking trail and returned when we called him. Even with people occasionally near us, he behaved himself. We were so please with him, we let him walk back to the truck off leash.
We had a light lunch after we got back to the cabin. After lunch I decided that it was time to fix the holes in the siding by the front door. I started by removing the row of half lap siding above the bottom row, and a short piece of the bottom row. As the cedar half lap siding is impossible to find, I salvage a couple pieces from the attic. Next, I had to realign the radial arm saw. Once the saw was aligned, it didn't take long to cut the siding to the proper size. After the siding was repaired, Chris and I drove to the market to get some supplies for dinner. Chris made a wonderful dinner of grilled scallops, grilled shrimp and steamed green beans. The dishes are now done, the dogs are out cold from the hike and Chris and I are relaxing. So far it's been a really nice weekend.
7/4/08
Chris and I decided to spend the long holiday weekend at the cabin. Wednesday night we bought a fridge at Costco. When we got home, we connected the trailer to the truck and loaded Chris' Buell on it. When Chris got home Thursday afternoon, she loaded the dogs into the truck and headed for the cabin. I rode my motorcycle to work Thursday morning, and headed straight to the cabin when I got off work. I beat Chris to the cabin by about 30 minutes. We unloaded her motorcycle, the trailer and the fridge. We brought the fridge down the hill, around the deck and in through the back door. After getting the fridge unwrapped and plugged in, we went out to dinner.
Friday morning we made breakfast and then took the motorcycles out for a ride while it was still cool. We headed over the north side of the mountian. We always enter from the south. We rode down to Silverwood Lake. It was much bigger than we thought it would be. We were going to see if we could find a place by the lake to get a drink, until we noticed the 1/4 mile line of cars waiting to get into the lake. We turned around and headed back to Crestline. On the way back was stopped and snapped a couple pictures on our bikes in the woods with my cell phone. We rode around the lake at Crestline, until we came across a fair. The fair wasn't quite open, but we wondered around for a bit. After the fair, we rode over to Blue Jay and got some water at the market. We got back to the cabin around 11:30, just as it was starting to get really warm.i
We finished off the day with a barbeque. We grilled a couple of rib-eye steaks, steamed some asparagus and boiled some sweet corn. It cooled off around dinner time, and it was really nice on the back deck. The dogs took care of the steak fat and bones for us. This sure is a nice way to spend a weekend!
6/30/08
It has been a crazy two months for Chris and I. In early May Chris resigned her position at SunGard and Mt. Saint Mary's to accept a new position at Chapman University. A couple of days later, I was laid off from my position at Endevco. In early June, I accepted a position a SunGard (yes, Chris' old employer) working at Claremont Graduate University. Chris has been a Chapman for about a month now and I just finished my first two weeks at Claremont. We both love our new jobs, but it was a very stressful time.
Last week, Chris and I picked up a 1996 Suzuki Bandit 600. We got it from a guy that bought it at an impound auction. We got it for about half of the Blue Book price. It needs a little work. We adjusted the valves last weekend. We're gong to replace the clutch cable, spark plugs and tires before we start riding it. I took it for a very short test ride when we bought it. It ran good. It seems like it's going to be a fun little bike. If gas keeps going up like it has been, I might even start commuting on it. While Chris' new job is only 12 miles away from the house, my new job is 32 miles away (basically the same distance as my last job).
About a week and a half ago our Internet started acting up. There was terrible static on our phone line and the DSL was essentially unusable. I called the phone company on Sunday. The guy came out Monday and said there wasn't anything thing wrong with our line. It got worse on Monday night, so I called the phone company again. They finally found some corroded wires at the telephone pole and fixed it last Friday. It's amazing how reliant we have become on the Internet.
We are both looking forward to the upcoming Independence Day holiday. With the 4th falling on a Friday, it provides us with a three day weekend up in the cabin. At the moment it looks like we'll be taking the dogs and the bikes up to the mountains. Can't wait!
5/06/08
Well, today is both a sad and exciting day for me. Last Tuesday night I went for an interview at Chapman University in the City of Orange. They made me an offer, continguent on a background check, that night and after taking some time to think about it, I accepted the offer. Today, I received the official offer and submitted my letter of resignation to SunGard Higher Education (SHEMS). After working for SHEMS for the past 6.5+ years it is sad to be leaving the great group of people I have worked with. On the other hand, I am very excited at this new opportunity that I have before me. The biggest advantage to switching jobs is that I will now work only 12 miles from home and not the 30+ miles I do now. I think that is the biggest draw for me. Can you imagine how much time I'll get back in my day with a commute so short and not stuck in the downtown Los Angeles traffic? Did I say yet, that this job is only 12 miles from home? (can't tell that I'm excited about that, can you?)
This past weekend was spent at the cabin. Daris and I finally replaced the old water heater that was about to rust through. Okay, Daris did the majority of the work while I supervised and got in the way. It took most of the day, but overall went pretty well. It is so nice to have hot water that is clear and not all rusty and better yet, Daris loves that he no longer runs out of hot water when taking a shower. We also picked up some reclining chairs for the cabin so we can really kick back in style (if Daris would let me kick back and not put me to work ;-). In two weeks, we'll be working on finishing the siding on the cabin.
