Author Archives: Mike Kuper

Playing Catch Up

When I started this blog back in July of 2013, the intent was to provide a way for family and friends to follow along as we transitioned from the workaday life and traditional housing to the full-time RV lifestyle. As time went on and more readers started following, I tried to add more detail about what life on the road is like.

I started adding technical content and also tried to illustrate how it’s not just one long camping trip. In fact we rarely sit around a campfire. We shop, clean, and prepare healthy, delicious meals in our home on wheels just as we did in our sticks-and-bricks home. And though our neighborhood changes, we are part of a close-knit community.

My goal is to post consistently. I’ve fallen behind these past few days, so I’ll catch up now.

On Friday morning, I scootered Donna over to the Ocean Beach (OB) Recreation Center to play pickleball. After dropping her off, I went to Costco to buy baby back ribs to cook on the Traeger on Saturday. I came back to OB and picked up Donna at noon. We rode down to the base of Newport Avenue to the South Beach Bar and Grill. We found seats on the upstairs patio giving us a view of the beach.

Friday’s weather was cooler with highs in the 60s and an onshore breeze that brought some clouds and added moisture to the air.

View from the upstairs patio

View from the upstairs patio

There was quite a swell coming in and the waves were big. Even higher surf was predicted later in the afternoon. We watched a few surfers as we ate tacos – I had a mahi taco while Donna went for a calamari taco. We washed the food down with a pint of brown ale from Helm’s Brewing located up on Clairemont Mesa. The brown ale was more like a porter – Donna and I liked it just fine.

Helm's brown ale

Helm’s brown ale

On Saturday morning, Donna went for a run. While we were talking the night before, she said she was thinking about entering a 10k run in a few weeks but didn’t think she could run six miles right now. I told her that she could do it – she just needed to reduce her pace from the speed at which she runs three miles. If she set a sustainable pace, slowing if needed, she should be able to go six miles. She mapped out her route to Crown Point then along the Bayside Walk path to the Bahia Hotel – about five and half miles.

She made the distance without walking! At the Ventura Cove parking lot, she rented a Decobike – a cruiser style bike – from the bank of bikes docked at that location, one of many automated rental locations around San Diego. She paid $5 with a credit card for 30 minutes. She had to pedal madly to make it back to De Anza Cove in less than 30 minutes. She docked the bike at the De Anza stand with one minute to spare! She’s planning to do that run again, but she’ll pay seven bucks next time for a full hour of use so she can just take her time cruising home.

While Donna was out, I did a deep cleaning of the Traeger wood pellet fired grill/smoker. Then I prepped the baby back ribs. I was in for a surprise when I opened the packaged ribs I had bought at Costco. I thought that two racks of ribs were vacuum sealed per pack in typical Costco fashion. Nope, there were three racks stacked in the package. I seasoned the ribs with Sweet Rub O’Mine, wrapped them in cling wrap and refrigerated.

Later, after I fired up the Traeger, I found that I couldn’t fit three racks plus a pan of apple juice on the grill, so I cooked two racks as originally planned. I timed the cook so we could sit outside for an early dinner before sunset.

We had company coming – our friends Hans Kohls and Lisa McGuire. We’ve actually only met once briefly at Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve about a year ago. I follow Lisa’s blog (Metamorphosis Road) and they read this blog. So we feel like we know each other – at least we know what we’ve been up to. Donna received a text telling us they were running a little late as Hans was picking up his new Fuji carbon fiber 29er mountain bike. I walked out front to meet them and give them a car pass so they could drive to our site.

Calm water for a sailboat moored at De Anza Cove

Calm water for a sailboat moored at De Anza Cove

I was glad we had a little extra time. All afternoon there was a breeze blowing out of the north. The space between our coach and the Foretravel coach in the site next us created a breezeway which intensified the wind right over the Traeger. The fire pot temperature was normal, but the thermometer in the top of the grill showed we were cooking the ribs about 30 degrees lower than usual.

While the Traeger was doing it’s thing, I took a walk through the RV park. I saw a 45′ Newell in one of the bayside sites. The owners were outside so I asked them if they minded me taking a photo of their coach. Newells are fantastic high-end luxury coaches. This one was a 2009 quad slide model that the owners special ordered – most Newells are made to order. It was a beautiful unit and we talked for about 20 minutes. At one point, their friend who was in the next site asked me if I sold motorhomes. I said, “No, why do you ask?” He said, “You seem to know all of the specifications and everything else about these motorhomes.” Well, I guess I’m a bit of a motorhome geek and study up on them. I looked online and found two used 2009 Newell quad slide models for sale. They were both priced at $899,000. I wonder what they cost new back in 2009? Today a model like that is around $1.8 million.

