3/10/2015: Extracted passion fruit (about 30) juice and stored it in the freezer.
3/11/2015: Got one large PVC pipe from HomeDepot for planting purpose.
3/12/2015: Got privacy film and steel angle bar.
3/13/2015: Got a small antenna with amplifier from Costco. Fortified fence alongside Passion fruit with the steel bar.
3/14/2015: Applied privacy film on top portion of the outside room, day light can come in freely now.
3/15/2015: Replanted pepper plant in a pot - may not survive.
3/16/2015: Added frost window film to missing portion of the bottom windows of the outside room.
3/19/2015: Checked American Express, Chase, CapitalOne and PG&E dues and due dates.
3/21/2015: Paid (scheduled payment on 4/1/2015 through Fidelity) Chase (-8110) and American Express, CapitalOne closing date is a few days away, need to check it then (3/26/2015). PG&E is OK with negative balance (Anita paid $100 on 3/2/2015)
3/22/2015: Cut off the cactus as it looked ugly, saved and planted 4 of the tops in its old spot - looks much cleaner now.
3/23/2015: It rained a little overnight but I forgot to place buckets under both down spouts, possibly short a couple of buckets of water. Trimmed front yard bush - the middle one of the 3 - a lot of work. Canceled DirecTV through 4/2/2015, they will send return kit free of charge.
3/24/2015: Anita called from 仰光 (Yangon) airport at 12:01 AM San Jose time, their time (1:31PM) is 1 1/2 hours behind Taipei time (3:01PM). Trimmed second of the 3 front yard bushes - more than 2 hours to complete the job. Anita e-mailed me in their morning saying they had to take plane instead of bus trip (12 hours) due to her acting up hemorrhoid condition. She did call around 10:13PM after came back to the hotel.
3/25/2015: Trimmed third of the 3 front yard bushes, close to 2 hours, found out Kung called to move ahead with table tennis by 30 minutes. Went to Frys and got the Roku 3 ordered online, also stopped by Lowes and got 2 bags of Chicken Manure, several vegetable seeds, and an air freshener (for the attic). Created a short version of the kitchen remodel album, comments in the original photos were gone after copying them to new album - too bad!
3/26/2015: Cleaned up front yard trimming - more than I expected - took one hour and 30 minutes.
Anita called at 6:45PM but connection was so bad I could not hear any complete words from her. Took 3 Bird of paradise to Dynamicfoundation, also showed Stephanie photos of our kitchen remodel for her reference. Check CapitalOne balance - $761.18 due on 4/23/2015, submitted to Fidelity to be paid on 4/1/2015. Called Mom at 7:05.
Created Roku account: peichen lin/patricklin100@gmail.com/xxxxac/xxxx. Loaded Roku apps to iPad as well as Nexus 7.
3/27/2015: Scheduled PG&E payment $1.45 on Fidelity for 4/1/2015. Bike to play table tennis, the path on Hostetter road was clear of construction vehicles - nice. Current count of Passion Fruit is 54 - wow!
3/28/2015: Went and got one case of Cabernet Sauvignon, 6 bottles (I could not find a whole case) of White Zinfandel, 6-pack beer, and some bananas from Trader Joes. Got lunch from In & Out - met Lily and 大牛 there, they came after shopping at Costco on Coleman. Juiced 53 Passion Fruits, filled 2 and half glass bottles - put the full bottles in the freezer. Anita called at 5:50PM, they are checking out by 12:00PM tomorrow and take a night train to Yangon in the afternoon at 5:00PM.
3/29/2015: Start seeding process - cucumber (saved 5 of the seeds, most of seedlings from the first batch were killed by the sun - my bad), chives, and green salad mix. Used 5 of the empty plastic drawers from the component cabinet, hope it is deep enough.
3/30/2015: Got a haircut at 香港, had to go to 99 Ranch to spend some time there before their door opens. The haircut was OK, the lady spent quite some time trimming my hair - $3 tip. Signed up Sling TV (patricklin100@gmail.com/xxxxacyyyy) for 7-day free trial, will be billed @19.99 after ward - prepay monthly. First look appeared to be OK (tried with H2 channel, the new Ancient Alien is good), need to find out channel schedule info though. Called Anita at 永和, they got home late but safe.
3/31/2015: Paid Statefarm online with my CapitalOne Visa (-2641). Watered left side of the roses - 2 buckets of water used. Filled the bottom portion of the dinning room window privacy film - used Windex instead of soapy water, maybe a mistake as it looked blueish. 小黑 showed up around 5:00PM but did not eat the food I set.
4/1/2015: Cleaned attic ceiling mold caused by condensation during hot weather - I think, plan to patch the cracked portion in the center and cover with plastic paint (not this week though, maybe a little later). Also cleaned and fixed the light tubes, made the light fixtures inline with the ceiling. Reapplied a small section of the guest room window frost film so that no gap is apparent. Anita called at 6:25, she's going to the hospital to examine her hemorrhoid.
4/2/2015: Movie at Dynamicfoundation. Brought over several roses - forgot they have a dozen rose bushes. Played table tennis after the movie (Hero), played with one of the seniors, e has some tricky serve, took me a while to get use to. Brought back 3 boxes of leftover. Called Anita at 7:00 PM, she's recovering from a minor external hemorrhoid operation. Called home but everyone is out except Tina. Peilee called at 8:15PM.
4/3/2015: Cleaned leftover yard waste in the street. Did not play table tennis as Kung has a lunch date. Repositioned mini blinds in the guest room - moved them to previous position - just outside the window frame. Exercised myself - used a new design.
4/4/2015: Hiking - 7 in the group (me, Jason, Yung, Wayne, Alex, Ching, and James). Shard my Sling TV experience with the group at Peet's Coffee. Oh, Jason gave me one tomato seedling. Started patching cracked ceiling in the attic - there's already some moisture at the very top which made taping difficult, had to use caulk first, may have to continue work tomorrow after the caulk becomes dry and set in. Cleaned the double-sided glue that held the rug next to the TV. Anita appeared to be unhappy with loosing cnbc, what can I do??????
4/5/2015: Had 3-egg scrambled eggs for breakfast - used up all remaining stock. It's Easter Sunday - most stores such as Costco, Frys are closed. Went shopping at 順發(banana, cabbage, ground pork, fish cake, and 饅頭) and 99 Ranch (牛腱 and 豆干). Patch attic ceiling with joint compound, I know I probably should remove the light fixtures all together and patch the entire ceiling but I was afraid to take the lights down as this may cause electrical as well as ceiling support problems so I am skipping it this time. Cooked 牛腱 and 豆干 in old sauce and new soy sauce - had to throw away one bottle of the three leftover sauce as it was growing mole. Found out that Joe Osteen can be watched on channel 7 at 10:00AM every Sunday. Called Anita at 7:01.
4/6/2015: Used ladder and cleaned dried oleander tips (not sure what they were though), also got rid off some cut and dried branches - possibly leftover from Hernandez's trimming job a couple of months ago. Drove over and played table tennis - one hour and 10 minutes playing time, maybe a record, dropped off DirecTV access cards return envelope at USPS. Painted part of the attic ceiling - the surrounding area near the light fixtures, probably looked better if I did a thorough sanding job first - main purpose was to hide the mole infected area, should be OK. Prepared baskets for tonight's likely rain, did some design so that water in the basket underneath the down spout, once filled, can flow into the second basket next to it, I may have to get up midnight and check water collection progress as this may be the last possible rain in a long while. Called Anita at 7:00PM, she's leaving for Kaohsiung in one hour.
4/7/2015: Woke up several times during the night but no rain until 4:20, checked the baskets a couple of times before adjusting them the third time. Checked and adjust again at 5:30, drain pipe on the chimney side wasn't producing as much water, accumulated fallen leaves must have clogged it - not sure how to solve this problem though. Filled all remaining baskets and buckets at 6:20 - need more containers - that's it, all done. Drove and played table tennis. Got 10 gallons (10.00 to be exact - wow!) of gas for LS400 from Costco, unit price was $2.939. Finished painting attic ceiling, will need to check tomorrow to see if second coat and/or regional touchup is necessary. There was supposed to be more rain during the day but it became sunny with occasional clouds until 5:10PM when it sprinkled a bit. Prepared 螞蟻上樹 - not bad. Called Anita at 7:00PM in Kaohsiung. Test charged iPod Touch with LifeCharge battery, 1% of the battery bank can charge 9% of iPod Touch.
4/8/2015: Covered open baskets with cut up used tarp. Touched up attic ceiling edges. Played table tennis. Use the small roller and applied second coat of paint to attic ceiling. The reason for my sour eyes maybe from looking at the ceiling lights too close.
4/9/2015: Finished attic ceiling project - will need to paint remaining of the ceiling in the near future. Touched up guest room window frames that were scratched by the mini blinds before repositioning. Called Anita at 7:00PM, she's leaving for Taipei at 11:00AM local time.
4/10/2015: Arriving Dynamicfoundation at 9:50AM for movie event. Did not play table tennis as Kung did not sleep well (3 nights in a roll). Brought back 3 boxes of leftover lunch - 水煮牛 is the best. Ancient Alien all day, experienced some network problem during the show - not yet aware of the cause though. Called Anita in 永和 at 7:01PM, she's having dinner in 內湖 tonight local time.
4/11/2015: Hiking today - Jason drove. Planted the horse radish Jason brought over - the last attempt failed. Took apart the junction box that housed the dish cable, realized that I had to open up the plate in the house as well to reconnect cables properly - removed crystals from the display cabinet so that they don't get damaged when I move the cabinet away to work on the cables behind. Started processing the PVC pipe, quite challenging to draw center lines to cut the pipe into half-circle pieces. Applied rose fertilizer - used 3 buckets of water to complete.
4/12/2015: Went to Big 5 got 6 table tennis ball ($5.99), stopped by OSH - it has changed quite a bit - it now looks like a miniature Lowes. Got a couple bags (different species) of cucumber seeds, 2 beef tendon ball, and a bag of ramen. Ordered a chicken sandwich from BurgerKing to go. Moved the display cabinet to allow work on the cables, wasn't as easy as I thought, turned out I had 2 screws bolted to the wall for safety and I thought I had only one. Just as I expected, one of the dish cable was connected in the wall and go upstairs. Tested antenna reception in Anita's office and the master bedroom, the latter can receive 85 channels during the day - for some reason signals from several channels attenuate as the day moves on, also fed signal to the TV in Anita's office. Cut the PVC pipe into two half-circle pieces. Anita called from TPE airport at 4:10 before going to the boarding area. Anita called from NRT airport at 9:24PM just after getting off flight NH824 which arrived 9 minutes ahead of schedule.
4/13/2015: Three passion fruits showed up on the brick floor in the backyard, searched and found 3 more hidden between the oleander and the fence. Left for San Jose airport at 10:30, got to the garage at 10:48 - too many traffic lights. Anita came out of the gate at 11:20, said the plane was fully occupied so she didn't have extra room to rest and couldn't get much sleep because the seat in the last row does not recline. Biked and played table tennis - once again facing head wind going over there.
4/14/2015: Played table tennis for nearly one hour - Kung appeared to be more energetic today. Prepared and fixed the PVC planter tube hardware on the deck rail with Anita's help, finished building the PVC planter edge walls - used ancient plastic blind leftovers, will glue them to the PVC base tomorrow. The only way to happiness is to focus on positive thoughts, not the opposite!
4/15/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, mopped the floor as well since David was out. Cleaned up the weeds in the garden with Anita, watered the roses. Smoothed the PVC edge parts and glued them on - the glue requires one to two hours to dry, so I did one side of the two halves at 3:00PM and the opposite side at 6:30PM, will apply sealer tomorrow to make sure no water drips through the edges, will also drill water release holes. Anita went to bed at 8:00PM.
4/16/2015: Applied sealer for the PVC planters. Played table tennis - damaged the better pad - need to glue the broken wood paddle after getting home. Stopped by Ranch 99 and got banana, grape, a pack of small pork with bones, and 2 white onions. Drilled water holes at the bottom of the two PVC planters, while testing with drain pipes on the holder, I snapped off one piece of the edge, apparently the bond created by the glue wasn't strong enough, although I glued them back but suspecting that it will most likely break again but not sure what else to do at the moment. Created Anita's online social security account with her official name - not the one on her social security card.
4/17/2015: Cleaned leftover yard waste in the street (including that of our neighbor) at 7:30AM. Took care of the tarp covering deck furnitures as portion of it was somehow damaged (possibly from the heat from the sun), cut it into smaller pieces since the damages were in the middle. Trimmed away Wisteria leaves that were hanging low and interfering passage way. Secured the drain pipes for the PVC planters (with cross nails at) the bottom, also sealed the area surrounding the drain pipe housing. After the water/soil shield placement tomorrow, can start trans-planting the salad mix.
4/18/2015: Jason brought over more horse radish plants plus some chads - maybe a bit much :-) Got to hiking location at 8:15 - stopped for nearly no traffic lights throughout. It wasn't as warm as yesterday, did not sweat much at all - didn't even remove jacket. A total of 11 people (me, Jason, Yung, Alex, Wayne, Alan, Alan's wife, Jerry, Ruby, and James). Transplanted salad mix seedlings to the PVC planters - still not sure if each seedling should stand along, they are now planted as a small group, will know soon. Just watched a youtube video, seeds for salad should be planted directly, so that they do not lump together, suspecting 韭菜 and 韭菜花 should also be planted the same way.
4/19/2015: Made side dish from horse radish leaves, hot link, and leftover 碎肉雪裏紅 - it can be used as a flavor additive for soup noodle. Planted another round of 天津小胡瓜 and 小黃瓜 seeds - diversify! Renewed my T-Mobile prepay phone for $50, paid Anthem monthly due $23.98 due 5/1/2015. Signed up Netflix, one month free trial until 5/20, $8.99 a month afterward - use yahoo mail and xxxxmonica to get in.
4/20/2015: Disassembled an old under-cabinet magnetic lamp and turn it into a small planter, currently seeded with chives. Played table tennis - a little twist here, their calligraphy event did not end at 11:30 but rather after 1:00PM, so I waited downstairs until 1:35 before Kung came down, he did not play long as he was under the influence of alcohol from the wine he drank after the event, luckily Stephanie came down and relieved him, she's playing really well today.
4/21/2015: Movie day ay Dynamicfoundation, only 34 seniors, possibly the smallest group ever. Played a little table tennis after the movie until Kung suspected his sister is here, I took off afterwards. Bought two cases of DOS Equis beer, a pack of organic chicken drum (5 drums each in 6 smaller pouches), and a bottle of Tequila from Costco. Got a bag of red dates (紅棗), some ginger, a bottle of rice wine, and some bananas from Ranch 99. Slow stewed one bag of chicken drums (x5) with rice wine, red dates, ginger slices, and wolfberry shrub (枸杞) for 2 and half hours for Anita - this should provide some energy for her the next 4, 5 days.
4/22/2015: Got up at 7:45, seemed norm for me these days. Pretty windy this morning, swept up the brick lot - a lot of oleander leaves, watered right side of the rose garden. Kung called to cancel table tennis as they are going to have a company meeting. Examined the dripping system underneath the deck, need to get some dripping tube to serve PVC planters.
4/23/2015: Got up at 7:15, this is the first Chinese Culture Center volunteer day, left home at 9:00AM, got there at 9:15, way too early. There were a couple of employees (Tina and Yolanda) at the lobby when I approached the door, they could not get in their office because it was locked, apparently there were only two sets of keys for the entire building - weird. Susan did not show up until 9:45, oh well. The new building is 3 times as large in total square yardages but there are only 7 employees - director, deputy director, and 5 specialists. My main responsibility was reception and answering calls. Left around 12:35PM as Sybil (陳思如) is at the desk. Picked some drip tubing and a clear plastic box from OSH which is just across 237. The Garden springhose underneath the deck I used to connect main hose has a leak (discovered when testing the dripping system), in stead of try to fix it, I reconnect the two ends and reroute them using the newly acquired tube, also inserted the disk shaped drip head just above the PVC planters, this will be more efficient than before.
4/24/2015: Trimmed Oleander branches, damaged portion of the passion fruit vines that were climbing atop of them. Played table tennis for an hour, sweat much. Attempting to fix water leakage for the deck side faucet but could not find the leftover faucet from previous hot water heater and do some comparison. After checking with Anita, the faucet was found right where it had been - on the converted table just outside garage access door, I couldn't see it because there were a number of articles in its perimeter, but still I should have taken a look there first.
4/25/2015: Got up at 6:00 to check rain water collection progress, although I did not hear the rain through the night but to my surprise all the buckets were full, filled the wheel barrel left one full square bucket empty which by 10:30, when the sun came out, ended half empty, not bad for a short rain. Skipped hiking today since we were not too sure about the condition at bunker ranch. Trimmed a few roses as a number of their branches sagged under the weight of the flowers AND overnight rain water. Had dinner at Shanghai Garden (中國小舘), ordered 3 dishes: 山藥絲瓜, 無錫排骨, and 紹興醉雞. not bad! Picked up the Rovospy from Fry's - waited over 5 minutes to get checked out. Got some bananas, garlic, Pork Song, and tomatoes from Ranch 99.
4/26/2015: Trimmed off the new branches from the fake cherry tree - looks cleaner now. Placed the blossoming Phyllocactus Ackermannii (also named Epiphyllum Ackermannii which looks identical to Epiphyllum Oxypetallum (曇花) except the color) on top of the small deck side table in the planter box, this gave us a better view of the flowers even from inside the house.
4/27/2015: Ride bike to play table tennis, it's much hotter than I anticipated and I was wearing one microfiber and a thin jacket, felt like I was in a Sauna while riding.
4/28/2015: Returned the mobile monitor to Frys, got 2 Mothers' Day cards and 8 bottles of Hazelnut creamer from Walmart. Played table tennis, asked Stephane for Susan's phone number, she sent to me through Line. Called Susan to inform Thursday's movie event - unable to be at CCC that day. Replaced the garden faucet (turning off main water valve first) next to the deck, the water timer appeared to be working and there's no leak from the faucet - thank God. Rearranged the seedlings containers so that they are under the PVC drain pipe and collect overflow water from daily mix salad (PVC planters) irrigation (3 minutes), also reduced the amount of direct sunshine. Dinner was from 食為天 - 雞排菜飯, 涼拌干絲, and homemade 海帶絲.
4/29/2015: Got up at 8:00 with a little running nose. Felt better working in the yard after morning exercise. Played table tennis, Stephanie did not play as she's been running errands and came back to the office nearly 1:00PM. Picked up bagel, hot link, torta sandwich bread, and a pair of pruning shears from Costco, got some bananas, 4 bags of spicy peanuts, and a couple heads of broccoli from Ranch 99. My running nose was getting worse after coming out of Ranch 99, made ginger soup and drank all of them but did not help, so Anita went alone to Yvonne's REIT dinner.
4/30/2015: Movie at Dynamicfoundation (had to skip Culture Center volunteer work) today. We were really short staffed since Teresa took her daughter Grace, her daughter's boyfriend Drew, and Steven for a vacation, plus 小周 need to take care of Teresa's dogs. Luckily we went by OK with 張大哥 (the fighter pilot) and one of the senior's son help. Played table tennis after the movie. Transferred the sprouting salad seedlings to the round bottom K-cup coffee container, see how this turn out. Called mom at 8:00PM - almost forgot as the reminder did not go off since my Mac Book Pro wasn't turned on.
5/1/2015: Played table tennis. Went to Macy's and found a small hand bag for mom, although it probably has too many credit card slots but the overall design should be very useful for her. Played with iPhone 6 and 6 Plus at the Apple Store, will get one for Anita after we come back from Chicago.