4/21/08
Chris and I spent the weekend in different parts of the state. Chris met her sister Shawn in San Francisco, while the dogs and I went to the cabin. Chris and I went to dinner Friday evening. After dinner, I packed up some clothes and the dogs, and headed to the cabin. Saturday I cleaned out the basement. There was so much stuff in it from the repairs on the living room, it made it difficult to get into. I ended up carrying a whole truck bed of lumber up the hill. The dogs and I drove over to the transfer station and they watched while I unloaded all that wood. I picked up a sandwich at the market on the way home, and promptly fell asleep after lunch. I barbequed a steak for dinner. Sunday I raked up enough pine needles to fill a trash bag, and a half of a second bag. I loaded up all of the bag from previous raking, and took them to the trash collection at the local elementary school. I took a few measurements for the existing water heater. Chris and I are planning on replacing our antique water heater in two weeks, before it rusts complete through and floods the basement. We left the cabin around 10:30 Sunday morning, and hit some pretty heavy traffic on the way home. I must have been tired from all the work, because I ended up napping most of Sunday afternoon. I took the motorcycle out for dinner. Poor Chris ran into a couple delays and was stuck at the airport much later than her schedule flight. Poor Chris did not get home until 1:30 AM.
4/14/08
The weather was hot, but very nice this weekend. Saturday morning Chris and I rode our motorcycles to Huntington Beach to get our hair cut. We started to head home, but it was so nice we decided to take a ride on Pacific Coast Highway. There was a cool breeze by the ocean, and it felt wonderful. We got home around noon, and it was starting to get very warm. We jumped in the car and drove to the local Pep Boys. We picked up oil and filters for our motorcycles. We changed the oil in both our bikes. While I was at it, I drained the final drive on my bike (mine is shaft drive) and add synthetic gear oil. Sunday morning we loaded the dogs in the car and headed for the beach. We got to the beach around 8:45 AM and it was gorgeous. You could see Catalina Island very clearly. As soon as we got there Harley did is usual thing of being a pest to the biggest dog there, until the dog give his a "back off buddy" bark, then the two of them end up in a biteless fight. Chris pulled Harley off the dog and put him on a leash. After about 15 minutes, I let him off the leash. Harley ran straight for the same dog again, with me running behind him. He started being a pest, the dog barked at him, and they started fighting. I broke it up right away, but this time Harley had a little blood under his right eye. I don't know why he does this. He's done it the last three times we were at the beach. He always settles down after about 30 minutes, and there are never any more problems after that. We are going to have to figure out a plan that encourages him to play nicely. We did discover that he loves to chase a ball into the ocean. He has never shown much interest in playing fetch at the beach or going in the surf, but toss a ball in the surf and he will chase it all day apparently. We did a little work around the house in the afternoon, but the temperature reached 99 so it was difficult to do too much. After the sun got over our house, I pulled the truck down in the drive way, pull my motorcycle along side the house and washed it in the shade. We barbequed dinner and did our best to stay cool.
4/7/08
We got the truck running. Wednesday night after dinner we picked up a new brake light switch and installed it. That fixed the problem with the brake warning light coming on. Friday after work, I took the truck to Wal-mart to get the oil changed. While I was there I picked up some new wipers, a fuel filter and some extra motor and tranny oil for the truck. When I got home, I installed the wipers and the fuel filter. The new fuel filter seemed to smooth out the idle a little. Since the truck was now running well, we decided to take it to the mountains. We folded down the rear seat, and put the dog beds over it. We piled into the truck and headed out a little after 5 PM. Traffic was bad, but we managed to make it to the cabin around 7 PM. We dropped our belongings and the dogs off at the cabin, and tried a restaurant that we had never been to before. The food was good. Not great, but above average for the mountains. After dinner, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food for the weekend.
Saturday morning we had some breakfast, and relaxed for a bit. After breakfast, we started cleaning up some of the construction debris. Chris and I loaded most of the wood and metal into the truck and took it to the local transfer station. We ended up making two trips. The fees were very reasonable compared to the transfer station we used at home. We relaxed for a bit in the afternoon. In the late afternoon, we dug the BBQ and charcoal out of the basement. I barbequed some country style pork ribs, while Chris baked some sweet potatoes and sliced some avocados.
Sunday morning we had some breakfast, and relaxed again. A little later in the morning, I raked up the pine needles on the back deck and swept. I loaded up the bags that I filled, and couple from the previous trip to the cabin and took them to the trash drop off location. When I returned Chris and I cleaned up a little more around the front door. It took a little effort, but we managed to drag the old front step back in front of the door. It makes it a little easier to step up into the house. We closed up the cabin and headed for home around noon. Traffic wasn't too bad. I mowed the front and back lawns, while Chris did a few things around the house. All in all, a good weekend. We were able to do some relaxing and we managed to get some work done.
3/31/08
My grandmother turned 100 on Sunday. Most of this weekend was centered around celebrations for her. The assisted living facility that she lives at through her a party Friday afternoon. After work on Friday I visited my father for a bit, then met him and his wife at the assisted living facility for her party. My brother and his wife and my uncle and aunt were there as well. Several of the other residents showed up. I think my grandmother enjoyed the attention.