2009 Newell quad slide

2009 Newell quad slide

Lisa brought the makings of a kale salad. As she prepared it, Donna kept an eye on the sweet potato fries baking in the oven. I took the baby backs off the grill and loosely tented them in foil. Meanwhile, we opened a bottle of beer they had brought and poured four taster glasses. It was a special release from Stone Brewing called Xocoveza. This is a milk stout that’s supposed be like Mexican hot chocolate. It had cocoa flavor for sure. It was delicious and I think it would be a great after dinner beer. They found it at Trader Joe’s.

Babyback ribs, sweet potato fires and kale salad

Baby back ribs, sweet potato fires and kale salad

I put the third rack of ribs on the grill and let it cook while we ate.

Dinner time at the picnic table with Donna, Lisa and Hans

Dinner time at the picnic table with Donna, Lisa and Hans

We had a enjoyable evening with good food, beer and much conversation. We sampled a few other beers we shared together. Hans held back after a couple as he had to drive back to Santee Lakes.

Beers we sampled Saturday evening

Beers we sampled Saturday evening

One of the beers we tried was really interesting. It was Pinner Throwback IPA from Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont, Colorado. This is a session brew with 4.9% alcohol by volume (ABV) and 35 International Bittering Units. These numbers are way low for IPA – they are usually a minimum of 6% ABV and from 70 IBUs on up to 100. This beer had the citrusy hop taste of an IPA without the malt body. It was thinner with a strong grapefruit finish. Delightful on a hot afternoon when you don’t want a heavier beer or high ABV.

Later, I took the third rack of ribs off the Traeger. This rack cooked hotter and much faster. When I cut the rack into two pieces to wrap and refrigerate, it was very tender and juicier than the ribs I served for dinner. The Rendevous is a famous barbeque restaurant in Memphis and they advocate cooking dry Memphis Style ribs hot and fast as opposed to the low and slow method used for most barbeque. When I reheated that third rack of ribs by wrapping it foil and cooking in the convection oven for 30 minutes at 275 degrees, they came out super tender and tasty. The Sweet Rub O’Mine doesn’t provide as much bark on the ribs as the Stubbs or Traeger rubs did. I can see I need to experiment with ribs more. Maybe next time I’ll make sure to keep the heat up, then wrap in foil and cook on low heat for an additional 30 minutes.

The third rack of ribs

The third rack of ribs

I didn’t mention the phone call I received Saturday morning. It was my old friend from school days, Sonny Sanchez. We were next door neighbors when I lived on Moraga Avenue in Clairemont. It’s been a long standing argument between us over who moved there first. I think we moved in at around the same time – but I’ll always claim to be there first. Sonny had an extra ticket to the Chargers NFL game and asked if I wanted to join him on Sunday. You bet!

Sonny picked me up Sunday morning and we drove to North Park where we picked up his Uncle Anthony. Sonny had three tickets his boss had given him, so the three of us were going to the game. At the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot, we met up with another old school mate, Gary Stemple. We tailgated in the lot, then went in and saw a disappointing performance from the Chargers. Denver’s defense was too tough for them. We had a blast anyway. Thanks again, Sonny!

Tailgating before the gane - Sonny, Gary and me

Tailgating before the game – Sonny, Gary and me

This morning I was busy. I had to move lots of stuff out to the trailer and pack up. We left Mission Bay RV Park at noon after about three hours of work. We’re at the Sweetwater Summit Campground at the Sweetwater Regional Park. We’ll return to Mission Bay tomorrow. Just last week I found out we can stay at Mission Bay for up to 62 consecutive days now. They double the stay limit for returning long-term visitors. We certainly meet that requirement having spent 7 months there in the last two years!

 

 

Zero on the Spice Scale

It was a beautiful day yesterday. Donna and I decided to take a walk. We headed out of Mission Bay RV Resort past the Mission Bay Golf Course to the Rose Creek trail. The trail took us underneath Grand Avenue where I saw an egret and a number of ducks in the creek. I snapped a photo.

Underneath Grand Avenue - egret in the lower left, ducks in the background

Underneath Grand Avenue – egret in the lower left, ducks in the background

Our route arced back toward Mission Bay Drive. We cut through the Rubio’s parking lot and crossed Mission Bay Drive to Lanna Thai. We sopped there for lunch. I had my usual chicken pad thai dish while Donna tried something new – she opted for east eggplant with squid. She said it was delicious. There was a glitch with my order though.

Usually the waitress asks me what level of spicyness I desire. They use a scale of 1 to 10. As we were waiting for our food, I realized that she didn’t ask me this time and I didn’t see her again until my order came out. A waiter brought my plate and I asked how spicy it was. He said, “No spice – pad thai isn’t a spicy dish.” What? Every pad thai I’ve ever had was spicy as red chili pepper is one of the ingredients. Every time I’ve had pad thai at this very restaurant and every other restaurant, they’ve asked me how spicy I want it. He took my meal back to kitchen to add red chili pepper.

