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NOVEMBER 2024

Wednesday 2024.11.27

Happy Thanksgiving

If you live in the USA (or maybe some other country where tomorrow is a holiday), enjoy a happy Thanksgiving (or whatever your holiday might be).

I won't be going anywhere this year. I had local friends in the past. Three of them have since passed away and others have moved away. My family consists of a twin brother and his wife in Florida. They're traveling to New Jersey to celebrate with friends.

I prefer a quiet holiday. I've visited for celebrations, but it always seemed easier and more comfortable to stay home.

How About Some OCD?

I don't suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I do like to be organized, but not to the point of an obsession. I bring this up because of a project.

So far, my favorite LEGO-fake kit has been the Arc de Triomphe I've blogged about before. It was the largest set I ever attempted. The pieces fit together smoothly and snugly. And I had the forethought to build it on a LEGO baseplate that was more than large enough to contain the structure. The baseplate prevents warping when moving the model around. Warping causes pieces to loosen and fall off, which I find very frustrating.

This is a kit I definitely want to take apart and store for building again next fall. This is where the organization comes in.

I don't like it when a kit requires me to search through multiple bags of parts to find a few pieces to complete a single step. The instruction book for the Arc is 153 pages, with two to four steps per page. I spend more time searching for pieces than I do assembling them. So, when I disassemble this set, I'll organize the pieces in a way that will make assembly easier next time. Each two-page spread will be one step and all the pieces for those pages will be stored in one numbered ziplock bag.

How About Some More OCD?

Maybe I'm a control freak, or maybe I get frustrated too easily. As I mentioned above, I like to build LEGO-fake sets on a single solid baseplate to prevent warping, which causes pieces to fall off. If I can, I prefer to work without glue (but glue is always an option).

I have a lot of extra LEGO pieces from past builds. This week I decided to build my own extra sturdy baseplate. The plates I bought are a little flexible. So far, they haven't caused any problems, but I'd prefer a more rigid plate. So, I built my own.

I linked smaller plates together with 2x wide pieces, covering all the seams. Then I filled in between with more pieces until the entire plate was two levels thick. Everything was glued. It ain't pretty, but it's really large and really rigid.

I'll get a chance to test it soon. Even though I'm really trying hard to restrict my requests on Vine, I ordered an Egyptian temple kit because it reminds me of a course in Walkabout Mini Golf. I'll assemble it on my new baseplate, unless it comes with it's own single baseplate. So far, none of them have; so, I'm sure I'll need my own.

Uh-Oh

I made Marinara in my Instant Pot this week. There was enough of a steam leak to boil the inner pot dry. Keep the IP or discard it? I have a really good Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker. I also have an induction cooktop I can set to slow cook something over a low heat. So, the failing IP might be an excuse to downsize a little more. I like the IP because it is set-and-forget. I can walk away from it and let it do its own thing. I need to monitor the Kuhn Rikon.

I cleaned the IP really well, including the valve, and I used a fine metal polish to clean the top edge of the inner pot. I also turned the gasket over. I added a pair of gaskets to my Amazon wishlist, but I'll wait to see if any show up for free on Vine.

Meanwhile, I went onto YouTube to see if others had the same problem and how they solved it. One answer might be the right one for me. Put more water in the pot. Supposedly, too little leads to over-pressurization, which causes steam to be released. It's a safety feature. I tried the pot again, this time with more water. The pressure release valve didn't leak. So, maybe all is well.

I'll try making pasta sauce again and then decide whether to keep the Instant Pot or dispose of it.

Storm #1

The first storm of the season has passed. We received a little rain. Most of it fell in the northern part of the county where Santa Maria got 11/3 inches of rain. Where I live, we saw 2/3 of an inch. At this time the reservoirs don't matter. Most of the rain is absorbed by the soil. Later in the season, when the soil is saturated, runoff will flow into the lakes and streams.

