Goodbye Infiniti

The end of an era. Richard owned the Infiniti for 13 years and he sold it yesterday to a very tall chap from Escondido. He bought it for his son who crashed his car. We advertised it on Craig's list
with no result and finally he put it in the Penny Saver which yielded some results this week. He also lowered the price from the original $5000, to $3000. It was sold for $2750.00.

What a great little car! It took us to the airport inumberable times and waited for us patiently to return enduring all the indignities of public parking lots - sometimes even bearing inclement weather when parked outside. Never failing significantly, the only problems I had with it were purely operator error..forgetting to turn the lights off on two occasions. I loved the car - it was a "don't care" car and I could park wherever I wanted and not worry about door dings or renegade shopping carts or rock dings. Of course, little happened to the car no matter where it
was put.

I hope it likes it's new home and the young man who will operate it will be careful with it and get another 100,000 miles of service.

Friday night and a movie

We seem to have little time available for recreation now. I can't say we aren't having fun with the Rancho but it's very demanding and eats up all of our time. In a rush, we left the Rancho together and got down to the auto repair place where Richard had left the SUV for removal of over-spray. Side bar: Jaime damaged the truck one day while working on the stream. Oscar knew of a cheap auto repair place in town. Meanwhile Richard backed the SUV into the truck and further damaged it plus made $5,000 worth of damage to the SUV (conventinal estimate). SUV was repaired via the Mexican underground economy for about $2000 while truck repairs were about $1500 - $1000 our damage and $500 Jaime's.

Car transfers were made and it was 4:45 when we ran out of here to Temecula for the 5:00 movie. We made it by 5:20 and missed a bit of the movie opening. Traitor, starring Don Cheadle. I liked it very much except for another sappy ending. Nobody seems to be able to write a script with a satisfying, not sappy, conclusion. Plot was fast-paced, very current (Muslim terrorists)and chilling. The essence of the plot was an attempt by terrorists to have 50 suicide bombers on 50 buses right in the heartland of the US and they chose
Thanksgiving Day for the show. There's a good twist in that Cheadle puts the bombers all unknown to each other, on the same bus!!

After the movie we ate a good dinner at a Japanese Teppanyaki House in the Bellagio shopping center. We entered with some reservation, not knowing what to expect. The restaurant has a bar up front and a passageway into the place which follows a large stream. At the end of the walk, the restaurant opens into a large noisy hall, with about 12 teppanyaki stations each seating about 20 people. All tables seemed full. We ate in the dining room and ordered off the menu - calamari, gyoza, eggplant, 10 ingredient fried rice, Richard (one unagi). Food was excellent - piping hot, right out of the fryer/oven whatever. Service was excellent - our little waitress was appropriately pleasant and just personal enough (telling us that she doesn't eat raw food) to make you relax and trust her - this is quite a trick. She brought the food quickly, checked back on us a few times, cleared the plates away swiftly. It was a good experience and we will go back. A nice surprise and a good evening out together and leaving El Rancho behind for a while.

Down by the old Mill Stream

The stream project is moving toward completion. Oscar and Elbow (aka Abel) have completed the following work: cleaned out the whole length of the stream; laid the first half with our concrete chunks rescued from demolition; built up the culvert at the beginning of the property - poured footings and directed the water; concreted in the beginning of the stream; repaired the road holes at all over passes; built a drain to dry out the wet spot in the grove; removed all the tires and shored up the sides with concrete bags; built new gates with nifty wheel operation for two spots and also built a grate for one spot in the fence. I picked out rocks at Southwest Boulder and will send Oscar over to actually select rocks that he and the crew can move. We will get one ton of the largest rocks they can manage, then one ton of large cobbles (15" across) and one or two tons of medium sized rocks. Scattering them along the stream should improve appearance and make it look pretty good. Planting will be a challenge because so many weeds want to grow there..it's wet and really fertilized.