After lunch, we walked back to the RV park along Mission Bay Drive. Our route basically circumnavigated the golf course and the total distance was about three miles. The sky became partly cloudy during our walk. The temperature was in the upper 70s.

Later I rode the scooter over to Dan Diego’s European Bistro to take another try at fresh-hopped IPA beer. I was advised by John Hinton (On the Road of Retirment) to try it on tap instead of from a bottle – he thought it tasted much better on tap. I tried a taster then ordered a pint. It wasn’t the same Stone IPA I had in a bottle. This IPA was brewed by Pizza Port Brewing – a longtime San Diego craft brewer. It was tasty with a grapefruit like finish.

On my way home, I stopped to take a photo of the sunset. Thin, high clouds made it a spectacular sight.

Sunset on the bay at De Anza Cove

Sunset on the bay at De Anza Cove

I finished my day watching the NFL football game. The Detroit Lions were stunned on the final play of the game – a Hail Mary pass that covered 61 yards to the end zone on the final play of the game.

Today we have some clouds and the predicted high will be in the 60s. Warmer weather will return tomorrow and into next week. I plan to scooter Donna to Ocean Beach for pickleball at the recreation center. Then I’ll head over to Costco and buy baby back ribs for tomorrow’s barbeque before I pick Donna up in OB at noon.

Grilling in the Dark

Before I started blogging, I had no idea of the amount of spam I would receive. I have software loaded on my WordPress template to block spam and prevent malicious logins.

Spammers typically try to post comments that are nothing more than links to a site they want people to visit. Spam is blocked and sent to a spam folder – I get 80 to 100 spam comments per day. Once a comment has been identified as spam, all future comments from that sender go to the spam folder. If a comment is posted by an unknown author, it’s held for moderation. This means that I have to look at the comment and decide if it legitimate or a spam attempt. If it’s legit, I approve it. The software has blocked over 59,000 spam attempts since I installed it.

Malicious logins are attempts to login as the administrator and take over my site. This is a scary thought – who knows what they would want to do with my site. The software has blocked more than 10,700 malicious login attempts. Having a strong password is important.

Donna’s sister picked her up yesterday afternoon and they drove to her house in Point Loma. Donna’s bicycle was there from Donna’s ride last Saturday. Donna was dressed for a ride and had a route planned out for a scenic ride back to Mission Bay RV Resort. She couldn’t have picked a nicer day – the temperature was in the upper 70s with clear skies. Here are some pictures she snapped on her ride.

On Shelter Island looking across San Diego Bay toward downtown

On Shelter Island looking across San Diego Bay toward downtown

Sunset Cliffs in south Ocean Beach

Sunset Cliffs in south Ocean Beach

Dog Beach in north Ocean Beach looking toward Mission Beach

Dog Beach in north Ocean Beach looking toward Mission Beach

Bike path heading toward West Mission Bay Drive

Bike path heading toward West Mission Bay Drive

Other than a tough hill climb over the point on Talbot Street, she had a pleasant ride (map).

Donna surprised me with a gift the other day. When we were in Albuquerque, she bought it at the vendor area of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. She saw an item that she thought I would find useful during the short days of winter. Donna is really good at thinking ahead and finding useful gifts.

She knows how I dislike grilling in the dark. Working with a flashlight can be difficult if you have to use utensils at the same time. Donna found an LED headlight on an elastic band. I’ve used it a few times this week as it gets dark by 5pm. The headlight allows me to have plenty of light while my hands are free.

LED headlight

LED headlight

Headlight in action

Headlight in action

I used it last night to grill chicken. I paired a Stone Cali-Belgique beer with it. Stone calls it a California IPA with a Belgian twist. It’s their usual IPA recipe fermented with Belgian yeast which imparts a spicy flavor.

Stone Cali-Belgique

Stone Cali-Belgique

Other than a few clouds and cooler temperatures in the forecast for tomorrow, we expect the weather to stay nice through the weekend – 70s and blue skies.

Short Cycling

I’ve been trying to take it easy and let my hand heal from the trigger finger surgery. I looked back at my blog posts from October of last year and found the recovery time from the trigger finger surgery I had back then took longer than I remembered. The surgery last year released the ring finger on my right hand which is easier to work around than the middle finger I had done this time. One of the benefits of posting a blog is the ability to go back and look at past events and see what really happened.

Most of my activity has been limited to taking walks around the Mission Bay RV Resort or over to the bay. The weather has been a little on the cool side with daily highs in the mid 60s. That’s set to change today as we should see temperatures in the 70s with clear skies for the next week or so. We can’t complain about the weather!

On one of my walks, I noticed the marina across Rose Inlet past Campland to the west of the RV park was full. I don’t recall seeing this many boats there before.

Boats at the marina

Boats at the marina

While I was out walking, I also saw the smallest Airstream travel trailer ever. I don’t think I’ve seen one this small before.

