Sep 20 - things to remember

Sometimes I start my blog the day of rather than the day after -- is that because I have nothing else to do ... no ... it's usually because there is something that I want to write that I'll forget otherwise.

Today is one of those days ...

I went for a bike ride which was dry for the first 40 miles, a downpour for the next 10 miles, and then a drying period for the next 20 miles. Coming in from a ride like that you have a false tan -- dirt -- that runs down the drain as you shower. I had figured that I would not be able to dodge the scattered rainstorms and saw that one closing in behind me after mile 30 as I got to my 35 mile turnaround point. Sure enough, on the way back I could see the heavy rain ahead ... rode into it, hoping that it would end before I got to the end. At 80+F the rain is an annoyance, a negative from a vis standpoint, but tolerable. In fact I probably stayed cooler (good) as a result of being wet.

So ... this afternoon I pulled my prop on the Bayliner. That was fairly easy, but something that I had never done before. Allister had spotted a bend in the prop and I need to replace it. It might actually be a manufacturing defect because aluminum props do not bend very easily -- especially since the paint is still on the blade. It is slight -- does not jump out at you -- but would obviously affect performance. Before replacing the prop though I need to find out the specs of this prop and that is not an easy thing to do. I think that I'll call my dealer on Monday to see if they would have a record of prop diameter and pitch or can give me some guidance on how to read the markings on the prop or interpret the serial number. I cannot find anything on the web ... yet.

Last night, as usual, we had our pre-dinner snacks and glass of wine as we watched Stargate SG1. We have 5 more episodes to go and then we've finished the 10 seasons that ended the series. Ok, I confess that I just bought and took delivery of the first 4 seasons of Stargate Atlantis -- which is still broadcasting -- I have not watched any full episodes on TV yet, just some parts. I'm hoping that the characters are as endearing, because that is what really makes SG1.

Anyway, since Abby had been left alone all day I thought that she should have a treat. She always gets 1 cracker, plain, that I set on my plate as I fill a few others with cheese / antipasto / olive tapenade / whatever. Last night I thought that I should do something different -- so on her cracker I put some cream cheese and a small milk bone -- appropriate, eh ??? Naturally she ate it, but did she realize that it was something special ? She was silent on that score.

Sandy and Abby just got home from the dog beach. Sandy had to wade again, but not as deep, so Abby got some extra swimming. Apparently the beach was quite busy. I'd already had my time in the great outdoors for the day.

All day long patches of heavy rain have hit just north of us but nothing here. When I say "just north of us" -- I mean within a mile. We have a force field above us, apparently, keeping rain from here.

I'll finish this in the morning.

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It's morning. Actually it's almost lunch time for me. You probably thought that I forgot to post this a.m. ... well, not really but I've been busy. I went to church for 7 a.m. and once back immediately got onto the roof and I've been cleaning gutters and trimming the Live Oak. I have built up quite a pile of branches -- over four feet high -- which will go into the "yard pickup" on Wednesday. With the strong sun things grow quickly and yard pickup is a weekly thing. Palm fronds, tree branches, bags of leaves -- many people have larger piles of yard organic trash than household garbage.

It's hot out there and I'm soaked from working outside, even this early in the morning. No, it's not a dry heat -- that would be Arizona -- this is definitely a wet heat. We still have not had any rain, but it was raining just north of us a little earlier.

Guess what -- today was "turn the furnace on" day. Yes, this is a routine maintenance thing that I do. The cooling coils in the furnace from the A/C build up mildew/whatever from constant use and when the heat goes on it dries it out -- cooks it, as it were. When I turn the furnace on it stinks -- no, stinks is not the correct word, but I don't know how to describe it. It burns your eyes it's so strong. There isn't a drainage problem either, since when I turned the heat off and the A/C on, water literally pours out of the drain pipe. I do this for a couple of cycles -- heat for 1/2 hour, A/C for 1/2 hour, heat again and then turn the A/C back on. In the meantime the doors are open so we get a little bit of flow-through ventilation to change the air out. In a couple of hours it will have dissipated. It's been five months since we were last here and probably 6 months since the heat has been on.

With the mildew or mold, which is what I'm guessing it is, there's probably a lot of dirt. The furnace has no filter, which I suppose is normal for such a small system. I've probably described it before but this setup has the furnace in the garage and one cold air return in the great room. Cooling / heating vents are in the den, spare bedroom, great room/kitchen, master bath and master bedroom. When the A/C runs we have to have a door stop in place for the master bedroom door because the air flow out of the room is so great that the door slams ... remember, there's no cold air return in any room but the great room.

That brings up another point -- is it called a "cold air return" when normal operation is A/C ? Should it be called a "warm air return" ?? Right now it is a cold air return because the heat is on -- in another few minutes I'll turn it back to A/C and be done with this. When we return in November it will not be so bad because a) the A/C will not be running as much in the fall and b) it's a shorter period of time.

I guess that's it. Our plan is to leave late in the week to head north. If all goes according to plan we will visit with Linda Wilder, Jeffrey, various people in Philly and Frank Tetz in Lake George. If all that works out we'll be up north again on October 3rd.

Sandy is outside tending her plants -- bushes that she's planted in the side yard. She is moving one and treating another that has picked up some sort of disease. When we were here last fall she planted impatiens across the front -- a planting about 20' long. Believe it or not they are still blooming ... how long will "annuals" continue to bloom ? They cannot live forever. The impatiens in Philly were gone before it got cold because the deer ate them. Here we have raccoons, bobcats, snakes, lots of little squiggly things ... but no deer. I did see a deer on my bicycle in the park, but that's far away.

When I started this heating/cooling cycle the hygrometer in the kitchen read 50% humidity. I just checked it and it's now at 74% -- do you wonder why water pours out of the A/C drain pipe ? I'll close the doors shortly since I have the A/C back on and it will stay on.

Enough for now, time to post this.