It's satisfying to have this job done. The "stream" had become a dirty ditch and now is an attractive feature of the grove. Between this improvement and Jaime's work shoring up branches and keeping order, the grove looks really good. I hope we will be ablet to keep it all up. There's a lot of investment made but the Rancho will be our permanent and last home, so it should be good looking and comfortable.

My Left Ear

I made an appointment with an ENT because my buzzing Left ear does not seem to be improving, in fact I think it's getting worse. Difficulty hearing things on the phone and a distorted perception of music are the final, intolerable symptoms driving me to seek out help.

The audiologists test revealed that I have 40% hearing loss, particularly in the higher range of sound in my left ear. Right Ear is functioning well. Using Ron's finger rubbing technique, it's quite obvious, the difference in the two ears. A separate trip to the ENT resulted in a cursory diagnosis of nerve damage due to viral infection. This is an uncommon occurrence; nor is it uncommon to have hearing loss accompanied by tinnitus. The ENT ordered an MRI to rule out the possibility of an auditory tumor. Blood work was also ordered which revealed a small under-performance of my thyroid gland which can be corrected and under-performing thyroid is related to tinnitus. Plot thickens.

The distortion of sound is annoying but compared to deafness, I can't complain. Sound is not what it used to be. Sometimes the buzzing drives me mad - makes me cranky and a little panicked that I can't get away from it. Makes you want to rip your ear off. I do look forward to losing consciousness at night and escaping for a while. On the construction site, when the compressor is running or the nail guns are firing off, I can't hear anything. I just tell people I can't hear them and wait for quiet, then resume conversation. Most people are understanding about this. Poor Richard bears the brunt of constantly repeating himself.

Richard also visited the doctor this week to see about the lingering severe pain that resulted from his fall off the bike. He has three cracked ribs and a bruised lung (likely). At the same visit he had several small skin thingies removed and now has scabs on face and neck. He will be having the skin peel done soon - he calls this the "crab boil".

I guess I could ask Sharon to pray for my Left Ear. Seems terribly trivial compared to 2 million people flooded out in India. I wonder if they have a prayer value rating scale?

I should have listened to more music while I could.

Windows and Fireplace

At week's end, two big accomplishments: windows are installed and the fireplace covering with Canyon Rock has started. Windows latches and controls are disappointing. Two windows aren't working properly and the latches are falling apart. We've called DixieLine to get some attention to these problems. The windows do look good however.

The Rock looks really, really good. After so much agonizing, I'm pleased with the result. I don't think Tony the mason is so pleased as he probably underbid the job. His guys accidentally browncoated our beehive fireplace - it's being stuccoed and the stucco people s should do it.

we are working on kitchen, bathrooms, lighting, plumbing and some roofing issues. Nothing goes smoothly at all..there is always something to unravel. Another good thing this week is that we received pictures of the door made in Bali along with photos of gate and railings and it all looks wonderful. They will be shipping it all out soon.

Buster and Pink: Just a note to remember..the boys are getting pretty big. Buster 11 pounds and Pinkie (Inkie Stinky Pinky) is 7 pounds - much slighter and tinier. They eat together and Pinkie still gets all he wants to eat. Buster pins him down for clean-up from time to time. Pinkie caught a rabbit, they've gotten several mice and love running around at the Rancho. After the workers leave, the cats move into the house and climb all over the rafters and everywhere they can squeeze themselves into.

Saturday with Jim

Jim needs new flooring because of a leak in his kitchen. All the flooring on the kitchen, TV room, family room, living room and piano room will be replaced. We visited a carpet/flooring store in Yorba Linda and looked at some samples. The salesman was the classic glad-handed, "We'll take good care of you Mr. Ryckenbosch" type. At some points, my jaw was hanging open, the guy was so corny. Jim has confidence in them because they did a good job of refinishing his floors which now will have to be removed. This chap had a "smoking hot" deal on hand scraped flooring from China, $10.00 per foot installed.