Saturday morning I fixed breakfast for Chris and I. After breakfast we resumed installing the rear axle and rebuilding the rear brakes in the truck. Since we had replace the master cylinder, we attempted to bleed out the brake system. Because we used RTV to seal the differential cover, we had to wait 24 hours to fill the differential with gear oil. Saturday evening we met my brother, his wife, my uncle and aunt, my father and his wife in Dana Point for dinner. We had a very nice time.
Sunday morning I was craving Huevos Rancheros, so we went out to breakfast. After breakfast, I crawled under the truck and filled the differential with gear oil. We took it out for a quck test drive, but the brake warning light came on again. I wasn't sure we got all of the air out of the brake system, do we decided to drop it off at Sears. On the way over, I noticed that the brake warning light always came on when the speed reached 35 MPH. I told the counter guy at Sears this, and I also told him that we recently replace the master cylinder. I told him that I wasn't positive that I got all of the air out of the lines. The guy said it would cost $15 to figure out what the problem was. We did a little shopping in the mall and went home. Shortly after getting home, a guy from Sears called and said that the truck need new front brakes and to have the rears adjusted. He said the light would be fixed after that. It didn't sound right to me, but I'm not completely familiar with antilock brakes. We went to my brother's for another birthday party for my grandmother. Sears was open late Sunday, so we stopped by on our way home. They said the truck was almost done. Chris and I talked to the manager, because I wasn't comfortable with the explanation that new front brakes would fix the warning light. The manager was talking some BS. One of the mechanics said they had found some air in the rear brake lines and that was causing the warning light. They wanted $30 more to bleed the system. I told them to go ahead and do it, but that it had better fix the warning light other wise I was going to be pissed. We left and came back an hour later. The counter guy said that ligth was still on. I asked why bleeding the brakes didn't fix the problem, and he told me that they didn't bleed them. Why not? He didn't know. I started barking at the manager, and he told me that they would bleed them for free. I waited another 45 minutes. When the mechanic brought the truck around, he said that the light was still on. I got pretty upset then. The manager disappeared and the counter guy told me that all he could do was give me a $20 discount. I thanked him, but told him I was going to complain. The counter guy called his "other" manager and told him what was going on. The "other" manager, said that they should have told me that the truck needed front brakes, but that wasn't going to fix the waring light. Since they had not done it that way, he told the counter guy to only charge me for the brake pads. I ended up getting a front brake job, which included turning the rotors, and a full brake system bleed for $70. I even got a 12 month warranty on the pads. I figured new pads were going to cost me $40 or $50, and probably another $20 to turn the rotors, so I was satisfied with that solution. I noticed that the brake pedal felt much firmer than it did when I dropped it off at Sears. Again, I was happy about that.
Chris and I did a little research with the Chilton manual with I got home from Sears. Chris mentioned that she read something about a speed sensor and a way to test it. She wondered if that might be causing the problem. I didn't know if it was, but it quite possibly could be. Monday morning I looked up a few things online. I am now fairly certain that the problem is the speed sensor. I'm going to take the sensor or sensors out of the truck and test them with a multimeter to find out which sensor is bad. I'm feeling much better about the truck now.
3/24/08
Chris took some vacation time last week. She went up to the cabin Thursday to get the final inspection. The regular inspector for our area met her there an promptly failed us. Two different guys did the last two inspections. They both told me that all we had to do was get the electrical switches and plugs connected, and install the cover plats. The regular inspector told Chris that we need to install to pieces of missing siding on an ajoining unaltered section and install a landing in front of the front door. Neither is a big deal, but it's frustrating when you are told two completely different things.
Chris and I spent a nice quiet weekend with the dogs at the cabin. We got up there Friday afternoon. We didn't do much the whole weekend. The weather was fantastic. There was an Easter egg hunt in the village area. Traffic was quite busy during the hunt. Sunday morning I took my coffee and the dogs out front, and raked pine needles. I ended up with six bags of needles. We left about 1:00 on Sunday. Traffic was heavier than normal on freeways. Most certainly because of Easter. I mowed the front lawn later in the afternoon, and that was about it for us.
3/10/08
This weekend started off a little frustrating, but progressed nicely. Friday after visiting with my father and then my grandmother, I stopped by the DMV to finish the registration on the 92 GMC Extra Cab that we bought. I got a number, then proceded with the the truck to the inspection line. That went smoothly. I cruised around the parking lot a little, before I found a parking space. Friday is the wrong day to go to the DMV by our house. I took a seat and waited for them to call my number. When they got within four of my number, they announce that the computers had crashed and they did not know when it would be fixed. They got the computer running fairly quickly and eventually called my number. As I'm standing there answering questions, the woman tells me that they don't have an electronic copy of my smog certificate. Great, I left the printed copy at home because the mechanic told me that they were transmitted to the DMV electronically. The woman asked me if I could call home and get a number off the printed copy. I told her yes and called Chris. Then the woman told me to sit down while she helps someone else, and come back when I have it. Chris gave me the number. I waited. When she finished I gave the woman the number. The woman started from the beginning. When she got to the number I gave her, she told me that number was for a different car and instructed me to go get a smog check. I told her I had gotten a smok check for the truck, and asked her what was I supposed to do now. She got nasty with me and told me again to go get a smog check on the truck. I think she thought I was trying to pull a fast one on her. Just great. An hour and a half at the stinking DMV and I've got nothing to show for it. There's a screw-up between the mechanic and the DMV and I get attitude from overpaid public servent. So I left empty handed and went home. Chris and the dogs were waiting for me to get home so we could go to the cabin.
