Modern Vespa

J Costa Feel The Force.

ROTFWL

I am glad Belk is back posting again. She appears to have a knack for bringing people together. It's like a breath of fresh air on modern Vespa.

Could be a "Pissing You Off" post, but I'm in the glass half-full mood, so here we are.

Been working on redoing my basement shower. The previous owners did a remodel on a rather rustic original setup, and my wife insists that the rare guest we have never want to shower because they're afraid of it. They obviously haven't seen the one in our old farmhouse I grew up in.

Anyway, bought a module kit about 6 months ago, looked things over, gradually tore out a partition...and waited. Nothing happened, of course.

So, finally got more serious a few weeks back, and found out I needed a flat surface, rather than the sloping one that the cement floor had. This required learning a new skill, that is working with leveling cement. What I didn't plan on is how insidiously this stuff can move.....working it's way past my drain barrier and oozing into the trap. Poked around trying to remove as much as I could, but decided I was beat and needed a pro.... Meanwhile I developed this feeling in my gut when you really mess up with something easily avoidable, and are in way over your head, and going to pay the price.....

So, of course my plumber was on vacation over the Holidays, so finally got him out. He managed not to shame me, bless him... gave it his best shot (he's had a half dozen of these do-it-yourselfer disasters already and 4 of them were easily remedied). Not this time. So he's back with the jackhammer, pulling up the trap, which would get us closer to a solution. Not so fast...there's a bunch of tree roots, and clay tile, so the work was just starting.

So as of right now, I have a huge hole in the basement floor that could hold a body if I had one to dispose of, several baskets of mud and tools sitting around, with the toilet sitting in the laundry room.

So...why the heck am I happy? It seems weird, but I love my plumber...he helped me save money in a project in my office building years ago, and has done a number of other jobs for me. He's a likable guy, straight shooter and I trust him, so having him back isn't in the least stressful. Two of his kids are now working with him, and they seem like great guys as well. So we have a plan, I get a side benefit of getting the toilet moved a bit closer to the wall, which always annoyed me, the pan for the shower can now be aligned more satisfactorily as well. Even though it's likely going to cost the better part of a grand, I'm happy to have these guys working here. Who knows, maybe I'll actually finish the project this year.

+1 Yeah, a good influence here...she'd been missed.

I am taking some of the credit for her return

Last edited by Max6200 on Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

My son has a maintenance and minor construction business. He normally has a order book that is full for months ahead.
During the Christmas holiday break* he sent his pickup truck in for some major repairs. (Aus+NZ="ute", ZA=bakkie")

Due to parts unavailability, the vehicle wasn't ready when his team came back from holiday to work, so he couldn't start on his order book projects. Instead came by our house and deployed them here to fix a whole list of my "honey do" items that are beyond my physical abilities. Rebuilding some brickwork, repairing fencing, laying paving, it is a joy to see him and his team work. Unlike most contractors in this country, they clean up every day and leave the homeowner with a neat site when he comes to look.

Today they finish paving the back yard...

Payback on supporting one's kid through high school and into his own business.

*PS In South Africa, the formal construction industry closes for four weeks over December - January. One can still buy materials for DIY-type projects, but most of the country's manufacturing and distribution closes for the period.

Watching things move faster than the speed of light. Love my job.

Grand Opening at my new job is a week away.

I have all but one printer up and running (the one that is down needs $1350 worth of parts & labor, and I am waiting on a Purchase Order to be authorized).

I have pretty much all the materials I need to produce work. I've already produced 3 orders this week. And my two boxes of business cards came in today.

I ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon to organize my desk area, and it all came in today. I had it shipped to the Amazon Hub Locker + at the Whole Foods up the street, so that I wouldn't have to worry about it getting misplaced. The problem with that was the items came in three boxes. One was tiny and easily fit under the seat. The other two were 18" x 14" x 9" (approx. 46cm x 36cm x 23cm). So I unpacked all three of them. Everything fit either in the top case or under the seat. I broke down one of the big boxes and the small box, and stuffed them in a trash can in the parking lot. The other had all of the air-pack things in it, so I wedged it between my back and the top case and rode the two blocks back to work. Now I have packing material for orders. I spent the hour after lunch break putting everything together and getting it set up.

I've been working here since November 4, and while everyone has been extremely welcoming, I'm just now starting to feel like I belong.

Edit: forgot to post the pic of the shop.

A year from now, you won't remember the money, but you will be enjoying your new bathroom done right.

Congratulations.

Thanks. Well, you're right. Appreciate you giving me a year to finally finish..

I hope you got a chance to blink.

Hopefully, you'll finish sooner than that.

I'm giving you a year to forget about the money.

To no-one in particular, a saying between my wife and I:


Gravity.

It's free.

And it's everywhere.

No problem. My memory's shorter than that...

Weekend at Disneyland

Visit from the grandkids. The almost-four-year-old is a real comedian. Baby sister is a few weeks away from her first solid food. They moved a lot closer in December, so we have lots more opportunities to spoil them.

Oh, I'm jealous! It's kind of on my bucket list. I grew up pretty poor so unless it was for hockey I never really got to do any of that stuff. At least with hockey I got to see a lot of cool places in the world. Or at least the trip from the airport to the arena and hotel/billet. Some of the families I staid with were pretty cool and I got to see some interesting places.