We had lunch at Jim's neighbors who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. She had her wedding albums out and on display and it was very interesting to read them. She was a debutante and raised in Westwood, a UCLA graduate. He apparently was a very smart, nobody as his lineage was not on the record. They stayed at the Santa Barbara Biltmore on their honeymoon and the second night at none other than "Tickle Pink" which was $16.00 per night. How funny. I asked him if they were going up to Tickle Pink again in the near future and he said it was very difficult to pry her out of the house. 50 years will do that to a person. Big congratulations to anyone who can last together for that long.

Sadness still overcomes me when I visit Alta Drive. I miss Eilleen and keep waiting for her to appear to make a sandwich or open a bag of treats from Trader Joe. It's still hard for me to believe that she's dead sometimes. It all seems to be a bad dream.

Jim has a new Lexus! Very nice car and it suits him well. He likes driving it so far.

Summer is running away from us fast. I wish we had summer for 9 more months 'til the house is finished. It would be so nice to have the long days and the warm weather as the rancho is so nice this time of year.

Saturday and getting a slow start. Thursday and Friday the heating and air conditioning people came and did a lot of engineering. The metallic arms are crawling all over the house and look like a MRI of the house guts. The ducts take up more space than they should and we are having to give up some storage space to accomodate them. Meanwhile the framers continue to slog along trying to repair the miscalculation on the upstairs trusses. I've taken everything to the architect and am waiting to hear back from them.

Also pressing is the selection of stone (I'm having an awful time), electrical matters - Richard has very strong ideas about lighting, and finally finishing up the Bali things. I may make a last ditch effort at the stair railing...the risk is about $1200. Buying the railing here and installing it will be over $5,000.00 which is ridiculous for 8 stairs.

The plumber should be starting next week and the fireplace extension will be installed. The only thing preventing the mason from getting in and doing the fireplace is my stone selection. The other thing pressing is selection of someone to install the exterior doors.

Meanwhile the stream is coming along. Oscar feels the prep will be completed this weekend and they will concrete it all in next weekend. I've asked for a price on Elbow digging out the front courtyard and building the short wall at the front.

August 9

The roof sheeting is coming along. Most of the eaves have been framed in. A chimney was added late on Friday. The turret looks very good and adds a lot to the house.

Richard completed the roofing documents and we sent them in on Friday. Windows have arrived at Dixieline and the heating and air conditioning people are being held up by the framers. We have a problem with the roof line to the upstairs deck that has to be solved tomorrow (architects). Also we have to get the new engineering drawings for cutting into the trusses to make room for the heating and air conditioning.

Several visitors (Pam, Ina and Sharon) to the house have helped with choosing the stone for the fireplace and I think we are almost there. We have the plate for the front and the new electrical connection kit is waiting for pick up at Hennings.

Very busy at the moment. We'll have to find installers for the exterior doors - UBuildIt wants to make a bid. As usual it's a big deal when they get involved. They are more trouble at this point than they are worth.

Richard and I went to see Brideshead Revisited on Saturday night and enjoyed it. Had Osso Bucco next door at the Italian restaurant..it wasn't very good - dry and overcooked. Came home and watched some of the Olympics which were very entertaining and exciting. The opening ceremony was splendid.

House progress and recipes

Since the last entry, we've had our turret roof framed, gotten serious about the roof tiles, selected an HVAC system and acquired the flange for our fireplace insert. The mason has filled in the fireplaces and is ready to move forward. We are holding him up at the moment.

Today I met with Banar designs, Vicki and Jody to prepare for a year's worth of work on some mailing recipe cards - a serial offer. It's all about baking and should be fun. Jody has loads of experience and Vicki is an excellent cook and a thorough conscientious person, so I'm sure it will be fun.

We will be testing recipes and also creating new ones. 12 a week, 8 will be re-writes and 4 will be new.

