It's a diary of my normal life, the 5%. Just posting my replies to the monthly newsletter questions between the family and cousins. Dragon comments are after, "in the record".
David --
First, how was your Thanksgiving? It was fun. We got to play games and talk to each other. They even let me crave the turkey. Anyone can carve it, but they all bail and make me do it.
Did you get your favorite dish? My favorite dish is the turkey mash dinner. That is when you cut everything up, put it together in a pile and mix it up. It is amazing the flavors that came crashing into your mouth with each bite. I learned the turkey mash dinner from watching how my Dad would eat turkey dinner. When I first saw it I told it was a carry over from eating in the army mess tent. But no. It is amazing. I highly recommend it.
Did you get your favorite dish? My favorite dish is the turkey mash dinner. That is when you cut everything up, put it together in a pile and mix it up. It is amazing the flavors that came crashing into your mouth with each bite. I learned the turkey mash dinner from watching how my Dad would eat turkey dinner. When I first saw it I told it was a carry over from eating in the army mess tent. But no. It is amazing. I highly recommend it.
Did you go shopping on the internet? Yes I did for quarter turn ball shutoff valves. There are 28 shutoff valves inside the house as I mentioned in newsletter 175, but they cost $14 each. Shopping online I got them for $11 each. So I went online to see the difference in life expectancy of the ball versus compression valve. I am expecting the ball valve to be metal on metal while the compression valve is rubber on metal. No! It turns out the ball valve is metal on a plastic liner, were one scratch on the liner and it will leak. Even though the ball valve has fewer parts, it may fail sooner than the compression
valve. All I know is that I have a house full of compression valves and half of them are failing. Sorry about the rabbit hole on valves.
Do you have a favorite month where all is calm and less hectic or do you like busy months instead? When I was young the summer months were how many jobs could I work for college money. When
I had a family, the Xmas month was fun to watch the boys open the gifts and play with them. The holiday months when we played games in Sacto were excellent. For my retirement month, I look
forward to peace and quiet, which is January. Too much rain to do projects and the fresh smell of water Earth are perfect for reflection.
valve. All I know is that I have a house full of compression valves and half of them are failing. Sorry about the rabbit hole on valves.
Do you have a favorite month where all is calm and less hectic or do you like busy months instead? When I was young the summer months were how many jobs could I work for college money. When
I had a family, the Xmas month was fun to watch the boys open the gifts and play with them. The holiday months when we played games in Sacto were excellent. For my retirement month, I look
forward to peace and quiet, which is January. Too much rain to do projects and the fresh smell of water Earth are perfect for reflection.
Have you ever been Ice Skating or even tried it? Yes, I have and failed. Dec. 8th favorite cookie day. What is your favorite cookie and do you get it often or just do it on special occasions? Chocolate chip cookies. When we were young it was the uncooked batter on the blender and bowl. I miss those days of ignorance to enjoy the uncooked batter. Nowadays it is just chocolate. Trying to avoid that sugar
to avoid Type 2 diabetes. On this December 12 holiday, we celebrate a beautiful seasonal flower and John Poinsettia who brought them to the United States, the beautiful Poinsettia. Do you buy yourself a Poinsettia or just admire them? Poinsettiacare: https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/plants/advice/a994/poinsettia-care-buying-tips/ Thanks for asking the question Mom. If I had to guess, room with central heating killed all the Poinsettia I knew. As the link says, "it must be kept away from draughts". If I was you Mom, put the Poinsettia in the corner of a room to avoid draughts.
to avoid Type 2 diabetes. On this December 12 holiday, we celebrate a beautiful seasonal flower and John Poinsettia who brought them to the United States, the beautiful Poinsettia. Do you buy yourself a Poinsettia or just admire them? Poinsettiacare: https://www.housebeautiful.com/uk/garden/plants/advice/a994/poinsettia-care-buying-tips/ Thanks for asking the question Mom. If I had to guess, room with central heating killed all the Poinsettia I knew. As the link says, "it must be kept away from draughts". If I was you Mom, put the Poinsettia in the corner of a room to avoid draughts.
