Lots of walking, a bit of Miata work, ATV ride, trip to Orat’s house

(posted from home)
(This post covers 12 May to 11 June, 2013)


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Tuesday, 11 June-

Today I had to get my act together to get the lawn mowed before it takes over the neighborhood. Radar was showing rain headed this way this morning so I made an earlier start than normal, despite wet grass. Fortunately, we had a nice breeze drying things out so I didn’t have much of a problem with the grass clumping up or jamming up the exit door.
I finished the most of the lower 40 by lunch time but still had the woods to do down there before taking on the front and back lawns. After lunch a light rain was just starting as I went back to the mower so I thought I’d just do what I could under the protection of the trees in the woods. The rain stopped by the time I finished there and I was able to go on and finish the lawn.
After taking a break I got on the laptop and caught up the blog and posted an update.

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Monday, 10 June-

This morning we left New York around 0900 in a light rain. We took our time and listened to ‘This American Life’ episodes.
We had a long lunch at the newish Longhorn restaurant on the Selinsgrove strip. I was very happy to split a half-rack of good ribs with Labashi there and can unreservedly recommend them.
We arrived home around 1500, just as the rain ended, allowing us to unload the van without hassle.
I spent the evening on the laptop, catching up email, Twitter, and news. Labashi spent it researching royalty-free music so we can post the kid’s clips on Youtube.

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Sunday, 9 June -

Our group of 12 went to breakfast this morning and then returned to the house for a slideshow and a few video clips from our New Zealand trip. At mid-afternoon we all piled in the cars and headed for Conesus Lake, where a family friend was hosting a picnic.
Our afternoon was perfectly balmy but the kids report the water was pretty cold at first at 65 degrees.
We returned to Orat’s house late and were happy to get into Mocha Joe’s comfortable bed for the night.

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Saturday, 8 June -

This morning we loaded up the van for our trip to Orat’s home near Rochester, NY. We left around 0900 and listened to several ‘This American Life’ episodes on the iPod as we drove.
We had good weather for our trip but arrived just as a light rain started. I mention the rain because Orat was out on Canandaigua Lake in his boat as we neared and I would have liked to get a boat ride. Too bad.
We picked up two pies at Monica’s Pies in Naples and arrived at Orat’s around 1430.
I spent the afternoon sitting around the table chatting while Labashi made a video trailer with our grand-nieces and grand-nephew. They were so excited to see a few quick scenes turn into a movie trailer with music and their names in the credits. (LOL).
We had a late dinner of pizza and wings while we watched the results. Excellent fun!

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Friday, 7 June -

I still had a few pains this morning but the problem clearly was working itself out. We had a rainy morning but during a lull I went out to the van for 20 minutes or so to work on the driver-side front door. The door latch had jammed on my ATV trip the other day and would not latch properly. The only way to keep the door mostly-closed while driving was to lock it.
I think I caused the jam. I’ve had problems with the power-door-lock working on that door and had recently found I could get it to work sometimes by pulling out on the handle while working the key in the lock. But after the ride at Michaux I had pulled out a bit too hard and the handle had not returned to its regular position-- it was stuck open.
By lubing the latch and pushing hard on the closed door after it had failed to latch, I got it working again. Whew. We’ll need it tomorrow!
I didn’t walk today.

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Thursday, 6 June -

Now that was interesting. I overdid the stronger-than-normal cocktails yesterday evening at Restaurant Sidney. I slept fine but woke with pains in my lower abdomen. When I’d try to stand, the pain would be strong enough for me to grimace but I could work it out. But I’d then get light-headed.
I spent the day taking it easy and having a few simethicone capsules and napping. By evening I was convinced I was improving but still couldn’t stand up without pain. We’ll have to see what happens overnight.

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Wednesday, 5 June -

Today Labashi and I drove to Greencastle to see my 88-year-old aunt. She’s quite a character and we loved talking with her.
On the way home I took the back road to take us to East Berlin and Rastaurant Sidney on the square. It was a perfect evening to sit at table on the outside patio and have drinks and a light supper. I tried three new-to-me cocktails (spread out over a long meal) and ended up having to ask Labashi to drive us home. We had a wonderful time.

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Tuesday, 4 June -

Today I drove Mocha Joe and the ATV trailer across to Michaux State Forest and it’s east-side ATV lot. I rode the ATV for two hours and managed to sprain my wrist slightly as I came perilously close to being thrown off. I had tried a more advanced trail and soon learned I was in over my head. After a bit of a scare, though, I had a great time.
I was very happy to see they’re doing trail work on the Log Slide Trail and it’s much, much better riding now. It had been deeply rutted and covered in football-sized rocks, making for a teeth-chattering ride at any speed. Now the ravines are gone and there are a lot fewer rocks so it’s a downright-pleasant teeth-chattering ride.
After the ride I chatted with a thirty-something mountain biker about Florida. His mom lives there and he hopes to move to the Sarasota area sometime in the next year or two. The main issue for him is getting away from Pennsylvania’s cold winter weather. He said he had lived in the Florida panhandle for a few years so he wasn’t concerned about the heat. All I could think of was, ‘yeah, but there’s a heck of a lot of bugs down there!’ but I held my tongue.
I rode 30 miles in just over two hours and never saw another ATV on the trail or in the parking lot.
On the way home I stopped at Pinchot Park and walked a mile to get some steps in.

