I feel like I’ve been spinning my wheels without gaining any traction lately. The death of my step-dad threw me for a loop and as successor trustee, I have much to do. But, there’s a hitch. I had durable power of attorney (POA) for his financial affairs. However, the POA is only applicable while he was living. The POA would allow me to make financial moves on his behalf if he was incapacitated. Now that he’s no longer with us, the POA is meaningless. That’s where the trust comes into play. The thing is, I cannot make a move as successor trustee until a death certificate is recorded with the county and I have certified copies. That’s the sticking point – I don’t have copies yet.

Once I have the certificate, I’ll open a new bank account for the trust. I’ve already obtained an EIN for the account. Then we can start converting assets and fund the trust and also resolve any debts. Some things that should be easy aren’t so easy. For example, I’ve tried to cancel his cable TV service. The cable company, Frontier, won’t do it unless I have his secret four-digit PIN. I don’t have his PIN and have no way of getting it. They’re happy to keep receiving the automated payment he set up. I’ll get it figured out.

Meanwhile Donna and I have been getting back into a more usual routine. The weather has been unusually warm for this time of year. The week before last, we rode our bicycles to Pacific Beach. After cruising up the boardwalk and making a stop at the bike shop, we went to Kono’s Cafe for lunch. Kono’s is right across from Crystal Pier – it was Tug’s Tavern back in the day. They have a patio deck across Ocean Boulevard on the north side of the pier overlooking the beach and ocean. We dined alfresco and watched the surfers while we enjoyed our lunch.

On such a warm day – the temperature reached 90 degrees – I expected the beach to be crowded. But, as you can see in the photos, the beach crowd was light. On the way back to Mission Bay RV Resort, I snapped a picture on the north side of Mission Bay – called Sail Bay – looking southeast toward Riviera Drive. There weren’t many people there either.

A week ago Saturday, we drove Midget-San up to the Cuyamaca Mountains and the town of Julian. We went to an event called Belly Rumble. It was at the Menghini Winery and was put on by a group of San Diego British Car Clubs. They had food and drink, an informal car show for British marques and belly dancers!

The winery was a few miles outside of town. On the way back, we stopped in Julian – a small town with a population of around 1,500 people. Julian is known for apples – specifically apple pie. We found the usual throngs of weekend tourists in town and long lines for apple pies at the bakery.

When I started the Midget to leave the winery, the oil pressure was very slow to build. In fact, the gauge showed zero PSI for over a minute before it built pressure. I was about to give up and call for an expensive tow, then it suddenly came up. It’s usually a little slow, but climbs within 10 seconds or so. I suspect an oil pump or pressure relief issue. This is not good. Left unchecked, it will eventually lead to bearing damage.

I talked to Bill from British Auto Repair – he’s the mechanic who replaced my hub/axle seal. He’s familiar with the Nissan A15 engine swap in Midgets and knows our car. He told me something I didn’t know. The Nissan A15 engine has an external oil pump. The pump is built into the oil filter flange on the side of the engine and can be easily replaced without pulling the engine or dropping the oil pan. This is good news! Outside of engines with dry-sump oil systems, I can’t think of another application with an external oil pump. Usually they’re located at the bottom of the engine block near one end of the crankshaft and, at minimum, the oil pan needs to be removed to access it.

I ordered a new oil pump from Rock Auto – an amazing online parts store. The had oil pumps in stock for this obscure 38-year-old engine. I’ll take the car to Bill’s place out in El Cajon once I have the part and replace the pump. We have Ken’s car still, so we’ve been using his Kia Soul for transportation and Midget-San has been parked in the trailer for the past two weeks.

The hot, dry weather spell has passed and we are experiencing a more “normal” San Diego climate. The daily highs are in the low to mid 60s with overnight lows in the upper 50s. The 10-day forecast calls for more of the same with little chance of rain. The cool nights are just right for sleeping with a window open and a down comforter on the bed.

As we are getting back to our routine, I’ll close this post with a couple of dinner plate pictures.

*Just so you know, if you use this  link to shop on Amazon and decide to purchase anything, you pay the same price as usual and  I’ll earn a few pennies for the referral. It’ll go into the beer fund. Thanks!