May 30th: Back home to Encinitas

After being away 2 months to Florida, Ohio and back to Florida, I really felt like I was home when I came back to Encinitas. It was a good two months but I was ready to get back to Encinitas and feel like I had a home base. Travelling by boat and otherwise is still in my plans but it feels good to have a home base close to the kids.

As soon as I returned I went to see Becky in Studio City. We have been keeping in touch through Facetime, but I hadn't been there in person since November. Plus there were a lot of unfinished projects.

 

Trevi & London

I was greeted by London and Trevi with extreme excitement. It seems they remember me. And of course Becky was happy to have me finally return. I arrived late in the afternoon so no projects the first day. I had a physical therapy appointment before I headed to her place and it just happened to be very close to 99 Ranch where I get live lobsters. Why Not? We enjoyed a lobster dinner. We had already decided to watch Hunt for Red October on the big screen that night.

I was finally able to bring the pine cones I had collected in Encinitas. We'll use them to start fires in the fire pit as we watch movies on the big screen in Becky's back yard. She found a good storage place for them in the garage. That was important because apparently Trevi and London love chewing them up! If they had access they wouldn't last very long.

Becky had also  bought a larger fire pit since my last visit. Very nice. 

We had collected a lot of small dead branches in the backyard which burned exceptionally well. That explains the tall flames. The flames diminished quickly! It's hot during the day but cool at night so the fire feels wonderful. 

Fire pit and part of the
big screen on the left

Fire pit with colored flames

Years ago when the kids were quite young, Grandpa Drouhard had some chemical powder that he threw on the fire in the fireplace at the farm. The result was numerous colors and it was really cool. Becky found a place to get some of the same stuff and we enjoyed a very colorful fire!

Notice my perfect seat next to the fire!

The next day I finally was able to return to a project that was interrupted by COVID. It is a little taxing because everything had to be done on a ladder. Many trips up and down. We had installed an air conditioner in Becky's workout room but I never properly closed in the back of it. I was happy to complete that project. It still needs to be painted but the wood is cedar so there's no rush. There is some stucco repair in the future so might as well do all the painting at once.

On my previous visit we put up a big shade screen in the back yard. The power company had pruned a large tree that had been providing a lot of shade. Turned out the tree grew very rapidly and was once again providing shade. Becky decided to put the shade screen up over the patio. It would provide shade for the patio, the sliding glass doors and her bedroom window. I attached two corners using the ladder. I started to go up onto the roof when Becky suggested maybe she should do that. I agreed!

The screen is working very well. She said it has very significantly reduced the need for running her air conditioner.

I became aware of another issue/project. Notice the nice flat door handle. London learned she can just reach up with a paw and push the handle down to open the door. So she is able to open the doors if they aren't locked. I learned to lock my bedroom door at night or London would come visit me around 6 am. I love having the dogs come see me when I get up, but I need to be up first! My bedroom door was fine. But the bathroom door would no longer latch tight enough to stop the dogs from just pushing through it. They love to keep up with what's going on no matter where it is. Becky informed me that her bedroom door had the same issue.

At first I thought the face plates were just too high. Adjusted them and still wouldn't latch. I finally realized the hole in the door face plate wasn't quite deep enough, so the latch didn't slide all the way over. Once I figured that out the project was pretty easy. The brown is the result of my enlarging the hole. Both doors are now fine!

We had another beautiful weather night. We chose the Princess Bride on the big screen. Very fun movie that neither of us had seen in a while.

I walk the dogs every morning which is enjoyable. It's a very nice
neighborhood to walk around in. It seems like there is always something new. The latest is gnome villages on tree lawns. One showed up in October and now I noticed they are catching on. There are at least 1/2 a dozen of them.

Friday morning I took Becky's newly acquired 2007 Jeep Liberty to the Auto Repair place for an inspection. Becky had loved her 2003 Jeep Liberty but it had finally worn out. They had dramatically changed the car design in 2008 so she thought she'd try a Grand Jeep Cherokee. But she never grew to love it like her Liberty. 

So she started looking and found one that had only 49,000 miles on it. We knew there were some issues but the body is in great condition inside and out. So I volunteered to take it in for a thorough inspection. Fortunately, Becky had worked with a very competent and nice owner of  the J & C Auto Repair garage. 

They replaced some things that needed to be replaced but overall it is safe and dependable. All the systems checked out. I really enjoyed her last Liberty and I was reminded why as I drove it around. It's just a fun, sporty car that sits higher than most cars.

When I returned to Becky's house she needed to make a decision. There were still 15 items on the project list and I needed to be back in Encinitas Monday. She chose replacement of the light switch and single electrical outlet outside the garage on the wall. The outlet was not grounded so it needed an adapter for a 3 prong plug. I assured her I could replace it. Then she added, it would be nice to have a double outlet, can we do that? Hmmm! I checked and the supply line was easily accessed inside the garage. Given the wall was stucco, cutting a bigger hole and installing a larger electrical box would significantly increase the length of time to complete the job. I said I'd take the old outlet and switch out and see how things looked.

That was a good call! The wiring looked like it was from 1935. The insulation just crumbled and one of the wires was aluminum. All bad. Definitely replacing everything. 

Fortunately, when I checked the supply connection box in the garage, this was the only wiring that had not been upgraded. I was very happy to learn that! Also, Matt had checked long ago and found I could get a stucco cutting blade for the saber saw. Cutting the hole would have been very, very difficult without that.

The wiring going up to the light was also old so I needed to replace that. The light had to come off and wiring redone but it wasn't too bad a job. Except that it seemed everything this trip needed to be done on the ladder!

So once again it was time to go to Home Depot to get the new electrical box and switch. Fortunately it is not too far away. I returned and attacked the wall with the saber saw. It worked well. I installed the box and decided it was time to quit for the day. (Becky thought I should have stopped sooner but I wanted to finish this project before I left. I still had tomorrow, Sunday.)

Sunday morning I was greeted by the dogs at 7 :30 AM, and of course took them for a walk. Then it was back to the outlet/light project. I ran into some, "Think first before proceeding" errors with the wiring. I wasn't happy with the way I had routed it so I decided to redo it. There were a number of other issues and I was getting frustrated because I wanted to finish the job. The light wasn't coming on when I flipped the switch. Becky said, why not just stay and  go back tomorrow. I said great idea. I continued working because I wanted to figure out why the light switch didn't work. I took a break and thinking about it the problem was obvious. I flipped the switch and the light came on!  

New properly grounded electrical outlets and light switch.

I made salmon with dill sauce for supper and we enjoyed the evening.

That night we decided to re-watch Fringe. Info about Fringe It is a great sci-fi series that we both enjoyed. It was as enjoyable as we remembered. I had been taking a bath every night in Becky's wonderful tub, which helped compensate for all the ladder work. I got in the tub at 10:00 PM and woke up at 11:15PM because it was getting chilly. It was great!

I woke up early Monday morning so I had time to take the dogs for one last walk. Their excitement is contagious. I drove back to Encinitas with almost no traffic. Amazing.