Sunday 2024.11.24

I'm Old

I do things the old fashioned way. I was more than a bit surprised (actually, a pit angry too) that I got a notice from a credit card company saying I was 12 days late on my payment. I'm never late. But here's the thing:

That company converted me to paperless billing, without my permission. I need paper. I keep a little tickler file on my desk. I always know when the next payment is due. However, without paper, how am I supposed to keep track?

I did print a statement to have paper, but it said my payment was due on December 6. So, I ignored it. When I received the late payment notice I called customer service. The December 6 date was for my next payment, not the current one. We got it all straightened out and I paid what I owed. And, she returned my account to paper billing. Thankfully, there was no late payment penalty.

Adventures in Vining

More and more I'm learning I shouldn't order anything on Amazon until I've checked Vine first, and, if necessary, waited long enough for something I want to be offered for free.

I've blogged about my compact clothes dryer (thank you Vine). One minor issue is the lint filter. Reviewers claimed it was not easy to clean. There is one piece that is a non-woven fabric filter and getting lint off it can be a challenge. One reviewer said a vacuum cleaner works best.

I can't imagine lugging out my heavy Kirby and attaching the hose to clean a 9-inch round filter. So, I ordered a handheld vacuum at full retail from Amazon. Then, a day or two later, a stick vacuum, similar to a Dyson, appeared on Vine. I ordered it anyway because I thought it looked like a better appliance.

The stick arrived on Friday. My first and only test was on the round dryer filter. It worked very well. So, yes indeed, a vacuum is the best way to clean the filter. Meanwhile, the handheld vacuum will arrive today. I'll test the handheld the next time I do laundry.

Another Vine arrival was a pair of waterproof gloves. The hands are covered all over with a rubber-like coating, similar to rubber gloves for washing dishes. These gloves, however, are thicker. When I saw them on Vine I thought about steam. As mentioned earlier, I steam my cotton shirts to remove wrinkles. Too many times my fingers came a little too close to the hot steam. I haven't burned myself, yet, but I believe it's a matter of time. I ordered those gloves.

To test them I held my gloved fingers in front of the steamer, directly in the path of steam. I felt warmth, but nothing that might burn me. I now wear the gloves when I'm steaming my shirts.

And I put a note at the top of my wish list: ONLY ORDER WHAT YOU REALLY NEED. Getting something for free on Vine isn't a bargain if I don't need it and must find a place to store it. I might break my rule if I see a LEGO-fake kit I think might be fun to build. But, as I've said earlier, in January I'll start tailoring shirts again. That should keep me busy and away from LEGO. Speaking of which…

Another Done and Dusted

I finished assembling the Santa's House LEGO-fake kit, after which I wrote my review. It got a mediocre rating. In my review I said Santa's elves know how to make toys, but they don't know how to build houses. It was one of the worst kits I built. Some pieces didn't anchor to anything. They just sat in place, like furniture in a doll's house. Other pieces were held in place by only one stud. Moving the model sent pieces onto the floor. I glued the most troublesome pieces in place to keep my frustration down.

It looks good, but I won't disassemble this set and save it for next December. It will go into the recycling bin. I was thinking of saving the trees; although, they look kind of ugly. Actually, I reminded myself about clutter; so, the trees go too. I'll save the Santa minifigure.

How About Some Weather?

The weather guessers got it right this time. It started raining yesterday. So far, it has been a very light rain. Most areas were projected to get between a tenth and a quarter inch of rain. A light rain is okay. If I can see a little water streaming down the street, I know it's carrying away dust that collected on the pavement during the summer. Where I live, nearly a third of an inch fell. We are at only 15% of our "Normal-to-Date rainfall" and only 2% of the "Normal Water-Year rainfall." It's early yet.

Wednesday is projected to be a little better — between a quarter and half an inch of rain.

Wednesday 2024.11.20

Got Chex?

