2019 Recap

No medical ills this year, but was in a deep funk till I received an unexpected promotion in November. I was pushing for it, but was expecting excuses. Had a whole list of grievances ready that went unused. Nothing to complain about at work now it seems.

Things Done:

• Maker Space: Drill Press safety class, January
• 2 Cassoulet dinners (February and October)
• Maker Space: 3D Printing Class, March
• Repaired a Reel to Reel tape recorder
• Repaired a 8mm film projector
• NJ Farm Tour with lunch, May
• Eddie Izzard at the Beacon, May
• 2 Cousins gatherings (May on SI and August in NJ)
• Australian Visitors, June
• Participated in Travis 4th of July Parade, July
• Le Tour bike race, most of July
• Yesterday movie, July
• Spyscape Museum with James Bond exhibit, July
• NYC Tenement Museum, July
• Outstanding in the Fields, September in NJ
• London Trip, October
• Union Square Holiday Market, Bowling Green Holiday Market, December

Food Joints:

• Osaka (not the current name, just what we call it), our sushi place on SI
• Corner House BBQ, SI
• Meatball Shoppe, Manhattan
• Valhalla, Manhattan
• Cheese Grill, Manhattan
• Veselka, Ukrainian food,  Manhattan
• Surf, SI
• Barca, SI
• The Richmond, SI
• Mizuumi Ramen, SI
• Asbury Festhalle and Bier Garden, NJ

Garden:

• harvested 75 garlic bulbs
• Early tomato crop stolen by squirrels
• Later summer tomato crop outpaced squirrel's consumption
• Squash yellow and green were poor performers this yea
• Melange of new plants planted and forgotten noticed after they bloomed.
• planted garlic for next spring

House:

• Painted Living Room (Benjamin Moore Persian violet 1419), LR Shelves (BM yukon sky 1439) and front room (BM bistro blue 1421)
• bleach on driveway concrete to kill moss, too much CO2 in the air, but that is a good thing I am told. Once most scientists say it is too late to do anything about it, all of a sudden people will believe what most scientists say.
• Minor house and garage paint touch-ups
• A garage and basement clean out
• plus this stuff done earlier this year here and here.

Maybe Next Year:

• pig roast/work reunion BBQ
• smoke some bacon
• smoke/dry/cure some duck
• minor garage exterior siding replacement
• new backyard gate
• rolling 19 inch audio rack to consolidate equipment
• guitar effects box pedal board
• digitize some reel to reel and cassette tapes
• clean out basement

2019 Books

2019 Books Read
5 more Inspector Maigret's books read this year, reread Travels with my Aunt, always enjoyable and read The Hand of Dr. Fu Manchu, not as rude to different groups as I expected it to be. New author this year Jay Rayner, UK food critic, writes well, very witty.

1. Duck Season David McAninch Author moves to Gascony for 9 months, eats lots of duck and writes about the people he met.
2. At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances, Alexander McCall Smith (AMS), third in a series of 4 small books concerning Professor Moritz-Maria von Igelfel. Strange happenings here.
3. Adventures of the Mad Monk Ji Gong, Gui Xiaoting DNF
4. Suffer the Little Children, Donna Leon, Takes place in Venice, main character is a police detective.
5. Atomic Habits, James Clear
6. About Face, Donna Leon
7. Beastly Things, Donna Leon
8. Maigret Travels, Georges Simenon (GS) Portrayed on TV recently by Rowan Atkinson, rather well I thought, but only 4 episodes were produced.
9. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
10. The Patriarch, Martin Walker French policeman in small French town.
11. The Dead Ringer, MC Beaton
12. Maigret's Doubts, GS
13. 44 Scotland Street, A Time of Love and Tartan, AMS
14. No Echo, Anne Holt  The author's series with character Hanne, I enjoy some more than others.
15. The Source of the Nile, John Hanning Spike DNF Written in a journal entry style, too much data to keep in ones head.
16. In Dust and Ashes, Anne Holt
17. Toujours Provance, Peter Mayle Not as good as some of his earlier books.
18. The Hardman Legends/Cycling Gods
19. ???, Ann Cleves
20. Fatal Pursuit, Martin Walker
21. 13 (short stories), Dick Francis
22. Monsieur Pamplemousse Afloat, Micheal Bond (MB)
23. Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Tangled Web, MB
24. The King's City, Don Jourday DNF
25. Travels with my Aunt, Grahame Greene
26. The Dead Season: A Mystery in Florence, Christobel Kent  Very good book about an ex-police private investigator searching for a missing person, first time reading this author.
27. Cold Earth, Anne Cleeves
28. Maigret's Secret, GS
29. The Hand of Fu Manchu, Sax Roamer
30. The 10 Food Commandments, Jay Rayner
31. Brief History of Capitalism, Yanis Varoufakis
32. Maigret and the Ghost, GS
33. Maigret's Anger, GS
34. Greedy Man in a Hungry World, Jay Rayner
35. Death at La Fenice, Donna Leon

DNF - Did Not Finish

London 2019

London: Thursday, September 26 to Saturday, October 5

Thursday
Travel day.
United Airlines, Newark departure 8:30AM, arriving Heathrow 8:40PM
Picked up some supplies and checked into the Citadines Hotel in Holborn. Took a pre-booked Cab to the hotel.