5/2/2015: Morning hike at Parker Ranch, a total of 8 (Jason, Alex, Ching, James, Jerry, Ruby, Wayne, and myself) and 10 (adding John and Ming) at Peet's Coffee. Got another tomato seedling from Jason. Went to Trader Joe's for nuts, red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) and white wine (White Zinfandel), also got 6-pack watermelon flavor beer (turned out to be a disappointment). Stopped at Marshall afterward, found a sports short for myself, a small bottle of red chile rub (a spicy rub for beef, chicken, or pork), and a box of ginger herbal tea (no tea leaves), Anita got a pair of walking shoes. Picked up dinner at Golden Dragon (# Anita's favorite). Wrapped Mother's Day gift, including the card - cost of mailing this will be high (~$80).
5/3/2015: Got up at 8:00, filled gas for RX300 at Costco, no long line but still took about 8 minutes from waiting in line until leaving the lot. Removed the two dripping tubes with drip heads as they do not appear to do a good job, drilled small holes (about one inch apart) on two new dripping tubes and inserted them in the sam location, test result was good. Removed chads and 雪裏紅, planted the two tomato seedlings in the same planter box, the two original dripping heads still function OK, they should be able to keep them moist while we travel. I went along with Anita when she visited City Sports, got some tendon, rice paper wrap, beancurd, white onions, and spice pouch (滷包) from 順發. Started cooking tendons at 6:45 - finished the whole cooking process including beancurd at 10:50 (beancurd was cooked for only 30 minutes), washed all utensils.
5/4/2015: Massaged my eyes 108 times each for two cycles before getting up at 8:00. Relocated aqua planter to dinning room, on top of the music cabinet, temporary during our trip to Chicago. Played table tennis for 50 minutes. Went to the Post Office to mail the package to mom. The two delivery options I was interested in:
1-3 days: $65
3-5 days: $50
I was going to take the 1-3 days but for some reason they need to add various fees and made the final cost $85, so I opted for the 3-5 days instead which is exactly $50 when I paid at the end - almost a flat rate for most packages according to the USPS worker, it also has tracking capability. Had general tso's chicken plus scrambled tomato and egg for dinner. Started packing, attempting to carry my backpack only - maybe overflow a few of my clothes to Anita's suitcase.
5/5/2015: Moved the webcam back to guest room as the view of the front door do not serve much purpose at this time. Continue packing. USPS tracking did not progress much, last status was 5:16PM yesterday. Arrived at Dynamicfoundation at 12:50, called Kung and found out he did not come to work, so I called Stephane and she was OK to play, taught her how to receive side serve, also showed her how to return loops, she's doing good. Packing my backpack turned out to be more challenging, I had to get rid off some stuff and move them to Anita's suitcase as the backpack simply can not hold too much.
5/13/2015: Got up at 7:30, I thought because of the 2 hour time difference, we would be getting up much earlier. Kung was too tired and he's going home for the afternoon, so no table tennis. They were going to show movie tomorrow - just like the week before - in conflict with CCC volunteer schedule, I think I'll go to CCC instead. Went to Costco, got a case of Corona, a bag of large shrimp, a box of Preservision, a 3-pack boxer ($3 off), 2 Tony Roma rib packs, one seaweed salad, and a roast chicken. Stopped by Ranch 99 and got some bananas, 2 heads of white onion, a bag of egg plant, a bag of string bean, and one bottle of rice wine. Made monthly 雞湯 for Anita, very tasty in fact.
5/14/2015: Got to CCC at 9:25, to my surprise there were tons of cars in the parking lot, they are having a Chinese school teacher training session today. Not too many phone calls today. Got Jason to stop by and see if he is interested in volunteering in CCC, decided to leave CCC and go to Dynamicfoundation at 11:10. Henry was working to add a couple of lighting fixtures in the table tennis room. Played a little table tennis after the movie, left there around 1:45. Stephanie is going back to Taiwan to see her mom (102 years old) tonight as she's not doing well. Went home and continue rain water collection task. Had to change to dry clothes frequently right away to avoid catching cold. All the containers were filled even after watering the roses. Prepared more seedlings for cucumbers (小黃瓜 and 小胡瓜), one seed per K-cup this time.
5/15/2015: No table tennis for at least 2 weeks.
5/16/2015: Hiking today, my turn to drive. Got to meeting point at 8:20, a total of 9 people in the group (myself, Jason, James, Ching, Alex, Jerry, Ruby, Wayne, and Steve), Jerry had to quit because of back problem. Had string noodle for lunch. Finally decided to use a smaller and shorter (3 ft) piece of wood stick as holder for the oleander/passion fruit lift support, appear to be functioning OK.
5/17/2015: Headed to Apple Store in ValleyFair at 10:30, got Anita a 64G Gold iPhone 6 Plus for $923.29. Had a Ramen at Raam Nordstrom, not too bad. Started working on converting the micro SIM (which was converted from a full sized SIM ) from Anita's Nexus 5, took me nearly 2 hours to carefully analyze and planning and finally cut once and worked (also need to sand the back down a little as the nano SIM standard is thiner). After resting my head, trimmed my T-Mobile SIM card to micro SIM - it was easier since we have a CHT micro SIM card with adapter - in just 20 minutes and the Nexus 5 is now working for me.
5/18/2015: Placed order from amazon.com, including silicone case for Nexus 5, screen protector for iPhone 6 Plus, soft gel case for iPhone 6 Plus, and DHS table tennis paddle totaling $43.74, no tax was added in this order for some reason, expected delivery date will be 5/25. Capital ave was closed without any sign or detour in front of Lucky 7 supermarket when we were on or way to Great Mall to see the latest Marvels movie, we had to give up after trying to find a different way failed, visited Costco instead, will try to see the movie tomorrow. Trimmed wisteria - new branches as well as pods - they sprout and mature really fast.
5/19/2015: Watched "Avengers: Age of Ultron" at Great Mall from 10:35 - 1:05 with 15 minutes of new movie preview, new avengers were added at the end, preparing for future releases. Trimmed the rose next to the front lawn. Had a absent-minded fall from downstair steps while playing with Nexus 5, luckily I landed on my butt and elbows.
5/20/2015: Went for a haircut at 10:00 but the salon wasn't open so instead of waiting there, I went to Ranch 99 and got 2 bags of spicy peanuts, one scramble beef filet, some bananas, a couple of bell peppers, and a bag of green bean sprouts. Had a heart issue during bell pepper cleaning/cutting, this time was a little different, instead of sudden heart rate rise, my heart appeared to be stopping then sped up, bending over with my head below heart level several times helped regain normal heart rate. Paid Anthem insurance $23.98 online with MileagePlus Explorer Visa card.
5/21/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:20, got in at 9:25. There's a new volunteer (鄭敬萍) for the morning, this will make things easier - cross coverage. There were nearly a dozen people help setting up PCs for AP test this afternoon. Discovered the reason we did not have any call the whole morning was that someone (possibly yesterday) touched the DNS (do not disturb) button which blocked all calls coming in. Had a bag of Doritos and a banana for lunch. The PA test started at 12:30 but setting up attendants voice response took more than one hour. The afternoon volunteer did not come so Susan had to move from the library and sit at the front desk. Left CCC at 1:45. Stopped by Costco and got bagels, beef, and a bottle of Vodka.
5/22/2015: Ground was wet when I went getting the newspaper, but that's all. Planted 4 of the 小黃瓜 seedlings in the front row of the planter box on the deck, the small containers were too shallow for them to continue their growth properly. Had purple rice along with round pork 雪裏紅 and port sung - not bad. It's getting more difficult to get MB high. Had beef, green bean sprout, and slightly boiled 川七 for dinner.
5/23/2015: Hiking today with Jason driving, counting 6 in the group - Jason, James, Alan, Ming, Steve and myself. Jason talked about investment during Peet's coffee break, he's spent a lot of time studying the subject. It's getting sunnier as the goes by, we visited Southern Lumber as it is closing permanently, there were a lot of stuff I wanted but wasn't sure of the price since most isles do not display actual discount, I only got 4 small adjustable hooks ($0.97 each at the register) while Anita got a pocketable level. Ordered dinner from Shanghai Garden - fried pork chops, lotus root cold cut, and 開陽絲瓜 (Sautéed loofah with dry shrimp).
5/24/2015: Had bagel and scrambled eggs for breakfast, coffee was a bit strong this morning. Planted 3 小胡瓜 and one 小黃瓜 seedlings in the planter box. Also transplanted one unknown plant to the narrow planter box, the plant is most likely a dormant horseradish planted last year although it does not resemble any of the others in the planter box. Take Anita to City Sports for her workout while I did grocery shopping at Shun Fat Supermarket, got a couple of Mackerel, two units of sticky rice cake, 3 Fuji apples, a box (x4) of cooked salty duck eggs, a bag of 青江菜, one fish cake, sliced kelp, one bag of mung bean sprouts, a pack of sliced bamboo shoots, one pack of chicken wings, and some bananas. Stopped by Lowes and got a multipurpose wire to build support structures for my tomato plants. Discovered our Brother printer black toner is low, after checking online (specifically Costco, Amazon, and Best Buy) I ordered one from Best Buy ($61 including tax) since they have the same low price as Amazon and order can be picked up in store - even shipping is free in just a few days. Need to wait for email confirmation to go pick up.
5/25/2015: Received toner ready email from Best Buy, drove to Santana Row, Anita visited Anthropologie while I went pick up the printer toner TN221BK from Best Buy, it only took 5 minutes to complete the deal so I dropped by Anthropologie to meet Anita. Bought a box of fried fish from Ranch 99 food department, consumed half for lunch, we'll consume the rest during dinner.
Made sliced kelp and mung bean sprout mix - slightly boiled both then mix with minced garlic, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce - a very tasty yet still healthy dish.
5/26/2015: It's cloudy again this morning, couldn't remember when was the last time we had such a cool May. Tried Vietnamese Rice Ramen bought awhile ago, they broke up into inch length during heating process, tasted like regular pho, not bad. Had another MB afternoon, consecutive days.
5/27/2015: Movie at Dynamicfoundation, Kung and Stephanie were all absent. Went to Homedepot after the movie to check out Ryobi battery and charger, it turned out that have 4 different types of 18V batteries: the original Ni-Cad, compact Lithium-ion, compact lithium, high capacity lithium, compact lithium+, and high capacity lithium+, took me a while to figure out their differences, but decided to buy the dual chemistry intelliport charger to see if it can revive my one and only Ni-Cad battery which the old charger won't charge. Initial result indicated that new charger could charge the old battery but need to verify tomorrow that the charge lasts - otherwise I'll have to get new battery.
5/28/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:20, got in at 9:25 with Sybil. First call came in at 10:29, most calls then on were for free performance Sunday night. Left CCC at 1:30, not sure if afternoon volunteer showed up. Jason called to cancel Saturday hiking because of his has relative/family activities.
5/29/2015: Got up at 8:20, finished cleaning leftover yard waste in the street by 8:50. Visited Nordstrom at 11:15, parking was OK at the time (but were all filled by the time we left at 12:10). I found a Hand and Foot Nail Clippers set with the shape of hand and foot, quite cute, we bought it, only $5. Anita bought a large shoulder bag which can hold a number of her stuff, got it for ~$48. Had lunch at Costco, also picked up salad, cauliflower, a case of Corona beer, and Hot Pepper cheese afterward. The Chicago Trip album upload finally finished by 4:10. Got Facebook up on Anita's iPhone 6 Plus, posted her photo with Sue.
5/30/2015: No hiking today, lazy 8:40 rise. Went to Southern Lumber again. Picked up 4 larger turnbuckles for $1.34 each, one bottle brush for $2.99 and Anita's favorite knob display for $50. Stopped by Costco and filled 2/3 of the tank, for some reason the nozzle stopped by itself before filling up. Jason called around 2:34 but did not leave any message, it turned out he needed a ride to mechanic Wang to pick up his wife's Civic after regular maintenance, he called 3 people but no one was home.
5/31/2015: Got up at 8:30, lazy Sunday? Harry Potter series all day again - started yesterday. Relocate salad plants to sunnier location, have to watch if more sun might affect their normal growth.
As a precaution for lack of adequate parking space for tonight's Aboriginal Festivals of Taiwan at CCC, we ordered to-go dinner from A S J Restaurant, brought it to CCC parking lot and consume in our car, it just so happened that the couple in the car next to ours were eating their dinner as well. Stood in line for about 10 minutes before getting in. It's a full house, the show did not start until 7:15. It was a nice performance but because seating area was flat, it's difficult to see the whole performance, plus the speaker volume was too high. We left during intermission and got home at 8:25. Watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II.
6/1/2015: Got up at 8:15, it seemed easier these past few days to stay in bed late for some reason. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers in the backyard - lots of them, 3 days' amount.
6/2/2015: Got up at 8:05. Picked up soy sauce, salad dressing from Costco, grabbed bananas, white onions, gailan, and garlic from 99 Ranch Market. Anita had lunch with her classmates at May Flower (五月花). Swung by Dynamicfoundation after Costco, Kung appeared to be back, not Stephanie though. Cleaned and steamed gailan, then stirred fried it. Also stir fried shredded squid with bamboo shoots, also made a big pot of fried rice with onion, hot link, corn, and scrambled eggs. Had one MB.
6/3/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, called Kung a couple of times but no answer so I went assuming it's ON. I guessed correctly, Kung was working in the cafeteria area and left his phone in his office. the Chou couple had not returned, I later found out that Teresa lead a total of 9 people to New Zealand and won't be back until next week. Little Chou was taking care of Teresa's dogs and could not serve as movie projectionist today. Lunch helper included Mr. Chang, Suzan, John, David, and myself. Played some table tennis after the movie, it's quite uncomfortable playing in jeans.
6/4/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, not too many calls this morning but some were long ones regarding passport, visa, and notary. Left CCC on time at 1:30. Cut the old bathroom countertop to serve as recycle cart base. Another MB.
6/5/2015: Got up at 7:55, the usual stuff. Swept backyard oleander leaves and flowers - again 3 days' volume. Played some table tennis, sweat a lot. Stephanie's back, seemed in good mood, good for her. Movie on 6/12 has been canceled since Whiskey will be out of town till 5/14. Got bagels (only two left afterward), cream cheese, and Asian Cashew Chopped Salad from Costco. Swing by Ranch 99 and got tomatoes, 3 packs of beef shanks, 2 packs of bean curd, 3 white onions, and one pack of jalapeño. Yolly called to let us know that she has a job offer in Mt. View, she starts on 6/9.
6/6/2015: Hiking this morning, a total of 8 people joined the group - Yung came a late so he went the other way and met us at the peak - Jason, Wayne, James, the other Ming, Steve, Alex, Yung, and myself. Had lunch at In-N-Out, still fresh and tasty. Stopped by Marshall before heading to Southern Lumber, Anita got 8 pieces of Granite samples for free - had to move them to the car as they were really heavy, we went back and got one can of spray goo-off and 2 cans of one quart paints (for backyard). Had Asian Cashew chopped salad for dinner - added tomato slices, chopped onion, and fish cake - not bad! Google photos app syncs every photos/videos on your devices, this may not be good since I have so many X rated ones, need to think through carefully.
6/7/2015: Had lunch with Lynn and Tsai Yui couple at May Flower (紫荊花) in Great Mall, have not eaten in any Dim Sum restaurant for a long long time, very tasty. Made stew beef and bean curd from 2:55 to 5:00, threw away half of the old gravy and replace it with new Soy Sauce, should taste better.
6/8/2015: Anita's birthday. She went watching a movie () at Santana Row and possibly visiting Anthropologie afterward. Spent nearly 2 hours making Dried Radish mix (Dried Radish (Lighe), garlic, Jalapeno, 豆豉, and sugar), this time I did stir fry it a little to bring flavor to the surface. It was a hot day today (hot enough yet?) - recorded 97º in the backyard. Played some table tennis. Zapping iMAC (command+option+P+R) to try to restore screen saver function - seemed to work, need to check several more times to be sure.
6/9/2015: Our 35th wedding anniversary, went filled up RX300 at 11:00, the line were long at all, got to Mizu Sushi Restaurant at 11:30, we each ordered a cocktail, Calamari, Spicy Tuna Salad, and a Dragon Roll, the amount was just right and paid $70 - the first time we spent more than $60 for lunch. As it was still early for the movie Spy at 1:25, we strolled in Santana Row for a while until it was right to go to the theatre - the Wi-Fi at Santana Row was reasonably fast. "Spy" was possibly the best comedy style movie we've watched for a long time, very very entertaining, sequels are likely guaranteed. Had walnut shrimp and tomato scrambled eggs for dinner - paired nicely with Red Moscato.
6/10/2015: Played a little table tennis, good work out - lots of sweat, Stephanie played better today, she even beat Kung twice. Picked up a bag of Asian Cashew chopped salad, a box of strawberry, a pack of turkey ham, and a bag of small seedless watermelon from Costco. Stopped by Ranch 99 and got a bottle of cooking rice wine (the regular rice wine is $2 more expensive than last time), a container of pork sung (it cost ~$14 which is $4 more expensive than last time), a bag of green bean, a bunch of bananas, and 3 buns. We had a flash rain starting at 1:30, although not heavy but we were still able to collect over 50 gallons of rain water before it died down around 6:00. Finally caught up with blossom of the Epiphyllum (曇花), posted a photo of it on FB.
6/11/2015: Arriving at CCC at 9:26, got in as there were a few people practicing dance routines for tomorrow evening. JP showed up at 9:40, delayed due to traffic. Brought my own drink as it's annoying trying to get hot water from their office upstairs. There were about half dozen calls, once again, majority has to do with document processing. Left CCC at 1:25 after afternoon shift showed up. Rearranged one of the red flowering cactuses on the deck and another next to rose bench to free up the planter to transplant the mature cucumber seedlings. Called mom at 7:00, she just returned home from grocery shopping, in good mood.
6/12/2015: Got up at 7:50, swept the leftover yard waste in the street - the mess was smaller today, finished it within 15 minutes. Repotted basils in the plastic square container. Realigned Monica's tombstone to allow proper placement of old bathroom countertop remnants. Played some table tennis, labeling day will be next Tuesday. Cut up the seedless water melon, not very pretty, had to trim away a good portion of them. Preparing for dinner tomorrow - Tony Roma ribs, hot links with oyster mushroom and green bell pepper, corn with minced onion and tomatoes, walnut shrimp, and asian cashew chopped salad.
6/13/2015: Hiking as usual with Jason driving. We had the largest group that I could remember, a total of 15 showed up - Jason, James, Alex, Wayne, Alan, Yung, Ahmei, Ruby, Jerry, Ming, another Ming, Shing Kuo, Ching, Steve, and myself. Lots of dessert from travelers. Finished preparing last two dinner dishes - hot links with oyster mushroom and green bell pepper, Walnut Shrimp will need final mixing right before dinner time. ChinMing and Yuinroo arrived at 5:00. Played Mahjong until 6:45 when we broke for dinner, game resumed at 7:30 and ended at 10:50.
6/14/2015: Visited Southern Lumber on their final weekend, they will remain open until coming Friday (6/19). Picked up the 53 pieces of siltstone samples for $75, inexpensive and pretty. Created a sun shield from fiberglass insect screen, I used two sheets to increase the screening effect, I hope it will protect the seedlings I am going to plant in the ground planter box. Transplanted three new 小黃瓜 seedlings to ground planter box. Trimmed away many dead cherry branches but could not reach some of them, had to leave it to nature. Anita found a SINGLE cherry hanging on the tree, kind of pathetic - she did take a couple of photos for record.
6/15/2015: Got up at 7:50, had birthday cake for breakfast - two days in a row. Cleaned up oleander leaves and flowers, watered new plants, and released hose from tangled 川七, all these took one and half an hour. Played some table tennis. Trimmed off more dry cherry branches.
