If It's Thursday It Must Be Car Show Day!

I walked up to the car show this afternoon.  'Cause I NEED the exercise!

Most of the cars were the same ones, but there were a few new ones.  I'm still looking for that "Ghia", though, it has not been back!

All the motorcycles that I saw there were Harleys.  One was one of them ol' three-wheelers, the kind with the box on the back.  Like the police or delivery bikes were.  Back in the day...   I'd like to see some interesting old bikes of other brands.  Maybe the Ton Up Club San Diego could make an appearance!!

I saw that Willys again, now the hood is up.  Is that stock?

Well, I KNOW the air cleaner is not, but what about that carb setup?

Porsche "Bathtub" Speedster.  I think the first Porsche I ever rode in was one of these, owned by Linda something... no, I take that back, her car was a Mini.  The first Porsche was a different time.  Both times I was hitchhiking, though.

A violet DeSoto, ain't that cute?

And here is the engine.  It's a Fire Dome V-8!!

I don't know what kind of car it is, but the owner has named it "Lonely Teardrops", I guess after the song performed by Jackie Wilson.  Click the link for the Wikipedia article, Wilson died while performing the song!

I also looked, fruitlessly, for a geocache that I haven't found before, so there you go.

See you at the car show, next week!

Thursday

What can I complain about today? Let us see...

I already complained, on the FB, about the interest rate paid on savings accounts.

How come when ever I go to do labs there is ALWAYS some prep I didn't know about?  Today it was: "Oh, we're going to need a urine sample," she says brightly.  If I had a known, I might not have used the bathroom just before I came in here!

I guess that is all I have to say at this time.  Stay tuned for developments.

Running On Empty

I woke up three hours before dawn and went to find a geocache.  I found it, and another, and didn't find two, then I came home.  All by six!

Later on I went to Home Depot and bought a small bag of orchid mix, and some epoxy glue, then I went to the grocery store and bought groceries. And some non-food items, too. Like vitamins, cling bandage for the first aid box, and a big container of fiber supplement. Isn't that interesting?

A couple of months ago I bought, for a fundraiser, a sheet of paper impregnated with sunflower seeds.  And apparently other kinds of seeds, too.  See the pic. I planted it last week, and stuff has started coming up.

 

I forgot, on the way to Home Depot I dropped off that Encyclopaedia Britannica set we paid so much money for, so long ago.

The last time I bicycled I picked up one of my geocaches that was in need of some fixin', as some very strong hands of Lana Kane-ian proportions have been trying to twist it open.  The wrong way.  So that is what the epoxy is for.

I planted the baby epidendrum orchid in a big pot, so let us see how THAT turns out.

I watched an episode of Rev this afternoon, but I kept falling asleep.

The Raleigh Twenty is still in the shop, awaiting new tires, white walls, which they have to special order.

I can't think of anything else, except someone needs to do the dishes around here!

Alien Growths

The other thing with growths around here is this epidendrum.

See those three keikis?  I just watched a YouTube that implied that you cut them off just below where they branch off and plant the stem above, with the keikis attached, in another pot for another plant.

What do I know about gardening?  Nothing!

Post-Ride Snack

Back from the bike ride, it is time to eat something.  Is it possible to make only enough batter for one pancake?  Can I do the math?  Why, yes,  yes I can!

Well, that's looking good, if a little blurry.

The giant Silicone Flexible Pancake Turner deftly lifts it out.

Butter only, no syrup!  Gotta keep the carbs down, especially since I can't take the Metformin for a few days after the cat scan.

All gone!

Yes, yes, the desk is a bit cluttered.  So is my mind!

Thursday

It is getting so I can't remember what to write, and what NOT to write.

Pictures are always good, though!

The view from the podiatrist's office (Tuesday).

Oh, come on, tell this is not amusing!

Today, Thursday, I went for a scan in Mira Mesa, and went looking for some geocaches in the area, both before and after.  I found six, and two of them were ones I had looked for before, so that was good.  Then I called up Matt and we (eventually, as I missed several exits getting there) met up in La Jolla and had lunch at the Bella Vista Social Club & Caffé, which is a very nice place to be.  The bathrooms are the cleanest I have ever seen, although there was a slight sense of chemicals, but that may have been me (because of the scan...).  The food was good, and there was a lovely view towards the ocean and the glider port.

It being Thursday, I went over to the weekly car show to look around.  Here are some of the vehicles I noted:
 
A 1965 Dodge Dart.

Uh, that is NOT a Slant-6

Looks nothing like MY old Dodge Dart!

A 1965 Volkswagen.

I have no idea what kind of car this is.

But I took a picture of the engine thinking it was an old flathead, then I read the air scoop*...  And did these old timers ever come with V-8s?  I'm thinking not...

*and then I read the wiki article on Hemi Engines! Also, the wiki article on the Chrysler Hemi engine has some details on the 392 cubic inch engine.

I brought my Lotus Super Seven Matchbox car (Actually, it's a Caterham R500 Superlight) just to pose with the real thing (I think), but it didn't come out so good.