Friday

• Boden Shop at Hanger Lane
• Princess Louise Pub for lunch
• British Museum
• Bar Polski for dinner
• 7806 steps, 24 flights

Saturday
 Photos not of Johnson's house, but the Caretakers cottage. The house did sustain some damage during WWII, but was fixed up by the local Fire company.

Prince Henry's room, survived the Great Fire, no longer open to the public. The Eldest when she was little got 50 pence from the elder gentleman who was there when we visited years ago.

• Dr. Samuel Johnson Museum
• Twinings Tea Shoppe on The Strand
• Ye Olde Chesire Cheese, multi-level, multi-room Pub for lunch
• The Delaney for light refreshment
• Sir John Soane's Museum
• Belgo for Dinner, mussels and fries
• 9033 steps, 10 flights

Sunday

• Wellcome Collection
• Marquise Cornwall for Sunday Roast
• Coal Drop Yard, Canopy Market, shops
• German Gymnasium, for drinks. Built in 1865 for the German Gymnastics Society, now an upscale eatery.
• 10692 steps, 24 flights

Monday

 Photos from the Roof Terrace at the Institute of Engineering and Technology

 

• London Film Museum, Bond in Motion. Cars and other conveyances from the Bond movies.
• Convent Garden shops
• Stanfords Travel Book shop, new location
• Lunch at The Institute of Engineering and Technology employee Cafe
• Foyles Book store
• Wagamama Holborn for dinner
• 10576 steps, 12 flights

Tuesday

• Portobello Market
• Books for Cooks
• Police Museum in the City of London Guild Hall Galleries
• Borough Market, the Eldest's place for lunch
• Andina in Shoreditch, Peruvian food for Dinner
• 12442 steps, 33 flights

Wednesday

• Chiswick House and Gardens
• Lunch at Gail's bakery
• V and A Museum
• Holborn Whippet for real ale and drinks, a small Pete 2020 meetup was happening
• Dinner at Bill's
• 11306 steps, 21 flights

Thursday

• Postal Museum and Mail Rail train ride
• Francis Crick exhibit,  not worth the trip
• Camden Market, much changed, pasta for lunch there
• Chicken Shop for dinner
• 14003 steps, 27 flights

Friday

The Tower House by William Burges, now owned by Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin.

 Kyoto Garden, quite small. In Holland Park

 Walking Man by Sean Henry, also in Holland Park

 Ladder on Steeple, not quite a stairway to heaven.

• Leighton House Museum
• Kyoto Garden in Holland Park
• The Windsor Castle Pub, Kensington for lunch
•  8442 steps, 18 flights

Saturday

• 3:45 AM cab to Heathrow airport, SAS to Stockholm and then Newark
• 3:30 PM exiting Newark Terminal B
• 5685 steps, 5 flights

2Q 2019

Last post actually covered some of April.
Weather has been great except for the excessive rain.

 Days off 4/19 and 4/24 plus 1 EDH 5/24

Plan to take 9 off on July for the 4th and when the Eldest comes to visit.

Social

• cousins over April 6 sat 
• NYC food tour April 24 wed day off
• May 11 NJ farm tour
• cousins over May 26 sun
• Osaka May 18 with friends
• People from Australia June 15
• SURF Sunday June 23
• The Richmond with the Mothers
• new sushi place

Projects
April:
Primed and painted North side of garage and house where there had been some blistered paint.

May:
Sanded and sprayed outdoor bench with Thompsons water seal, 2 coats
Made a cushioned seat base for my castor-ed box
In trying to add a DC cable to my distortion box, I reverse wired it and burnt out the OP amp in the distortion box, I got a new Integrated Chip (IC) and replaced it.
Sanded and primed and painted the bottom the radiator in the bathroom.

June:
Put ACs in Living Room(LR), Master bedroom and The Eldest's room windows. Purchased a portable AC for the LR.
Cleaned a garage of some unneeded wood and other debris.
Replaced front door knob.

Classes
None

Garden
None of the previously planted plants have bloomed yet, some are close.
Planted:

• tomatoes (roma, San Marzano, heirloom and BigBoy)
• squash (zucchini)

Harvested:

• lettuce
• kale
• garlic scapes
• 75 garlic bulbs, lost about 20 to the wet weather.