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Monday, 3 June -

Today was pretty much a recovery day in the morning though I did do a bit of prep for an ATV ride tomorrow... mostly just checking I had everything I’ll need.
Late in the day I walked-six and then we watched an episode of ‘Titanic:Blood and Steel’.

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Sunday, 2 June -

Today we drove to Baltimore for a date. We went to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where we had a nice lunch, then a slow walk through the art work.
Though I’ve been walking quite a bit, I was exhausted by the 4000 steps of our visit--- another indicator I’ve been overdoing.
As we returned home I diverted to Chili’s for an early supper and that evening we watched the ‘Titanic: Blood and Steel’ pilot.

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Saturday, 1 June -

I spent the morning recovering from yesterdays’ walk but then rode the Concours down to Rocky Ridge and walked seven miles on a pretty hot day, exhausting myself. I’m overdoing!
That evening we watched the end of ‘Call the Midwife’- Series One.

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Friday, 31 May -

This morning I applied the Nu-finish treatment to the Miata in about an hour and it looks good.
I rode over to Rudy Park in the heat of the 90-degree afternoon and walked in the shade along the rail-trail path for three miles.
That evening we watched ‘Call the Midwife’ episodes.

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Thursday, 30 May -

Today I wiped down the Miata as part of preparation for a Nu-finish treatment. The weather wasn’t right so I did a bit of research to confirm that’s what I wanted to do and I ran over to the local Advance Auto for some supplies.
I mowed the lawn and later helped Labashi a bit with her tree-trimming project.
We also met with a lawn-service guy who gave us a quote on treating the tree diseases.
That evening we watched ‘Silver Linings Playbook’.

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Wednesday, 29 May -

This morning I washed the Miata and used Back to Black to treat the plastic bumpers to get the color back. I also used a mildew remover to remove some green growth that accumulated on the front bra’s cloth parts.
I also fixed the Homesitter by eliminating my brother’s phone numbers from it and plugging it back in to the phone jack. It had made calls to my brothers after a power outage and that was good but it didn’t seem to reset properly and called them again even after power came back on. I think I have it reset properly now.
I rode in to Starbucks on the GS and there saw four or five stretched Honda Ruckus scooters. I talked to the guys a few minutes as well as with a guy who had a new MV bike.
Back home, I washed and detailed the GS that afternoon. After supper I drove over to Pinchot Park with Labashi to look at the six-by-sixes in the playground area. Labashi is interested in doing a project in our back yard and wasn’t sure whether four-by-fours or six-by-sixes would look better. Definitely the former for the scale she has in mind.
That evening we watched ‘Call the Midwife’ episodes.

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Tuesday, 28 May -

We had a rainy day today and I set out on a mid-day six-mile walk in a light rain. It soon ended and my clothes soon dried off as I walked.
That evening we watched the last episodes of the season for ‘Longmire’. I can recommend that one. There are a few silly things in it but overall we thought it well worth our time.

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Monday, 27 May -

Today was the Memorial Day holiday and it was overcast and threatening rain.
I worked on the Mocha Joe’s stuck door and not only managed to get it open but to get it working like new. I took off the interior panel enough to reach in and feel the cables moving and realized they appeared to have full movement. I whacked the inside of the door frame several times with a two-pound hammer while holding the handle in the open position and the door popped open. I used WD40 and the blade of an old feeler gauge to get the gunk out of the moving parts of the latch and it started working again. I lubed it with lithium grease and soon had a fully-functional door. I had been convinced I had a cable problem so that saved me at least $75 to get it working again without having to buy new parts.
That evening I walked-six and then we watched several ‘Longmire’ episodes and the pilot of ‘Switched At Birth’.

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Sunday, 26

Today I put the Miata back together and took a test drive. The CD player works again but the radio still refuses to play. The radio was that way when I bought it and that just would have been a nice-to-have for selling the car.
I rode the GS down to Lowes and Starbucks on errands and stopped at Best Buy to look at a possible TV upgrade since it’s a sale weekend.
That evening I walked-six at home, getting back just before dark.
We then did something we rarely do. We watched a movie we had just seen-- in this case ‘The Life of Pi’-- a second time. If you know the story, you’ll recognize that we, the audience, get a surprise toward the end of the story and it changes our whole outlook on what was going on in earlier scenes. The second viewing helped us work our way through that.