Pubs - give me a pub and a bartender to talk to any day over a coffee shop. The trick is find one or 2 you like and be loyal to them. I have 2 we go to and have great relationships with the bartenders as in really good talks and just shooting the shit about the city, tourists, music, movies etc and life in general. You don't get that in a coffee shop (usually) or anywhere else I can think of. I'll have 2 pints that I nurse a little and watch TV, catch up on my emails, do a little work and so on while mixing some conversation in. Both pubs are pretty close to home and if I know I will have more than 2 pints I make sure to walk to get there. The other trick is always order the same thing. Both these places get busy and lots of tourists. Never a problem for me as the pint is often in front of me before I take my jacket off. FWIW I drink stout which is my favourite style and lower in alcohol than other types of beer.

Went out for a scoot with Mrs Z today. Think it's the first time we've done that since 2008!

I’m not sure where to put this so I’ll post it here. The OFFICIAL government alert system sent out a false alarm there was a problem at the Pickering NUCLEAR power plant and those within 10 kilometres should evacuate. I guess the cheering me up part is it was a false alarm. They were told I believe 2 hours later it was a false alarm. Imagine getting the message pop up on your phone and living in the region?

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/01/12/emergency-alert-reports-no-abnormal-release-of-radioactivity-in-unspecified-incident-at-pickering-nuclear-generating-station.html

Well considering I'm somewhat "down wind" of that power plant I guess I should be happy too!

And some people around here get upset with the Lake Effect snow off that lake!

After just finishing the series, Chernobyl, I can understand your joy.

The Ford Mustang in Steve McQueen's Bullitt is still alive.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-12/steve-mcqueen-bullitt-ford-mustang-sells-for-4.93m/11861126
Its my favourite movie car chase scene. Especially the sound. If you get the chance to see it, turn up the volume and the sub woofer. The V8 rumble, revving, gurgle, gearing changing is the best.

The benchmark in car chases !

I thought that was O.J. Simpson?

I discovered that Digby drools in his sleep:

Eating birds in his sleep...

For the past 2-3 weeks, every beautiful riding day has been spoiled by either circumstance or medical issues...until yesterday. I finally got to put a mileage dent in the break-in period of the new bike.
Oh, and I stumbled across a video that explained motorcycle chain maintenance in a way that actually made the mechanics and the “why” understandable.
Now, if I can just get a call this week from the shop telling me my windshield and center stand came in, that would be brilliant.

I grew up 90 minutes from DL and was there once a year. When my husband was stationed in Los Angeles for five years we had annual passes and were there multiple times a month. Yep, I'm one of THOSE adults. If you do ever make the trip, I highly suggest NOT staying at a Disney hotel. There are plenty of hotels within walking distance that are a fraction of the price and include breakfast.

It seems me and the guy on the Vespa that has braved winter so far has convinced a number of people to brave winter riding. Now it's common to see 5 of us parked on the street on any given day. Mind you it's been a pretty easy winter so far, best in a while.

It’s my 17th 21st birthday today

Hoo-ray!

That means you're almost the same age as Jack Benny!


Guess I'm showing my age knowing the joke in there!

Well come this April I will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of turning 20! That's assuming I make it that long!

The HUGE park the city wants to put in over the rail corridor our building sits on looks like it may happen. Toronto's version of Central Park kinda... IF that happens our PH will be worth a fortune as we sit right next to it. It's already worth about a million but that park would tip it well over. I won't say what we paid but it was during the last big recession so we got a great deal.

Our son had his first band concert. He was playing trumpet. Ahhh karma! For all of those years my parents suffered through my concert band recitals...very proud of him and his friends and all of their practice and hard work.

Through an associate who is on the Board of Directors of Broadway Sacramento, my wife and I got comped 2 tickets to the opening night of Cirque de Solei's Amaluna last night. I've never seen a CdS performance and I admit this was amazing! I spent most of the night shaking my head and saying "damn" or other explatives. The flexibility, strength, balance and power these performers have is astounding. The added all female band who was shredding...it was a very entertaining night. Well worth the money for a babysitter. Sadly, we were inspired to bring our kids. Looked at the cost this morning. $500 to have our family of 5 attend. Not happening. Thankful for the opportunity and the date night with my wife!

Finally pushed all the excuses to the side and rode into work today. It was a bit on the cooler side. Overcast. The fog didn't roll in until I was near the Tent's of Cirque de Solei and the river. Got thicker as I crossed the bridge into downtown Sacramento and through it towards my office. Nice quiet east ride.

Yeah Cirque is a great night out though the last couple we saw we're a bit of a letdown. Those were recently after they sold Cirque and I think they may have figured it out now. The last show we saw had guys on BMX bikes and it "felt" wrong plus they lost all the French touches in the clown and with the humour. I grew up in a City where French is the primary language and Cirque always felt very Quebec to me and added to it's allure.

Cool thing for me was my wife and I are watching season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale and our condo was in the background for a scene, pretty cool

I've seen Cirque twice in Montreal, neither was a disappointment. I saw the bmx bike show, very well done, if not classic.

Huge fan here. I have seen several performances. It all depends on the venue. Yeah the local performance in Wichita left quite a bit to be desired. On the other hand the performance in Orlando is amazing. Cirque has build a venue specially dedicated for that show.