Tiny Airstream

Tiny Airstream

I snapped a photo as I walked past. When I walked back on the next lane behind the Airstream, I noticed the large Dometic Penguin air conditioner on top. It looked oversized on this small unit.

Big A/C on a small trailer

Big A/C on a small trailer

Having an oversized air conditioner is not necessarily a good thing. It can cause a problem known as short cycling. This can happen in a regular sticks-and-bricks home as well as an RV. A short cycling air conditioner runs for a short period, then shuts off. Then it turns back on only to shut off again.

Short cycling can create a number of issues. One is excess humidity. Usually an air conditioner will run long enough for the moisture in the air to condense on the evaporator and drain, leaving the air relatively dry. When the A/C short cycles, it doesn’t condense as much moisture and the air can feel damp and uncomfortable.

The other issues are wear and tear. Stopping and starting the compressor excessively causes wear. On start up, the compressor motor draws a large spike of current – it takes more power and causes more wear to start the motor than it normally does while running. Also, if the compressor shuts off for only a short period of time before restarting, there can be residual head pressure in the compressor making it difficult to start.

I’m sure Airstream knew what they’re doing when they installed such a large A/C unit on a small travel trailer. I’m guessing they reduced the fan speed for lower cooling output to prevent short cycling.

I rode the scooter over to Costco on Morena Boulevard yesterday. We were on our last roll of paper towels, so I wanted to buy a bulk package of paper towels and pick up more bottled water. I need to have water with me at all times due to a chronic dry throat condition caused by head and neck radiation. I also picked up a bottle of Veuve Cliquot Brut champagne for Donna to ring in the new year at the end of the month. Veuve Cliquot is her favorite and Costco had it at a good price. The bottle included a custom-fit insulated vinyl bag for it. I picked up a 22-ounce bomber bottle of Stone IPA for me. This was a special release made with fresh hops and it’s meant to be enjoyed fresh, not stored. It had an “enjoy by 12-25-15” label. So I did.

Stone fresh IPA

Stone fresh IPA

Last night we grilled green chile turkey burgers on the Weber Q grill for dinner. Donna walked to Vons in Pacific Beach in the afternoon – about a four mile round trip – and picked up cheese bakery rolls. I toasted the rolls on the grill and they were so good with the burgers.

Turkey burgers with avocado on cheese bakery rolls

Turkey burgers with avocado on cheese bakery rolls

I enjoyed the Stone IPA with my burger. To be honest, I don’t know what the fresh hop IPA is all about – it tasted like a Stone IPA that’s always available at the store. With all of the craft breweries around here, everyone is always experimenting and trying to come up with the next hit beer. Whenever someone comes up with a winner, the copycats follow. I’ve seen a few fresh hop IPAs on the shelves here – I think it’s gimmick more than anything though. I don’t taste any difference.

Donna plans to catch a ride with her sister Sheila to her house today. She left her bike there last weekend. From Point Loma, she wants to tool around Shelter Island, then ride through Ocean Beach and back here (map). I think I’ll hit the beach at some point today and take a walk.

Too Much, Too Soon

Donna rode her bicycle to her sister’s house on Saturday. Sheila was out of town skiing in Park City, Utah and left her car keys for us. Donna and I mapped out a route for her to ride that would keep her mostly on bike paths or roads with bike lanes. She planned to ride the old Sea World Drive path to the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard bridge, then follow Nimitz to Chatsworth (map).

She ended up crossing on the wrong bridge – she took the West Mission Bay bridge to the intersection of Midway and Sports Arena Boulevard. It was a good thing we looked at the map together before she went. Once she realized her mistake, she knew what to do to get to Sheila’s house. We had already discussed a few alternatives before deciding on what we thought would be the safest route. She rode to Rosecrans Street and then cut through a neighborhood on Evergreen. This worked out fine and she made it to Sheila’s house in about 45 minutes.

When she came back to Mission Bay RV Resort with the car – she left her bike in Sheila’s garage – we went shopping. We drove over to CVS in Pacific Beach to pick up a few things. While I was there, Donna walked one block west to Trader Joe’s. When I was done at CVS, I drove over and parked in front of Trader Joe’s and walked to Petsmart to pick up cat food for Ozark. After I dropped it off in the car, I went into Trader Joe’s and found Donna at the checkout counter. Very efficient.

We were considering going over to Sardina’s for happy hour – also my last chance to hand in my football picks for the week –  but when we got into the car and I began driving home, I realized that I had overworked my hand. It was sore and I wasn’t feeling too good. After unloading our groceries, I hung out at the coach while Donna went up to the La Jolla Village Square to shop for shoes. She also went to Cost Plus World Market and bought tomolives and blue cheese stuffed olives for me – my favorite martini garnishes. Then she picked up some sushi to go.