We hit some pretty heavy traffic leaving town. When we got to the spot that is usually the most congested, we saw a motorcycle and its rider laying on the ground in the fast lane and a smashed up car parked behind him. We didn't see any blood, and the bystanders didn't seem overly concerned, so hopefully nobody was seriously hurt. We got up there around seven Friday night. It was nice opening the cabin and being able to flip on a light. We found a note from the water company that we had a water leak and they turned off the water. We found a spigot open near the parking area that we didn't know was there and closed it, then turned the water back on. We left the dogs at the cabin and went out to dinner. Saturday morning I went down to the basement, and found about a half of an inch of water. We actually did have a leak, but because the water was off in the cabin, it wasn't the leak the water company found. I turned off the water, and went to the hardware store. It cost fifty cents for a brass cap. Chris and I soldered it on to stop the leak. After the water leak was fixed, we installed a light at the front porch. Some friends came up with their kids shortly after we finished working on the cabin. We piled into their car and went to the Lake Arrowhead Village. We had lunch then the girls went shopping while my friend Price and I hung out with their kids. Afterward we went back to the cabin. Our friends were both ready to pass out. Their kids were having a great time running around the property. They headed back home. Chris and I relaxed for a while, then had leftovers for dinner. Sunday morning we made breakfast and relaxed some more. We closed up the cabin around 11 AM, and headed home. We did a little work around the house, then rode the motorcycles over to a sushi restaurant. All in all, it was a nice weekend.
5/06/08
Well, today is both a sad and exciting day for me. Last Tuesday night I went for an interview at Chapman University in the City of Orange. They made me an offer, continguent on a background check, that night and after taking some time to think about it, I accepted the offer. Today, I received the official offer and submitted my letter of resignation to SunGard Higher Education (SHEMS). After working for SHEMS for the past 6.5+ years it is sad to be leaving the great group of people I have worked with. On the other hand, I am very excited at this new opportunity that I have before me. The biggest advantage to switching jobs is that I will now work only 12 miles from home and not the 30+ miles I do now. I think that is the biggest draw for me. Can you imagine how much time I'll get back in my day with a commute so short and not stuck in the downtown Los Angeles traffic? Did I say yet, that this job is only 12 miles from home? (can't tell that I'm excited about that, can you?)
This past weekend was spent at the cabin. Daris and I finally replaced the old water heater that was about to rust through. Okay, Daris did the majority of the work while I supervised and got in the way. It took most of the day, but overall went pretty well. It is so nice to have hot water that is clear and not all rusty and better yet, Daris loves that he no longer runs out of hot water when taking a shower. We also picked up some reclining chairs for the cabin so we can really kick back in style (if Daris would let me kick back and not put me to work ;-). In two weeks, we'll be working on finishing the siding on the cabin.
4/21/08
Chris and I spent the weekend in different parts of the state. Chris met her sister Shawn in San Francisco, while the dogs and I went to the cabin. Chris and I went to dinner Friday evening. After dinner, I packed up some clothes and the dogs, and headed to the cabin. Saturday I cleaned out the basement. There was so much stuff in it from the repairs on the living room, it made it difficult to get into. I ended up carrying a whole truck bed of lumber up the hill. The dogs and I drove over to the transfer station and they watched while I unloaded all that wood. I picked up a sandwich at the market on the way home, and promptly fell asleep after lunch. I barbequed a steak for dinner. Sunday I raked up enough pine needles to fill a trash bag, and a half of a second bag. I loaded up all of the bag from previous raking, and took them to the trash collection at the local elementary school. I took a few measurements for the existing water heater. Chris and I are planning on replacing our antique water heater in two weeks, before it rusts complete through and floods the basement. We left the cabin around 10:30 Sunday morning, and hit some pretty heavy traffic on the way home. I must have been tired from all the work, because I ended up napping most of Sunday afternoon. I took the motorcycle out for dinner. Poor Chris ran into a couple delays and was stuck at the airport much later than her schedule flight. Poor Chris did not get home until 1:30 AM.
4/14/08
The weather was hot, but very nice this weekend. Saturday morning Chris and I rode our motorcycles to Huntington Beach to get our hair cut. We started to head home, but it was so nice we decided to take a ride on Pacific Coast Highway. There was a cool breeze by the ocean, and it felt wonderful. We got home around noon, and it was starting to get very warm. We jumped in the car and drove to the local Pep Boys. We picked up oil and filters for our motorcycles. We changed the oil in both our bikes. While I was at it, I drained the final drive on my bike (mine is shaft drive) and add synthetic gear oil. Sunday morning we loaded the dogs in the car and headed for the beach. We got to the beach around 8:45 AM and it was gorgeous. You could see Catalina Island very clearly. As soon as we got there Harley did is usual thing of being a pest to the biggest dog there, until the dog give his a "back off buddy" bark, then the two of them end up in a biteless fight. Chris pulled Harley off the dog and put him on a leash. After about 15 minutes, I let him off the leash. Harley ran straight for the same dog again, with me running behind him. He started being a pest, the dog barked at him, and they started fighting. I broke it up right away, but this time Harley had a little blood under his right eye. I don't know why he does this. He's done it the last three times we were at the beach. He always settles down after about 30 minutes, and there are never any more problems after that. We are going to have to figure out a plan that encourages him to play nicely. We did discover that he loves to chase a ball into the ocean. He has never shown much interest in playing fetch at the beach or going in the surf, but toss a ball in the surf and he will chase it all day apparently. We did a little work around the house in the afternoon, but the temperature reached 99 so it was difficult to do too much. After the sun got over our house, I pulled the truck down in the drive way, pull my motorcycle along side the house and washed it in the shade. We barbequed dinner and did our best to stay cool.