Trusses and Cusses

Today the trusses went up on the house. Lots of cursing and swearing accompanied the trusses as they were hoisted up off the road, over the orange trees and onto the roof. About 10:00 the truss monkeys arrived on the scene and clambered onto the roof with hammers, triangles and hardware. They began raising, placing and nailing the trusses into place. Meanwhile the truss calcs did not arrive with the trusses and so we are waiting for them to arrive via email.

US Tile brought a trailer over with tile samples so that we could pick out colors. We have four blends on the trailer; rustic madera, carmel and rustic newport. The roof is boosted double here and there and boosted triple in a couple of spots. The small sample looks very good.

Cats are having fun with a dead mouse they found and are throwing around. One gets hold of the tail and then flips it in the air while the other watches. The flipper is mostly Buster with Pinkie watching closely.

Right now we are waiting for Rusty with WC heating to come over and talk to us again about our heating needs. This has been almost as difficult as windows. I guess in the end, everything is hard.

A Lunch Surprise

Sharon and Gail brought us a surprise lunch today. Tuna salad with crackers, orange slices and cashews. She even brought a jug of iced tea! It was so kind of her and so delicious. We lingered over the tasty food and Gail told us a funny story.

In his hippy days of yore, he lived on a mining claim in Oregon, on the banks of stream. The stream was fairly wide and could be fast moving, in fact he said they could often hear the rumble of big boulders being pushed along the bottom by the current. Bothered by mice, but being concerned about preserving life, Gail would set "have a heart" traps to catch the pests. Mice, being primarily nocturnal, would spring the traps at night and Gail, after hearing the trap, would get up, catch hold of the offender, step outside and fling it across the stream to the other side, where the pesky rodent wouldn't be able to get back into their cupboards. One day, the trap was sprung at dawn and there was plenty of light to see. Gail flung the mouse over the stream and then watched in amazement as the critter plunged into the stream and swam across, getting back to the house faster than Gail!!!

He told the story well and we could see the hilarious event unfold. We chuckled over this all evening.

Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters!

J. D. Salinger would be pleased at our progress on Friday. The lift for beams and trusses arrived and we loaded two big permalam beams into place. The truss truck had to travel backward up the road to the house as there wasn't enough room for turnaround; well-equipped with special mechanism for tipping and rolling the big triangles, the truck was pretty nifty. The young man who drove it, cap on backward, with a ready smile, was pleased with himself for getting to the rancho at all.

Ken operated the lift while Jeff and his helper manipulated the beams into place. They rotate slowly in their fabric sling as they are moved and the framers had to grab at them with hammer claws to pull them into position, then guide them into place.

Jeff, a determined smoker, kept a cigarette dangling on his lower lip throughout the process. No amount of nagging, cajoling, wheedling or reason has convinced him to quit, or so he tells me. Like all smokers, he cites his grandmother and other lived smoking relatives as examples of those who are apparently cancer resistant. Lots of luck!!

Chimney flanges

Our new friend Tony the mason appeared today with a couple of people and quickly installed the flanges for the fireplace extensions. This means we can have Cheryl and gang at Hennings Fireplaces come over and add on the necessary pieces to give us a chimney the right length. Tony seems to work fast and efficiently. So far, so good. I have to go tomorrow morning and pick out the stone from the vast array at El Dorado. Richard and I have pre-screened them so the final selection shouldn't be hard.

Finally we completed the epoxy job and installation of anchor bolts aka earthquake proofing around the whole house. Today, Richard had to leave and run down to Pine Tree Lumber to get some bolts they were short...turned out they didn't have enough at Pine Tree and I had to pick up ten additional pieces at Home Depot. The inspector was a nice guy, jovial and chatty. He did in fact inspect the installation of each and every bolt and charged us $575.00 for the privelege. And people wonder how the price of houses has risen. Even the inspector wonders about the value of all this....as he stated, how many houses built before this reg have actually fallen down. We know the chimneys used to go, but the number of bolts we installed...over 70 seems like overkill. It's added about $1500.00 to the cost of the house in bolts and the inspector. If you add in Jeff's labor to drill the holes and then do the epoxy, you'd probably have to say it cost more like $2500.00. Yikes.