6/16/2015: Another red Epiphyllum bloomed, it was a good idea relocating them close to our family room so that we could watch and enjoy it easily from inside the house. Leaving for Dynamicfoundation at 9:40 - quarterly magazine label day. I was not the first one there, Chou jr. and Carol beat me to it. For some reason (maybe everyone's familiar with the procedure), we finished labeling and loaded on the truck by 11:00, this had never happened before. Played some table tennis with Kung before he went with Stephanie to pick up lunch, played some with Carol, it was some exercise before lunch. Ordered salty duck again, still tasty. Played more table tennis with Stephanie and Kung, ended at 1:15, must have lost 2 lbs after the sweat.
5/23/2015: Hiking today with Jason driving, counting 6 in the group - Jason, James, Alan, Ming, Steve and myself. Jason talked about investment during Peet's coffee break, he's spent a lot of time studying the subject. It's getting sunnier as the goes by, we visited Southern Lumber as it is closing permanently, there were a lot of stuff I wanted but wasn't sure of the price since most isles do not display actual discount, I only got 4 small adjustable hooks ($0.97 each at the register) while Anita got a pocketable level. Ordered dinner from Shanghai Garden - fried pork chops, lotus root cold cut, and 開陽絲瓜 (Sautéed loofah with dry shrimp).
5/24/2015: Had bagel and scrambled eggs for breakfast, coffee was a bit strong this morning. Planted 3 小胡瓜 and one 小黃瓜 seedlings in the planter box. Also transplanted one unknown plant to the narrow planter box, the plant is most likely a dormant horseradish planted last year although it does not resemble any of the others in the planter box. Take Anita to City Sports for her workout while I did grocery shopping at Shun Fat Supermarket, got a couple of Mackerel, two units of sticky rice cake, 3 Fuji apples, a box (x4) of cooked salty duck eggs, a bag of 青江菜, one fish cake, sliced kelp, one bag of mung bean sprouts, a pack of sliced bamboo shoots, one pack of chicken wings, and some bananas. Stopped by Lowes and got a multipurpose wire to build support structures for my tomato plants. Discovered our Brother printer black toner is low, after checking online (specifically Costco, Amazon, and Best Buy) I ordered one from Best Buy ($61 including tax) since they have the same low price as Amazon and order can be picked up in store - even shipping is free in just a few days. Need to wait for email confirmation to go pick up.
5/25/2015: Received toner ready email from Best Buy, drove to Santana Row, Anita visited Anthropologie while I went pick up the printer toner TN221BK from Best Buy, it only took 5 minutes to complete the deal so I dropped by Anthropologie to meet Anita. Bought a box of fried fish from Ranch 99 food department, consumed half for lunch, we'll consume the rest during dinner.
Made sliced kelp and mung bean sprout mix - slightly boiled both then mix with minced garlic, vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce - a very tasty yet still healthy dish.
5/26/2015: It's cloudy again this morning, couldn't remember when was the last time we had such a cool May. Tried Vietnamese Rice Ramen bought awhile ago, they broke up into inch length during heating process, tasted like regular pho, not bad. Had another MB afternoon, consecutive days.
5/27/2015: Movie at Dynamicfoundation, Kung and Stephanie were all absent. Went to Homedepot after the movie to check out Ryobi battery and charger, it turned out that have 4 different types of 18V batteries: the original Ni-Cad, compact Lithium-ion, compact lithium, high capacity lithium, compact lithium+, and high capacity lithium+, took me a while to figure out their differences, but decided to buy the dual chemistry intelliport charger to see if it can revive my one and only Ni-Cad battery which the old charger won't charge. Initial result indicated that new charger could charge the old battery but need to verify tomorrow that the charge lasts - otherwise I'll have to get new battery.
5/28/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:20, got in at 9:25 with Sybil. First call came in at 10:29, most calls then on were for free performance Sunday night. Left CCC at 1:30, not sure if afternoon volunteer showed up. Jason called to cancel Saturday hiking because of his has relative/family activities.
5/29/2015: Got up at 8:20, finished cleaning leftover yard waste in the street by 8:50. Visited Nordstrom at 11:15, parking was OK at the time (but were all filled by the time we left at 12:10). I found a Hand and Foot Nail Clippers set with the shape of hand and foot, quite cute, we bought it, only $5. Anita bought a large shoulder bag which can hold a number of her stuff, got it for ~$48. Had lunch at Costco, also picked up salad, cauliflower, a case of Corona beer, and Hot Pepper cheese afterward. The Chicago Trip album upload finally finished by 4:10. Got Facebook up on Anita's iPhone 6 Plus, posted her photo with Sue.
5/30/2015: No hiking today, lazy 8:40 rise. Went to Southern Lumber again. Picked up 4 larger turnbuckles for $1.34 each, one bottle brush for $2.99 and Anita's favorite knob display for $50. Stopped by Costco and filled 2/3 of the tank, for some reason the nozzle stopped by itself before filling up. Jason called around 2:34 but did not leave any message, it turned out he needed a ride to mechanic Wang to pick up his wife's Civic after regular maintenance, he called 3 people but no one was home.
5/31/2015: Got up at 8:30, lazy Sunday? Harry Potter series all day again - started yesterday. Relocate salad plants to sunnier location, have to watch if more sun might affect their normal growth.
As a precaution for lack of adequate parking space for tonight's Aboriginal Festivals of Taiwan at CCC, we ordered to-go dinner from A S J Restaurant, brought it to CCC parking lot and consume in our car, it just so happened that the couple in the car next to ours were eating their dinner as well. Stood in line for about 10 minutes before getting in. It's a full house, the show did not start until 7:15. It was a nice performance but because seating area was flat, it's difficult to see the whole performance, plus the speaker volume was too high. We left during intermission and got home at 8:25. Watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II.
6/1/2015: Got up at 8:15, it seemed easier these past few days to stay in bed late for some reason. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers in the backyard - lots of them, 3 days' amount.
6/2/2015: Got up at 8:05. Picked up soy sauce, salad dressing from Costco, grabbed bananas, white onions, gailan, and garlic from 99 Ranch Market. Anita had lunch with her classmates at May Flower (五月花). Swung by Dynamicfoundation after Costco, Kung appeared to be back, not Stephanie though. Cleaned and steamed gailan, then stirred fried it. Also stir fried shredded squid with bamboo shoots, also made a big pot of fried rice with onion, hot link, corn, and scrambled eggs. Had one MB.
6/3/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, called Kung a couple of times but no answer so I went assuming it's ON. I guessed correctly, Kung was working in the cafeteria area and left his phone in his office. the Chou couple had not returned, I later found out that Teresa lead a total of 9 people to New Zealand and won't be back until next week. Little Chou was taking care of Teresa's dogs and could not serve as movie projectionist today. Lunch helper included Mr. Chang, Suzan, John, David, and myself. Played some table tennis after the movie, it's quite uncomfortable playing in jeans.
6/4/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, not too many calls this morning but some were long ones regarding passport, visa, and notary. Left CCC on time at 1:30. Cut the old bathroom countertop to serve as recycle cart base. Another MB.
6/5/2015: Got up at 7:55, the usual stuff. Swept backyard oleander leaves and flowers - again 3 days' volume. Played some table tennis, sweat a lot. Stephanie's back, seemed in good mood, good for her. Movie on 6/12 has been canceled since Whiskey will be out of town till 5/14. Got bagels (only two left afterward), cream cheese, and Asian Cashew Chopped Salad from Costco. Swing by Ranch 99 and got tomatoes, 3 packs of beef shanks, 2 packs of bean curd, 3 white onions, and one pack of jalapeño. Yolly called to let us know that she has a job offer in Mt. View, she starts on 6/9.
6/6/2015: Hiking this morning, a total of 8 people joined the group - Yung came a late so he went the other way and met us at the peak - Jason, Wayne, James, the other Ming, Steve, Alex, Yung, and myself. Had lunch at In-N-Out, still fresh and tasty. Stopped by Marshall before heading to Southern Lumber, Anita got 8 pieces of Granite samples for free - had to move them to the car as they were really heavy, we went back and got one can of spray goo-off and 2 cans of one quart paints (for backyard). Had Asian Cashew chopped salad for dinner - added tomato slices, chopped onion, and fish cake - not bad! Google photos app syncs every photos/videos on your devices, this may not be good since I have so many X rated ones, need to think through carefully.
6/7/2015: Had lunch with Lynn and Tsai Yui couple at May Flower (紫荊花) in Great Mall, have not eaten in any Dim Sum restaurant for a long long time, very tasty. Made stew beef and bean curd from 2:55 to 5:00, threw away half of the old gravy and replace it with new Soy Sauce, should taste better.
6/8/2015: Anita's birthday. She went watching a movie () at Santana Row and possibly visiting Anthropologie afterward. Spent nearly 2 hours making Dried Radish mix (Dried Radish (Lighe), garlic, Jalapeno, 豆豉, and sugar), this time I did stir fry it a little to bring flavor to the surface. It was a hot day today (hot enough yet?) - recorded 97º in the backyard. Played some table tennis. Zapping iMAC (command+option+P+R) to try to restore screen saver function - seemed to work, need to check several more times to be sure.
6/9/2015: Our 35th wedding anniversary, went filled up RX300 at 11:00, the line were long at all, got to Mizu Sushi Restaurant at 11:30, we each ordered a cocktail, Calamari, Spicy Tuna Salad, and a Dragon Roll, the amount was just right and paid $70 - the first time we spent more than $60 for lunch. As it was still early for the movie Spy at 1:25, we strolled in Santana Row for a while until it was right to go to the theatre - the Wi-Fi at Santana Row was reasonably fast. "Spy" was possibly the best comedy style movie we've watched for a long time, very very entertaining, sequels are likely guaranteed. Had walnut shrimp and tomato scrambled eggs for dinner - paired nicely with Red Moscato.
6/10/2015: Played a little table tennis, good work out - lots of sweat, Stephanie played better today, she even beat Kung twice. Picked up a bag of Asian Cashew chopped salad, a box of strawberry, a pack of turkey ham, and a bag of small seedless watermelon from Costco. Stopped by Ranch 99 and got a bottle of cooking rice wine (the regular rice wine is $2 more expensive than last time), a container of pork sung (it cost ~$14 which is $4 more expensive than last time), a bag of green bean, a bunch of bananas, and 3 buns. We had a flash rain starting at 1:30, although not heavy but we were still able to collect over 50 gallons of rain water before it died down around 6:00. Finally caught up with blossom of the Epiphyllum (曇花), posted a photo of it on FB.
6/11/2015: Arriving at CCC at 9:26, got in as there were a few people practicing dance routines for tomorrow evening. JP showed up at 9:40, delayed due to traffic. Brought my own drink as it's annoying trying to get hot water from their office upstairs. There were about half dozen calls, once again, majority has to do with document processing. Left CCC at 1:25 after afternoon shift showed up. Rearranged one of the red flowering cactuses on the deck and another next to rose bench to free up the planter to transplant the mature cucumber seedlings. Called mom at 7:00, she just returned home from grocery shopping, in good mood.
6/12/2015: Got up at 7:50, swept the leftover yard waste in the street - the mess was smaller today, finished it within 15 minutes. Repotted basils in the plastic square container. Realigned Monica's tombstone to allow proper placement of old bathroom countertop remnants. Played some table tennis, labeling day will be next Tuesday. Cut up the seedless water melon, not very pretty, had to trim away a good portion of them. Preparing for dinner tomorrow - Tony Roma ribs, hot links with oyster mushroom and green bell pepper, corn with minced onion and tomatoes, walnut shrimp, and asian cashew chopped salad.
6/13/2015: Hiking as usual with Jason driving. We had the largest group that I could remember, a total of 15 showed up - Jason, James, Alex, Wayne, Alan, Yung, Ahmei, Ruby, Jerry, Ming, another Ming, Shing Kuo, Ching, Steve, and myself. Lots of dessert from travelers. Finished preparing last two dinner dishes - hot links with oyster mushroom and green bell pepper, Walnut Shrimp will need final mixing right before dinner time. ChinMing and Yuinroo arrived at 5:00. Played Mahjong until 6:45 when we broke for dinner, game resumed at 7:30 and ended at 10:50.
6/14/2015: Visited Southern Lumber on their final weekend, they will remain open until coming Friday (6/19). Picked up the 53 pieces of siltstone samples for $75, inexpensive and pretty. Created a sun shield from fiberglass insect screen, I used two sheets to increase the screening effect, I hope it will protect the seedlings I am going to plant in the ground planter box. Transplanted three new 小黃瓜 seedlings to ground planter box. Trimmed away many dead cherry branches but could not reach some of them, had to leave it to nature. Anita found a SINGLE cherry hanging on the tree, kind of pathetic - she did take a couple of photos for record.
6/15/2015: Got up at 7:50, had birthday cake for breakfast - two days in a row. Cleaned up oleander leaves and flowers, watered new plants, and released hose from tangled 川七, all these took one and half an hour. Played some table tennis. Trimmed off more dry cherry branches.
6/16/2015: Another red Epiphyllum bloomed, it was a good idea relocating them close to our family room so that we could watch and enjoy it easily from inside the house. Leaving for Dynamicfoundation at 9:40 - quarterly magazine label day. I was not the first one there, Chou jr. and Carol beat me to it. For some reason (maybe everyone's familiar with the procedure), we finished labeling and loaded on the truck by 11:00, this had never happened before. Played some table tennis with Kung before he went with Stephanie to pick up lunch, played some with Carol, it was some exercise before lunch. Ordered salty duck again, still tasty. Played more table tennis with Stephanie and Kung, ended at 1:15, must have lost 2 lbs after the sweat.
6/17/2015: Visited Southern Lumber again, looking for Caserstone samples, after checking with the store, we got the store owner directing us to one of his employee (Barbra) to show us the samples, Anita picked out all black and white plus similar colored ones from their remaining stock, and they gave us the stones for free. The visit span from 9:45 when we left the house to 10:45 when we enter the garage, about 15 minutes longer than last time. Played table tennis, as Kung was too tired to play, Stephanie played longer (nearly 35 minutes), she played much better as I was able to show her more techniques and she took them in nicely, the amount of time played made the difference. Stopped by Costco and picked up a case of Modelo beer, one container of organic eggs, one pack of organic chicken thighs, one dozen bagels, one pack of Asian Cashew chopped salad, one bag of Cauliflower, and one box of Peet's K-Cup coffee.
6/18/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, got there at 9:45, first run shuttle hasn't come in yet. There were about 45 seniors attending. Mong showed up and played table tennis with Kung and later with me, played nearly 2 hours among the three of us. Timeout from CCC today. Our white and red Epiphyllum bloomed at the same time - possibly the first time, took several photos, posted one on Facebook.
6/19/2015: Surprised to see the white Epiphyllum stayed bloomed at 8:30 and finally faded around 11:00. It could be the influence from its red cousin close by. Used blower to help clean up oleander leaves and flowers, made job easier. Biked to Dynamicfoundation and played some table tennis, again, sweat a lot. Resulting weight after returning home was 147.8 lbs. Another MB. Trimmed some roses after dinner. Called Peilee, they were in 慈恩園, will call tomorrow.
6/20/2015: Hiking today, another record, a total of 16 people joined the event - Jason, James, Ching, Steve, Sujen, Yung, Ahmei, Wayne, Shingkuo, Alice, Jerry, Ruby, Alex, Sujen's friend, Ming Cao, and myself. Anita's a little tired after coming back from her Yoga class, rested at home the remaining day. Had Scrambled egg and shrimp and Asian cashew salad (plus home grown organic salad) for dinner.
6/21/2015: Got up at 8:10. The pair of mockingbird happily sang their songs all morning. Visited Coleman plaza, had burger lunch at In-N-Out, bought a case of Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, a bag of cashew nuts, a bag of almonds, and two Cheddar Cheese Roasted Garlic Bâtard (a bread similar to baguette but shorter) from Trader Joes, a Serrated Utility knife ($2.99) and one American Eagle light jacket for Anita from Marshall. Got home at 1:15. Trimmed 1/3 of the Jasmine and relocate one of the steel trellis to the deck planter box as planting support. Removed the last old bush next to the fence so the space can be used by the red Epiphyllum containers.
6/22/2015: Had Trader Joe's Cheddar Cheese Roasted Garlic Bâtard for breakfast, not bad. Started disassembling the patio end table, it's been with us over 20 years, trying to see if some repair work can prolong its life. Played table tennis for about an hour, Stephanie did not play as she was running errands - I guess things crank up when the boss (Teresa) is back. Stopped by Costco and picked up a case of Dos XX beer, a pack of Caesar salad (found out this is not the one in the catalogue), a pack of mixed Bell Pepper, one pack of Charmin bathroom tissue, a bag of Kirkland Beef steak jerky, and one pineapple. Further disassembled top of the patio coffee table and washed the pieces, consider using glue and/or nails to assemble them back together.
6/23/2015: Empathy (the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings). Got up at 7:45. Double down (risking more, much like in gambling - bet more hoping for a big win). Went for the movie "inside Out" at Great Mall, a very touching and easy to comprehend animation targeting young and teens, the short film "Lava" before feature film was also a good one. Played table tennis for about an hour. Used Gorilla glue to strengthen the patio coffee table - both the frame and the surface. Another MB. The 5 core emotions used in "Inside Out" were Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust.
6/24/2015: Got up at 8:15, still chilly in the morning. Decided to enforce the patio coffee table surface by gluing a piece of wood at the bottom. Confirmed with Stephanie that she can play until 1:15, hurried through fast noodle for lunch and got to Dynamicfoundation at 12:25, played until 1:20, she made some progress in loop shots by avoiding flip her paddle. Cleaned the patio coffee table two more times, it looks much better, and sturdier now.
6/25/2015: Movie event at Dynamicfoundation. Second truck load of seniors was late, it didn't come in until 11:15, this was the worst record ever, previous record was 10:50. The Ha couple was present, but the husband didn't show any interest in playing table tennis - to my surprise. Sweat a lot play table tennis, it had been like this recently, unsure if it's the weather or my aging body.
6/26/2015: Got up at 7:30, cleaned up leftover yard waste in the street, only took 15 minutes this time. Went to CVS and got 12 bottles of Bare foot Moscato wines (7 rieslings and 5 red) at $4.50 each with CVS card (that's $0.50 additional savings for each bottle - mixed and combine 6 bottles of bare foot wines saved ). Played 45 minutes of table tennis, got a bag of apricots from Teresa. Swang by Ranch 99 and got a bottle of rice wine (it's $6.99, no discount, should have gotten a few more when they were selling for $4.99), 2 bags of 黃飛紅 peanuts, one bag of dry fructus lycii (枸杞) and one bag of dry dates. Made chicken soup for Anita - 5 organic chicken drums, some ginger slides, a bunch of 枸杞, and a bunch of dry dates, plus 1/3 bottle of rice wine. Planted 9 more seeds (4 小黃瓜 and 5 小胡瓜) directly in the planter box (4 on the deck and 5 on the ground level), hope they come out all right.
6/27/2015: Hiking day, Jason's turn. Jason's not hiking today since he injured his right leg just above the knee while moping the his floor, he will be doing some shopping instead and meet me at Peet's Coffee & Tea. We had 11 people in the 8:30 hiking group - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, Alice, James, Ching, Ming, Steve, Sujen, and myself. Made stewed beef and bean curd and cleaned up everything by 3:10. Anita joined Ying Wang and Elle visiting their TFGH classmates in Santa Cruz for their annual gathering. Had a bunch of leftovers for lunch, my stomach felt weird afterwards, not good.
6/28/2015: Had continuous dream of candy crash saga similar incidences, pretty tiresome. Visited IKEA, had chicken tender and vegan (simply rice with potato paste) for lunch. Got what we came for afterward - candles for Monica, a door mate to replace the one in the garage, a squeege, and a box of screws of different length. Stopped by Nordstrom, Anita picked out a dress, a pair of sandals, I found a pair of light weight sandals, also got a pair of shoe strings to replace the elastic one on the Merrell walking shoe. Added several supporting strings for the planter box, used shielded wires purchased last time which the tomato plants supports were made from.
