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| Our new home: 2/2 Condo |
Before ---> After
New siding and paint this week. Those are Jeruselem Artichokes.
Before ---> After |
2012 May - Pacheco
May 3: An army of construction workers has descended upon the condo to replace rotting wood and to paint. For this each owner was assessed 250/month for six months so that has really hurt a few people. Only a few more months to go though. The tabletop garden is going strong. We have several tomatos. Strong winds blew one pot off the table and killed one plant but that pot had three plants in it so I just trimmed it off. We also have jalapenos, basil and rosemary (or is it thyme?) that we have been using in our cooking for months now.
Before ---> After May 9-12: Some good friends of ours came for a visit and we toured the lower end of Sonoma and a little bit of Napa on one day. Another day we took the BART into San Francisco for a day of great food and sightseeing. May 16: We celebrated a birthday with Kane Sushi which shot Steve's blood suger over 180! Softshelled crab is not our favorite, however, their Holy Mackerel was our new favorite, having little rice and great flavor! The next morning was a sushi-leftover omelet. Yum!
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2012 April - Pacheco, CA.
1 Apr: We spent the day up in Napa where one of our friends owns a small part of one of the wineries. Needless to say we enjoyed some special treatment and it was a really great time! 2 Apr: As some of you already know Steve's earthlink email account AND his deleted facebook page were hacked and hijacked by some scammer with a sob-story about being trapped in some other country and asking for money. I sincerley hope everyone knows about the scams and would never send money to one of these evil creeps! I can't figure out how the scam worked, the purpetrator never gave instructions on where to send money. I can only guess they were counting on me not knowing what was happening and getting replies from willing victims. Thanks to having great friends and a "welcome back" email from facebook Steve was able to regain control of the accounts within a few hours. Since both the facebook page and email address are obsolete some of the addresses were already changed but there are a bunch more to do. Earthlink has given a (free) month of service to make sure everyone is updated. That will be hard, there are a lot of contacts. 4 Apr: Still trying to change contact information. It ain't easy! Datenight was at That Bar in Danville. We had a great date that included watching a move later (Kung Fu Panda again, one of our favorites). Steve has developed a reputation in the investing world and was overwhelmed with peoples questions today. The stock market is high so it is drawing more attention. That doesn't mean you can't still make money but there is definately more risk to the downside than up. If the current administration allows the tax cuts on investing to expire look for a huge crash when investors move money to more tax-friendly assets and countries. Money goes where it is treated best. Think about it, wouldn't you choose the bank offering the most interest on your checking/savings accounts? 12 Apr: We have house guests scheduled for next month and so last Saturday we shopped for a dining table and a small couch or loveseat. We suspected we would be buying the dining set first. We wanted a Steve-height table and chairs and we have a very small dining area so a Pub-height set fit the bill. They delivered if for free and it fits perfect and looks great. We had dinner at it last night and I think we need to cover the top with glass or at least some kind of protection. 28 Apr: We attended a fundraiser dinner and silent auction at the Renaissance. We found a handicapped parking spot right by the elevators, which were locked and for members only. So, the disabled must use the stairs on the other side of the parking lot. I think that is illegal. The chicken was good. We had to renew the registration on the RV so we drove down to put the tag on the plate ourselves. The salesperson showed us that the value had dropped again and suggests we drop the price. To do that we will need to pay down the loan/mortgage on it again so Steve is doing mental gymnastics to figure out how to come up with some capital again. There is always something that comes up.