On Sunday morning my hand was stiff and sore. I think I was trying to do too much with it. After I removed the bandages on Friday, I did passive range-of-motion stretches. I did more on Saturday plus carried bags of groceries. I decided to rest it as much as possible on Sunday. It was a good excuse for me to hang out and watch football.

The RV park was full of motion Sunday morning as all of the holiday weekend crowd packed up. There was a steady stream of RVs exiting the park. By noon, the park went from nearly full occupancy to maybe 30% occupied. It was a beautiful day out with the temperature in the upper 60s and clear blue skies. I managed to get out and walk a few laps of the park to take in some fresh air and get a little exercise. Donna went for long walk-run in the direction of Mission Beach.

Beautiful afternoon at Mission Bay looking west from the RV park

Beautiful afternoon at Mission Bay looking west from the RV park

There were good football games on TV all day. The Chargers ended their losing streak by knocking off Jacksonville in the morning. Then I watched a thrilling game in Seattle where they prevailed against Pittsburgh. I also toggled back and forth to the game in San Francisco where the Arizona Cardinals won. There were so many controversial calls in all of the games – I think the NFL needs to take a look at simplifying their rule book. Before the final game of the day in Denver where the New England Patriots lost their undefeated status, I opened a special brew to celebrate the Chargers win.

While we were in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Donna and I visited the Duel Belgian Style Brewery and Taproom. They had outstanding Belgian inspired beers there. I bought a bottle of their Cezanne Magnifique which they describe as a barrel-aged imperial saison. Barrel-aged implies hints of whiskey while imperial always means high gravity – high alcohol content. Saison is a style of ale that is sometimes called farmhouse ale and is usually pale in color and spiced with coriander or zest.

Duel Cezanne Magnifique

Duel Cezanne Magnifique

The forward whiskey flavor of this ale dominated the palate. I wondered why they called it a saison, other than the color. At 10.5% ABV, it was certainly “imperial.” As it warmed slightly, I began to taste more of the spice flavors that lingered. This is a complex and tasty brew with low carbonation. I think it may  be the most expensive ale I’ve ever bought at nine dollars for a 12-ounce bottle.

Today Donna plans to go to Ocean Beach for pickleball at the recreation center. I’ll pass and rest my hand. I have a follow-up with Dr. Leek a week from Wednesday. Once he removes the stitches, I’m hoping to get back to pickleball. Meanwhile we’re making plans to have guests next Saturday for a barbeque. Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road) will visit us here at Mission Bay RV Resort Saturday afternoon. They are currently at the Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve and will be there for a few more weeks.

 

A Windshield Story

I spent most of Thursday watching NFL football. Mission Bay RV Resort had a steady influx of RVers Wednesday afternoon and more came in for the long holiday weekend on Thursday. There was a large group of people from four or more sites having their Thanksgiving feast at tables set up in the site across from us. They must have been locals as several carloads of people joined them.

Weather-wise, it was an iffy day to dine in the open air. They had their meal early and by the time it started raining around 3:30pm, they had most of their stuff put away. We planned to have Thanksgiving dinner at Donna’s sister Sheila’s house. Her friend, Dr. Jeff Sandler, picked us up on his way from La Jolla at 4pm. We had an enjoyable evening with much conversation and good food. Jeff dropped us off at home around 9pm. I didn’t take any photos – I don’t know why – maybe because I saw so many of the same looking shots on Facebook all day.

Donna bought a bottle of Hangar 24 IPA called Betty for me. Hangar 24 is a brewery located in Redlands, California up in Riverside County. Their Betty IPA is 6.8% ABV with 68 International Bittering Units (IBUs).

Hangar 24 Betty IPA

Hangar 24 Betty IPA

I enjoyed the bottle of Betty before going to bed. It’s a well-balanced west coast style IPA.

On Friday morning, I got the ladder out from under the coach first thing and removed the front windshield cover. I had an appointment with Pro+Tech to have new windshield glass installed.

 

Windshield cover off - the crack doesn't show

Windshield cover off – the crack doesn’t show in this photo

The driver’s side windshield was cracked all the way from the bottom up to the top. Our insurance company, Allied, set us up for glass replacement through a company called Duncan Systems. Duncan Systems arranged to have both sides of our two-piece windshield replaced and sent the glass to Pro+Tech. The guys from Pro+Tech, Dan Oglesby and his son Gabriel (it’s a family run operation), arrived around 9am. They had the new glass in a rack in the back of their truck.

Our new glass has arrived

Our new glass has arrived

We had a few rain showers earlier and I was a little concerned about rain coming down while they were working. Dan said he would do one side at a time to minimize the amount of open area while the glass was out. He said he expected the job to take about three and half hours. We put Ozark the cat into her crate while they were working.

They didn’t waste any time and set to work. Our windshield glass is bonded to the window frame with a urethane adhesive. Some windshields are set in rubber moldings. Bonded windshields took over the auto industry in the 1990s. They started by cutting the urethane with special knives – one with a blade folded at a 90-degree angle to reach behind the glass to cut through the adhesive.