Sunday afternoon I took advantage of the last day of the sale that had Chex cereal on sale at $2.70 off at Costco. During the course of the sale, I bought seven boxes. Each box has enough cereal to make four batches of Chex Mix, but I usually make it in double batches. The plan is to prepare it occasionally and make my supply of cereal last several months.

Returning to Something Old

Many years ago I bought a hand-held clothing steamer at Costco. I used it a few times, but it was not easy to use because there was no place to support my shirts while steaming them. I tried several setups but ultimately gave up.

After buying my portable washing machine I put up some clotheslines in my home. Although not the best, they do work well enough to hold up a shirt while I steam it. My shirts don't look as good as they would if pressed at a professional dry cleaner, but they certainly look a lot better.

And it works great, until it no longer works. After a few shirts the appliance stopped producing steam. It made a chattering noise, but no steam. I left it plugged in to see what might happen. After a few minutes it started putting out steam again. Maybe it needed to clean its pipes. I use only distilled water, not tap water; so there should be no danger of lime buildup.

To keep my options open, I looked on Amazon Vine. There was a portable garment steamer; so, I ordered it. A person can always benefit from having a spare.

Turning to Something New

When I was shopping in Costco on Sunday I looked for dryer sheets — those things that are supposed to reduce static cling, soften the fabric and help prevent wrinkles. I found Kirkland Signature brand, 250 sheets per box, and per Costco's larger sizes, two boxes per package.

Then I got to thinking. If one sheet is used in a standard size dryer, would half a sheet be better in my compact dryer? I decided to cut a sheet in half and place it in my dryer with four shirts, my usual load. How did the shirts look coming out of the dryer? Better, less wrinkled. They looked even better after a little touch-up with steam. I'm satisfied.

Maybe This Time

This is the time of year when the weather guessers predict rain. The probability is usually good, like 40% or 50%. Then, as the day of the storm approaches, the odds drop to something like 20% or mostly cloudy.

It appears we'll get our first storm of the season this weekend. They've been talking about it in the news. So far, most of the rain has been in Northern California and Oregon where it was labeled a "bomb cyclone," a rapidly developing storm. As the storm moves southward, Santa Barbara could see some moderate rainfall. It could start as early as Saturday and continue through the weekend and into the beginning of next week.

However, I'm already having some doubts because what started off as "rain likely" changed to "a chance of rain" and then a day later it changed to "rain likely" again. On the positive side, the forecast is for several days of rain; so, we might see some precipitation after all. As of this morning the prediction, or best guess, is a 70% chance of rain on Saturday.

Sunday 2024.11.17

Done and Dusted

I completed the Arc de Triomphe kit I've been working on and I left a good review on Amazon Vine. This was one of the most satisfying builds I attempted. It was certainly the largest. Everything went together well, and stayed together. I glued only one piece, the Eternal Flame that is in the center of the base. It's a tiny flame shape and those usually get knocked off easily and then they fall to the floor and get lost in the carpet.

Using a large LEGO baseplate, purchased separately, was very helpful. During assembly the directions occasionally say to turn the structure around so as to work on the other side. It was easy with that base. After Thanksgiving I'll disassemble the kit and bag the parts in a more logical sequence to make assembly easier next time. One of my pet peeves with these kits is the way we are supposed to look through multiple bags of parts to complete a single step.

I have two more kits to build, Santa's House and Cousin Eddie's RV, which I will assemble during December. Then, after Christmas, I'll disassemble those and store them until next December.

In January I'll begin my winter project, the one I've already blogged about, tailoring more shirts.

One Last Piece

I added the final piece to the lawn jockey statue I've been restoring — a little rechargeable LED lantern. I was fortunate to find a miniature lantern on Amazon. It's the right size to look correct with the statue. It's also weather-proof. I can leave it outdoors.