Snazzy!

VW Thing.  I always kinda wanted one of these.

I said to a guy standing nearby, "What the heck is that?". 
He said, "I think it's a Willys." 
I replied, "Well, DOH, I guess that is what that big ole 'W' is for!"

Well, that's about all I got for today!

Oh, it was 91 degrees here.  And 48 percent humidity.

There, that is all!

Santee & Clairemont, I Mean, Kearny Mesa

So I was geocaching the other day and when I got home I got a great idea for a picture, so I stopped by this morning to try to do it.  Well, it is not entirely clear from the photo what is going on, so there is an inset image of the overall scene, and a bit of description:  I figured out from the cache hint (colector de aguas pluviales) that it was in the pipe at the end of the drainage ditch. So I stuck my head down there, and even with the headlamp on I couldn't see anything, and I couldn't get my head down there far enough anway.  So I used the fabulous selfie feature on the iPhone to look at the top of the pipe.  So here, in this recreation, is me looking down at the iPhone screen while the selfie camera is looking at the top of said drainage pipe.  I wish the sky was blue, but I guess the glare washes it out.  It was overcast, anyway!

Where Is That Darn Cache?

I went geocaching in Santee and what turns out to be Kearny Mesa, not Clairemont.  My goal was to find some caches, of course, and then visit the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore, to which I have never been before, can you believe it?

Saw some antennas as I was making the rounds!

An HF antenna at the California Department of Transportation.  Backup in case the internets go down?

HF antenna at HRO, otherwise known as The Toy Store.

I found sixteen caches today, and didn't find three.  I found three caches that I had DNFed previously, which was sweet!  On my first cache of the day I bang my forehead on a piece of iron, and now have a lump.  I shoulda been wearing my hat!

I tested my blood sugar at the proper time while I was at a cache, it was the highest it has ever been, 211.  I didn't eat anything different, but last night I forgot to take my meds, so maybe that's it.  My pre-meal test was ok, though.  We shall have to see what happens at dinner time.

I went back to Mysterious Galaxy and talked to the proprietor for a while, then a whole FAMILY of women and girls, some from Spokane, came in to pick out books.  It took me a good long while to get his attention and pay for the books (John Scalzi books), but it was cool 'cause I got to watch him at work talking up books.   Nice to watch an expert at work!

What is going on next week?  I think I have a doctor appointment every day except Friday.  Teeth, feet, PCP, CT-Scan. Not neccesarily in that order.

I had an eye exam yesterday, the doctor said I had a freckle in my eye, I forget just where.  She also said I have a little bubble, which could be a precursor to a cataract.  What fun!

But no diabetes damage.  Yet!

So I got that goin for me!

I THINK IT'S WEDNESDAY

I noticed while posting the details of the one book I've read this month that the number of books I've read each year has been declining.

In 2012 during January through June I read 97 books.

In 2013 during January through June I read 49 books.

In 2014 during January through June I read  45 books.

Huh.

Today I went geocaching in Santee. The goal was to find some caches that I previously had not been able to find.  Well, I did.  I found three caches that were previously DNFs.  I didn't find one cache that was a DNF (and still is!).  I found two new-to-me caches.  And I found that puzzle cache that had the barking doggie last week.

Lookie there, by that bush in the middle.  Tell me that doesn't look like a snake!

Well, it was not.  But it did give me pause!


A panorama (Half a meg in size) of Santee from the top of a hill.  Cowles Mt. is on the far right part.

Sure is a lot of litter, I should have brought a bag.

One of the new caches was at the old Edgemoor barn.

My geocaching partner on the Isle Of Man found the Euterpe (Star Of India) cache there with the coordinates I sent her and signed our names, so now I have found a cache in another country.  I in turn found the Euterpe cache here in San Diego with the coordinates she sent me and signed her name to the log.  So she now has the U.S. Unless she already did.

Well, I can think of nothing else at this time.
 Later!

I cannot express how much I love Greek Vanilla Yoghourt.  It is just wonderful!

Sat AND Sun!

Saturday I went down to the Big Bay for some geocaching.  This is on the pier near Caesar Chavez Park.  Lots of tugboats in view from here, although that is not a tugboat in the background.

This is the tribute to Bob Hope.  I didn't even know about it.  Pretty cool!

This super yacht was amazing to see, but I think I prefer something more traditional.

A railroad turntable.  You don't see a lot of these anymore. I may have ridden in a steam locomotive that was being turned on this one.  That's how I remember it.  It happened back in 1967.  One thing for sure, I definitely rode in the cab of the fired-up steam locomotive that was being towed to the turntable by a diesel locomotive. That is for sure!

Did I mention I hauled the bike down there and rode it around?  Here are the three routes I took:

Route 1 -- Harbor Drive

Route 2 - Cesar Chavez Park

Route 3 -- Harbor Island

As for Sunday...

I got involved in a "friendship" multi-cache, not unlike that one I did a few years ago with a poor fellow on the east coast who had to put up with my coordinate misteaks.