6/29/2015: Got up at 8:10, had 2 small slices of baguette plus one piece of muchi for breakfast - trying to reduce the amount of intake food. Slightly boiled sliced kelp and green bean sprout, marinate them with vinegar, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Played 45 minutes table tennis. Stopped by Costco, got cream cheese, a bag of Asian Cashew chopped salad, a bag of Romaine lettuce, and one can of Macadamia nuts. Made the best tasting beef ever - the key was use high heat on one side for one and half minute then turn over for another 30 seconds, remove them from the stove. Another MB.
6/30/2015: According to the weather forecast, it's going to be hot (90) today. Confirmed with Stephanie (on LINE) to start table tennis at 12:30, got there at 12:25, started playing at 12:35, Kung returned from his lunch at 12:45, obviously wanted to play made him came back early, but he played only 10 more minutes after Stephanie left, oh well. Anita went to SantaRow to watch "DOPE" and got a dinning mate from Anthropologie.
7/1/2015: Got up at 7:10, temperature in the house is at 78° already, expecting day time temperature will increase sharply. Sweat like hell cleaning up oleander leaves and flowers. Had a bowl of noodles from last week for lunch. Played 45 minutes of table tennis. The high barometer of the day was only 99.4°, probably due to thicker cloud. The three mangos purchased on 6/29 just turn ripe, however they do not taste as sweet as the ones we got last year - the weather wasn't hot enough might be the reason.
7/2/2015: Got up at 7:00, getting ready for CCC volunteer work. Prepared tea and torts lunch. Arriving CCC at 9:25, Sybil let me in, once again. They can turn off door lock now - no need to insert doormats underneath to keep it from locking up. A total of 6 calls were received during this session. Stopped by OSH and Target, for the former, I got 6 solar lights and 2 bags of cucumber seeds, for the latter, got 2 64 oz creamer (new size for me - $5.69 while it costs $3.19 for one 32 oz bottle) and a box of 50 count quart size zipper bag. Had Asian cashew chopped salad for dinner - added shredded stew beef, onion, and sliced turkey breast for more flavor. Anita skipped Zumba for Line dance.
7/3/2015: Got up at 7:00, it's employees' day off - more cars in the street and on the driveway. Even though it's not as hot as the last couple of days, you still don't want to stand in the sun. Planted 8 seeds (4 Japanese cucumber and 4 Chinese cucumber) in 4 K-cup and placed them in the ground level planter box. Found some usable leftover material in the garage that can be used to supplement the support structures in the planter box, some were from IKEA products and some were from downsizing the old entertainment center.
7/4/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. There were a total of 12 people today - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, James, Alex, Steve, Wayne, Jason, Alan, Ching, and myself. Peets Coffee & Tea was as crowded since a lot of regular patrons were out of town - educated guess. Planted the remaining 3 seedlings (two 小黃瓜 and one 小胡瓜) into the ground level planter box. The planter box seemed a little crowded at the moment but I expect some of them (hopefully not too many) may not survive the summer.
7/5/2015: Anita's upset because I cut off a rose flower of the up shooting branch from the rose next to the recycle bin, saying she's watering it every day to see it grow tall. I hope it can still grow tall regardless of the flower being cutoff. One more 6" tall cucumber perished - it did not look good from the beginning. Tried to separate one of the growing seedlings that's about 4" from a much taller (12") one but failed because its main root went broken when I pulled it up, the seedling could not sustain itself with remaining roots - sorry but the way it was going, I didn't think it could survive long underneath the big brother. Drove to Nordstrom Rack in Westgate San Jose, Anita needed to return one of the purchases made in East Palo Alto store. Browsed a while but did not see anything interesting, visited Target to see if they have Avalon Toner, store clerk confirmed that they no longer carry it, I got online (Target has their own free Wi-Fi) and discovered several brands of Toner, Anita settled on Alba brand which was more expensive but hopefully better. Had lunch at Sushi Boat in the mall, $9.95 for 2 item benton box, it was OK but definitely not worth revisiting regularly. BTW, Westgate also has free Wi-Fi with over 20M download speed.
7/6/2015: US Woman Soccer team won 2015 World Champion defeating Japan 5-2, avenging 2011 defeat. Decided to use blower to help clean oleander leaves and flowers, it still took nearly 40 minutes to finish the task. Played some table tennis, Kung had stomach ache possibly due to bad sea urchin and/or sashimi he ate last night. Stephanie is playing better for sure, I am not due to long periods of lack of serious practice - need to play with people with equal or better skills to recover.
7/7/2015: Attempting to move the white camping water container, it broke at the handle, I guess the weathering did it, it had been with us for at least 15 years. The plums from Lisa's garden were very sweet, had to finish them right away before they became overly ripe or bad. Played 45 minutes of table tennis, I think the humidity these days was abnormally high which made it easy to sweat like hell. Signed up Amazon Free 30-day Prime Trial, will cancel Netflix if goes well - free 2-day shipping, movies and TV episodes, music, and smoothness. Need to cancel Netflix on or before 7/19 if decide to keep Amazon Prime. Ordered the two books (recommended by Lynn's husband Tsai Yui, Yoga Anatomy 2nd edition by Leslie Kaminoff and Trigger Point Therapy for Myofascial Pain by Donna Finando) on Amazon.com, they will be delivered on 7/9 - the free 2-day shipping that comes with Amazon Prime.
7/8/2015: Started removing the white stones next to Monica's resting place, finished 2/5 of it. Played 50 minutes table tennis. Stopped by Costco and got a box of organic eggs and a dozen bagels, found out one egg was missing from the container when I was placing them in the trunk, thought of going back to the store to exchange but decided not to as that would take at least 10 minutes - wasted 25 cents. There was a power failure at 5:30, we ate leftover salad since there was no power to cook the beef but later realized we still have grill, took 10 minutes to have the beef done and consumed it. A reminder that we need to prepare for events like this. Power returned at 7:25.
7/9/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, there's a ongoing summer camp (海外華裔青少年中華文化夏令營: 7/7-7/11), it'll be fairly noisy today. JP came in at 9:45, she's been busy here helping her husband for this camp activities. I had a couple pieces of the sandwiches someone brought over as samples, simple but not bad. Susan handed me a lunch box the same as camp students were having, ground pork over rice, sausage and some vegetables - very tasty. A lady (deputy Chinese school Union chairwoman - 中文學校聯合會副會長）brought me a pudding she made. The camp students had a photo shoot outside the building, it was really noisy when they gathered in the lobby waiting to get out. Left CCC at exact 1:30. Stopped by OSH and got a bag of potting soil and several garden stakes, the lumbers I was planning to purchase were too long (8') for LS400, have to get them next time. Received the books ordered from Amazon at 4:30 from USPS - exactly 2 days as promised as part of the Prime membership benefits. Watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S1. E16 from Amazon Prime Instant Video.
7/10/2015: Got up at 8:15 - considered late. Our new neighbor (two doors down) use his cordless blower to round up leftover garden waste for his house and our next door neighbor (Korean), swept them up and dumped them in his garden waste bin, a very nice gesture. Reported online our missed delivery of Mercury News - it was delivered later around 10:00. Went to 99 Ranch Market and got a bottle of rice wine, a bottle of sesame oil, 3 white onions, a head of cabbage and a bag of Romaine lettuce (3 in the bag). Mad chicken soup for Anita - about 2 hours. Played table tennis for about 50 minutes, Stephanie has an assignment taking Teresa's friends to lunch and to Valley Fair shopping, her job title as Sr. Program Manager should be changed to Activity Manager :-) Another MB. Added fertilizer (soluble in water) to all roses.
7/11/2015: Hiking day, Jason's driving. There were a total of 13 people today - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, James, Alex, Steve, Wayne, Jason, Melody, the other Ming, Ching, and myself
7/12/2015: Got up at 8:30, must have been really tired. Accompanied Anita to Nordstrom for their half yearly sale, for cardholder member, it is one week earlier (7/9-7/16), they use see-through fabrics to enclose sections with items ~40% off. Anita bought a light shirt to wear to gym, and got a 600-thread queen sized bed flat. We each had one of the 5-piece fried chicken from ChickenWOW from the food court, took the rest back home to go with leftover salad for dinner. Cleaned salad planters and spread salad seeds directly in the planters, added one inch of potting soil on top and sprinkled water to keep them moist, see how this approach works.
7/13/2015: Caught the movie "Minions" at Great Mall Theatre at 9:30, came home at 11:30. It's a very nicely made animation, good story line, funny and entertaining. Found out one of the growing (with 2 2" cucumbers) 小胡瓜 perished due to rotten root at the soil level, not sure what caused it. Another unsuccessful MB.
7/14/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, first round shuttle had just arrived when I got there at 9:50. There were fewer seniors attending as it's almost the end of current movie run. Kung had afternoon event to attend so no table tennis today, I left right after first return trip shuttle left the premise. Another MB. Stopped by Costco and got 10 gallons 91 Octane gas at $3.459 per gallon for LS400.
7/15/2015: Started working on new foundation for Monica, discovered an issue that required different approach - the foundation has to be strong enough to withstand occasional stepping on as current design only uses leftover litter sand and concrete mix which may not have the strength to hold body weight. Played 50 minutes of table tennis at 1:00. Visited Costco with Anita after taking shower, got one pineapple, one box of Peet's K-Cup coffee, one twin-bag beef jerky, one case DOS Equis, one case Corona, one can of French Brie cheese, 2 containers of cream cheese, one box of cherry, and a bag of baguette (x2), filled up with 87 Octane gas at $3.239 per gallon for RX300.
7/16/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, could not get in until 9:40 s no one was around. Left CCC at 1:36. Juiced about 50 Passion Fruits, filled a full jar. Another MB, maybe the last one.
7/17/2015: Got up at 8:25, eyes were a little sore likely due to excess game playing, need better self control. Played 45 minutes table tennis, stopped by Costco and got a bag of pine nuts and 3-pack organic honey. Had steak and leftover cabbages from Dynamicfoundation for dinner, the steak was at least as good as the last time, I was getting the hang of it now.
7/18/2015: No hiking today - Jason needed to take care of her daughter's car. Went with Anita as she attend 11:00AM Yoga while I browse Lowes' garden and kitchen department. Shopped at 順發 grocery store, got 2 bags of lychees (to bring to Chiming's house later), fresh shredded seaweed, some pickle cucumbers, 2 packs of mochi, 2 bags of beef tendon balls, a bag mung bean sprouts, one bag mini peppers, one can Sriracha chili sauce, 3 packs of marinated bean curd, 2 Mackerels, and one pack fish paste cake. Cancelled Netflix at 2:35. Left for Chiming's house at 4:15, arrived at 5:05, traffic was pretty bad. Played mahjong until 10:30 with dinner break of one hour and 30 minutes in between at Elephant Bar.
7/19/2015: Visited CVS, got a dozen of Barefoot wine (Red Moscato and Riesling 6 bottles each) and 2 bottles of Avalon Toner. Juiced over 60 Passion Fruits and filled 2 jars. Purchased a to go lunch from nearby 玉華園 (Jade China), it was OK but not really authentic or tasty, will try something else to see if it's worth visiting more in the future. Another MB, a lot of exercise - 2000 counts of movements and lots of sweat.
7/20/2015: Got up at 8:20, had to give up going to the movie today (starts 9:35), will try Friday. The backyard temperature was 94°F at 10:00, it's unbearable to stay more than a couple of minutes out there. Paid Anthem $23.98. No table tennis today as they had meeting with the boss (Teresa), prepared salad for dinner - leftover salad from last night with added onion slices, corn kernels, and sliced Jack cheese, or added some minced garlic for flavor. Discovered almost all of the cucumber plants in the deck planter box had damaged root at the ground level, a couple of them probably wouldn't last more than a few days, had to consider producing more seedlings to replace them. Transplanted two Japanese cucumber seedlings to deck planter box using newly purchased potting mix as a precaution.
7/21/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, gathered 15 Passion Fruits in the process. Anita went to Santanarow to watch Holmes by herself. Biked to Dynamicfoundation, played table tennis for 50 minutes, sweat like hell. Pickled shredded seaweed and mung bean sprout mix - the seaweed pieces were purchased from SF grocery was a bit too thin, it used to be thicker, but considering the convenience maybe we could just let it go unless I want to prepare shredded seaweed myself - nah!
7/22/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, got there at 9:50. This would be the final "Hero" movie showing, there were only 30 people attending, also joined the event were five young (high school) aboriginals (原住民) from Taiwan. There was no leftover dish from lunch, all I got was a box of white rice. Played 50 minutes table tennis, Kung was playing better even though his basic skills and foot position/movement were pretty bad, he was able make some shots I could not return. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market, got two bags of pork baby back ribs, one Kimbo pork sung, one head of cauliflower, and one bag of dinner roll.
7/23/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got to CCC at 9:35. There's a Chinese school teacher summer camp going, roughly 30 vehicles in the parking lot. Resolved BJ's notebook problem. Left CCC at 1:30. Made BBQ pork baby back ribs, not great but OK - the lean meat part was a bit too thick and chewy. Another failed MB but had a good exercise - 1800 counts.
7/24/2015: Got up at 7:30, cleaned much of the leftover garden waste in the street - spanning 2 neighbors. Played 50 minutes table tennis. Made fried rice with minced onion, scrambled eggs, corn kernels, chopped fish cake - not bad.
7/25/2015: Hiking day - I am driving. Gave Jason 24 large passion fruits. Our rendezvous point was packed with vehicles, I had to circle around and park near the railroad. There were a total of 15 people in the group - Jason, Sujen, Steve, Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, James, Alan, Wayne, Ching, Ming, the other Ming, Jason's friend (the one who he's going cruise with), and myself. Went to Mizu Sushi for dinner, Anita had Mandarin Cosmo and I The Orchid cocktail, ordered Calamari, Cajun Tuna Sashimi, regular Spider roll for main course, the regular Spider roll turned out to be half the size of Dragon roll we usually ordered, but the total amount of food was adequate, paid $65 including 13% tip. We got in at 5:22 and left Mizu at 5:58 - short stay as always.
7/26/2015: Rose up at 8:30, woke up quite a few times during the night. Planted the remaining 3 seedlings (one Japanese, two Heirloom Chinese) in the ground level planter box. Visited Costco, had one polish dog and one slice combo pizza for lunch, picked up a pack of eggs (2 dozens), one pack hot Links, one dozen bagels, one pack of cooked Dungeness Crabs (2), 2 dozen organic eggs, one pineapple, and one pack of corn kernel cans. Went with Anita to City Sports while I visited Lowes and got 4 8 ft lumber for the repair of the ground level planter box, and 2 bags of paver base. Stopped by 順發 and got some pickle cucumbers, 3 onions, one pack On Choy, a bag of ginger, and a bunch of bananas. Had the Dungeness crabs for dinner, very full.
7/27/2015: Got up at 7:30, get everything ready by 8:55 and left for Great Mall theatre at 9:15. Watched 9:40 Trainwreck, a nicely made love story/comedy film. Rushed home, had quick lunch and went played 60 minutes' table tennis. One more cucumber plant died. Another MB plus 1500 counts exercise.
7/28/2015: 8:00 rise and shine. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, still working (pondering) on how Monica's garden to be constructed. Anita went to Great Mall to watch Ant-Man, I didn't go as the ending time was around 12:30 and it would be challenging for me to rush over to play table tennis. Cut off all the drying Calla Lily flowers as they were not pleasant to look at any longer. The thermometer hit 100°F around 3:00PM, most of the cucumber leaves drooped due to the high heat, although they would go back to normal once temperature drop but I added some water anyway to help their recovery.
7/29/2015: Got up at 8:15, it's going to be hotter than yesterday according to the weather forecast, out barometer reading was 92°F by 10:15. Collected 12 Passion Fruits by 10:45AM. Played table tennis for 65 minutes even though Kung did not sleep well last night. Barometer reading maxed at 96°F at 3:00PM. The lingering cucumber (小胡瓜) finally died today aggravated by two consecutive hot days, the only 小胡瓜 it produced was about 5 inches long and 3/4" in diameter, it wouldn't grow to full size after all. Collected more Passion Fruits after dinner, total tally for the day was 39 - a record , WOW!
7/30/2015: CCC volunteer day. On going kids' summer camp ends tomorrow, a teaching related speech by 師範大學文學院院長. Since Tina is on vacation and Sybil is off this morning, April is caring for activities downstairs, a number calls could not be transferred and/or properly answered.
陳松came early, so I left at 1:15. Cleaned out the two dead cucumber plants (one more also died due to heat and damaged root).
7/31/2015: 8:00 rise and no shine, I decided to breed more cucumber seedlings after viewing the nearly empty planter box, 4 K-cups (maybe a bit small) were used to do the job, a total of 3 Heirloom Chinese, 6 Japanese, and 2 小胡瓜 were planted. Rode bike to Dynamicfoundation, it started to sprinkle when I started the ride but soon dissipated. Played 45 minutes table tennis but I tried my best to exercise and thus sweat a lot.
8/1/2015: Hiking day, Jason's turn to drive. There were 7 people at the meeting point but increased to 12 when we reached the high point - Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, Jason, Alan, James, Alex, Ching, Ming, the other Ming, and myself. SingKuo joined us at Peet's for coffee. Transplanted the two Japanese cucumber seedlings I already transplanted last week to new locations to replace the recently dead ones. Had beef for dinner, I think I am getting the hang of it, the quality had been good for the third time in a row. Talked to Peilee over Skype, the problem he had with Google drive is no more.
8/2/2015: Got up at 8:00, eyes a little sore, likely from playing tablet video games. Harvested first 2015 cucumber, I decided to harvest it early even though it only measured 10.5", it's better earlier than later for two reasons, the cucumber may grow too old and not in it's best condition, this also allows newer ones to grow faster. Dug out the two Iris clumps next to the ground level planter box to make room for new boarders. Repotted the seeds planted the other day, placing only one seed in one K-Cup to provide more space for their roots to develop, there's one cup with 2 seeds as I was running out of K-Cup. Rode with Anita to City Sports as I visited 順發, got some cucumbers, some bananas, one bottle of vinegar, 2 Mackerel fillets, Fried Shrimp cake, one pack Nongshim Neoguri Spicy Seafood Instant Noodle (x4), Several Green Bell Pepper, and two packs of Muchi.
8/3/2015: Had a haircut at 10:05. Rode to Dynamicfoundation and played table tennis for 55 minutes. Quite a workout - biking and table tennis. Called IRS at 3:05, waited one hour and 40 minutes before speaking to a representative, cleared the 2014 tax plus form 8962 issue, their record showed we did complete the tax filing, in turned out that they automatically send out this letter (claiming their record showed that we did not file tax return alone with form 8962) when they receive 1095-A form from CoveredCa regardless of filing status.
6/19/2015: Surprised to see the white Epiphyllum stayed bloomed at 8:30 and finally faded around 11:00. It could be the influence from its red cousin close by. Used blower to help clean up oleander leaves and flowers, made job easier. Biked to Dynamicfoundation and played some table tennis, again, sweat a lot. Resulting weight after returning home was 147.8 lbs. Another MB. Trimmed some roses after dinner. Called Peilee, they were in 慈恩園, will call tomorrow.
6/20/2015: Hiking today, another record, a total of 16 people joined the event - Jason, James, Ching, Steve, Sujen, Yung, Ahmei, Wayne, Shingkuo, Alice, Jerry, Ruby, Alex, Sujen's friend, Ming Cao, and myself. Anita's a little tired after coming back from her Yoga class, rested at home the remaining day. Had Scrambled egg and shrimp and Asian cashew salad (plus home grown organic salad) for dinner.