Now I need to find a place to put this statue. I checked the price of others on Ebay and these sculptures sell for $200 to $500. I think displaying it in front of my home might be risky. I might place it in a corner of my rear deck and hope no one is offended by how politically incorrect it is. Or I could set it near my entry deck, to one side, more toward the back, where I can enjoy it and where it won't be too visible to passers by. I'm leaning toward the deck.

A Surprise

Actually, more of a shock.

I needed to replace a light switch in my kitchen (but not the one I thought it would be). It controls the porch light and electrical outlet on my rear deck. Naturally, the first thing I did was turn off the circuit breaker and test that circuit to be certain it really was off and safe. During the process of replacing the switch I touched the ground wire and got a shock. Why would the ground wire be hot? It must be crossed with another wire elsewhere in my home, on a different circuit.

I worried that I might the using electricity and that would be reflected in my utility bill. Hiring an electrician to trace down the short would probably be very expensive. However, I rarely use that outdoor light; so, I decided to leave it and hope for the best.

Wednesday 2024.11.13

Happy Chores to You

Who would have thought laundry day could put a smile on my face? When I got my little Haier portable washing machine I would often smile when doing laundry. I really enjoyed washing my clothes at home. That was February 18, 2018. I put it on my calendar as a memorable event.

This week I added "Got my compact dryer" to my calendar for November 8th. Laundry makes me smile again. The dryer works well. I was hoping my cotton shirts would come out with few wrinkles, but I don't see any difference.

Arc de Triomphe

As mentioned earlier, I got a LEGO-like kit for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. I started working on it this month. With 4,436 pieces, I knew it would take a while to complete. I've been working on it and the assembly has been going well.

One little problem is that a small brick would occasionally slip from my fingers and fall inside. It was difficult to retrieve without taking the structure apart. I stuffed some foam rubber inside the gaps. Now, if a piece slips from my fingers, it won't go very far.

The Curse of Oak Island

Yesterday was the premiere of the latest season of The Curse of Oak Island. People have been trying to find a treasure there for 230 years. The show is filmed during the summer and broadcast during the fall and winter. Each season the show covers their efforts to find the treasure. However, I watch the news. If a fabulous treasure was found on Oak Island during the summer, wouldn't it be reported on CNN? I heard nothing; so, I can safely assume this latest season won't result in a treasure.

Books

I am still reading Bob Woodward's latest book, War. When I complete it I will probably read Jon Meacham's book, The Soul of America: the Battle for Our Better Angels, again. I read the book during the first Trump term and as I remember, Meacham was good about putting things in perspective. We've been through difficult times in the past and we survived, such as:

Another four years of Trump won't be fun, but we'll get through it.

Sunday 2024.11.10

A Little Pick-Me-Up

But, maybe not so little.

I needed something to cheer me up after feeling a little depressed that we will have to endure another four years of Trump in the White House. My sister-in-law Penny said it well. "I'm glad I'm old."

I scored something good on Amazon Vine on Wednesday — a $270 portable clothes dryer. I was surprised to see it offered on Vine. The program is usually for new products that the manufacturers want to introduce to the public and pick up a few good reviews to help with sales. This dryer has been around for at least two years, maybe longer. There are nearly 1,500 reviews on Amazon, and most of them are very positive, four or five stars. Maybe they're clearing out an inventory of an older model.

I've been using clotheslines inside my home to dry my laundry. They work well enough, but my cotton shirts look very wrinkled. A tumble dryer would eliminate some of the wrinkles if I remove the shirts as soon as they are dry. Of course, there is always the challenge of finding a place to store it in a mobile home.

There is enough room on top of my bedroom bureaus and the window is right there. I have an insert I use to vent an air conditioner out that window.

And I see another advantage. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, my winter project will be tailoring. I need to pre-shrink my cotton fabrics. Laundering and drying in a hot dryer is the best method. I have a compact washing machine. Now I'll also have the dryer.

That Lawn Jockey

You might remember I blogged about getting a neighbor's lawn jockey statue several months ago after she passed away. I always liked seeing it in her yard. What I like most is that it is so politically incorrect.