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Finished Master Bath
We have added Pad Thai to our Recipies. |
Master Bath status at the end of February
Finished! Master Bath status at the end of March. |
2012 March - Pacheco
Mar 3: The new shower looks great so far. Adrian has been coming over the last few evenings. He and his brother pulled the toilet back out and got all the floor tile installed. We had to run to Livermore in order to get the grout we wanted. Once the floor is grouted and the one wall is tiled I think we can get our toilet back in. We spent all day on Fourth street in Berkeley which is filled with Home Decorating outlets. We actually spent very little, resisting temptation. We enjoyed lunch at the Bistro ZUT! watching people from a sidewalk table. Mar 4: Adrian brought his tile guy, Jose', over and after a few false starts and runs to Home Depot (three) he had the tile on in almost no time. We didn't know the right terminology for the tile so we really slowed them down by picking up the wrong tiles. We treated to Mingles Pizza and they kept working while they ate. We are pleased to announce our new set of pages containing Low-Carb and No-Carb Recipes. Enjoy! We will try to post a new recipe each month but no promises. Mar 7: Our Handyperson/Subcontractor was here so datenight was at home, Steve made Reubens and took pictures for the afore mentioned Recipe Page. We rented Puss n' Boots and laughed out loud throught this hilarious movie. Mar 9: We did a Skype video tour of a small single family AZ home we are interested in as a rental or maybe even as our own retirement home someday. Technology is pretty cool! We cannot obtain a loan at this time (due to excessive leverage) so we are going to try some more sophisticated strategies to see if we can get in on this deal. Mar 14-15: We still hadn't heard from our handyperson, fearing the worst we had a tile sealing party for datenight. The next morning he showed up with his brother and it turns out he lost his cell phone (and all the phone numbers) and had a medical emergency. He may not be able to finish but assured Steve that his brothers could finish up the bathroom. If the toilet isn't installed by tonight we think we can install it ourselves. With the damage to Steve's central cord, having two toilets is more important than you can imagine! Earlier this month Google Chrome announced that it had installed itself on Steve's computer, without Steve's permission. Instantly angry Steve fired back a retort about sneaking around firewalls uninvited but a bad keystroke only sent half the message. Ah, the irony in life! After reading an article on the increased speed and security of Chrome in PC World magazine Steve decided to install it and switch over from IE. So far it has not shown itself to be any "faster" but the "sandbox" structure of the program is appealing and it remains the default browser. Mar 19: Steve has a hangover? and is blaming cheap rum. But he didn't have very much, just a dash in his tea... The CPAP mask got turned and left a dent in his forhead that hurts like heck. That must be it... Mar 20: Okay, it's a head cold. Darn. Steve made himself some homemade chicken soup from some stock we had frozen, some of it has a kick from using Valentine on the chicken. On a good note, the Master Bath is nearly functional. We have a working toilet and sink and the glass is on order for the shower. This past weekend Steve and Marnie set up the big telescope in the living room and set up a camera with some hardware we bought for it years ago. It has been that long since we had an opportunity for an astrophotography session. Venus and Jupiter are supposed to be offering their closest conjunction tonight but it is not known yet if our skies will be clear and if they are visible from our place. Steve felt too sick to go look last night and it was cloudy. Pretty sketchy chances but if we pull it off it will be the first update to the Astronomy page since 2003! Alas, it was not meant to be. First of all, it was not the closest conjunction and the two planets had been moving further apart for some time. If you write an article on such events use the date and not "Tuesday". Steve feels horrible so we would not have set up the scope anyway. Steve did see both planets through the big 80mm binoculars between the clouds. Venus was hard to resolve but you could see at least two moons of Jupiter. If you want to get started in Astronomy a good pair of large binoculars is really the right way to start, it just doesn't seem as cool as a scope. Big binoculars will have a tripod mount making them more steady if you use it. Further investigation finds that the Nikon S7C does not have remote capability and Marnie's Cannon EOS was dificult to use due to having to use the viewfinder and the only macro lense she has is too big and too heavy. 25 Mar: Our handyman and his younger brother finished up the Master Bathroom and it looks great!
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2012 February - Pacheco, CA.
17 Feb: Where did the month go?! We have a new handyman, Adrian. Adrian came in with a few helpers and the Master Bath is coming along rapidly. Last weekend we treated our Realators to dinner at Chow in Danville. Steve and Craig really hit it off, both being Engineers and musicians plus having traded in the stock market, etc. If you need a Realtor in the East Bay area we can highly recommend Craig and Tracey! On Sunday we left the place to the workers and went up to a pick-up party at Cline Winery. It was too crowded and we probably won't do that again. We also planted a couple of Avacado trees. It will probably be a couple years before they start producing and we will have to keep them trimmed to fit the yard. Pictures forthcoming :) 22 Feb: Datenight was at Cheesecake Factory, we split the Farmhouse burger protein-style and they now have a low-carb dessert menu. Steve enjoyed the low-carb cheesecake. Blood sugar was 106 two hours later and 108 the next morning! Steve's doctor set normal blood sugars as his goal, no more than 140 at night and between 90 and 120 in the morning.