6/21/2015: Got up at 8:10. The pair of mockingbird happily sang their songs all morning. Visited Coleman plaza, had burger lunch at In-N-Out, bought a case of Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon, a bag of cashew nuts, a bag of almonds, and two Cheddar Cheese Roasted Garlic Bâtard (a bread similar to baguette but shorter) from Trader Joes, a Serrated Utility knife ($2.99) and one American Eagle light jacket for Anita from Marshall. Got home at 1:15. Trimmed 1/3 of the Jasmine and relocate one of the steel trellis to the deck planter box as planting support. Removed the last old bush next to the fence so the space can be used by the red Epiphyllum containers.
6/22/2015: Had Trader Joe's Cheddar Cheese Roasted Garlic Bâtard for breakfast, not bad. Started disassembling the patio end table, it's been with us over 20 years, trying to see if some repair work can prolong its life. Played table tennis for about an hour, Stephanie did not play as she was running errands - I guess things crank up when the boss (Teresa) is back. Stopped by Costco and picked up a case of Dos XX beer, a pack of Caesar salad (found out this is not the one in the catalogue), a pack of mixed Bell Pepper, one pack of Charmin bathroom tissue, a bag of Kirkland Beef steak jerky, and one pineapple. Further disassembled top of the patio coffee table and washed the pieces, consider using glue and/or nails to assemble them back together.
6/23/2015: Empathy (the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions : the ability to share someone else's feelings). Got up at 7:45. Double down (risking more, much like in gambling - bet more hoping for a big win). Went for the movie "inside Out" at Great Mall, a very touching and easy to comprehend animation targeting young and teens, the short film "Lava" before feature film was also a good one. Played table tennis for about an hour. Used Gorilla glue to strengthen the patio coffee table - both the frame and the surface. Another MB. The 5 core emotions used in "Inside Out" were Joy, Fear, Sadness, Anger, and Disgust.
6/24/2015: Got up at 8:15, still chilly in the morning. Decided to enforce the patio coffee table surface by gluing a piece of wood at the bottom. Confirmed with Stephanie that she can play until 1:15, hurried through fast noodle for lunch and got to Dynamicfoundation at 12:25, played until 1:20, she made some progress in loop shots by avoiding flip her paddle. Cleaned the patio coffee table two more times, it looks much better, and sturdier now.
6/25/2015: Movie event at Dynamicfoundation. Second truck load of seniors was late, it didn't come in until 11:15, this was the worst record ever, previous record was 10:50. The Ha couple was present, but the husband didn't show any interest in playing table tennis - to my surprise. Sweat a lot play table tennis, it had been like this recently, unsure if it's the weather or my aging body.
6/26/2015: Got up at 7:30, cleaned up leftover yard waste in the street, only took 15 minutes this time. Went to CVS and got 12 bottles of Bare foot Moscato wines (7 rieslings and 5 red) at $4.50 each with CVS card (that's $0.50 additional savings for each bottle - mixed and combine 6 bottles of bare foot wines saved ). Played 45 minutes of table tennis, got a bag of apricots from Teresa. Swang by Ranch 99 and got a bottle of rice wine (it's $6.99, no discount, should have gotten a few more when they were selling for $4.99), 2 bags of 黃飛紅 peanuts, one bag of dry fructus lycii (枸杞) and one bag of dry dates. Made chicken soup for Anita - 5 organic chicken drums, some ginger slides, a bunch of 枸杞, and a bunch of dry dates, plus 1/3 bottle of rice wine. Planted 9 more seeds (4 小黃瓜 and 5 小胡瓜) directly in the planter box (4 on the deck and 5 on the ground level), hope they come out all right.
6/27/2015: Hiking day, Jason's turn. Jason's not hiking today since he injured his right leg just above the knee while moping the his floor, he will be doing some shopping instead and meet me at Peet's Coffee & Tea. We had 11 people in the 8:30 hiking group - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, Alice, James, Ching, Ming, Steve, Sujen, and myself. Made stewed beef and bean curd and cleaned up everything by 3:10. Anita joined Ying Wang and Elle visiting their TFGH classmates in Santa Cruz for their annual gathering. Had a bunch of leftovers for lunch, my stomach felt weird afterwards, not good.
6/28/2015: Had continuous dream of candy crash saga similar incidences, pretty tiresome. Visited IKEA, had chicken tender and vegan (simply rice with potato paste) for lunch. Got what we came for afterward - candles for Monica, a door mate to replace the one in the garage, a squeege, and a box of screws of different length. Stopped by Nordstrom, Anita picked out a dress, a pair of sandals, I found a pair of light weight sandals, also got a pair of shoe strings to replace the elastic one on the Merrell walking shoe. Added several supporting strings for the planter box, used shielded wires purchased last time which the tomato plants supports were made from.
6/29/2015: Got up at 8:10, had 2 small slices of baguette plus one piece of muchi for breakfast - trying to reduce the amount of intake food. Slightly boiled sliced kelp and green bean sprout, marinate them with vinegar, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and minced garlic. Played 45 minutes table tennis. Stopped by Costco, got cream cheese, a bag of Asian Cashew chopped salad, a bag of Romaine lettuce, and one can of Macadamia nuts. Made the best tasting beef ever - the key was use high heat on one side for one and half minute then turn over for another 30 seconds, remove them from the stove. Another MB.
6/30/2015: According to the weather forecast, it's going to be hot (90) today. Confirmed with Stephanie (on LINE) to start table tennis at 12:30, got there at 12:25, started playing at 12:35, Kung returned from his lunch at 12:45, obviously wanted to play made him came back early, but he played only 10 more minutes after Stephanie left, oh well. Anita went to SantaRow to watch "DOPE" and got a dinning mate from Anthropologie.
7/1/2015: Got up at 7:10, temperature in the house is at 78° already, expecting day time temperature will increase sharply. Sweat like hell cleaning up oleander leaves and flowers. Had a bowl of noodles from last week for lunch. Played 45 minutes of table tennis. The high barometer of the day was only 99.4°, probably due to thicker cloud. The three mangos purchased on 6/29 just turn ripe, however they do not taste as sweet as the ones we got last year - the weather wasn't hot enough might be the reason.
7/2/2015: Got up at 7:00, getting ready for CCC volunteer work. Prepared tea and torts lunch. Arriving CCC at 9:25, Sybil let me in, once again. They can turn off door lock now - no need to insert doormats underneath to keep it from locking up. A total of 6 calls were received during this session. Stopped by OSH and Target, for the former, I got 6 solar lights and 2 bags of cucumber seeds, for the latter, got 2 64 oz creamer (new size for me - $5.69 while it costs $3.19 for one 32 oz bottle) and a box of 50 count quart size zipper bag. Had Asian cashew chopped salad for dinner - added shredded stew beef, onion, and sliced turkey breast for more flavor. Anita skipped Zumba for Line dance.
7/3/2015: Got up at 7:00, it's employees' day off - more cars in the street and on the driveway. Even though it's not as hot as the last couple of days, you still don't want to stand in the sun. Planted 8 seeds (4 Japanese cucumber and 4 Chinese cucumber) in 4 K-cup and placed them in the ground level planter box. Found some usable leftover material in the garage that can be used to supplement the support structures in the planter box, some were from IKEA products and some were from downsizing the old entertainment center.
7/4/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. There were a total of 12 people today - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, James, Alex, Steve, Wayne, Jason, Alan, Ching, and myself. Peets Coffee & Tea was as crowded since a lot of regular patrons were out of town - educated guess. Planted the remaining 3 seedlings (two 小黃瓜 and one 小胡瓜) into the ground level planter box. The planter box seemed a little crowded at the moment but I expect some of them (hopefully not too many) may not survive the summer.
7/5/2015: Anita's upset because I cut off a rose flower of the up shooting branch from the rose next to the recycle bin, saying she's watering it every day to see it grow tall. I hope it can still grow tall regardless of the flower being cutoff. One more 6" tall cucumber perished - it did not look good from the beginning. Tried to separate one of the growing seedlings that's about 4" from a much taller (12") one but failed because its main root went broken when I pulled it up, the seedling could not sustain itself with remaining roots - sorry but the way it was going, I didn't think it could survive long underneath the big brother. Drove to Nordstrom Rack in Westgate San Jose, Anita needed to return one of the purchases made in East Palo Alto store. Browsed a while but did not see anything interesting, visited Target to see if they have Avalon Toner, store clerk confirmed that they no longer carry it, I got online (Target has their own free Wi-Fi) and discovered several brands of Toner, Anita settled on Alba brand which was more expensive but hopefully better. Had lunch at Sushi Boat in the mall, $9.95 for 2 item benton box, it was OK but definitely not worth revisiting regularly. BTW, Westgate also has free Wi-Fi with over 20M download speed.
7/6/2015: US Woman Soccer team won 2015 World Champion defeating Japan 5-2, avenging 2011 defeat. Decided to use blower to help clean oleander leaves and flowers, it still took nearly 40 minutes to finish the task. Played some table tennis, Kung had stomach ache possibly due to bad sea urchin and/or sashimi he ate last night. Stephanie is playing better for sure, I am not due to long periods of lack of serious practice - need to play with people with equal or better skills to recover.
7/7/2015: Attempting to move the white camping water container, it broke at the handle, I guess the weathering did it, it had been with us for at least 15 years. The plums from Lisa's garden were very sweet, had to finish them right away before they became overly ripe or bad. Played 45 minutes of table tennis, I think the humidity these days was abnormally high which made it easy to sweat like hell. Signed up Amazon Free 30-day Prime Trial, will cancel Netflix if goes well - free 2-day shipping, movies and TV episodes, music, and smoothness. Need to cancel Netflix on or before 7/19 if decide to keep Amazon Prime. Ordered the two books (recommended by Lynn's husband Tsai Yui, Yoga Anatomy 2nd edition by Leslie Kaminoff and Trigger Point Therapy for Myofascial Pain by Donna Finando) on Amazon.com, they will be delivered on 7/9 - the free 2-day shipping that comes with Amazon Prime.
7/8/2015: Started removing the white stones next to Monica's resting place, finished 2/5 of it. Played 50 minutes table tennis. Stopped by Costco and got a box of organic eggs and a dozen bagels, found out one egg was missing from the container when I was placing them in the trunk, thought of going back to the store to exchange but decided not to as that would take at least 10 minutes - wasted 25 cents. There was a power failure at 5:30, we ate leftover salad since there was no power to cook the beef but later realized we still have grill, took 10 minutes to have the beef done and consumed it. A reminder that we need to prepare for events like this. Power returned at 7:25.
7/9/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, there's a ongoing summer camp (海外華裔青少年中華文化夏令營: 7/7-7/11), it'll be fairly noisy today. JP came in at 9:45, she's been busy here helping her husband for this camp activities. I had a couple pieces of the sandwiches someone brought over as samples, simple but not bad. Susan handed me a lunch box the same as camp students were having, ground pork over rice, sausage and some vegetables - very tasty. A lady (deputy Chinese school Union chairwoman - 中文學校聯合會副會長）brought me a pudding she made. The camp students had a photo shoot outside the building, it was really noisy when they gathered in the lobby waiting to get out. Left CCC at exact 1:30. Stopped by OSH and got a bag of potting soil and several garden stakes, the lumbers I was planning to purchase were too long (8') for LS400, have to get them next time. Received the books ordered from Amazon at 4:30 from USPS - exactly 2 days as promised as part of the Prime membership benefits. Watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S1. E16 from Amazon Prime Instant Video.
7/10/2015: Got up at 8:15 - considered late. Our new neighbor (two doors down) use his cordless blower to round up leftover garden waste for his house and our next door neighbor (Korean), swept them up and dumped them in his garden waste bin, a very nice gesture. Reported online our missed delivery of Mercury News - it was delivered later around 10:00. Went to 99 Ranch Market and got a bottle of rice wine, a bottle of sesame oil, 3 white onions, a head of cabbage and a bag of Romaine lettuce (3 in the bag). Mad chicken soup for Anita - about 2 hours. Played table tennis for about 50 minutes, Stephanie has an assignment taking Teresa's friends to lunch and to Valley Fair shopping, her job title as Sr. Program Manager should be changed to Activity Manager :-) Another MB. Added fertilizer (soluble in water) to all roses.
7/11/2015: Hiking day, Jason's driving. There were a total of 13 people today - Jerry, Ruby, Ahmei, Yung, James, Alex, Steve, Wayne, Jason, Melody, the other Ming, Ching, and myself
7/12/2015: Got up at 8:30, must have been really tired. Accompanied Anita to Nordstrom for their half yearly sale, for cardholder member, it is one week earlier (7/9-7/16), they use see-through fabrics to enclose sections with items ~40% off. Anita bought a light shirt to wear to gym, and got a 600-thread queen sized bed flat. We each had one of the 5-piece fried chicken from ChickenWOW from the food court, took the rest back home to go with leftover salad for dinner. Cleaned salad planters and spread salad seeds directly in the planters, added one inch of potting soil on top and sprinkled water to keep them moist, see how this approach works.
7/13/2015: Caught the movie "Minions" at Great Mall Theatre at 9:30, came home at 11:30. It's a very nicely made animation, good story line, funny and entertaining. Found out one of the growing (with 2 2" cucumbers) 小胡瓜 perished due to rotten root at the soil level, not sure what caused it. Another unsuccessful MB.
7/14/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, first round shuttle had just arrived when I got there at 9:50. There were fewer seniors attending as it's almost the end of current movie run. Kung had afternoon event to attend so no table tennis today, I left right after first return trip shuttle left the premise. Another MB. Stopped by Costco and got 10 gallons 91 Octane gas at $3.459 per gallon for LS400.
7/15/2015: Started working on new foundation for Monica, discovered an issue that required different approach - the foundation has to be strong enough to withstand occasional stepping on as current design only uses leftover litter sand and concrete mix which may not have the strength to hold body weight. Played 50 minutes of table tennis at 1:00. Visited Costco with Anita after taking shower, got one pineapple, one box of Peet's K-Cup coffee, one twin-bag beef jerky, one case DOS Equis, one case Corona, one can of French Brie cheese, 2 containers of cream cheese, one box of cherry, and a bag of baguette (x2), filled up with 87 Octane gas at $3.239 per gallon for RX300.
7/16/2015: Arriving CCC at 9:25, could not get in until 9:40 s no one was around. Left CCC at 1:36. Juiced about 50 Passion Fruits, filled a full jar. Another MB, maybe the last one.
7/17/2015: Got up at 8:25, eyes were a little sore likely due to excess game playing, need better self control. Played 45 minutes table tennis, stopped by Costco and got a bag of pine nuts and 3-pack organic honey. Had steak and leftover cabbages from Dynamicfoundation for dinner, the steak was at least as good as the last time, I was getting the hang of it now.
7/18/2015: No hiking today - Jason needed to take care of her daughter's car. Went with Anita as she attend 11:00AM Yoga while I browse Lowes' garden and kitchen department. Shopped at 順發 grocery store, got 2 bags of lychees (to bring to Chiming's house later), fresh shredded seaweed, some pickle cucumbers, 2 packs of mochi, 2 bags of beef tendon balls, a bag mung bean sprouts, one bag mini peppers, one can Sriracha chili sauce, 3 packs of marinated bean curd, 2 Mackerels, and one pack fish paste cake. Cancelled Netflix at 2:35. Left for Chiming's house at 4:15, arrived at 5:05, traffic was pretty bad. Played mahjong until 10:30 with dinner break of one hour and 30 minutes in between at Elephant Bar.
7/19/2015: Visited CVS, got a dozen of Barefoot wine (Red Moscato and Riesling 6 bottles each) and 2 bottles of Avalon Toner. Juiced over 60 Passion Fruits and filled 2 jars. Purchased a to go lunch from nearby 玉華園 (Jade China), it was OK but not really authentic or tasty, will try something else to see if it's worth visiting more in the future. Another MB, a lot of exercise - 2000 counts of movements and lots of sweat.
7/20/2015: Got up at 8:20, had to give up going to the movie today (starts 9:35), will try Friday. The backyard temperature was 94°F at 10:00, it's unbearable to stay more than a couple of minutes out there. Paid Anthem $23.98. No table tennis today as they had meeting with the boss (Teresa), prepared salad for dinner - leftover salad from last night with added onion slices, corn kernels, and sliced Jack cheese, or added some minced garlic for flavor. Discovered almost all of the cucumber plants in the deck planter box had damaged root at the ground level, a couple of them probably wouldn't last more than a few days, had to consider producing more seedlings to replace them. Transplanted two Japanese cucumber seedlings to deck planter box using newly purchased potting mix as a precaution.
7/21/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, gathered 15 Passion Fruits in the process. Anita went to Santanarow to watch Holmes by herself. Biked to Dynamicfoundation, played table tennis for 50 minutes, sweat like hell. Pickled shredded seaweed and mung bean sprout mix - the seaweed pieces were purchased from SF grocery was a bit too thin, it used to be thicker, but considering the convenience maybe we could just let it go unless I want to prepare shredded seaweed myself - nah!
7/22/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, got there at 9:50. This would be the final "Hero" movie showing, there were only 30 people attending, also joined the event were five young (high school) aboriginals (原住民) from Taiwan. There was no leftover dish from lunch, all I got was a box of white rice. Played 50 minutes table tennis, Kung was playing better even though his basic skills and foot position/movement were pretty bad, he was able make some shots I could not return. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market, got two bags of pork baby back ribs, one Kimbo pork sung, one head of cauliflower, and one bag of dinner roll.
7/23/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got to CCC at 9:35. There's a Chinese school teacher summer camp going, roughly 30 vehicles in the parking lot. Resolved BJ's notebook problem. Left CCC at 1:30. Made BBQ pork baby back ribs, not great but OK - the lean meat part was a bit too thick and chewy. Another failed MB but had a good exercise - 1800 counts.
7/24/2015: Got up at 7:30, cleaned much of the leftover garden waste in the street - spanning 2 neighbors. Played 50 minutes table tennis. Made fried rice with minced onion, scrambled eggs, corn kernels, chopped fish cake - not bad.
7/25/2015: Hiking day - I am driving. Gave Jason 24 large passion fruits. Our rendezvous point was packed with vehicles, I had to circle around and park near the railroad. There were a total of 15 people in the group - Jason, Sujen, Steve, Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, James, Alan, Wayne, Ching, Ming, the other Ming, Jason's friend (the one who he's going cruise with), and myself. Went to Mizu Sushi for dinner, Anita had Mandarin Cosmo and I The Orchid cocktail, ordered Calamari, Cajun Tuna Sashimi, regular Spider roll for main course, the regular Spider roll turned out to be half the size of Dragon roll we usually ordered, but the total amount of food was adequate, paid $65 including 13% tip. We got in at 5:22 and left Mizu at 5:58 - short stay as always.
7/26/2015: Rose up at 8:30, woke up quite a few times during the night. Planted the remaining 3 seedlings (one Japanese, two Heirloom Chinese) in the ground level planter box. Visited Costco, had one polish dog and one slice combo pizza for lunch, picked up a pack of eggs (2 dozens), one pack hot Links, one dozen bagels, one pack of cooked Dungeness Crabs (2), 2 dozen organic eggs, one pineapple, and one pack of corn kernel cans. Went with Anita to City Sports while I visited Lowes and got 4 8 ft lumber for the repair of the ground level planter box, and 2 bags of paver base. Stopped by 順發 and got some pickle cucumbers, 3 onions, one pack On Choy, a bag of ginger, and a bunch of bananas. Had the Dungeness crabs for dinner, very full.
7/27/2015: Got up at 7:30, get everything ready by 8:55 and left for Great Mall theatre at 9:15. Watched 9:40 Trainwreck, a nicely made love story/comedy film. Rushed home, had quick lunch and went played 60 minutes' table tennis. One more cucumber plant died. Another MB plus 1500 counts exercise.