Three D!

In this case the letters should stand for Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest. Journey to the Center of the Earth. We were lured to this movie by the prospect of the 3D which was very good indeed. The technology appears to be the same - and you get the glasses to wear. At first I found the effects to be startling and wanted to duck when projectiles of various kinds came your way. After a short time either my vision or brain adapted and I didn't see them as much anymore. Maybe because the story was so brain numbingly stupid that all senses turned off.

Yes, it's a ridiculous fantasy story, but it has been turned into a pitiful parody of action films, Disney family schlock and stupidity. I gaped in disbelief that a script could be sooooo bad.

Here's a kicker. Our local theatre offers a lower price ticket early in the day WITHOUT 3D. What insanity! You'd have to be crazy to pay a dime to see this mess without the 3d which is the only redeeming feature of the thing.

After eating we went to Chinese restaurant next door and ate well.

July 15th

Progress is slow at the moment. Getting the anchor plates and hold downs ready for the special inspector, has been a problem. The framing crew seems to have fallen apart yesterday in a hail of accusations and anger. Four times the special inspector has been delayed because the crew either didn't have the holes drilled, then they didn't have the right drill bits and finally yesterday they discovered they didn't have the right bolts. We drove around trying to the get the materials they needed and meanwhile the inspector was cancelled yet again.

Obviously there is a problem in management and we think Ken, our framer, has taken his eye off the ball due to the discovery of his critically high blood pressure. Fortunately his numbers are now under control and perhaps he can get back to concentrating on our job.

Meanwhile we have placed our order to Bali and the work will take 7 to 8 weeks to complete and then 4 - 6 weeks on the water. We won't have it until about Nov. 1st. I called the stucco people to ask if this would be a problem. While it isn't ideal, they can work around it.

Joe Bfstplk - alive and well?

Ken, the framer, found out he has very high blood pressure and was put on medication and told to immediately change his life style. For Ken this means, no more fast food, beer and more exercise. His job requires that he spend far too much time in his truck driving from job to job. Currently he is working on an animal hospital near Oxnard and our job. He's bidding on a few jobs down south of San Diego. In this economy, he is willing to go wherever he can find work, but it has it's price.

Ken, musing about what he might do to change things, was telling us stories about his construction experiences. He told a funny tale about a guy that he worked with who just couldn't do anything right. As an example, he told about a day when the boss left and told Ken and the other framers to keep an eye on this fellow and not to let him touch any equipment. No sooner had the truck pulled away from the site than the fellow picks up a brand new broom - snap! The handle was broken within minutes. Later, they saw him getting on an elevator device that's used to haul lumber upstairs...he was trying to get lumber loaded on it when it crashed, fell and broke a water pipe located just under the threshold of the supervisor's trailer. And so on....a Joe Bftsplk or a "cooler". Ken said that despite the guy's curse, his friends kept him on working with them for years. You wonder if it was a case of "the devil you know."

July 4th

Framing has been going along at a good speed. We have had two or
three people working every day. Ken comes by once or twice a day to check progress. The second story floor is almost complete and some of the walls are closed in. Every day there are questions about doing something. We call the architect every two or three days.

Now we are working on heating and air conditioning and trying to decide between various brands and sizes of units. Looks like we will need two of each - two heat pumps and two heaters. Between these two and the fireplace insert we should be warm. We found a mason we like, Tony...actually Ken ran into him at a gas station in Fallbrook and gave us his phone number.

I took down the window shutters in spare bedroom to save them from further destruction. They have to be removed before installing the new slider and before stuccoing anyway. A good clean-up job is in store for them and then stowing someplace safe until construction is over.