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Our new home: 2/2 Condo
Master Bath Demo |
The View From Our Cabin Window
Tough Cork!
Thursday Morning in Flagstaff. |
2012 January - Pacheco
Jan 1: Happy New Year! With the new year the Web Log gets a new name and a new look. Jan 6-8: To celebrate our 13th Anniversary we spent the weekend in cabin 25 at Dillon Beach Resort. The huge front windows overlook the beach and a couple of those little dots on the beach are people! The 20+ foot surf settled down after sunset. Jan 6: We started our trip with lunch at Los Panchos where we tried the tacos (chicken and beef) and the Super Burrito (no beans). A short, pleasant drive, only an hour or two, brought us to the quaint cabin. The unit was well heated with a great view of the Pacific and record wave heights. Dinner was at the Dillon Beach Resort Cafe' and we shared fantastic Calimari and the Fish & Chips. Steve had the red wine; they only offer two wines, Cline Oakley Five Reds or Cline Oakley Five Whites. LOL. Our favorite winery through whose website we learned about Dillon Beach Resort. We stayed up late playing dominos and enjoying some great wine and music. Jan 7: Steve made a Ham & Cheese scrambled omelet and after a game or two of dominos we started with a nice walk on the beach where Steve's WalkAide helped make him faster than Marnie in the sand! Better than we could hope for or dream of! We then drove a huge loop, stopping first in Bodega to get pictures of the school and church starring in Alfred Hitchcock's, The Birds and then on to Sebastopol (we missed our turn), back to Occidental for lunch at Negri's Italian Restaurant for a great meat lover's pizza. We then drove up to Anderson Redwood Preserve but were disappointed by this small park with only a handful of the Giant Redwoods. Sadly this state park is closing due to budget cuts. From there we proceded along the Russian River to the coast and since it was too early for dinner, went back to our cabin to rest. We did a search and at least one travel site made the County Store in Bodega the #1 place to eat. They are known for their Crab Mac & Cheese and several chowders (we had white clam). The food was better than we imagined, when I told the server they ranked number one she laughed and said that is because they were the only place to eat in Bogeda (not quite true). Truly the Crab Mac & Cheese is worth going out of you way if you are within 100 miles of Bogeda! In the evening we played a few more games of dominos, drank a Viano Zinfandel and listened to more great music. Jan 8: Steve made another Ham & Cheese scrambled omelet, we played another few games of dominos and then we went on another walk on the beach. We found a cool jellyfish in one tide pool but didn't think we could get a good picture of it. We both got tired and we cut through the dunes and the RV park to shorten the walk a bit. We had a nice drive home and lunch at Chili's. Jan 9: Marnie had to work. Steve started a pork shoulder in the morning. Early afternoon Steve struggled to open and then decanted a 2001 Rios Lovell. Several ounces of this huge red wine was sediment! Mmmm. Steve thieved enough of a taste to make sure it wasn't vinegar after more than 10 years in the bottle. The roast, the wine, was all fantastic and made a great anniversary dinner. Jan 19-30: Arizona! On short notice Marnie was forced to take vacation or stop accruing so we threw together a trip to AZ. Steve had the bright idea to wear the TENS unit the entire trip out and that helped a lot! The first day, about five hours, Steve felt okay. The second day, 7-8 hours was a little too much. We stayed at a Quality Inn in Bakersfield and highly recommend it. The neighborhood was bad ("All Nudes All the Time") but the price was good and we felt safe. Bacon and eggs was free. We spent a few days with our friend Kate and then went down to the Verde Valley to look at Real Estate and spend time with our friends Pat & Carrie who tried to kill Marnie with a five-mile hike. Steve was almost in the Jeep before she admitted she was okay. The final weekend was spent with our friend Bob and a small dinner party with our usual "gang". It was hard to say goodbye to everyone again. An uneventful two days of travel later we were home to a very happy kitty. It seems like whenever we go on a trip there is a song that sticks out as the theme song. This trip we heard Victory Dance by My Morning Jacket a couple times a day and it sticks out due to the haunting instrumental harmony.
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