7/28/2015: 8:00 rise and shine. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, still working (pondering) on how Monica's garden to be constructed. Anita went to Great Mall to watch Ant-Man, I didn't go as the ending time was around 12:30 and it would be challenging for me to rush over to play table tennis. Cut off all the drying Calla Lily flowers as they were not pleasant to look at any longer. The thermometer hit 100°F around 3:00PM, most of the cucumber leaves drooped due to the high heat, although they would go back to normal once temperature drop but I added some water anyway to help their recovery.
7/29/2015: Got up at 8:15, it's going to be hotter than yesterday according to the weather forecast, out barometer reading was 92°F by 10:15. Collected 12 Passion Fruits by 10:45AM. Played table tennis for 65 minutes even though Kung did not sleep well last night. Barometer reading maxed at 96°F at 3:00PM. The lingering cucumber (小胡瓜) finally died today aggravated by two consecutive hot days, the only 小胡瓜 it produced was about 5 inches long and 3/4" in diameter, it wouldn't grow to full size after all. Collected more Passion Fruits after dinner, total tally for the day was 39 - a record , WOW!
7/30/2015: CCC volunteer day. On going kids' summer camp ends tomorrow, a teaching related speech by 師範大學文學院院長. Since Tina is on vacation and Sybil is off this morning, April is caring for activities downstairs, a number calls could not be transferred and/or properly answered.
陳松came early, so I left at 1:15. Cleaned out the two dead cucumber plants (one more also died due to heat and damaged root).
7/31/2015: 8:00 rise and no shine, I decided to breed more cucumber seedlings after viewing the nearly empty planter box, 4 K-cups (maybe a bit small) were used to do the job, a total of 3 Heirloom Chinese, 6 Japanese, and 2 小胡瓜 were planted. Rode bike to Dynamicfoundation, it started to sprinkle when I started the ride but soon dissipated. Played 45 minutes table tennis but I tried my best to exercise and thus sweat a lot.
8/1/2015: Hiking day, Jason's turn to drive. There were 7 people at the meeting point but increased to 12 when we reached the high point - Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, Jason, Alan, James, Alex, Ching, Ming, the other Ming, and myself. SingKuo joined us at Peet's for coffee. Transplanted the two Japanese cucumber seedlings I already transplanted last week to new locations to replace the recently dead ones. Had beef for dinner, I think I am getting the hang of it, the quality had been good for the third time in a row. Talked to Peilee over Skype, the problem he had with Google drive is no more.
8/2/2015: Got up at 8:00, eyes a little sore, likely from playing tablet video games. Harvested first 2015 cucumber, I decided to harvest it early even though it only measured 10.5", it's better earlier than later for two reasons, the cucumber may grow too old and not in it's best condition, this also allows newer ones to grow faster. Dug out the two Iris clumps next to the ground level planter box to make room for new boarders. Repotted the seeds planted the other day, placing only one seed in one K-Cup to provide more space for their roots to develop, there's one cup with 2 seeds as I was running out of K-Cup. Rode with Anita to City Sports as I visited 順發, got some cucumbers, some bananas, one bottle of vinegar, 2 Mackerel fillets, Fried Shrimp cake, one pack Nongshim Neoguri Spicy Seafood Instant Noodle (x4), Several Green Bell Pepper, and two packs of Muchi.
8/3/2015: Had a haircut at 10:05. Rode to Dynamicfoundation and played table tennis for 55 minutes. Quite a workout - biking and table tennis. Called IRS at 3:05, waited one hour and 40 minutes before speaking to a representative, cleared the 2014 tax plus form 8962 issue, their record showed we did complete the tax filing, in turned out that they automatically send out this letter (claiming their record showed that we did not file tax return alone with form 8962) when they receive 1095-A form from CoveredCa regardless of filing status.
8/4/2015: Got up at 7:30 to get ready for movie. Departing house at 9:20, got to Century 20 Great Mall at 9:38, the 9:40 Mission Impossible was a XD movie (customized surround sound system , a floor to ceiling wall to wall screen, and chairs that shake/vibrate with the scene), it was $15 per person, the most expensive movie ticket we've ever paid for. It was a nicely made movie, story line was reasonable and tight, actions were never no slowed down until the end. Movie ended at 12:05, got home at 12:30, rushed through lunch (Japanese thin noodle) and got to Dynamicfoundation at 12:55, neither Kung nor Stephanie's car was present, Kung arrived before I figured out how to call him, he had a lunch gathering, it turned out that Stephanie had an emergency (kidney stone) last night so she's home resting. Played about 55 minutes. Before taking bath, I set up the table saw and prepared proper length wood pieces from the four 8' 4 by 4 lumbers purchased the other day for building a replacement planter box.
Found out the senior price at Century 20 Great Mall is $11.5 after getting back from table tennis session.
8/5/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, as Monica's garden is still under construction, it's even more difficult to clean with loose gravels and cat litter spread around the tiles/stones. The seeds I planted a few days ago may not be too valuable as we are in mid summer already, and the growing season has only a couple of months remaining, I'll remember to grow more early before the season starts. Played table tennis for 55 minutes, Stephanie was back, the kidney stone problem appeared to be solved, good for her. While cleaning the bathtub, I had a sudden onset rapid heart rate incidence, luckily it went away in just 10 seconds after applying my special cure (bend down with my head lower than my knees).
8/6/2015: CCC volunteer day, reached parking at 9:25, got in following Sybil once again. JP got in at 9:40. No group activities today. Reasonably quiet this morning, left CCC at 1:30. Stopped by Target and got 3 32oz Hazelnut creamer and one pack cotton round for Anita. Called Mom at 7:03, Sharon answered the phone, chatted with her a couple of minutes.
8/7/2015: Got up at 7:35, cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street - stopped at mid point of next door neighbor. Transplanted the irises that were next to the ground level planter box to front yard - 4 different spots. Received Line message from Stephanie just finishing lunch, Kung's off today but she can play table tennis but I need to go earlier, I got there at 12:25. Didn't realize the time but we actually played nearly one hour, she has more energy than Kung for sure. Stopped by Costco and got 2 cases of beer, DOS Equis and Modelo (also from Mexico), one dozen bagels, and a pack of Wild Sockeye Salmon with skin. Removed fish scales from the Salmon - I thought they had been removed. Preparing cucumber dish and discovered that a couple of them were a bit old as the seeds inside were somewhat matured than expected, cut off all remaining cucumbers from the plants, it's better too young than too old.
8/8/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. Hiking group today was relatively smooth, no irregular heart beat or rapid rate but I was struggling to keep up so that I wouldn't be the last one. Members joining today's hike were Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, Ching, Wayne, Alex, Melody, Steve, Jason, Ming,the other Ming, and myself. With the table saw, managed to cut to measures all remaining wood pieces necessary to complete the ground level planter box. Had takeout dinner from Shanghai Garden. Placed the wood pieces together and formed the new planter box with old woods removed, still need to figure out how to attach them permanently.
8/9/2015: Outing day, left for San Juan Bautista at 10:13 and got there by 11:02, paid $5 for parking - there happened to be an annual antique & collection fair going on, browsed the fair for 40 minutes then spent another hour walking through the mission and gift shop. We did not get a chance to enjoy local delicacy as there were lines everywhere. After about an hour and 20 minutes on the freeway (there were road side car exhibits and accident), we got home at 2:00, had a bowl of spicy seafood instant noodle for late lunch. Used spikes (cutoff garden stick) and glue to solidify one side of the planter box, the result isn't very satisfactory, the spikes were long or strong enough to hold the bottom lumbers steady, the completed piece still moves, need to figure out a different method to do the remaining 3 sides.
8/10/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers with the help of my old electric blower, possibly saved 10 minutes had I cleaned them all manually. Played table tennis for 50 minutes, Kung still became tired easily, Stephanie had sore legs from playing longer last Friday. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and got a pack of Romaine lettuce, 2 white onions, some bananas, one bottle China cooking wine, a bottle of Korean BBQ sauce, 4 tomatoes, a pack of Winter melon, and one head of cauliflower. While preparing for dinner salad, I discovered that he Romaine lettuces purchased from 99 Ranch Market were also bad, just like the ones purchased from 順發, looks like I'll have to get it from Costco the next time. Got call from Ishin, he lost all contact numbers after changing phone. The white epiphyllums blossomed , counting 9 total tonight, 12 the night before and 3 more 2 nights before, a total of 24 this round - a record ever, oh, the final one is expected to bloom tomorrow.
8/11/2015: Sweat quite a bit just aligning the lumbers on the left side of the ground level planter, will do it later when it becomes cooler. Played table tennis for about an hour, both Kung and Stephanie have improved much, which not the case for myself, I had to focus on the defense style playing to make gain some. Repositioned the lumbers to a more satisfactory feel look and feel, still need some hardware from Lowe's to attach them in place. Send Facebook request to Robert (Chiang) and got his cell number and got a call from him a few minutes later. Also send mail to Jason (Chang) for his phone numbers. For Jerome's visit, it's probably to have a pot luck instead of going out (Sweet Tomatoes or Fresh Choice), will decide how and when after Jerome arrives. Colored the lumbers that had naked wood color from cutting.
8/12/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers - took only 15 minutes. Got e-mail reply from Jason Chang, he's moving this week, won't join us for Jerome's visit. Got call from John Miller, didn't answer at first because the name "Miller son B" showed on the screen, it was John when he recorded message, could not go to lunch with him today because of table tennis event. Finished attaching the planter box lumbers, decided to use leftover parts from IKEA kitchen cabinets, appeared to be working. Anita had different idea regarding Monica's garden build approach, what can I say.
8/13/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:25, got in with Sybil's help at 9:27. 敬萍 got in at 9:30. Saw deputy director the first time, a nice looking young man. A couple of phone calls were English speaking people to my surprise, fortunately I did not stutter too much during the conversation. Had another MB.
8/14/2015: Harvested 4 cucumbers from 3 different plants, it make sense to get them early than later for a good reason - fresher and crunchier. Played a total of 70 minutes table tennis. Got some groceries from 99 Ranch Market, one head cauliflower, one pack of Shitake mushroom, one can 寶島Pork Sung ($4 off on sale at $10.99), a bunch of bananas, one bottle fried gluten, one pack King Oyster mushroom, one bottle Sutter Home Red Moscato, one piece Don Qua, one pack pickled mustard and one pack bean sprout. Had a cold war with Anita, not sure why but it was not pleasant. Jerome arrived along with Zan Tao and Sung Lin, I totally missed the meal issue, it turned out neither one of them had dinner and were planning to go to Fresh Choice, I made another mistake but only realized it was wrong after they left for the restaurant, sigh. Wished I was dead!
8/15/2015: Hiking was canceled due to Jerome's visit. Got up at 7:30, cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, Jerome also had bagel (one) for breakfast but he preferred black coffee. Prepared ingredients for dinner dishes, including Don Gua soup with pickled mustard, cauliflower, broccoli, shredded oyster mushroom and shitake mushroom, stir fried chicken with cucumber. Got reply from JinLing/Kwang, turned out their reservation was for one table with 16 people, with our presence, they had to make changes, sorry about that. Started making dinner dishes at 4:30 (Don Gua soup had been done at 2:00), in order to allow more time to get to China Stix, finished dinner at 5:50, ready to leave by 6:00, left the house at 6:05, had to turn back as Jerome could not locate one item he needed to take with him, he found it just as I drove back to our drive way, finally started the trip to Zen Tao's house at 6:09, go there at 6:35, took us 20 minutes to get to China Stix (狀元樓), 5 minutes before banquet starts - but every adults were already there. Got back to the house at 9:55. I forgot to place the 2 cute pear shape desserts in the doggy bag, only some cake and pineapple sweet rice were in the bag.
8/16/2015: Got up at 8:15, a little tired from the activities yesterday. Went to CVS and got a dozen Barefoot wines - 4 Red Moscato, 4 Riesling, and 4 regular Moscato, still $4.50 each with CVS card. The temperature in our backyard reached 100.7° around 2:00, the highest for the year so far. Attempted but failed another MB. Had a power failure around 3:45, power came back at 5:00, just before Anita came home - garage door opener worked :-)
8/17/2015: It was supposed to be cooler today, the morning forecast was just a couple of degrees lower, since the soil had been heated 2 consecutive days, the temperature rose quickly to 97.6° by 11:00. I put up a screen to ease the tortured look of cucumber plants in the ground level planter as some of them looked really bad. Harvested some mixed salad for lunch - although organic and healthy but one of the three kinds was a bit too much fiber like and hard to chew. Played 65 minutes table tennis. Kung will be having lunch with the Ha couple tomorrow so I'll need to go there by 12:30 to play with Stephanie. Tigerlet will be coming to the US and work at ZT Systems HQ in NJ for 2 months, he's bringing his mom, dad, and Maggie with him, but them will stay only one week, they may not be able to visit us while they are in the US, the only possibility will be for them to fly domestic from NJ when they return home and stop at SFO, visit us then fly international back to Taiwan later, will wait for Tigerlet's update.
8/18/2015: Got up at 8:10, it should be cooler (not colder) today. Stephanie texted to cancel the table tennis today, but texted later to reinstate the game as she changed her doctor's appointment to tomorrow. Went to Costco and got he following: one case Corona beer, one 4 pack tofu, one organic raisin, one dozen bagel, one bottle watermelon juice, one honeydew, one golden honeydew, one pack organic drumsticks, two dozen organic eggs, one pineapple, and one pack Kirkland steak strip jerky. Played 70 minutes table tennis - a record for apprentice#2 (Stephanie). Another successful MB and exercise.
8/19/2015: Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers. Harvested 2 cucumbers from the ground level planter. Jerome's flight landed in SFO at 9:39 but he had not shown up at 12:02. Called him at 12:15 and found out he's on his way to find local 福智 office. So I went and played table tennis with Kung (Stephanie's out) for 55 minutes. Jerome came home just before me, he's going to his youth neighbor house in Fremont tonight.
8/20/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:30, the door was already open. There were quite a few calls in the first hour but quiet down gradually. Went to Walmart after leaving CCC, this Walmart in Milpitas has been transformed into full grocery store plus the original function, picked up one pack of mushroom, 6 Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera gel, one bottle Avalon Toner, one 3 lbs bag of cat fancy food, one can shaving gel, and one 3-pack paper towel. Reported the RV (just learned from Anita that Charlie's living in right now) that's been parking in front of our Philippine neighbor to San Jose City. Made 3 dishes (ground pork mushroom, scrambled egg plants, and 青江菜) plus the corn/onion/tomato salad for dinner. Paid monthly $23.98 to Anthem.
8/21/2015: Prepared fruit dishes, the pineapple was good, the honeydew was OK but the golden honeydew was quite a few days from ripe, had to throw away nearly half of it to keep the edible part. Anita prepared her famous diced dry bean curd with peanuts and chopped cilantro. Kung had the day off, I would have longer time playing table tennis with Stephanie if he had notified me. David was trying to learn how to play since his friend bought a new table and there would be a tournament soon. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and purchased a 5 lbs Jasmine brown rice. Prepared stir fried veggies (giant oyster mushroom, shitake mushroom, wooden ear and bamboo shoot - all shredded to 2"), cooked Hot and Sour soup, all done by 4:30. Robert and his wife arrived on time at 4:30, he brought a couple of vegetable dishes mad from his garden harvest, he also gave us a couple of pretty looking luffas, will cook it tomorrow. Chiming and his wife got lost because of Lundy closure, they arrived 5 minutes later after I show him how to get back to Berryessa and follow his old route. Everyone had a good time, the reunion ended at 10:30. Uploaded one reunion photo, took me a long while to figure out how - it turned out I could not share photo directly, I had to use Line "attach" icon to do the job.
8/22/2015: Got up at 8:15, transplanted all 9 newly grown cucumber seedlings (one Heirloom Chinese, 2 小胡瓜, and 6 Japanese) - 8 of them were planted in the ground level planter, and one in the deck planter. The two luffas Robert brought over last night were very soft, I thought they were bad but was told that's their normality, slow cooked the luffa with some dry shrimps and the result was great, I'll ask Robert for seed info. Jerome left at 4:15, he's going to Zen Tao's house to meet with his family and Song Lin's family before heading to SFO for 1:40AM Eva BR17 flight back to Taiwan.
8/23/2015: Got up after 9:00, guess we were all tired from last night. Added small white stones to complete the ground level planter box peripheral. Removed the two young Aloe Vera plants next to the planter and planted them in the front yard - one next to the bird of paradise and the other in the planting area in front of the stairs. Anita went to the gym to make up for yesterday.
8/24/2015: Got up at 8:40, another lazy day. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, took about 20 minutes. Harvested 2 小胡瓜 and one 小黃瓜, 小胡瓜's appearance was not the same as shown on the seed packaging envelope, the bottom bulged like a balloon, will taste them afternoon. Anita went to see a movie at Century 20 Great Mall (showtime was 12:50). Played table tennis at Dynamicfoundation for about an hour. Another MB - good one!
8/25/2015: Got up at 8:00. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, - took only 10 minutes. Checked my cucumber plants and counted a dozen growing cucumbers which were at least 2 inches long. The remodeled planter box looked nice but may need more fortification between upper and lower lumbers since I did not use any hardware to attach them, apparently weight alone did not provide adequate bonding, ponding on what/how to accomplish that. Before riding my bike to Dynamicfoundation, I added some air into the rear tire as it appeared a little flat, got there without any problem, played a short 40 minutes table tennis (Kung had other things to take care of). Discovered the rear tire was totally flat as I was about to ride back home, Kung and Stephanie were going to Costco but gave me a ride home first. Need to figure out how to fix it. Got 15 cucumbers growing after careful recounting. Had another MB - maybe too frequent.
8/26/2015: Got up at 8:30. Hand pollinated a couple of the female cucumber flowers, they were sometimes difficult to spot, especially the ones from the ground level planter since they were covered by cherry tree leaves, but this also make finding them interesting. There's another RV parked across the street from the original one, appeared to be his acquaintance, he's turning this street into his own TV park, need to call 311 directly to report. Went and played 45 minutes table tennis, pumped air into the rear tire of my bike and sprayed water on the wheel but no bubble was seen - no obvious puncture was found, took the bike home and would monitor if the air stayed in. There were two police patrol cars next to the RV when I arrived home, Anita called 311 and reported the incident, obviously calling is more effective than reporting online, not sure when that guy would leave though.
8/27/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there by 9:30, 敬萍did not show up until 9:55, bad traffic condition. 淑婉 showed up at 10:10. Substitute for the afternoon turned out to be 李瑞韻, 許文良的老婆. Got some fruits from Sybil. Stopped by Marina Grocery and got one head of cauliflower, some broccoli, one can of Kimbo pork sung that's on sale, one bag of small Gai Choy, and a pack of garlic. Had home grown salad for dinner, added tomatoes (both purchased and home grown cherry tomatoes), shredded onion, and corn kernels, the home grown salad was not very tasting as they were mostly small and thin without much substance (also extremely time consuming to clean), I would not grow any more of it next year.
8/28/2015: Got up at 8:30, looked like it's going to be a hot day, the thermometer reached 100°F around 10:00 but dropped to 97°F 30 minutes later, gradually inching back up to 99.6°F at 12:20. Played 50 minutes table tennis. The rear bike tire air pressure appeared to be holding, likely repaired by the liquid sealer inside the tube. Stayed pretty much in the living room the whole afternoon as it was really uncomfortable being anywhere else. Had beef and broccoli for dinner.