Once they had the old glass out, they spent a lot of time cleaning the frame and prepping it for the new adhesive and glass. Dan told me the windshield bonding had failed on three of the four sides of the old passenger-side glass. The windshield was only held in by the adhesive on the right pillar. He showed me where the adhesive had separated from the glass – you could see the dust intrusion. He said the glass probably wasn’t properly prepped. Some urethane adhesives require a primer to adhere to glass. He figured insufficient primer or dirty glass caused the separation. I’m glad I opted to have both sides replaced. I’ve read stories of people having the windshield glass pop out while leveling the coach. We were probably heading for a windshield story.

Once they had the frame cleaned and primed, he was ready to put the new glass in.

Windshield frame cleaned, primed and bead of urethane applied

Old windshield out, frame ready for prep work

Lifting the new glass into the frame

Lifting the new glass into the frame

Once he lifted the new glass in place, he used rubber shims on the bottom edge of the glass to center it in the opening. He slapped the glass with an open palm to settle it in the adhesive and work any air bubbles out. Then he carefully masked the body around the glass with painter’s tape. The next step was filling in the void between the glass and body with more urethane. The urethane adhesive he used is a primerless product from Dow Chemical.

Final steps on the driver's side - urethane filler about to be put in

Final steps on the driver’s side – urethane filler about to be put in

Ten tubes of urethane were needed for the job

Ten tubes of urethane were needed for the job

I watched most of the work performed and I’m satisfied that a good job was done. Dan was meticulous throughout each step of the process. If you need mobile auto or RV glass in San Diego, I highly recommend Pro+Tech.

I waited two hours before I reinstalled the windshield cover. Dan said the windshield would set well enough to drive after two hours, but 24 hours is better and the urethane really takes about a week to fully cure. We won’t be moving for another 10 days, so it should be fully hardened by then.

Around 4pm, I removed the dressing from my hand. The nurse at the surgery center told me to keep the original dressing on until Friday afternoon, then I could remove it – just keep it dry and cover with a band aid. The incision hadn’t closed up as much as I thought it would. I haven’t had to take any pain meds since noon on Thursday, but my hand is still swollen.

Incision site on my right hand

Incision site on my right hand

Friday evening I grilled chicken thighs on the Traeger. I know it seems strange to have grilled chicken the day after Thanksgiving. Sheila sent us home with turkey and assorted leftovers, but we didn’t have any bread and decided to save the turkey for sandwiches that we can make today.

We had a couple of passing showers in the afternoon before things dried out. It was a cool 60 degrees here yesterday. Today should be dry and a little warmer. Temperatures will continue to warm throughout the coming week and we should be having highs around 70.

Today's forecast - we're under the sun where it shows 65

Today’s forecast – we’re under the sun where it shows 65

Donna plans to ride her bike to Sheila’s house to check on her cat and pick up her car. Sheila is off skiing in Park City, Utah for the weekend. We can get some shopping done today and return the car tomorrow.

 

Nothing to Eat or Drink

Thank you for all the support before, during and after yesterday’s medical procedure. On Monday evening, I received a call from the Mission Valley Heights Surgical Center telling me my surgery was delayed until 4pm Tuesday. This meant I was to arrive at 2:30 to begin preparation. It also meant I couldn’t eat or drink anything after 8am.

On Tuesday morning, Donna made a breakfast burrito for me before she went out for a run to Crown Point. Before she left, I told her I saw pictures on Facebook of flooding in the area. The flooding was the result of the King tides. King tides are the highest tides and are predictable as they are the result of astronomical occurrences. Along the San Diego coastline, the high tides Tuesday through Friday this week are expected to be around +7.5′ , the highest tides of the year.

Donna’s route wasn’t flooded and she came home with dry feet. While she was out, the surgery center called me again and asked if I could come in an hour earlier. I was all for it – going all day without food or a sip of water wasn’t going to be easy. I have chronic dryness in my throat due to head and neck radiation (cancer treatment).

I rode the scooter over to Costco to pick up a couple of heavy items before my hand was out of commission. I bought a 40-pack case of bottled water and a 42-pound bag of kitty litter. Costco was a zoo – it always is around the holiday season. I also picked up a bottle of Stone Thunderstruck IPA – it’s their 2015 Anniversary Ale limited release. I had a bottle of it last week and liked it a lot. It’s made exclusively with hops from Australia – Topaz, Galaxy, Ella and Vic Secret hops. The name comes from the song “Thunderstruck” recorded by Australia’s rock band, AC/DC.

Stone Thunderstruck 19th Anniversary Ale

Stone Thunderstruck 19th Anniversary Ale

After I unloaded the goods, Donna and I scootered over to Hertz rent-a-car on Garnet Avenue, a couple of miles from Mission Bay RV Resort. I rented a a Kia which Donna drove to the grocery store while I returned home on the scooter. By the time Donna came home from grocery shopping, I had shaved and showered and was ready to head to the surgery center.