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Saturday, 25 May -

This morning I rode down to Target to get a gift for my grand-nephew’s third birthday party. That was fun! I ended up getting a small tool set with a few items for him to think about-- like oversize plastic bolts and nuts as well as a small board with philips and straight screws.
I then popped over to the Galleria Mall and walked for an hour before heading home.
That afternoon we drove to Chambersburg and attended the little guy’s party. That too was fun. I’m amazed how much I like to watch the young ones play.
On the way home we stopped at the Appalachian Trail Museum. We were surprised to see the entire Peter’s Mountain Shelter there. This one brought back memories since it’s the shelter we had hiked into on a winter’s night in the early Nineties. We walked in during a fairly heavy snow storm and had built a nice fire for our long evening. I decided I should descend the steep path to the water source late in the evening and managed to fall and break a rib. We spent a miserable night in the shelter and slept very little. In the morning we walked out and drove to the Emergency Room at Holy Spirit hospital where we waited an eternity only to be told, yep, it’s a cracked rib and sent home.
That evening we watched the movie ‘The Life of Pi’. Good one.

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Friday, 24 May -

Today I drove Labashi down to the county extension office to get advice on several disease problems with our cypress and hemlock trees.
I LOVED it down there. What a great job that would be. People come in with samples of various tree and plant diseases and you put the samples under a hi-power magnifier and try to identify the disease by comparing what you’re seeing to photos and descriptions in books from the shelves lining the office. The clues are subtle enough to make it an interesting challenge.
In our case, one sample we took in was a natural process- it was male and female pollen rather than a disease. We confirmed that our hemlocks have a small amount of elongate scale but we were unable to nail down the cause of a seepage problem with the trunk of one of our leyland cypress trees.
That afternoon we drove up to see Mom and Dad and later took them out to dinner at the restaurant at Liberty Forge Golf Course. We happened to arrive just as a wedding party arrived so it was chaotic for a bit but soon cleared up. The jury’s still out on this place, at least for us. The food was good but it seems to have a split personality. The web site shows a nice dining area but that’s only for the wedding venue. We were limited to a small bar area where only booth seating was available. The food was actually pretty good and prices were reasonable. We’ll reserve judgement till we get a chance to have a nice balmy evening outside at one of the outside tables where we’re away from the bar’s noise and bustle.

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Thursday, 23 May -

Today’s main goal was getting the lawn mowed. I’m on a weekly cycle now, mowing on Thursdays. The Fitbit says I walk about four miles mowing the lawn and when it’s hot, that’s plenty.
That evening we watched a PBS special about a tribe in Borneo.

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Wednesday, 22 May

I ordered replacement knobs for the Miata climate control this morning and at lunch time rode the GS over to Brother’s Pizza for a slice. I managed to eat about a quarter inch of plastic fork-tine. I THINK that’s what happened. All I know for sure is I looked at my fork at some point and saw the tine had broken off and was nowhere to be found. So of course that meant that once I got home I had to research what I should do about it. The final decision was to wait it out.
That evening I walked the six-mile loop at home and just arrived back home as heavy rain started. That was a close one!

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Tuesday, 21 May -

It was another hot-and-sticky day today. I was still recovering from yesterday’s walk this morning but then rode the GS over to Pinchot Park and walked again. I parked below the dam and walked in three miles to the campground and back for 19k steps.
That evening we watched the movie ‘Argo’. I liked it but thought its scenes at the airport awfully clumsy and contrived.

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Monday, 20 May-

Today was a rainy day so I took Labashi’s car to town for my Starbucks fix. I talked a bit with the barista I loaned the motorcycle training book to. We talked about her second job of seeing after an elderly lady.
I then drove over to Flying Feet and bought two pairs of trail-walking shoes-- my go-to brand. I also hit the Walmart for socks. I need a bit more padding.
That afternoon I walked my six-mile loop at home in 85-degree heat and then we watched a French movie on Netflix-- ‘The Hedgehog’-- and an episode of ‘Longmire’.

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Sunday, 19 May -

This morning was rainy so I spent much of the morning on YouTube patrol for new music.
At mid-morning I decided I’d better get out for my walk before the rain gets heavier. I could see it coming on the Nexrad radar on Wunderground so stayed close to home and did my local six-mile loop.
That evening we watched a ‘Switched At Birth’ episode and a ‘Longmire’ episode as well as a TED Artistry and Magic pitch.