Got any plans or travel plans for Christmas, or the month of December or for 2024? Just going to Sacto for Xmas.
And as always...how is your life going? I made a playlist for a friend's garden in North Carolina which is here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjrH0EHJnBmO4AZEEoWu9ES0hwcvGKdHf&si=bUAS5gy2Sci1xyW9
I was impressed with the lights and sounds they did to set the mood.
I got to work on a whole new project, the flooded walkway between our 908 and 912 houses. So here is the story. I asked Lynn, Susan's sister, if I could jet her outside drainage to stop the minor flooding which slowly drains in the shared walkway. (By the way, it is my only walkway to the back of the
house.) She agreed and I made it worse. Now it is clogged and does not drain at all. See pics. It's a 100 year old drain that had handmade cement box drains with bell-and-spigot cast iron pipes. So I had to figure out how it worked and drew a map of what I thought was under the garage. I used the length of the jet hose I could put into the drains and the direction of the drain pipe in the box for the map. See map. It turns out that no one had cleaned it since the Wittstock moved into 908 Shattuck, for 50 years. If my map was correct, which it was, I had to break the 90 to completely flush out the drainage system because of the centralized drain box.
house.) She agreed and I made it worse. Now it is clogged and does not drain at all. See pics. It's a 100 year old drain that had handmade cement box drains with bell-and-spigot cast iron pipes. So I had to figure out how it worked and drew a map of what I thought was under the garage. I used the length of the jet hose I could put into the drains and the direction of the drain pipe in the box for the map. See map. It turns out that no one had cleaned it since the Wittstock moved into 908 Shattuck, for 50 years. If my map was correct, which it was, I had to break the 90 to completely flush out the drainage system because of the centralized drain box.
It's time to cut the 90. See the videos below for the cutting of the muck.
https://youtube.com/shorts/yRkgT58tsrQ?si=7H2ipbd2GmIYpCyo
https://youtube.com/shorts/DDmeW7VCcaw?si=eXhgdBxI3xIkUZ7t
https://youtube.com/shorts/yRkgT58tsrQ?si=7H2ipbd2GmIYpCyo
https://youtube.com/shorts/DDmeW7VCcaw?si=eXhgdBxI3xIkUZ7t
https://youtube.com/shorts/PnojdaVkGHY?si=sh4MvKk5DR-oTXZv
Ben and I dug out the 90 and found all sorts of old plumbing and made a trench for the upcoming flood. We jetted all three inlet pipes and one outlet pipe. Put gutter foam in the drain boxes in front of the inlet pipes to stop the big stuff from getting in. Replaced the 90 with a hose clamp 90. Extended the outlet pipe all the way to the apple tree at the very end of the property. Done.
Ben and I dug out the 90 and found all sorts of old plumbing and made a trench for the upcoming flood. We jetted all three inlet pipes and one outlet pipe. Put gutter foam in the drain boxes in front of the inlet pipes to stop the big stuff from getting in. Replaced the 90 with a hose clamp 90. Extended the outlet pipe all the way to the apple tree at the very end of the property. Done.
Other minor projects were redoing the gap between the driveway and garage. See pic. Yes, the whole house is sliding down the hill. So far it is only a 1/2" so far.
• Added Perkgrout for custom drains around the deck (see before and
after pic), turnoff valve box, and side yard flagstone.
• I have plans to use Perkgrout for all sorts of custom drain
projects around the house. Yay for fast drainage!
• See street step Perkgrout test:
• https://youtube.com/shorts/BthcEoZbo20?si=BC7S01sHKkt8fWEj
• Next project, time to finish the patio stairs that I stopped
doing a year ago. Wish me luck. Everyone stay safe.
• Added Perkgrout for custom drains around the deck (see before and
after pic), turnoff valve box, and side yard flagstone.
• I have plans to use Perkgrout for all sorts of custom drain
projects around the house. Yay for fast drainage!
• See street step Perkgrout test:
• https://youtube.com/shorts/BthcEoZbo20?si=BC7S01sHKkt8fWEj
• Next project, time to finish the patio stairs that I stopped
doing a year ago. Wish me luck. Everyone stay safe.
Update:
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