The check-in process at the center was efficient. A little past 2pm, I was taken to the preparation area and had an IV started. I needed the hydration – I hadn’t had anything to drink since 8am. I met the anesthesiologist, Dr. Jones – he wasn’t the same one I had here last year. He reviewed my previous surgery and said he wanted to go lighter on the sedation. He thought I would be fine and I would be able to recover and leave sooner with just propofol for sedation and a local anesthetic to block the nerves in my hand. Last time I had a propofol IV cocktail that included valium.

After a short discussion with Dr. Leek, I was taken back to the operating room. Once everything was set up, Dr. Jones turned up the propofol and I was out for a few minutes. While I was sleeping, they injected the nerve block in my hand. I didn’t feel a thing. Then he dialed the propofol back just enough for me to be conscious but still on the edge of dreamland. I was able to hear Dr. Leek and respond when he told me to bend my finger or make a fist. It was a weird sensation to be aware but not really connected while he was working on my hand. He found the flexor tendon on my middle finger was herniated and a cyst had formed. No wonder my finger would get stuck closed. This made it a little bigger deal than the usual inflammation associated with trigger finger. I definitely made the right decision to have surgery versus getting another cortisone injection.

After he closed the incision, I was wheeled into the recovery room and had my vitals monitored. I finally had a glass of water. I was ready to leave about 40 minutes later.

My hand will stay wrapped and be unusable for a few days

My hand will stay wrapped and be unusable for a few days

We drove home and were back by 4:30pm. After dinner, the numbness in my hand was wearing off. I took percocet (oxycodone) to manage the pain. I expected the percocet to help me sleep through the night. That didn’t happen. I barely slept and had a fitful night.

Rain came around midnight and it rained off and on all night. The wind picked up around 2am. The wind, rain and King tide have flooded a few areas. I wish I was up to getting out and shooting a few photos, but I think I’ll be taking it easy today.

The day before Thanksgiving, I want to say “thanks again” to all who wished me well yesterday. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving with friends, family or wherever you may be.

Awesome Sauce

Donna started her Sunday morning with a bike ride around Fiesta Island. I did my usual Sunday ritual hanging at the coach and watching NFL football. I suffered through another Charger loss. A season that started with such promise and high expectations has fallen apart. The only NFL team with more starters out due to injuries than the Chargers are the Baltimore Ravens and their season isn’t panning out either.

At the farmers’ market on Saturday, I bought two containers of Bitchin’ Sauce to have with chips while I watched football. When I first came to San Diego in 1969, I heard the term bitchin’. It confused me. I thought it meant bitching – but it was a slang term mostly used by surfers to mean cool or really good. At the farmers’ market, we sampled a few flavors of Bitchin’ Sauce and it was…well, it was bitchin’. I bought the chipotle and also a cilantro-chili.

Chipotle Bitchin' Sauce

Chipotle Bitchin’ Sauce

Cilantro-chili Bitchin' Sauce

Cilantro-chili Bitchin’ Sauce

It makes a great dip for chips or it can be spread on crackers or bread. The base for this dip is ground almonds.

We also bought fresh sausage at the farmers’ market. We cooked as suggested by the guy selling them. Donna put the three linked sausages in a pan of cold water and brought it to a boil. Once it boiled, she turned the heat off. Eight minutes later, I put the sausage links on the grill.

Gouda cheese stuffed sausage

Smoked gouda cheese-stuffed sausage

The sausage was stuffed with smoked gouda cheese. The boiling water actually cooked the sausage and toughened the casing. Putting it on the grill added grill marks and enhanced the flavor of the casing. Donna served the sausages over apples and onions sauteed in butter and fresh thyme with leftover Moroccan quinoa on the side.

Sausage over sauteed onions and apple slices with Morroccan quinoa on the side

Sausage over sauteed onions and apple slices with Moroccan quinoa on the side

The sausage was very tasty – we’ll buy it again and cook it the same way.

Today we plan to get in a round of pickleball – they have open pickleball at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center on Mondays (map). I won’t be able to play again for awhile. Tomorrow I’ll have surgery to release the trigger finger condition on my right hand.

The forecast calls for nice weather today and tomorrow – mid to upper 70s. A cold front will move in on Wednesday and the expected high temperature will be in the low 60s for the next several days with a chance of rain. That will be a good time for me to recover. I may not post again for a few days.

 

Seaport Village

Donna and I played pickleball at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center (PBRC) on Thursday afternoon. I won’t be able to play again for a few weeks. PBRC has pickleball on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Next Tuesday I’ll be at the Mission Valley Surgery Center to have a minor procedure on my right hand. I developed another trigger finger on the middle (long) finger of my right hand. It’s painful and my finger gets stuck when I close my fist. It flared up at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta where I did a lot of heavy lifting and pulling on ropes. This is the third finger to do this. I had surgery on my left middle finger in 2002, then I had surgery on my right ring finger last year.