4/7/08
We got the truck running. Wednesday night after dinner we picked up a new brake light switch and installed it. That fixed the problem with the brake warning light coming on. Friday after work, I took the truck to Wal-mart to get the oil changed. While I was there I picked up some new wipers, a fuel filter and some extra motor and tranny oil for the truck. When I got home, I installed the wipers and the fuel filter. The new fuel filter seemed to smooth out the idle a little. Since the truck was now running well, we decided to take it to the mountains. We folded down the rear seat, and put the dog beds over it. We piled into the truck and headed out a little after 5 PM. Traffic was bad, but we managed to make it to the cabin around 7 PM. We dropped our belongings and the dogs off at the cabin, and tried a restaurant that we had never been to before. The food was good. Not great, but above average for the mountains. After dinner, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food for the weekend.
Saturday morning we had some breakfast, and relaxed for a bit. After breakfast, we started cleaning up some of the construction debris. Chris and I loaded most of the wood and metal into the truck and took it to the local transfer station. We ended up making two trips. The fees were very reasonable compared to the transfer station we used at home. We relaxed for a bit in the afternoon. In the late afternoon, we dug the BBQ and charcoal out of the basement. I barbequed some country style pork ribs, while Chris baked some sweet potatoes and sliced some avocados.
Sunday morning we had some breakfast, and relaxed again. A little later in the morning, I raked up the pine needles on the back deck and swept. I loaded up the bags that I filled, and couple from the previous trip to the cabin and took them to the trash drop off location. When I returned Chris and I cleaned up a little more around the front door. It took a little effort, but we managed to drag the old front step back in front of the door. It makes it a little easier to step up into the house. We closed up the cabin and headed for home around noon. Traffic wasn't too bad. I mowed the front and back lawns, while Chris did a few things around the house. All in all, a good weekend. We were able to do some relaxing and we managed to get some work done.
3/31/08
My grandmother turned 100 on Sunday. Most of this weekend was centered around celebrations for her. The assisted living facility that she lives at through her a party Friday afternoon. After work on Friday I visited my father for a bit, then met him and his wife at the assisted living facility for her party. My brother and his wife and my uncle and aunt were there as well. Several of the other residents showed up. I think my grandmother enjoyed the attention.
Saturday morning I fixed breakfast for Chris and I. After breakfast we resumed installing the rear axle and rebuilding the rear brakes in the truck. Since we had replace the master cylinder, we attempted to bleed out the brake system. Because we used RTV to seal the differential cover, we had to wait 24 hours to fill the differential with gear oil. Saturday evening we met my brother, his wife, my uncle and aunt, my father and his wife in Dana Point for dinner. We had a very nice time.
Sunday morning I was craving Huevos Rancheros, so we went out to breakfast. After breakfast, I crawled under the truck and filled the differential with gear oil. We took it out for a quck test drive, but the brake warning light came on again. I wasn't sure we got all of the air out of the brake system, do we decided to drop it off at Sears. On the way over, I noticed that the brake warning light always came on when the speed reached 35 MPH. I told the counter guy at Sears this, and I also told him that we recently replace the master cylinder. I told him that I wasn't positive that I got all of the air out of the lines. The guy said it would cost $15 to figure out what the problem was. We did a little shopping in the mall and went home. Shortly after getting home, a guy from Sears called and said that the truck need new front brakes and to have the rears adjusted. He said the light would be fixed after that. It didn't sound right to me, but I'm not completely familiar with antilock brakes. We went to my brother's for another birthday party for my grandmother. Sears was open late Sunday, so we stopped by on our way home. They said the truck was almost done. Chris and I talked to the manager, because I wasn't comfortable with the explanation that new front brakes would fix the warning light. The manager was talking some BS. One of the mechanics said they had found some air in the rear brake lines and that was causing the warning light. They wanted $30 more to bleed the system. I told them to go ahead and do it, but that it had better fix the warning light other wise I was going to be pissed. We left and came back an hour later. The counter guy said that ligth was still on. I asked why bleeding the brakes didn't fix the problem, and he told me that they didn't bleed them. Why not? He didn't know. I started barking at the manager, and he told me that they would bleed them for free. I waited another 45 minutes. When the mechanic brought the truck around, he said that the light was still on. I got pretty upset then. The manager disappeared and the counter guy told me that all he could do was give me a $20 discount. I thanked him, but told him I was going to complain. The counter guy called his "other" manager and told him what was going on. The "other" manager, said that they should have told me that the truck needed front brakes, but that wasn't going to fix the waring light. Since they had not done it that way, he told the counter guy to only charge me for the brake pads. I ended up getting a front brake job, which included turning the rotors, and a full brake system bleed for $70. I even got a 12 month warranty on the pads. I figured new pads were going to cost me $40 or $50, and probably another $20 to turn the rotors, so I was satisfied with that solution. I noticed that the brake pedal felt much firmer than it did when I dropped it off at Sears. Again, I was happy about that.