Books and Other Media
Finished books 14 - 20

2019 So Far

Projects

• January: painted Living room (Benjamin Moore (BM) Persian Violet 1419), living room shelves (BM Yukon Sky 1439) and front room (BM Bistro Blue 1421), plus put up new shades in the front room. There was some thinning of the book herds as well.
• February: strengthened a previously made cabinet to house the Drill Press. Had changed the layout of the basement work area and thrown out a dresser which had the Drill Press on it and another large cabinet purported to be a work space, but ended up a cluttered mess. Now most storage and work units are on casters.
• March: Replaced electric cord to a Vintage Projection Table. Plugging the Roland Micro-cube amp into the swirched outlet facilitates turning on and off the  amplifier.

• March: Added work light over folding bench in garage.

• March: Replaced casters on the Grill nest, removed rust and repainted the nest.

• April: Made a new handle for the Grill
  
  

• April: Replaced belts on Akia 1700 Reel to Reel recorder that was originally my dad's. Fastforward/rewind cam is missing a lobe (bottom left) that releases the brakes when selecting rewind mode. 
  

• April: Refinished the Outdoor table top. Used Preval Sprayer to apply spar urethane thinned with paint thinner (2:1).

• April: Replaced melted Low Beam bulb socket on Volvo XC90. Soldered connections and used shrink wrap to weatherproof.
  

• Made this for no reason. It was going to be a bird house, or an outdoor storage bin or a stool, but it is not.
  
  
• Figured out combination to old family safe.

Classes

• January: Drill press safety class, SI Makerspace
• March: 3D Printing Primer, SI Makerspace

Garden
Lost several heaths and heathers since last summer, am thinking it due to the rain. The garlic is growing well and all the spring bulbs are blooming.
Planted several plants from Michigan Bulb Sunday April 14.

• Peruvian Daffodils, driveway side
• Liatris, near down spout on driveway side
• Hosta, near down spout on north side
• Dahlia, front garden
• Pink Siam Tulip, front garden
• Black Adder Agastache, driveway side
• Blue Sea Holly, driveway side
• Pink Epimedium, north side under front room window
• some lettuce, spinach and chard

 Books and other media
Finished 13 books so far, mainly mysteries.

Listen to Podcasts on the commute which is fine going in, but usually too long and slow coming home.

• Stuff You Should Know
• Wait Wait don't tell me
• Ask Me Another
• Travel with Rick Steves
• Behind the News with Doug Henwood
• Bon Appetit
• Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner

Have only taken off 2 days so far this year, I need to do better and aim to. No way I am not taking all my previously owed vacation time off.

2018 Recap

Health wise, the only problems I had was an impingement in my shoulder for which I went to Physical therapy for what seemed like forever and Sciatica for which I went to the Chiropractor. Both impacted what I was able to do.

End of last year had an interview to join a local group supporting public parks, the commitment was more than I was willing to commit to, but instead this year we joined the Travis Fourth of July Committee.

On the work front it is "death by many cuts", there were layoffs, then too few people on the project and then the vacation policy was changed so we no longer were entitled to vacation we had earned, but rather we had unlimited time off, just needed to get it OK'ed.

The work issues plus the problems I had working on the Land Rover put me in a deep funk.

Things done:
January

• Staten Island Greenbelt Trail of the Month Hike, trying out our winter wear in preparation for the frozen north of Sweden. Was hoping to do more hikes during the year, Sciatica had other ideas.
• NY Times Travel Show

February

• 11 - 17 Land Rover/Jaguar Ice Academy in Arjeplog, Sweden. Driving fast on frozen lakes.

March

• Lisa Brigantino and sister Lisa at Richmondtown Tavern Concert. 
• Land Rover fuel filter fiasco

April

• Land Rover exhaust manifold snapped stud saga, started March 24.

May

• Land Rover Brake line connection conundrum
• Greg Proops at The Bell House

June

• Red Mill British Car Show, tried hawking Rover parts unsuccessfully
• Helped prep for ROVERS picnic in North NJ.
• Food trucks at Mt. Loretto

July

• Fourth of July parade as Committee Members 
• ROVERS picnic in North NJ, last off-roading in Lump.
• Family Picnic, Eldest in for visit
• New Hope with Eldest 
• NYC with Eldest, Dead Rabbit, Seaport, Strand Books
• Mister Rodgers movie in Cranford, NJ
• Fort Wadsworth tour

August

• Goat beauty contest at Fort Wadsworth.

September

• Forging class at Staten Island Maker Space.
• Jazz Dinner at Christ Church.

October

• CranberryFest Turkey Dinner
• New Hope
• Bowie's album Heroes covered at Winter Garden, NYC

November

• Sold the 1963 Land Rover to a good home.
• Friend's Birthday party at Surf.
• Thanksgiving (8)

December

• Work trip to rainy San Diego.
• Vickie and Nickie's Holiday Sleigh Ride.
• Holiday craft fair at Makerspace
• The Young one and the Eldest, plus spouse in for XMAS XVIII.