We had a scare as we were leaving for home about 4:00. Pinky was no where to be found and we searched high and low for him. We walked along every road, calling his name. We looked in every possible hidey hole - the pipes, up in the trees and in all his favorite places. Each of us kept going back to places he might have gotten closed inside - the tool shed, the garage, cupboards in the casita.
At 6:45, Richard, nearly starving drove into Fallbrook and brought us back KFC. About five minutes before he returned, I spied Pinkie running back to the casita from the front gate direction, little mouth agape and panting. He ran inside and went directly under the sofa. Buster went to him and started licking his face. I was so relieved and so was Richard, when he pulled in and I was able to give him a big thumbs up!

No Ribs Night

All week we were anticipating ribs at the Fallbrook Cafe with Ross. We checked the "specials" board on our way in and were horrified to see that ribs were not listed. As it happened the cafe owner was on duty and we asked him about the ribs. He rushed into the kitchen and emerged to tell us that their meat supplier had neglected to deliver them.


Boo hoo! We were all salivating for ribs and the beef stroganoff I ordered was no substitute. In fact, it was hardly edible. Richard opted for the gyros and found it quite acceptable. Ross had the sandwich special - a chicken salad sandwich too big to eat. He requested the cafe business card so he could call ahead next time so as to avoid disappointment.

The week prior we all chose the catfish which was an excellent choice. Ross told a story about back in Missouri when the alcoholic father of Helen, Ross's wife, caught an enormous catfish. While landing the fish, he put his arm in the gill and the catfish thrashing around, nearly drowned him. He had to be rescued!! Once landed the mammoth catfish was strung up like a marlin and then sliced into steaks. Ross says the whole town joined in the catfish fry.

Swiss and Syrian Visit

Some wonderful house guests spent a few days with us. Roger, Maguy and Stefanie who have just completed a year in the US - Roger at War College, Stefanie at a public school and Maguy enjoying Washington DC. We had a full day together which we spent visiting the rancho - Maguy enjoyed picking fruit and filled a bag with plums, apriocts, nectarines, lemons a grapefruit and some oranges.

We ate a late lunch in Old Town and did an olive oil tasting there. Then on to wine country to the South Coast Winery where we endured a wine tasting. Awful...the place was crowded and understaffed. The staff they did have were surly and paid no attention to ordinary details, like rinsing the wine glasses between white and red. You had to hunt for spit buckets, hunt for the tasting menus and fight for a spot at the bar. Decidedly unsatisfying experience and if we go wine tasting in that area again, we will skip South Coast.

An unlikely coincidence was the high point of the visit. When Maguy arrived and mentioned that she was from Allepo, Richard told her about Zouka, Joey's mother-in-law....Maguy said quickly, "Yes, I know Zouka" - she lived in the same neighborhood. After further discussion it became more apparent that she really did know our Zouka. Near the end of the day, we connected the two by telephone and they chatted away in French for about half and hour, reconnecting. Maguy loved it and it was so much fun to hear her laughing and talking a mile a minute. After she hung up, she told us that ZouZou's family was one of the best in Allepo - her father, a doctor, was a cultured man and the family was well known in Allepo. Maguy and ZouZou went to the same school, although ZouZou is older by about 15 years than Maguy, she is close in age to Maguy's older sister.

We have pledged now to arrange to visit Allepo when Maguy is there probably next year in September. What fun it will be to see the sights with Maguy and Stefanie!

Second floor coming up

Yesterday our consultant Dan visited our site and gave us a thumbs up so far. Progress yesterday included completion of floor joists for second floor. A huge beam was hoisted in place for the division between deck and office. Now our hallway is closed in and we can see our light. The pantry is framed in the kitchen and our bathroom is pretty well shaped.

Today the second story walls go up - had to make a decision this morning about flooring material on the deck upstairs and decided on tile. One of our windows has to be changed - I'm hoping we can catch the window order at Andersen.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.