8/29/2015: Hiking day off since Jason is still on the cruise vacation. Accompanied Anita to her Yoga class at the gym while I strolled Lowes for about 30 minutes, got a steel plate with holes which I'll make attachment parts to enforce the ground level planter box, also got a roll of super tough duct tape. Stopped by 順發 and purchased a bag of Japanese dried and shred seaweed (instead of the ready-made ones I used to buy - the seaweed shreds inside were still soft, saw this kind the first time, cost of the bag is more than 3 times of the ready-made ones), one pound extra lean ground pork, and a bag of Mung Bean Sprouts. Soaking the entire bag of seaweed in water and the resulting volume appeared larger than 3 bags of ready-made ones. Although the weather forecast for today was cooler but it was still pretty hot and humid.
8/30/2015: Got up at 8:30, the RV was still out there, no sign of moving at all. Had lunch at IN-N-OUT, tasty as always. Went to Marshall and picked up 2 bottles of Meat Rub (stock up), 2 silicone spatulas (for mom), and a stainless steel pan, Anita got 2 casual wears to take with her to Taiwan. Stopped by Target and got 2 bottles of Hazelnut creamer and a birthday card for mom. Anita went to City Sports for her usual exercise from 3:00 to 5:00. Had one MB with plenty of exercise, weight afterward was 146.6 lbs.
8/31/2015: Applied chi to both feet for a couple of minutes and felt better, got up at 8:15. Had scrambled eggs and mochi for breakfast as we were out of bagel. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, 3 days' accumulation, finished in about 30 minutes, need to consider getting a cordless blower when winter gets close. Got OK from Stephanie to go play table tennis with her earlier (12:30) so that she could practice more and I could exercise more, possibly made this a permanent arrangement, we would let each other know when something came up (and change the time or...). Anita went to have lunch with Sharon but had not come back at 4:30, should I call Sharon - Anita came back at 4:45. Signed up for exterior water line insurance, $5.25/month - to be mailed out tomorrow. Yolly called with a couple of 401K questions, but I thought she simply wanted to speak to someone.
9/1/2015: Got up at 8:10. Removed another dead cucumber plant, it grew to 2 feet tall and gave some flowers then gradually dried up, most of the late growing seedlings behaved similarly, not sure if it's the seeds or wrong season. Made the final 4 pieces of hardware for strengthening the ground level planter, would attach them this afternoon when it's cooler. Went to Dynamicfoundation at 12:30, Kung said that Stephanie was working in Teresa's house, guess she forgot to text me about this but Kung was able to play to play right away, come to think of it, Kung might think we changed time to play - need to let him know the 12:30 arrangement was to allow Stephanie and myself to play more instead of simply changing the whole play hour for all. Tried new MB, seemed to work OK but need more tuning.
9/2/2015: Harvested 3 cucumbers (one from deck planter, the other two from ground planter). One of the new (possibly from third generation seedlings) and one of the old (from second generation seedlings) appeared healthy and grew like crazy, had to add a couple of supporting wires to help their growth). Went to Dynamicfoundation at 12:30 but did not see Stephanie, had to call Kung to open the back door, Stephanie did come back (from Teresa's house?) at 12:35, played with her for about 15 minutes, Kung practiced with her for about another 15 minutes before she retired to have her lunch. The passion fruit season appeared to be over, even though there were still a dozen of them hanging from the vines, the harvest in the last few days had been next to nothing, we regularly collected between 20 to 40 count of them each day in July and early August.
9/3/2015: Day off from CCC volunteer, going to Dynamicfoundation for movie volunteer instead. The first shuttle arrived at 10:15 which was unusually late, so the movie did not start until 11:18. There were 4 people from Teresa's classmates and spouses, Susan, Chou junior, and myself - a lot of people eating in addition to close to 50 seniors, as a result, there was little food left and I only had the leftover intestine dish. Played 45 minutes of table tennis, used the new paddle from Amazon purchased in July, it's much heavy heavier than the other pads I had, took some considerable time to get used to it - still not quite there yet. Called mom at 7:00, talked for nearly half an hour, she seemed to be in a good mood. Tested new MB again, still missing the right size roll.
9/4/2015: Got up at 7:55, swept the leftover garden waste in the street for 15 minutes, did not go over neighbor lines today. Experienced irregular heartbeat all morning. Harvested 4 cucumbers, 2 from deck planter and 2 from ground level planter - a total of 24 including the 2 small 小胡瓜. Played table tennis for about Visited Valley Fair Shopping Center after finished shower and taking care of leftover water. Had the same salad as last night for dinner, this salad is more filling than the other ones we had before and thus only one serving was plenty.
9/5/2015: Got up at 8:20, went to McDonalds and picked up breakfast, it had been a long time since we had their breakfast, still tasty and the coffee wasn't shabby at all. Anita went to Yoga class while I had a MB, not very good even with new approach, possibly close to the end. Visited CVS, got one bottle of Zinc for Anita's younger brother, got a dozen Barefoot wine (6 Riesling Moscato and 6 Red Moscato), still cost $5 per bottle with CVS card. Finally finished the remaining of the Costco salad, 3 nights in a row. Watched "The Matrix" and "The Matrix Reloaded" on AMC.
9/6/2015: Got up at 8:55, pretty tired I guess. Went with Anita to Costco and picked up a bag of beef jerky for Anita's trip, got the usual pizza and Polish Sausage for lunch to-go. Watched "The Matrix Revolutions". Forgot how hot the chili pepper I grew was, 3 pieces was added to the pickled cucumbers today, it was too much for casual eating - need to remember that!!!!!! Anita went to the gym to workout at 3:15. I had another MB, was OK. The frozen squids bought from 順發 were bigger than any of the previous purchases, they were also thicker and tasted better.
9/7/2015: Big 5, unlike many other stores, stayed open on Labor Day, got a dozen table tennis balls there, 6 yellow and 6 white to keep playing more interesting. Had steam egg with ground pork, cauliflower, and stir fried cucumber slice with beef tendon ball (also sliced) for dinner. Confirmed with Stephanie via Line that there will be movie tomorrow.
9/8/2015: Got up at 8:15, nearly forgot about the movie event at Dynamicfoundation. Left the house early at 9:30 so that I could get gas from Costco before going to Dynamicfoundation, had to give up because the line was way too long. Played about 50 minutes table tennis after the movie (there was a moment of discomfort possibly caused by my heart - as if it was going to stop, got better after a few minutes), took home 4 boxes of lunch leftover plus some remaining spicy chicken wingdings. Had a quick MB - this is rare nowadays. There's a illegal parking notice on the RV's windshield - finally.
9/9/2015: Got up at 7:15, Anita's leaving for Taiwan today. Made two bun sandwiches for Anita to bring along in case she gets hungry on the way. Headed for San Jose Airport at 9:35, got there at 9:50. There weren't many people at the airport - Wednesday was possibly the day that business travelers do not tend to choose, maybe a good day next time I go back to Taiwan. Since they have a meeting at 1:00 at Dynamicfoundation, I went there to play table tennis at 12:00 - the play lasted 55 minutes. Temperature in our backyard broke our own record at 104.7°F at 9:30 in the morning but gradually drop to 97°F around noon time. The living room maintained a steady 80°F throughout the afternoon and made a nice heat escape location. Sent Stephanie a video on ball spinning effects (on pad and table), hope it can help her play better.
9/10/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:28, entered without problem. 敬萍 was off today, 麗雪 was the substitute but she did not show up, luckily there were many calls and no major challenges throughout. 淑婉 distributed several macadamia chocolate nuts. There would also be some Fall Festival gift from the center next week, likely moon cake(s). Stopped by OSH and did not see any of the items I needed (matches, fertilizer), but got matches and cat food from Target on my next stop. Anita called at 6:35, she got to Yung-ho at 10:00PM (7:00AM our time), apparently very smooth. It's really hot, spending more than 1 minute out in the yard made me sweat like hell. Called mom at 7:00.
9/11/2015: Got up at 7:40 - unable to sleep well the last several days for no obvious reason. Decided not to sweep the leftover garden waste in the street installed by our next door neighbor (Philippine). Harvested a couple of cucumbers that looked weird (stayed relatively small and curved up like donut), according to online info, they should be removed to allow others to grow. A note on the potted Chili pepper, I had harvested about 80 of them as of today with more coming - the new ones started to grow only after the ripe ones had been picked. Played table tennis at 12:30 for an hour, filled gas for LS400 at Costco - long line started before the one way exit, took about 20 minutes, not too bad after all. There was a big tow truck preparing to toll away the RV when I got home at 2:15, and a non-police patrol car from the city was there to monitor the process, the RV was towed away at 2:20, I did not capture the process with my camera as I pressed the movie button a bit light - too bad, would have been a nice record. Called Anita at 7:00, she's very tired, most likely due to jet lag.
9/12/2015: Hiking day, I had skipped 4 weeks in a row right before Jason went on his cruise trip, hope it's not too challenging to finish. Jason's turn to drive. As always, we got there by 8:15. The group today consisted of a full dozen: Steve, Sujen, Yung, Ahmei, Ching, James, Alex, Wayne, Ming, the other Ming, Jason, and myself. The hike turned out to be OK as there were clouds the entire time. Went to Costco and picked up a bottle of Kirkland white tequila, one case Corona, a pack of steak beef jerky, a bag of frozen large shrimp, and a bottle of Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon. Sprayed vinegar to the larger cucumber plant on the deck as it had been invaded by ants, so far so good - also applied home defense spray on their routes from the ground level, will check if this is effective tomorrow. Called Anita at 7:10, she's still very tired so I let her go back to sleep. Called Peilee at 7:55.
9/13/2015: Woke up at 6:10, got up at 7:30. Went to Marukai Japanese Grocery store and picked up a pack of Tuna Sushi, a pack of Ara fish trimming (possibly to cook soup with), 3 bananas, and 2 Fuji apples. Stopped by Yolly's house and called, no answer, left to go home, made a wrong turn on Saratoga Ave and headed northeast, I had to stop and search Map.Me to get me back to 280, took nearly 30 minutes to get home. Had another MB with exercise mat, probably the last one. Made and attached 4 more pieces of steel plates on the the ground level planter to make it stronger. Had the tuna Sushi and purple rice for dinner, even though the tuna was perhaps second or even third grade meat from the fish, there was lots of chewy parts in the tuns pieces, I had to spit them out after chewing, it was still better than nothing :-) Anita called at 6:00 - Vonage showed "out of area call" (based on the message, I realized that she also called earlier in the afternoon).
9/14/2015: Got up at 7:20 - woke up at 6:00. Slow cooked one bag of the organic chicken drum, there were only 4 of them in the bag. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, need to start working on Monica's garden. Biked to Dynamicfoundation, played 70 minutes table tennis, sweat like a dog. The head wind (~12mph) was quite strong when I rode home, luckily it was cloudy and I was able to make it home within 20 minutes. Anita called at 6:15, she's been waiting for me to call but I was planning to call her at 10:00 her time, I'll call her earlier the next time. The vinegar seemed to work, no more ants were seen near the roots of that cucumber. Yolly called at 9:44 and didn't hang up until 11:00PM - wow!
9/15/2015: Dynamicfoundation quarterly magazine labeling day. Got up at 7:10 - cloudy sky. Got there at 9:25, Chou couple had already arrived and started labeling the magazines. All work was done by 11:15, had lunch at 11:45, started playing table tennis at 12:25. Stephanie played first for 20 minutes, Kung did not play since he wanted to stay dry for his work in the afternoon. Mr. Ha had his gear (shorts, shoes, and towel) ready this time and we played nearly one hour, by playing with people like him of equal or better skills could I improve my game, I needed this kind of exercise every now and then! Called Anita at 6:09, she's preparing for the trip to Kaohsiung riding high speed rail - I would start calling her Taiwan cell phone when she's in Kaohsiung.
9/16/2015: Got up at 8:00. Drove to Dynamicfoundation and played one hour table tennis. Added foundation sand to the bottom of the tiles that housed the garden waste container, it's level with the edger now. Sawed off the dead shrub branch in the front yard. Called Anita on local cell number as well as Skype but got no answer, she then called our home number, it turned out her iPhone 6 Plus is vibrate only on cell and little or no sound on Skype, she'll hang on to the iPhone at 6:00pm San Jose time to wait for my call.
9/17/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:29, waited for a couple of minutes until Sybil came and let me in. Sophia came down and gave us each a box of moon cakes from 85°C, there were 3 varieties and 3 each with nice packaging - ~$20. Tried calling Anita on her cell, Skype without success, finally got her by calling landline, it turned out that she thought it was still early and did not turn on her phone, we decided to schedule my calling time to 6:30pm (9:30am her time) from now on. Called mom several times at 7:00, she answered at 7:10 - just came home from the market, we chatted for 30 minutes.
9/18/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation. Cleaned leftover garden waste in the street including those of our Korean neighbor. Had two pieces of the moon cake from CCC for breakfast, not too sweet. Got to Dynamicfoundation at 9:50, the first shuttle run had just arrived. Played some table tennis after the movie - 30 minutes with Kung, 15 minutes with Stephanie, 20 minutes with Mr. Ha, and 10 minutes with Stephanie again. Brought home one box of rice and one box of rice with some food. Called Anita at 6:30, unable to connect using Skype, called again on her cell made the connection, recalled Skype to avoid her cell phone charges. Found a way to make use of the rubber removed from the 2-sided paddle, reconditioned (removed old rubber, rounded off lower part, sand off the dark part) one of my old paddles, reshape the rubber to fit, it looked nice after attaching the rubber, also added a small rubber to the back of the paddle for comfort. I planned to give it to Stephanie next Monday, should help her game.
9/19/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. There were 13 people in the hiking group - Steve, Yung, Ahmei, Jerry, Ruby, James, Ching, Ming, the other Ming, Wayne, Alex, Jason, and myself. Called Jason and relay iPad password to passcode conversion procedures to him. Had a MB with old video - OK. One of the older cucumbers in the deck planter box is finally dying, it lasted much longer than I anticipated, there were 2 growing cucumbers on high branches but most likely won't grow any more, I should cut them down tomorrow! Anita called at 6:25, she got up late and had not completed her morning routine, this way I won't interrupt her :-) She's planning a trip to IRAN by herself in mid October.
9/20/2015: Did not sleep well, woke up at 3:00 and barely slept afterwards. I was planning to go to McDonalds for breakfast and then shop at SF and Lowes, but the thought of not being able to relieve myself right after breakfast changed my mind - 2 moon cakes instead. Went to SF and picked up a pack of Gailan, one head of celery, 2 packs of beef tendon balls, 2 frozen Mackerels, 2 white onions, one pack fried shrimp/fish cake, and one pack of mochi. Purchased a bag of mixed sand/cement from Lowes. Forecast said it would be really hot today but the highest our backyard got to was 96°F and it didn't feel hot at all. Harvested the last two growing cucumbers from the dead plant. Felt especially longly this afternoon. Tried keeping busy by cleaned up celery and gailan, put diced gailan in two plastic bags and store them in the refrigerator, stir fried shredded celery and fish cake alone with the leftover spicy ingredients from movie lunch - spicy but very tasty. Called Anita at 6:30, it appeared we called at the same time that's why she asked if I called earlier. Paid Anthem $23.98 online.
9/21/2015: Woke up at 3:30, still could not fall asleep even though the radio was on, finished the rest of the beer did not help, got up at 7:45. Experiencing irregular heat beat in the morning. Played table tennis for about 50 minutes, gave the newly made table tennis paddle to Stephanie, she was able to get used to it in a short time, it performed better than the old one she used. Stopped by Costco on my way home, picked up 2 cases of Dos Equis beer (a new exploration combination which they included 4 different but true Dos Equis brand bottles - Amber, Lager Especial, Roja, and Invierno Winter Bock), a bottle of Kirkland Vodka, a dozen bagels, one 180 count Areds2 eye supplement gel, 2 cans of cream cheese, a case of Activia Yogurt, and a bag of beef jerky. Checked the digital thermometer in the kitchen, apparently we had a new record during the last several days, the high was 108.6°F (~42.5°C). Even though the high forecast for today was lower than yesterday, it felt much hotter though - backyard was at 99.6°F around 2:30 when I got home. Called Anita on Skype at 6:30, no answer then she called our home phone, she's having problem with either notification being off and/or volume issue, the Skype on my Mac Book Pro also experienced low speaker volume problem even though I did not have volume issue with any other program. Defrosted a pack of beef, cut them into long slices and marinated in olive oil and meat rub, would keep them in the refrigerator for 24 hours before dehydrating.
9/22/2015: Woke up at 4:30, fell asleep naturally maybe 10 minutes later - a nice improvement. Got up at 7:45. Pondering on how to go about Monica's garden construction. Leveled and touched up the 8 tiles just below the edge of the deck. Played 70 minutes table tennis, Stephanie's shots were more powerful, I was missing quite a few, Kung borrowed her pad and also made some powerful shots. Started the beef jerky dehydration process at 3:30, should be done by midnight. Prepared 3 Japanese cucumbers for stir fry, diced the 4 remaining 小黃瓜 for pickles. Called Anita at 6:30, still having problem with Skype on her iPhone - no notification, she'll try to fix this when she gets back to Taipei.
9/23/2015: No passion fruit found in the morning. Went to Dynamicfoundation to help setup Teresa's class reunion, moved chairs, tables, and wiped clean the chair - possibly the first time ever. Stephanie treated Kung and myself for lunch at Taikee Won Ton (戴記扁食), I had their Beef Noodle, different from any of the ones I had before, but very nice, I'll try their famous house Wonton next time. Played some table tennis afterward. Found out Stephanie was born in 1958, considered young when she lost her husband 2 years ago. 小花 came by at 4:10, she stood near the oleander side faucet when I asked her if she wanted food, then filled the plate and placed it on the deck, quickly went over to the dinning room but did not see her, turned out she's already at the plate - an improvement, she used to wait a long time before approaching. Called Anita, she's taking her mom to Taipei tomorrow.
9/24/2015: CCC volunteer day, got there at 9:27, met 方治欣 in the parking lot, he's working on CCC landscape of some kind. April got me in at 9:30. Sybil resigned, 9/30 would be her last day. Added her on FB before leaving, turned out she's also TFGH and Soochow University alumni. Anita called before I did, she's all packed and ready to go to Taipei. Watched The Hunger Games: Catching Fire again on Amazon Prime.
9/25/2015: Woke up at 5:25, got up at 7:45. 小花 did not show up to consume her breakfast as of 10:40. Cleaned oleander leaves and flowers, avoided quite a few days. Started working on Kung's table tennis paddle (old circular pad plus the rubber from the paddle purchased from Amazon), it turned out a more challenging task than I anticipated - measure and trim off the sides for a better looking shape, apply wood veneer to the back to cover up some damages, reshape the softwood handle to smooth out the holding, fill the handle edge gaps with wood glue, sand the softwood handle upper layer, glue rubber to the paddle, trim off excess rubber on the edge, apply rubber piece to the back for smooth touch. Kung called around 3:30 (Stephanie sent a Link message at 1:45 which I did not see until much later) saying Mr. Ha wanted to play table tennis, I got there at 3:50. Played a total of 40 minutes until his old classmate arrived, I went upstairs to find out I was late to help :-) But eventually helped setup food and utensils, served tea and soup, cleaned table and waste, got to take a lot of food home. Called Anita at 6:30 from Dynamicfoundation.
9/26/2015: Got up at 7:00, Jason came at 7:50 and we got to hiking place at 8:10, way too early. Brought stud finder for Yung. We had 11 people in the group - Ruby, Jerry, James, Ching, Steve, Yung, Ming, the other Ming, Wayne, Jason, and myself. Jason went to have his teeth cleaned while we gathered at Peets, I served Mochi made by Jason's mom, Yung served pineapple crisps. John came and joined us at 10:20. Continued working on Kung's paddle - applied semi-gloss stain to the back of the paddle (veneer), filled the gaps on the handle. Initiated billpay for 5 on Fidelity - American Express ($509.83), PG&E ($53.93), anita15explorer (@129.90), peichenlin explorer ($339.84), capitalone ($130.65), all to be paid on 10/1/2015.