On Friday morning, Donna went for a bike ride with her friend Johanna. They rode up the Rose Canyon bike path and up Gilman Drive to Torrey Pines (map). I’ve biked that route – it’s a nice ride. They stopped for breakfast at The Farmer and The Seahorse, a new restaurant with a nice outdoor patio. They were surprised to find an Airstream indoors that is kitted out as a private meeting room.

I mentioned before that our DHS Mobile Theatre amplifier blew. I did some research, but all I could find was a used replacement on eBay that was being sold “as is” with no guarantee it even worked. I called the original supplier, RiverPark, to see if they had any suggestions for replacing it. They didn’t show any availability online, but I thought they might know of a suitable alternative.

When I talked to their technical support guy, he told me they had a replacement unit in stock! I ordered the new unit and it arrived Friday night.

DHS Mobile Theatre System amp

DHS Mobile Theatre System amp

I installed the unit Saturday morning and we have five-channel surround sound again.

The weather here has been unbeatable – clear skies with the temperature near 80 degrees in the afternoon. The nights cool quickly and the temperature drops to the upper 50s overnight.

Sunset over Mission Bay from the west end of the RV park

Sunset over Mission Bay from the west end of the RV park

Saturday was the warmest day – it reached the upper 80s. Donna and I went out on the scooter in the late morning and rode to Seaport Village. Seaport Village is a touristy area on the waterfront west of downtown San Diego. It’s filled with quirky shops and restaurants. On Saturdays, they have an open air fish market at the Tuna Harbor pier. Local fisherman sell their fresh catch. We walked along the pier to see what was on offer.

Donna at the Tuna Pier

Donna at Tuna Harbor

They had fresh dorado, big eye tuna, blue fin tuna, live black cod and a long nose skate. We also saw a stand with live sea urchins. They prepared the live urchins and made sushi to order.

Big eye tune

Big eye tuna

Black cod and long nose skate

Black cod and long nose skate

Live sea urchins

Live sea urchins

We didn’t buy any fish but we may in the future. We’ll have to see if we can come up with a method of cooking a whole fish – that’s how they sell them there.

The walk along the pier with the breeze coming off San Diego Bay was refreshing. Boats passed by and I was wishing I was out on one of them.

Boats passing by the pier

Boats passing by the pier

Off in the distance, we saw tents set up on the south end of Seaport Village. It was the San Diego Wine and Food Festival. We took a walk down there but decided not to buy tickets. Wine on a hot afternoon didn’t sound appealing.

Wine and Food Festival in the distance

Wine and Food Festival in the distance – Coronado Bridge on the right

As we walked back through Seaport Village, we looked in some of the shops. We also passed a carousel with kids riding the horses.

This kid doesn't look as happy as his mother

This kid doesn’t look as happy as his mother

We scootered over to Cedar Street for the Little Italy farmers’ market. We found a stand selling hard (dry) sausage and couldn’t resist the sopressata. They also had raw sausage that we might cook today – we bought a three-pack of smoked gouda sausage. The guy selling it recommended cooking it by placing the sausage in a pot of water – you can add beer or seasoning and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, turn the heat off and let it sit for seven or eight minutes. Then grill the sausage. I’m going to try his method.

After we left the farmers’ market, we dropped off the sausages at home and rode to the Pacific Beach boardwalk. It was like a summer day – warm and sunny and lots of people on the beach. We wanted to stop for a cold one, but all of the places along the boardwalk were crowded. We ended up stopping at Amplified Ale Works a block off the boardwalk. We took a seat at their patio, but it was too warm to sit in the direct sun, so we headed home.

Last night, I prepared chicken leg quarters – I used a rub I recently ordered from Amazon called Lambert’s Sweet Rub-O-Mine.

Dry rubbed chicken quarters on the Traeger

Dry rubbed chicken quarters on the Traeger

Our friends Bud and Mona joined us for dinner. We dined outside at the picnic table. It was dark by then, but Mona is allergic to cats, so dining inside with Ozark wasn’t an option. The Lambert’s rub is a keeper – sweet and salty with a kick of chili pepper.

Dry rubbed chicken with Morroccan quinoa and green beans

Dry rubbed chicken with Moroccan quinoa and green beans

We sat outside until about 9pm before we walked Bud and Mona out to their car. The air was still and the bay was like glass. I shot a photo of lights from houses on the mesa to the east reflected on the black, glassy water.

11_21rlfct

Today we expect another sunny day with the temperature reaching 80 degrees. The forecast calls for a cooling trend starting on Wednesday. I’ll be watching football today.

 

*Just so you know, if you follow one of my links to Amazon and decide to make a purchase, 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!

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