This one had a Star Of India theme.  The deal is, I had to find out the coordinates to the final location of a related cache on the Isle Of Man. 'Cause that is where the Star Of India was built!  Then I had to contact a geocacher on the isle who had the coordinates to the final cache here, and we would trade information.  Then we both get a find, and in this case in another country!

So I got the coordinates from my partner on the Isle Of Man and drove the back roads down to find it.  Of course there was NO parking, so I had to park a mile away and walk there.  While walking I passed by the Star, where there was a giant event going on, with hundreds of people on the ship and on the ground, drinking beer, eating, and listening to a live rock band.

Mostly unrelated to this, I remembered I have a patch that I got for donating to the fund for the American team going to the 1975 ISDT on the Isle of Man.

After that I went up to Balboa Park to look around.  There is water in that secluded fountain I visited before!  Very peaceful here, there were only two other people.

That is about it for today!

Oh, wait, on the drive to the bay today I saw a big Triumph motorcycle parked at the curb around 30th street with full knobby tires and number plates.  Wish I had got a picture of THAT!

I Think It Is Thursday

It is hard to remember what day it is!

I went out to Lakeside in the almost noon-day sun, mad dog that I am.  I found some geocaches around Cactus Park.  Some of them were pretty tough to get to, and away from.  Walking along one fence line I discovered someone's abandoned kit car project. I guess.

After that I went over to El Monte Park to check out the parking situation for the Flume hiking trail.  Looks ok.  No cell coverage, though, so I couldn't look for any caches.

Lastly I went to Lindo Lake to find some caches.  I saw some ducks.  This place has changed a lot since I was a kid, and I've been complaining about it ever since.  Here's a link to the Lakeside Historical Society Lindo Lake history.  Look for the picture of the airship over Lindo Lake!

Some stats:  I'm right at 2,700 caches found in my geocaching career.  I need two more caches to make five hundred finds for this year.  One of my goals for 2014 is to have 730 finds, which would average to two a day.  Another goal is to reach the 3,000 caches found level.

I forgot to mention I printed out two aerial maps and a cache list for today's expedition, and of course left it at home.  So I'm glad I had the iPhone app to look up hints and descriptions!  At least I had loaded all the caches into my GPSr (GPS Receiver) this time.  Why bother, you say?  The GPSr batteries last a LOT longer than the phone (a couple weeks!), no data charges to worry about, and it is more accurate. Usually.  Often.  Sometimes!

So I use both.

Later!

Today In The Drawer

I got out after dawn this morning to go look for yesteday's cache near the new fence.  The fence is finished, but there was a large barky dog behind it, so I took off.

Then I went over to look for a cache at MTRP, but I didn't find it.

Then I went over to Prospect to look for a couple of caches, but I didn't find them, either!

Looks like I'm 0 for 4 at this point.

I went a couple of blocks north for a piggie cache, and I found THAT one.  Thank goodness for piggies!

Then I across the freeway, on Prospect, and turned north.  After MUCH back and forthing to find a parking place, I was able to walk a few blocks to find the cache there.

Then I drove out Greenfield to the big park (Van Zanten Park) there by the middle school.  I didn't get to look for the cache because of nearby urban campers, but I DID get a pic of a garbage can.  Someone had a good time on the 4th!

Then I went home and took a nap listening to Prarie Home Companion.

Feels Like Sunday

But it isn't.

After sitting in the computer chair since 6 AM, mostly, and doing NOTHING, I finally got out of the house around 3:30 or 4:00 and headed out to Santee to find some caches.  What I had done was solve another puzzle, so I figured I would do that one, plus a couple of others.

The puzzle had to do with a baseball player named Sidd Finch,  an amazing pitcher that George Plimpton wrote about in Sports Illustrated in April of 1985.

Well, two guys were working on a fence a couple of feet away from the tree-of-interest, so after them some advice, i.e. they needed a come-along to stretch the chain-link fabric, I headed back to the truck to get the water bottle and the tripod, then across Mast to the Hills Of Santee!

Well, not that far up the hills, maybe a fifteen minute walk.

Found the cache, and its oddly wet log sheet.  I put in another sheet, just in case, in a plastic bag.

Here's a pic of the view:

There were ZILLIONS of big black ants scurrying about, and other bugs too. The (new) shirt was unhelpful.

Frozen pizza for dinner, because I have no imagination.

Gotta do my before-dinner blood test.  Later!

4th Of July

We went for a drive this afternoon.  It was in the high 80s. We wandered around for a while until I suggested we find some water to rinse the dust off the car.  So we headed east. 

Eventually there were drops on the windshield.

And there was even a little hail!

The temperature had dropped to 62 degrees, and the rain had washed pine needles and mud across the road in some places.

After it stopped the warm road made fog!  It was very pretty.

We had less than a gallon of gas in the car at this point, but at what turned out to be 95 miles per gallon, who cares? 

It was back to the high 80s when we got to the low lands.

Happy 4th!