Food Joints:

• Sayori, Japanese, our local
• Surf for brunch multiple times
• Beso, Tapas
• Blue, American
• Chris' Polish
• Inca's Grill, Peruvian
• Darina Cafe, Russian/European
• Phil-Am Kusina, Philipino
• 5 Guys Burgers
• Jimmy Max, pizza just a block away
  

Garden:
No new plants added.
Lost some heaths and heathers.
Lost some alpines.
Planted spring lettuce and spinach in April, only had luck with lettuce
Only 1 squash harvested over the summer.
Few heirloom tomatoes harvested, but plenty of small plums once production outpaced swiping by squirrel.
Planted about 25 new stock garlic (Spanish Royal) and 75 of ours, October 28.

House:
Had chimney flashed professionally
Polyurethaned Master bedroom windows, June, 2 coats.
Painted back bedroom in April, Benjamin Moore Steel Blue #823.
New shades in back bedroom and the Young one's bedroom.
Pressure washed driveway and front steps, November.
Rebuilt backyard bench in May, lumber from Boards and Beams. Used Teak oil on the white oak wood slats.
Re-plumbed kitchen sink drain, May.
Fixed a washing machine.
Discarded an old cabinet and bought a rolling 5 drawer storage unit for the work shop.
Added a folding work top to one wall in the garage.

2018 Book List

OK, so this year I finished 12 more Inspector Maigret books, started on the Raymond Chandler novel series, starting with The Big Sleep. The 1946 movie version is one of my favorite movies and it follows the book quite well.

1. Brief Guide to Philosophy Classics, James M. Russell, 1/7
2. So Anyway, John Cleese, Finished 1/22.
3. Maigret and the Tall Woman, Georges Simenon(GS) 1/22-29
4. Dogopedia, Justin Hankins 1/29 - 2/4
5. Aunt Dimity and the Summer King, Nancy Atherton, finished 2/18
6. Maigret, Lognon and the Gangsters, GS 2/11 on the plane to Sweeden.
7. Maigret and the Man on the Bench, GS, 2/19 - 3/1
8. The Big Sleep #1***, Raymond Chandler, 3/2 - 3/8
9. Maigret's Revolver, GS, 3/9 - 3/14
10. Death of a Ghost, M.C. Beaton, 3/15 - 3/21
11. Maigret is Afraid, GS, 3/22-3/27
12. Maigret goes to School, GS, 3/28 - 4/2
13. Maigret's Mistake, GS, 4/4 -
14. Earthly Remains**, Donna Leon, 4/5 - 4/14, Venetian mystery on one of the outer islands, each of the books in this series makes me want to return to Venice. Plus I can get a haircut since our hair lady moved there.
15. Maigret and the Dead Girl, GS, 4/14 - 4/18
16. Death of the Deamon, Anne Holt,  4/19 - 5/6
17. The Taxidermist's Daughter, Keye Mosse, 5/7 - still not done
18. The Lady in the Lake #4***, Raymond Chandler, Author writes great lines.
19. The Waters of Eternal Youth*, Donna Leon, 5/10 - 5/26, starts sad, but has a happy ending.
20. Bryant and May and the Burning Man, Christopher Fowler,  5/28 - 6/9
21. The Bedford Triangle, Martin Bowen, 6/9 - ?, Book about covert flights to Europe from Britian during WWII to drop and pick up people and equipment. Very interesting, but many facts to absorb.
22. Maigret and the Headless Corpse**, GS, ? - 6/30
23. Death of an Honsest man, M.C. Beaton
24. Beyond the Truth, Anne Holt, 7/? - 7/28
25. Maigret Sets a Trap, GS, 7/25 - 7/28
26. The High Window #3, Raymond Chandler, 7/28 - 8/1
27. Growing a Feast**, Kurt Timmermeister, 8/? - 8/24. Follow up to Growing a Farmer, chapter about the cheese cave was among my favorite.
28. The Witches' Tree, M.C. Beaton, 8/25 - 9/5
29. Maigret and the Minister, GS, 9/6 - 9/8
30. Odd Numbers, Anne Holt, 9/9 - 9/21
31. The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, 9/24 - ?
32. Carsick*, John Waters, October  Enjoyable, what a character he is.
33. Year of the Cow**, Jared Stone,  November, Follow a family as they eat through a whole cow, recipies included.
34.  The Children Return, Martin Walker, 11/21 - December
35. Maigret Enjoys Himself***, GS, 12/4 on a plane to San Diego. Maigret is forced to take vacation and follows a murder as a private citizen does and sends hints to the Inspector in charge anonomously.
36. Maigret's Failure, GS, December