Chris and I did a little research with the Chilton manual with I got home from Sears. Chris mentioned that she read something about a speed sensor and a way to test it. She wondered if that might be causing the problem. I didn't know if it was, but it quite possibly could be. Monday morning I looked up a few things online. I am now fairly certain that the problem is the speed sensor. I'm going to take the sensor or sensors out of the truck and test them with a multimeter to find out which sensor is bad. I'm feeling much better about the truck now.
3/24/08
Chris took some vacation time last week. She went up to the cabin Thursday to get the final inspection. The regular inspector for our area met her there an promptly failed us. Two different guys did the last two inspections. They both told me that all we had to do was get the electrical switches and plugs connected, and install the cover plats. The regular inspector told Chris that we need to install to pieces of missing siding on an ajoining unaltered section and install a landing in front of the front door. Neither is a big deal, but it's frustrating when you are told two completely different things.
Chris and I spent a nice quiet weekend with the dogs at the cabin. We got up there Friday afternoon. We didn't do much the whole weekend. The weather was fantastic. There was an Easter egg hunt in the village area. Traffic was quite busy during the hunt. Sunday morning I took my coffee and the dogs out front, and raked pine needles. I ended up with six bags of needles. We left about 1:00 on Sunday. Traffic was heavier than normal on freeways. Most certainly because of Easter. I mowed the front lawn later in the afternoon, and that was about it for us.
3/10/08
This weekend started off a little frustrating, but progressed nicely. Friday after visiting with my father and then my grandmother, I stopped by the DMV to finish the registration on the 92 GMC Extra Cab that we bought. I got a number, then proceded with the the truck to the inspection line. That went smoothly. I cruised around the parking lot a little, before I found a parking space. Friday is the wrong day to go to the DMV by our house. I took a seat and waited for them to call my number. When they got within four of my number, they announce that the computers had crashed and they did not know when it would be fixed. They got the computer running fairly quickly and eventually called my number. As I'm standing there answering questions, the woman tells me that they don't have an electronic copy of my smog certificate. Great, I left the printed copy at home because the mechanic told me that they were transmitted to the DMV electronically. The woman asked me if I could call home and get a number off the printed copy. I told her yes and called Chris. Then the woman told me to sit down while she helps someone else, and come back when I have it. Chris gave me the number. I waited. When she finished I gave the woman the number. The woman started from the beginning. When she got to the number I gave her, she told me that number was for a different car and instructed me to go get a smog check. I told her I had gotten a smok check for the truck, and asked her what was I supposed to do now. She got nasty with me and told me again to go get a smog check on the truck. I think she thought I was trying to pull a fast one on her. Just great. An hour and a half at the stinking DMV and I've got nothing to show for it. There's a screw-up between the mechanic and the DMV and I get attitude from overpaid public servent. So I left empty handed and went home. Chris and the dogs were waiting for me to get home so we could go to the cabin.
We hit some pretty heavy traffic leaving town. When we got to the spot that is usually the most congested, we saw a motorcycle and its rider laying on the ground in the fast lane and a smashed up car parked behind him. We didn't see any blood, and the bystanders didn't seem overly concerned, so hopefully nobody was seriously hurt. We got up there around seven Friday night. It was nice opening the cabin and being able to flip on a light. We found a note from the water company that we had a water leak and they turned off the water. We found a spigot open near the parking area that we didn't know was there and closed it, then turned the water back on. We left the dogs at the cabin and went out to dinner. Saturday morning I went down to the basement, and found about a half of an inch of water. We actually did have a leak, but because the water was off in the cabin, it wasn't the leak the water company found. I turned off the water, and went to the hardware store. It cost fifty cents for a brass cap. Chris and I soldered it on to stop the leak. After the water leak was fixed, we installed a light at the front porch. Some friends came up with their kids shortly after we finished working on the cabin. We piled into their car and went to the Lake Arrowhead Village. We had lunch then the girls went shopping while my friend Price and I hung out with their kids. Afterward we went back to the cabin. Our friends were both ready to pass out. Their kids were having a great time running around the property. They headed back home. Chris and I relaxed for a while, then had leftovers for dinner. Sunday morning we made breakfast and relaxed some more. We closed up the cabin around 11 AM, and headed home. We did a little work around the house, then rode the motorcycles over to a sushi restaurant. All in all, it was a nice weekend.
3/5/08
We passed the drywall inspection for the cabin! The final requirement for the building permit is to connect the electrical for the we are repairing. Immediately after the inspector left, I installed the plugs and switch, and conncted the wire to the circuit panel. We still need to hang a porch light, and tidy up a couple things on the electrical, and then we can call for our final inspection. I'm very excited about closing the permit. We still need to do the mudding and trim work, but we can do that at our own pace.