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Saturday, 18 May -

Today I worked on the Miata’s radio/CD player problem. I cut the red switched-12V wire to isolate it from the player and saw it read 7V. That suggested the problem may be in the ignition switch so I removed the ignition switch assembly, disassembled it and cleaned up the contacts with contact cleaner and a pencil eraser. Unfortunately, that didn’t fix the problem. I had been having a problem with the airbag light being intermittent and that was cleared up but I still only had 7V at the red wire to the radio.
I tried tracing wiring and spraying the plug connectors with contact cleaner but again no-go. That eventually led me to the fuse panel in the driver’s footwell. I pulled the fuse to the audio and cleaned up the connectors and re-installed the parasite connector and, voila, 12 volts at the red wire. The CD player is back to normal.
I walked 6 miles at Rocky Ridge for an 18K, 109-stair total today.
That evening we watched ‘Longmire’ episodes.

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Friday, 17 May -

Labashi’s brother and wife were headed home today. We’ve made it a tradition when they visit to go to a nice restaurant for a late breakfast or early lunch. Today we selected Restaurant Sidney in East Berlin and had a plus-plus lunch there. The food was very good and the cocktails were REALLY good. Where else can you get a good strong caipirinha in this area?
That evening I mowed the lawn for my walking time and then we watched two TED pitches on science. The TED pitches are a bit uneven sometimes and that was the case this time.

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Thursday, 16 May -

Today Labashi’s brother and his wife from the DC area came to visit. We visited Mom and Dad with them and all went out to dinner at the nearby Bonefish Grill. I was again disappointed in my meal there but we had a great time together.
We spent the evening going through our New Zealand pictures and clips with our guests.

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Wednesday, 15 May -

Today I pulled out the radio/CD player from the Miata’s dash and ran some tests. I found the switched-12V lead was only getting 7 volts. I posted a question about it on miata.net but did not get any responses today.
That afternoon I walked the six mile loop at home.

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Tuesday, 14 May -

Today I did some research on ‘Triad’, the David Crosby / Byrds / Jefferson Airplane song. I was interested in it after seeing Tina Dico’s 2008 cover of it and I loved learning about it and hearing the earlier versions. But Tina’s is knock-your-socks-off good, both aurally and visually.
I also posted Seasick Steve’s ‘Treasures’ on my Facebook wall. What a voice!
I also posted information about my Fitbit experience on the community board of Fitbit.com.
That afternoon I walked the six-mile loop at home.

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Monday, 13 May -

Today I took Labashi’s car to the dealer for an inspection and oil change. I knew the front brake rotors were pulsing a bit, probably from heat-warping, but expected them to pass inspection. The mechanic objected to some very minor rust damage which I thought should still pass inspection. I reviewed the inspection rules (via my iPad in the waiting area) and thought I had a case for arguing they should pass. However, I also realized I’m just delaying the inevitable. I agreed to replacing the rotors and pads so that added $400 to the bill. But it was a classic pay-me-now-or-pay-me-later situation.
Back home I did a bit more research on the Miata’s problem radio/CD player. I can find a decent replacement but I see from the online owner’s manual that you’re supposed to remove the faceplate every time you leave the car. There’s a specific warning against leaving it in a car which might get heated up by the sun. Really?
Late in the day I walked the six-mile loop at home.
That evening we watched the movie ‘Hunger Games’. I’m underwhelmed. The effects looked like something from a college-level film class. Hopefully the book will be better.

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Sunday, 12 May -

I spent the morning catching up and posting a blog update. I’m struggling a bit to keep the blog updated in a timely manner. However, I’m not thinking of abandoning it. The purpose remains one of having some record of what I was doing. It’s simply a type of daily diary and the audience, despite the fact that it’s on a public blogging site, is me. I want to be able to look back at what was going on when.
I’ve found that a few sentences on what was happening conjure up very vivid memories for me, particularly when they’re about our travels. I can’t remember much about our mid-Nineties vacation trip to Seattle and the Northwest (before I started the blog) or our 3-week Four Corners trip but if I pick any entry about our 66-day trip to Alaska in 2006, I’m instantly there in my mind’s eye.
The blog also gives me some date-specific information for questions that come up later. When did we see the polar bear in northern Manitoba? What was the name of the good museum in Calgary? When was our heat pump first turned on?
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In mid-afternoon I took the GS out for my Starbucks-and-walk routine. I took along my copy of ‘More Proficient Motorcycling’ for one of the baristas who talked to me about her desire to get a motorcycle sometime in the next year. Perhaps I’m jumping the gun but I thought she should understand more of the implications of her wish. I just hope it doesn’t scare her off.
After Sbux I rode up to Rocky Ridge and walked six miles and ticked off a hundred flights of stairs on the Fitbit. I was walking the 7.5 mile circumference loop but I had gotten a late start so I cut off at six miles in order to get home by 1830 for supper.
That evening we watched the finale of Survivor-Caramoan. We had only happened upon it two weeks ago and I can’t say we were ‘into it’ but we weren’t going to miss the finale. Cochran is the man!

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