On Thursday I started working on the restoration because I had the supplies I needed. It required repairs because of cracks and chips.

I found a good patching compound at Home Depot. It was already mixed and it is recommended for this type of repair. During the morning I did the best I could filling cracks and chips. I also received some exterior acrylic paints from Amazon. The kit contains six colors. I've been looking at photos on the internet to get some ideas about painting it.

I'll use black for the face and hands. The shirt will be white. The base will be green. It's the vest and trousers that leave me undecided. Black and red make sense, but I'll probably paint the collar white to separate the face from the vest. I'll paint the sides of the eyes white and my plan is to mix a little red and white to make a pink for the lips.

Meanwhile, Happy Happy

The compact clothes dryer I mentioned above arrived early. It was supposed to be delivered tomorrow, but it came on Friday. Naturally, I did an average load of laundry (three shirts) in my compact washer and then transferred the damp shirts to the dryer. I used "ECO" mode, which uses no heat; it simply fluffs the clothes dry with room-temperature air. My shirts were dry in two hours.

Done and Dusted

Yesterday I finished the restoration of the lawn jockey statue. I'm pleased with the way it turned out. I'm not sure how much value it added, but I didn't do the restoration as an investment. I wanted it to look good in my yard.

Meanwhile, I ordered a little vintage lantern for it.

Wednesday 2024.11.6

Not Quite Yet

I haven't quite given up LEGO kits yet. I saw another Christmas set and I couldn't resist. Also, I was hoping for another Halloween kit last month, but none were offered. However, this week there was a Haunted House kit on Vine. I ordered it. I won't build it until next October, which leaves a review to write. I'll look at some other reviews and make up one. It will be okay.

And also, it's not a kit to assemble, but I found one item irresistible. It's a Rubik's Cube with LEGO-like cubie faces.

I've liked Rubik's Cubes since my college days. I have owned many of them down through the years. I keep one on my desk and I solve it almost everyday to stay fresh on my memorized routines. Another one is inside its own little display case. I keep that as a novelty. This new LEGO one will be another novelty to keep on display. On Vine I found a small display case, suitable for a softball, which should be the right size.

Meanwhile, I continue to work on the holiday house from the movie A Christmas Story. It suffers from one of my pet peeves, which was really frustrating when I assembled the Flower Shop kit — a base made up of multiple plates. They buckle at the seams and that loosens some of the bricks. I splurged a little and ordered the largest LEGO baseplate on Amazon. $11.59 for one flat piece of plastic seems outrageous; however, I've saved so much money on Vine, I can justify an occasional expenditure. It will make some kits more stable as I work on them.

A Group Ride That Wasn't

I looked forward to a group bicycle ride yesterday morning. The plan was to meet at 9:00 at a nearby beach parking lot, then ride to a local restaurant for breakfast before returning to the beach. The ride was projected to be 10 to 15 miles.

Unfortunately, the leaders of the ride did very little to keep the group together. We broke off into three groups. I followed a woman who followed someone who wasn't even in our group, and that led us to her driveway. That was the breaking point for me. I turned around and headed home. I put 19 miles on my bike; so, the ride was good exercise. But I doubt I'll attend another one.

And, of Course, Some Politics

I was disappointed, but not shocked, at the results of the election yesterday evening. I had hoped that smarter people would prevail. Unfortunately, the overall IQ of people in America has been declining for decades. It really revealed itself in the vote.

Some people might blame immigration. There is a little truth in that. We've been adding poorly educated people to our population down through the years. But they are not solely the fault. The idiots who stormed the capital on January 6th nearly four years ago were not Mexicans; they were mostly stupid white Americans.