2/25/08
The weekends just seem so short. Friday night we headed up to the cabin. Friday evening traffic leaving town was usually light. About half way up the mountain we ran into heavy fog. It was so heavy, that you could not see more than about 10 feet in front of the car. It seemed like less, but we were just barely able to see the lines on the road. Nerve racking when you are navigating up a winding mountain road. In spite of everything, we made it to the cabin by about 7PM. We dropped the dogs off and had dinner in town. After dinner we stopped at the market, and picked up a few things. Saturday morning we woke and discovered that it had snowed about an inch during the night. After breakfast we drove down the mountain to Home Depot, and picked up a sheet of 1/2" drywall and a couple other things. Chris and I hung the drywall around the front door. The drywall is complete. We cleaned up the mess in the livingroom. Now we need to get it inspected. Chris made an excellent meatloaf for dinner. Sunday morning we got up and had breakfast. We left early so that we could attend a reception/brunch for a co-worker of Chris' that was married in Israel last December. We had a very nice time. Chris' co-workers are a fun group to hang out with. Sunday evening we went out for a traditional Korean dinner.
2/11/08
We had an interesting weekend. Friday night after work we putzed around, then went up to the cabin. We were hoping to miss a lot of the Friday night traffic, but ended up in the middle of it anyway. Saturday morning, Chris shoveled out room for the car in our parking space. There was still about two feet of snow covering the parking area. The dogs were out with her, and wandered off. We went looking for them, and found them up by the highway/road. Rita came back when Chris yelled at her, but Harley apparently wasn't done exploring. The dogs spent the rest of the weekend under house arrest, with a few potty breaks. When Chris was finished with the driveway, we finished drywalling the ceiling and the upper half of the front wall. That 5/8" drywall is heavy. Sunday morning we finished all of the drywall except around the front door. Due to the width of the door frame, I'm thinking that we should use 1/2" drywall around the door. We will tackle that when we go back up in two weeks, then we need an inspection. After that, the only think left to do on the permit is finish the electrical.
The weather was beautiful the whole weekend. The temperature was 82 degrees when we got home. We were both thinking it was a nice day for a motorcycle ride. We puttered around the house for a bit, then decided take our bikes to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. We were taking some of the less traveled streets. On one street, there appeared to be a carnival. The police had the left lane going in the opposite direction blocked off, so cars traveling in our direction could not make a left turn. Chris and I were traveling in the middle lane of a three lane street. Across the street from the carnival, the right lane was blocked by cars trying to turn into a strip mall. The middle lane was moving slowly, because of cars trying to cut into the right lane. I changed lanes into the left lane, and Chris followed me. We were going to be making a right turn soon, so after we passed the congestion I put my right signal on and check my mirrors. Not seeing any cars in the middle lane in my mirror, I turned my head for a split second to the right to check my blindspot. When I turn back ahead, I was about a foot from the passenger door of a late model mid-sized SUV (like a new Landcruiser). Apparently, the woman decided she did not want to make a left turn afterall, so she put her turn signal and punched it. She never even looked. Instinct took over, and I leaned and turned slightly to the right. I was going about 40, and SUV was going about 10. I hit the edge of her right mirror, with the edge of my left forearm. I felt the mirror give, and I kept going. The woman stopped, with Chris right behind her. I looked at the sleeve of my leather jacket, and there was just a very faint smudge of white on it. Almost like I had gotten a little baby powder on it. I figured I would just keep going. I know myself. I would have been standing in the middle of the street screaming at a lady and a car full of people. I was fine, and I didn't need the stress. Chris caught up with me, and we continued on to the restaurant. Chris was a little mad at me for not stopping. We ended up having a nice meal and counting our blessings.
2/4/08
Friday night after work, we loaded up the Saturn, hitched up the trailer and picked up a load of drywall from Home Depot. We also bought a tarp, and covered the drywall before we strapped it down to the trailer. When we got to the cabin, we found about six to nine inches of snow. The county was nice enough to make a three foot high berm at the edge of our parking area. The street is too narrow to park in front of the berm, but the house next to us is under construction and there was room to park the car and the trailer in front of it. Saturday morning I took the dogs and some shovels out to the drive, and started to clear the berm. I dug enough out to get the trailer in the driveway. The tarp kept the drywall dry. We had to carry 12 sheets of 5/8 inch drywall down the snow covered hill to our cabin. Despite each falling in the snow once, we were able to keep the drywall from falling in the snow. All the drywall made it into the cabin without getting damaged or wet. During breaks while digging out the driveway for the trialer and carrying the drywall to the cabin, we played with the dogs. They loved the snow. Rita was chasing an old basket ball she popped the night before, and Harley was chasing snowballs. Chris made a fantastic pork roast for dinner, and we settled in for the night.
When we woke up Sunday morning, we discovered that it had snowed another inch. Chris and I jumped in the car and headed to the neighboring town of Blue Jay for breakfast. Our mortgage agent also works at a coffee shop. Althought we had spoken to her on the phone many times, we had never met her. The roads were pretty slick, so we stopped at a gas station to put the cables on the car. We had a really nice visit and breakfast. Heading home, we lost traction on a hill and got stuck. A local in a 4 x 4 truck was kind enough to pull our car to the top of the hill. We made it home without any more trouble. Chris and I hung the first sheet of drywall on the ceiling. I have never done that before. I knew it was going to be awkward. Fortunately we only have to hang one full sheet on ceiling. There is a header that goes across the livingroom. It's bowed. We cut some wood to even out the bow. One side came out great. The filler piece of wood on the other side came out too big. I need to used a plane and rasp to sweeten it up before we can finish hanging the drywall on the ceiling. Around noon, we loaded up to leave. Our street is pretty steep, and with the cables on the Saturn wouldn't make it up the hill. I came around the other way, heading down the hill this time. Chris and I lifted and bounced the trailer out of the snow covered parking area. Leaving town we had to go up another hill. The Saturn lost traction again. Chris and I jumped out and removed the cables. The car had no trouble with the hill after that. We made it home by 2 PM. After putting away the trailer and gear, we settled in with some nachos to watch the Super Bowl.
