Dec 4 - the internet, an amazing resource

Whatever did we do before the internet ? How else would I have found out information for myself on BMW parts ? on pink stains in the toilet ? Only the internet could pull those disparate things together for me to research !

So ... a couple of months ago I cleaned the toilets with an abrasive sponge to remove a line that we thought had been etched into the side of the bowl by the water but was actually a deposit. Yesterday I noticed a pink mark in the guest toilet and this morning, there was much more. What is this ? It washes away with a swish but comes back quickly. How is something getting through our water with all the filtration and softening that I have in place ?

Enter the internet -- an amazing source for research. Is there a causal relationship between what I'm doing to the water and this pink stain ? Well, it turns out that there is. The pink is caused by a common airborne bacteria that likes to grow on moist surfaces -- tubs and toilets, shower grout lines etc. What facilitates its growth ? Well, my removal of the chlorine in our tap water does ! So ... the bottom line is that the rapid growth of this bacteria only proves how well I've done my job of removing chlorine !

Amazing.

The other day Abby went crazy barking at the swamp behind us. I checked things out and sure enough, their was a raccoon down there a few feet from Abby. You have to give Abby full credit for obeying her boundaries because she would not go down the bank. Of course, had she done so, she would have been too wussy to actually get close to the raccoon.

I wanted to ensure that the raccoon knew that it was not welcome here. Between Abby's barking, which stopped when I told her to stop, and the sticks and stones that I threw at the raccoon I think that it got the message. It meandered off at a very slow pace, making me wonder if it was in rough shape, but no, it just had that lumbering raccoon gait. By the way, the sticks that I was throwing at it were small and lightweight. The stones missed. I couldn't actually hurt the thing. Now had I brought out my pellet rifle, that would have been another story. When one of these sticks hit the raccoon it would turn and hiss ... but not move any faster. I walked down within six feet of it ... it really didn't want to leave, but did. If there is a next time ...

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Slipstreamz -- did I mention these before ? They are little devices for my bicycle helmet that attach to the strap and dramatically reduce wind noise. They deflect the wind from the forward motion of the bike around the ears. They work quite well; I'm pleased with them, having gone out about three times with them now.

Speaking of helmets, the Giro Atmos that I favor usually sells for around $175 but was on special for something like $125 clearing out 2009 stock and also had a discount of 15% and 10% added to that, bringing the total price to less than $100. Well, even though they only had the blue in my size, vs the red that I usually wear, I went for it. I've had my current helmet since 2007 at this point and they recommend that you replace a helmet every three years.

Of course I was reading another commentary which basically said that if polystyrene lasts for a thousand years in a landfill, why does it only last three years on your head ? Go figure. I think that it's simply planned obsolescence -- or more likely -- avoidance of litigation with respect to failure of old equipment !

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Is it time to build an ark ? It's been raining heavily for hours, which is actually unusual in our experience. It usually dumps heavily and then moves on. It's not as if we can complain though since it has been very dry.

Some good news on the kidney stone front -- all's well. During the last visit, as a result of the urine test, the doctor wanted to do a dye test. Sounds like fun, right ? I don't know the details other than all's well, which is what counts.

Being a fair weather kind of guy, I'm not bicycling, motorbiking or boating. I did go out to pick up a small paint roller because I've been working at the master bath baseboard and trim today and wanted to paint the new bathroom door at the same time. This is just the baseboard in and around the bathroom, not the bedrooms. I'm now finished although some areas may need a second coat. I'll see later, impossible to tell when it's half-dry.

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It rained heavily all day. It's still raining although that should clear through by noon so I'll be able to get out for a Harley ride later. It looks like my next bicycle ride will be Monday, and I'll do my December 200km. I'd go tomorrow ... and perhaps I could get out for a short ride simply to stretch my legs, but wouldn't want to push it because that would make Monday all the more difficult.

I made a couple of trips yesterday by car, and even those were not fun in the monsoon conditions. I went to the Wal-Mart strip mall to turn in a garbage bag full of styrofoam beans to the UPS store there. They re-use them (they probably re-sell them, but who cares). Later in the day I went to Advance Auto Parts and got rid of two containers of used oil. Still riding in the car are a bunch of grocery bags for recycle and a long low-pressure diving hose that I never used and will give to a local dive shop rather than throw in the garbage. If they cannot use it then it will go into the garbage. I wonder if I've really helped the environment driving all over the place to recycle or have I generated enough CO2 pollution from driving to offset any gains ?

At the Wal-Mart mall I went to the named store, as well as Publix for some groceries. I was looking for something and happened on their auto section, which isn't very large, but they did have trailer lights for $6 apiece. That's an amazing price, considering that the sets usually run $50-$60. I bought two -- left and right naturally -- and am in the process of mounting them on the hitch rack. The only logical place to mount them was on the vertical plate but I didn't want to drill any holes to start rust, which will start soon enough, so I used 1/8"x3/4" aluminum straps to fashion a mount. Of course I did not have enough of that material so I had to make a trip to Home Depot to get another piece. That's going to work out quite well so that the rack will be well lit and without a pile of stuff on it we will have double tail-lights -- cannot have too much light, I figure.

Oh -- the other thing that I was getting at WM was a small paint roller. Once home I painted the door and have found that both the trim and door will need second coats. I'm not terribly surprised.

Oh -- the rain is dumping again. I'll go into the garage shortly and finish up that work on the hitch rack and by then Sandy will be up and I can do the second coat. The loose pieces of baseboard are in the garage but I want to do it all at once. The paint stinks -- oil based paint that was leftover from the whole house paint job that we did in 2006. It takes a long time to cure.

Onward !