I tried to watch the news yesterday evening. I knew the election results wouldn't be final before going to bed. The most painful reporting to watch was Steve Kornacki on MSNBC. He spent way too much time focusing on the trends in the counties, comparing them to 2020 and 2016. The electoral college votes aren't awarded by county. When Kornacki came on, I switched to CNN. I get it. He's a statistician. A general election is a wet dream for him. I didn't want the minutia. The general data, the total electoral college numbers each candidate wins, is all that matters.

If I might be permitted some pessimism, I foresee the next several years being painful for the nation and for liberals.

If things go south, my message to the Americans who elected Trump is: "You wanted a felon for president, you're getting what you deserve. Be careful what you wish for."

Although I was hoping Harris would win, it might be good that she lost. How effective could she be as President if both chambers of Congress are controlled by Republicans?

I've been saying it for years: The USA is in decline and will eventually be only another country, like France and Spain. I suspect China might be the next super-power, and maybe a new Soviet Union too.

Sunday 2024.11.3

Welcome to Standard Time

If you live in an area that switches to Daylight Saving Time each spring, now is the time to "fall back" — turn your clocks back one hour. Some of my clocks adjust themselves automatically. Others I need to manually set. It's a minor nuisance. Thankfully, it happens only twice per year.

Change of Pastime

Lately I've been building LEGO-like sets. They can be fun. I finished one, the train, and I have one I haven't started yet, the house from the movie A Christmas Story. Yet to receive is the Arc de Triomphe set, which hasn't been shipped. That will be the largest one I ever attempted and it will probably be the most tedious, but I shouldn't judge too soon.

I've done enough LEGO for a while. It's time to turn to something else. I decided my winter project for 2025 will be to tailor more shirts. I don't need them. I have more than enough to last the remainder of my life, maybe. However, I have pieces of fabric, mostly 100% cotton bed sheets, still in boxes, and I'd like to use those up.

With that plan in mind, I ordered some buttons from Amazon Vine this past week. They're a cream color, which should be okay for casual shirts. The package contains 50 buttons. That will be enough for five shirts — eight buttons down the front and one on each sleeve cuff.

There's another reason I'd like to return to tailoring. The last few shirts were stitched on a new machine, the Janome I ordered from Costco. I liked the machine for embroidering patches for my kitchen aprons, but it wasn't perfect for garments. I'd like to assemble these shirts on my old reliable industrial Singer 31-15. According to the serial number lookup page online, it was built in 1942. I can return the Janome, but I'll save it for buttons and buttonholes.

Meanwhile, I disassembled the flower shop model from the movie Little Shop of Horrors. However, as I took it apart I put the pieces in numbered plastic bags according to the sequence of building, one bag for each two or four pages in the instruction booklet. If and when I assemble the kit again next October, there will be no searching through several bags for each step. Open only one bag and use all the pieces before moving on to the next bag. Easy peasy.

Keeping With Tradition

This is the time of year when the National Weather Service predicts rain, but their probabilities are usually wrong. I mentioned last week that yesterday had a 70% probability of rain. As the day approached, the probability was gradually reduced. On Friday, the day before the storm, the chance of rain was down to 20%, "a slight chance of showers." Yesterday morning it came back up a little, 30%, and "showers" returned to "rain." However, other than the ground looking a little wet when I got out of bed in the morning, I saw no rain.

I checked the county's Rainfall and Reservoir Summary this morning. It reported 0.01 inches fell in this area. Oh well, it's early in the season.

I like the first rain of the season. It washes away things — such as the dust on the ground and the bird poop from the nest in my neighbor's awning (I stopped the birds from nesting in mine).

Keeping With Another Tradition

The holidays are nearing. Last month I wrote about Costco stocking three-variety boxes of Chex cereal — corn, rice and wheat. They went on sale at $2.70 off on Friday. I bought two boxes. The sale ends in two weeks. I'll buy two more boxes before then.

And so, on Friday afternoon I made my first double-batch of Chex Mix snacks. It was enough to fill two one-gallon ziplock bags, and that used only half of one box of cereal.