1/26/08
After a long week of rainy weather we had an absoluetly beautiful day today. This week reminded me so much of Oregon -- I loved it! Daris has been fighting a cold for the last few days so we took it easy and didn't go to the mountains (in part because we went to a Rosary for Daris' step-sister-in-law's father. Snozz will be greatly missed by his family). Daris was a little disappointed that we couldn't make it to the mountains -- there was a LOT of snow up there thanks to the low pressure from Canada.
As the old saying goes, when you get bucked off a horse, you get right back on again. Well in a sense, that's what I did today. I had my last X-rays last night and I got the all clear from the doctor to use my arm (all but doing push ups and arm wrestling). For those that don't remember or who hadn't heard, I broke my right elbow in December in a minor motorcycle accident, and haven't been able to use my arm since. So, because it was a beautiful day, I got back on the ol' Buell. I was a little apprehensive at first, but that soon disappeared. It felt good to get back on the bike and I'm extra cautious for now. We rode down to the Cycle Gear and bought a new shield for my helmet (my old one got a little scratched in the fall). So, everything is back together and better than new (almost):-)!
1/22/08
We stayed close to home this past weekend. We went to the Orange County Marketplace, a swap meet at the Orange County Fairgrounds. The weather was fantastic. The sun was out, so we both got a little color. Sunday we went to a party for some friends that had a baby recently. The sun was out again Sunday, and we both got a little more color. We didn't do too much. Just kind of took it easy this weekend.
1/14/08
Chris and I had a nice relaxing weekend. Wednesday night, we bought a bed for the cabin. Friday afternoon, I hooked up the trailer and picked up the bed. We went up to the cabin after Chris got home. When we got to the cabin, we pulled the futon out into the living room and setup the new bed. It was really nice to have a real bed and a couch in the living room.
We went to breakfast in Blue Jay. We went to a restaurant that I had been wanting to try. Unfortunately, it was really dissappointing. The service was terrible, and the food was just ok. We went across the street to check out a market. Some friends called. They were meeting some family in our area, and wanted to know what we were up to. We met them at another restaurant, and they came back to our cabin to take a look. They were all going to find some snow to take their kids sledding. They weren't sure exactly where to go, so we put the dogs in the car and let them follow us to Running Springs. We drove a round a little, until we found a high school in Arrowbear. While they put gloves and jackets and boots on their kids, we let the dogs out in a baseball field that was covered in snow. The dogs were happy to be out and seemed to enjoy about 6 inches of snow. We left our friends and went to the Lake Arrowhead Village. Chris found some awesome deals on pants for work and some snow boots. That evening we went to the market in Crestline. We bought some king crab legs for dinner, along with some other items for dinner and breakfast the next morning. The two claws we got were ok, but the six legs were bad. We took them back to the store, and got a full refund. Sunday morning we made breakfast and just relaxed.
1/7/08
It rained for a good part of the weekend, so Chris and I did not do much. I spent part of the weekend trying to get and old computer rebuilt and running again. I was able to get it going by late Sunday night. Other than that, we did some shopping, housework and took the dogs out for a bit. I had hoped to go up to the cabin this weekend, but we remembered that Harley had a vet appointment mid Saturday morning. Hopefully we will be able to go this coming weekend. Chris and I did look at a few mattresses for the cabin. Geez, I didn't realize how expensive they could be.
1/4/08
Oh Happy Day!!!!! I (Chris) went to the Orthopedic doctor today for more Xrays and I'm free!!!! I don't have to wear my splint anymore, but I still can't lift, push, pull, twist anything with my right arm. I'm so excited to finally be able to shower again (having to take baths really sucked)!
1/1/08
It's been quite a while since either Chris or I have updated the web site. We spent a great deal of time between October and New Year's working on the cabin. I'm very happy to report that all of our work was signed off bye the inspectors. We have to hang sheet rock (drywall), then finish the electrical. We also need to trim the inside and the outside, but that does not need to be inspected.
We had a nice holiday. We spent a couple days in the mountains, then drove down Christmas morning to spend some time with my family. We drove back up to the cabin after the festivities, and spent a couple more days in the mountains. We made arrangements to have the basic 40 channel Dish Network satellite installed before the holidays. We also made arrangements for a local plumber to install a shut-off valve on the main water line. While we were at the cabin, we enjoyed a couple trips to the Lake Arrowhead Village for shopping and dinner.
Chris and I spent a quiet New Year's Eve together. We started off the evening with a good meal at Joe's Crab Shack. We relaxed at home after dinner, and turned in early. Chris and I hope that everyone had a great New Year's and we wish everyone a prosperous and happy 2008.