9/27/2015: Got up at 7:45. left for Dynamicfoundation at 10:15 to help out. Turned out it's Kung's speech on 蘇軾 (東坡), his life contribution and accomplishment. There's a lunch box at 1:00 which I had half of it. Played table tennis beginning at 1:30, with probably 30 minutes break time, I played until 4:00 - with 4 different people: Mr. Ha, 2 of his classmates, and Stephanie. Did not help much preparing dinner as there were many people doing that already, I did help clean up the place and were one of the last people exited the building (Stephanie armed the alarm). Watched 2 hour CSI:Immortality- series finale TV movie.
9/28/2015: Got up at 8:00, body's a little sore from playing table tennis yesterday but not as bad as I thought it would be. Started Monica's garden construction. Finalized Kung's table tennis paddle, maybe a bit heavy but should be OK. Arrived at Dynamicfoundation at 12:25, Kung came out for smoke at 12:28. Gave Kung the paddle which he got used to it in just a few minutes, Stephanie did not come down to play until 12:55. Made some progress on Monica's garden - applied cement on the foundation and placed all new tiles and leveled them (not perfect but looked nice). Called Anita and got the expiration date - the CapitalOne in the study - 10/18.
9/29/2015: Got up at 8:10, had leftover bread from Dynamicfoundation and 2 Mochi for breakfast, the Mochi was no longer tasty as it became harden after refrigeration. Applied fertilizer to all the roses in the backyard, then saturated them with water, hopefully they would produce more roses in the following weeks. Went to Dynamicfoundation at 1:30 to play table tennis, Mr. Ha wasn't there, Kung played a short while, I had to play with a couple of novice players until 2:30 when Stephanie came back from running errands, she wasn't playing well today, maybe I should start with basics next time. Called Anita at 6:30, she's on the toilet as the water did not come back until 6:00AM Taipei time. Dry cleaned both cars in 30 minutes.
9/30/2015: Got up at 8:05, very cloudy, there's a chance for shower. Repositioned and leveled several tiles on the right side of Monica's garden, it rained a little. Kung and Stephanie were busy today so no table tennis session, Stephanie's brother-in-law (her big sister's husband) passed away last night from heart attack. Decided to add more weight to my racket by attaching 2 layers of veneers to the back of it, will try it out tomorrow first before deciding if reshaping (trim off the sides to make it easier to swing) the paddle is needed. Found several guitar song that I knew on youtube, they would help in my picking up playing the guitar.
10/1/2015: CCC volunteer day. Had to turn back to get my wallet after leaving the house, got there at 9:31. Sybil will stay 3 more months but she's still not happy. Went to Dynamicfoundation after CCC, played 20 minutes with Kung, Stephanie was afraid to play while their boss is around (they were discussing 2016 reunion), I practiced Ma Lin serve for nearly 20 minutes, got only one successful serve. Kung got Mr. Ha out of the meeting to play with me, the newly remade paddle was heavier than before and I had problem controlling my shots, had to resort to defense only mode to continue. Stephanie is going back to Taiwan for 10 days to comfort her big sister, since her flight is Monday afternoon and she will be leaving from the office for SFO, so I offered ride for her. Called Anita at 6:30, there was a big rain last night in Taipei. Called mom at 7:00 and chatted 30 minutes.
10/2/2015: Got up at 8:10. Cleaned leftover garden waste in the street, took about 20 minutes. Went to Dynamicfoundation, Kung went home sick, played with Stephanie for about 50 minutes, she played well using Kung's new paddle. Made some more progress on Monica's garden - cemented several more thin tiles. Trimmed off the dead cucumber leaves, it's almost time for them to end their growth cycle. Called Anita at 6:30 and copied down her itinerary and hotel info. For some reason, Anita and Stephanie have exactly the same travel schedule - both are from 10/5 to 10/15, what does this mean?
10/3/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. Gave Jason a bottle of ready to serve passion fruit juice and 3 cucumbers. There were 12 people in the hiking group - Ruby, Jerry, James, Alex, Ching, Wayne, Wayne's daughter, Yung, the other Ming, Steve, Jason and myself. Stopped by Harbor Freight Tools and got a 10" wheel, 2 12" clamps, and a handheld knife sharpener. Worked on adding a support wood piece for my racket, this would be glued on top of the handle for a better grip. Hurt my left index finger while making the wood piece. The wheelbarrow wheel housing hardware was difficult to remove, it appeared two of the screws wouldn't come off, hmm... Called Anita at 6:31, sh'e almost ready for her Iran trip, I can still call her tomorrow as she won't leave until tomorrow evening Taiwan time. Tried MB in bed with rolled mat, was OK but saved EJ.
10/4/2015: Got up at 8:10. Went to Costco at 9:55, doors were already open. Quickly picked up a bottle of Korbel Brandy, a bottle of 1.5L Three Thieves red wine, a case of Belgium Folly beer, and a case of Mobile One 5W-30 engine oil. Cemented the rest of the tiles to the ground, the only task remain is the application of cement to even the surface, I only have 1/3 of the cement left in the bag, most likely need to get another one. Harvested 4 more cucumbers, the tally as of today is 36. Called Anita at 6:30, she'll be in Dubai tomorrow at this time, she'll call whenever Wi-Fi is available and convenient.
10/5/2015: Got up at 8:15. Enjoyed several rolled mat actions without ej - excellent. Applied some cement in between tile gaps for Monica's garden - not an easy task as I did not lay the tiles totally flat - this made smoothing the surface very challenging. Played table tennis with Kung for over an hour and he's playing well, cleaned up a bit, changed to dry casuals and rove Stephanie to SFO, it only took one hour, but the driving back home took one hour and 25 minutes, luckily I did not doze off during which. Her flight BR27 delayed just 5 minutes, not bad. Waiting (as of 6:22PM) for Anita to call as her flight landed at Dubai at 4:08AM (5:08PM our time), 7 minutes ahead of schedule, maybe she could not find a usable Wi-Fi. Still no call from Anita as of 9:00PM. Checked online and found out Dubai does have free Wi-Fi but Wi-Fi does not work, maybe this is why Anita could not call me.
10/6/2015: Anita called at 2:43AM from Firouzeh Hotel in Tehran, turned out Wi-Fi in Dubai airport wasn't reliable. Applied the remaining cement to the tile gaps of Monica's garden. Played table tennis for 30 minutes, we were interrupted when people came to see Kung, we never resumed the game but I spent 20 minutes practicing Ma Lin's miracle serve and was able to make the ball return to the net a few times. Went to Lowes' afterward and got another bag of sand/topping mix. Managed to take apart the wheel housing hardware from the wheelbarrow, also I was able to remove the axes from the wheel center, it appeared that the axis can still be used with the new wheel, that solved most of the problem, all I need were a correct size spacer for the axis and 4 new screws for wheel housing. Had several rounds of MB with RM- still without EJ, enjoyed it very much. Had another round of MB with RMs, allowed myself to have an EJ, great!
10/7/2015: Woke up at 4:30, got up at 7:10, had about 30 minutes of MB with RM - still holding EJ, I was feeling a bit tired, not sure it's due to sleepless nights, BZ, or too much MB with RM. Anita called at 8:18, she's staying in the same hotel tonight, flying to Shiraz tomorrow and staying in a different hotel (not the one planned). Completed new wheel installation for the wheelbarrow with the replacement of new screws, washers of all kinds, and 2 spacers. Activated Anita's American Express blue card, also enabled paperless statement (security pin: xxxxyyyy). Played a little over one hour table tennis, I was still having problem hitting right hand side, seemed to just forgot how. Stopped by Costco, got a case of variety K-cup, one case of organic raisin, 2 digital touch running gloves (one for Anita and one for myself), one bag of beef jerky, one bag raw frozen shrimp, one pack French Brie cheese, and a bag of ready mixed salad. Had 5 minutes MB with RM, no EJ before taking shower. Anita called at 10:04, she's ready to fly to Shiraz in a few hours.
10/8/2015: Got up at 7:10, CCC volunteer day. Arriving CCC at 9:20, waited until 9:35 when April let us in. 敬萍 has the day off for dentist appointment, Teresa (黃雪麗) is her replacement. Teresa is a mother of three, she's studying Chinese medicine and pursuing her doctor's degree. There was virtually no call until 12:30 when someone inquiring this weekend's activity - CCC will be observing double tenth holiday with three-day office closing. Stopped by Marina Grocery and got a bunch of bananas, a bag of egg plants, two heads of broccoli, one bottle rice wine, 2 pack of Nongshin Neoguri spicy noodle, and one pack garlic. Next swing by Target, got a bag of cat food and one pack of whole gran hot dog buns. Finally went to Marshall and got a Yoga mat. Cleaned 10 of the cemented tiles with brush, knife, and water to remove residual cement. The new Yoga mat appeared to be a bit harder than the old one, may not be good for MB. Called mom at 7:01, they have 3-day holiday for double tenth. Tried another round of MB with different RMs, it's becoming difficult to enjoy it - no EJ.
10/9/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation. Got there at 9:50, first round shuttle was already three. For some reason, Kung appeared to be in a foul mood, he was impatient and unhappy with some of the seniors registering, in my opinion, he is not really fit to do the job, in fact, many of the Shih members working in Dynamicfoundation had an attitude problem, they often treated senior members with disrespect - a sharp contrast to the founding goal of this organization. The second round shuttle came back at 10:25 - a rare situation, instead of 11:00, the movie started at 10:40. Played some table tennis, I was awful - totally didn't know how to play my right hand plus I forgot to bring my own racket. Took home some leftover lunch plus 2 dozen eggs and a large bag of chestnuts. Watered the roses, come to think of it, not much water was applied during the last 3 months, no wonder the roses looked so bad - barely no flowers, dry and yellowish leaves. Had 10 minutes MB with RMs before dinner - no EJ.
10/10/2015: Woke up at 5:00, unable to fall to sleep, got up and had 15 minutes MB with RMs, went back to bed but still no drowsiness, Anita called at 6:00, she's taking bus (already got the ticket) to Esfahan 12:00 midnight our time, should arrive at 6:00am our time. She'll be staying at Iran Hotel for 3 nights. Hiking day, Jason to drive. We only had 8 people today since some regulars were out of the country, James, Alex, Wayne, Ching, the other Ming, Steve, Jason, and myself. Had 20 minutes of MB with RMs before shower. Cleaned 6 tiles off the cement covering them, applied more cement to tile gaps, will likely take at least two more times to complete. I made a bad decision purchasing broccoli and egg plants the other day as the leftover lunch from Dynamicfoundation (plus organic eggs and chestnuts) was too much for me, I made two dishes out of existing sliced cucumbers (with tendon beef ball) and broccoli (with hot link), will also have to make another one with egg plants so that they do not rotten sitting in the refrigerator - still too much food in the refrigerator. Had 30 minutes MB with RMs before dinner, it wasn't easy but I managed to hold on without EJ - quite a challenge. Had another round of MB with RMs, the tool was possibly damaged by frequent exercise and also the rough surface of one of the RMs, had to cut short - need to rest for a couple of days.
10/11/2015: Woke up at 5:30, got up at 7:30. Had one the whole wheat bun with cream cheese, raisin, and pine nuts for breakfast. Anita called as I was ready to sit on the toilet, she just got to the hotel in Esfahan, the Wi-Fi there was also unreliable. Harvested 6 cucumbers from 3 different plants. Went to Trader Joes and picked up 2 bottles of white Zinfandel, 4 bag of nut (peanut, cashew nut, almond, and Pecan), Stopped by Marshall and got another Yoga mat and exercise sculpting band. Had 15 minutes MB with RMs (3) to see their efficiency. Went to 99 Ranch plaza to get a haircut but had to return home as there was no parking space. Had 30 minutes MB with RMs (3) and an EJ, decided to return the third RM as it did not help much. Cleaned cement from the tiles. Tigerlet arranged to have his mom and sister visit him from 10/21-10/31, no arrangement to visit San Jose this time.
10/12/2015: Woke up at 1:30, 3:40, and 4:50, finally got up at 8:10. Got a haircut at 10:15 - intentionally getting there later than opening hour at 10:00, it turned out the owner just arrived only a couple of minutes before me, luckily I was the first customer, was able to get home by 11:00. Had 10 minutes of MB with RM, no EJ - contemplated returning this particular RM instead. Polished kitchen granite countertop, I was able to move my hands sliding through it afterward. Washed the two rugs in the kitchen - all this was to prepare for Friday evening's dinner party for Chou couples - assuming everything fall into place.
10/13/2015: Woke up at 3:30, got up at 7:50. Trimmed off dead cucumber leaves, got rid off the green onion planter and the insect infected plants. CLRed dish tray. Played one hour table tennis, had to switch back to the old racket - playing awful with the new one I made, not sure what went wrong. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and got a couple of onions, a pack of Jalapeno, 6 bags of on sale spicy peanuts (黃飛紅), 3 Fuji apple, a bunch of cilantro, and two tomatoes. Had 10 minutes of MB with the original RM, no EJ. Applied wax to several tables, preparing for possible dinner for Friday. Sent Link message to Stephanie inquiring SFO pickup confirmation, she said she already asked her god daughter to pick her up. Anita called at 7:49, she's leaving for another city a little later, Skype broke up and she did not call again - hope it's OK. I was able to convince Stephanie that I can pick her up at SFO on time.
10/14/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation. Get gas for RX300 at Costco, getting there at 9:30 made a difference, waited only 3 minutes. Arriving Dynamicfoundation at 9:45, contrary to last week when the second shuttle came in early at 10:20 and we had to start the movie at 10:40, the second round shuttle came in at 11:15 today - really really late. Played over one hour table tennis even though Kung warned before hand that 30 minutes tops what he could handle. Invited Chou couple for dinner Friday, but Kung could not come because he had a 5:00PM appointment for sleep apnea (temporary cessation of breathing) test. Hopefully Stephanie can make it otherwise ... Started preparing Friday dinner materials - mainly julienne turnip, carrot, and cucumber. Anita called at 8:02, she should be in Taipei 1:01AM 5/15/2015.
10/15/2015: CCC volunteer day. 敬萍 called at 9:05 saying she will be late. I got there at 9:33 - first time not before 9:30, Sophia opened the door to let me in. There were 3 phone calls just before 10:00, all related to passport and such. 敬萍 came in at 10:10, she had a car accident last week and had to take care of it with insurance companies. Went to CVS across the street (the same plaza as Marina grocery) and got a dozen mixed Barefoot Moscato wine. Head for SFO at 3:15, got there at 4:10, BR0018 landed at 3:58, 2 minutes ahead of schedule, Stephanie came out of Customers at 4:30, pretty efficient. The return trip, however, was much much longer, we were stuck in commute traffic nearly 2 hours, instead of letting Stephanie treat me for dinner, I invited her to our house to help me consume some leftover lunch. Took her to Dynamicfoundation after the meal, David was still in the building, so she got her car out in a short time. It took her less than 20 minutes to get home - the usual commute was 40 Minutes.
10/16/2015: Woke up at 6:15, got up at 7:00, called Anita at 7:10, she got home about 3 hours ago, flight was quite smooth - nice. Tidied and cleaned up dinning room table and chairs. Did not realize that our floors were so dusty until I stepped on to it - a bit slippery due to accumulated dusts. Had lunch after 12:00, the latest ever for 12:30 table tennis. Kung had to get home by 1:30 so he could not play, Stephanie and I played over an hour, she's making good shots frequently now, partly thanks to the new racket I made for her. Did not start preparing for dinner dishes until 4:00 as I need to make sure every other things were tidy and clean first - flowers, floors, windows, powder room...etc.
Stephanie came at 5:20 to help. I misjudged the amount of work needed, after scrambling more than 30 minutes, we finally started dinner at 6:15 - beef steak, salsa, shrimp rice wrap, salad, wine, and beer - with Brie cheese before dinner. Had a pleasant dinner and conversation. Gave Stephanie all of shrimp wrap leftover plus salad. Chou sister got the steak, she also took home 3 cucumbers and one bottle of passion fruit juice. Gave the SONY wireless USB adapter to Stephanie, she'll find out of it works for her TV and UVerse TV connection.
10/17/2015: Searched for ATT wireless TV connection and concluded that the SONY wireless USB adapter should not work at all, sent Stephanie the news at 1:30AM, she replied at 7:01 saying it worked - puzzled me, could not figure out how... Need to get more info from her. Went to Harbor Freight Tools to see what's good there, got 4x magnetic hooks ($2.00), 7 function digital meter ($5.99), 2 aluminum hook ($1.50 each), one retractable utility knife ($1.49), 10 pc #2 Phillips insert bits (3.99), and a 3-in putty knife ($1.99). Met John from Fodus in Harbor Freight Tools, talked with him at McDonald's while having lunch. Stopped by Yolly's home but she's not there. Got home at 12:05, Stephanie called at 11:00, she fell asleep after sending successful wireless installation message. Called her back to ask for photos of the setup configuration, very curious how it was done and worked. Yolly called at 12:49, she's having lunch with friends, she carpooled. Stephanie sent two photos of her TV setup, she can view TV programs from Uverse after some discussion, I finally asked her to remove the Sony wireless USB adapter and the TV program continued, meaning the wireless receiver connecting to the TV did the job. Connecting the adapter back and she was able to connect to other Sony embedded services such as Pandora, Amazon video... She will try to connect to Netflix later to see if that's OK. Chatted with Stephanie for nearly one hour, she was getting advises on exercises. Called Anita at 6:30 but no answer, tried again at 7:10 and got through.
10/18/2015: Got up at 8:10. Cloudy day ahead. Had some MB with RM after bowel movement, still in experimental stage with smaller ones. Cleaned up overlay cements that covered part of the tiles, the putty knife bought from Harbor Freight Tools made the job easier, also used a half concrete brick to sand off uneven surfaces, need to sand more off for better appearance. Sweat quite a bit, resulting body weight was 143.6 lbs, the lowest in recent years. Sent a Line message to Stephanie to see if she's back to normal. Continue working on Monica's garden, straighten the boarder tiles on the left, also leveled them with paving sands. Went to Costco to browse their electronic products, haven't done that a while, left there without any purchase, way too many people. Stephanie went to Teresa's house to take care of her dogs. We exchanged several messages regarding cats, Stephanie is really a cat loving girl. Called Anita at 6:30, she just got up and was having breakfast. Offered to get Stephanie in Costco 10:00AM Tuesday to get a head start getting new tires for her car.
10/19/2015: Got up at 8:10. There was drizzle during the night as the drive and street were wet when I went getting the newspaper. Had 20 minutes MB with RM and the new mini one - no EJ. Leveled 3 more tiles in Monica's garden, had to stop as my lower back was a little sore from MB this morning. Decided to keep the black mat, placing it in the family room as exercise mat - while working out with sculpting band. Had a couple of organic eggs from Teresa's farm and variety pickles in rice wrap for lunch, not bad. Played 60 minutes table tennis with Kung, Stephanie was out running errands. Had 30 minutes MB with RM and miniature RM, no EJ. Weighing 144.2 lbs after shower. Re-leveled the 3 tiles that were considered done this morning, they do not appeared leveled once I laid down the long one next to them. Chatted with Stephanie helping her find the wheel lock socket from her car, it took near an hour (7:30 - 8:25) to complete the task.
10/20/2015: Got up at 7:45. Paid Anthem insurance bill online ($23.98). Got a new flea bite on my right shoulder - suspecting more that the flea(s) might have gotten on me while I worked on Monica's garden. Made sure Stephanie park at Costco auto department specific slot. Since Stephanie had to wait for KF and Angel, I went in to process for her first, due to missing tire size info, I had to wait until she comes in - get the tire info, mileage number, etc. The tires cost over $830 even with $70 discount. Took her to Bank of America and the Post Office where she took care of her almost daily tasks - the amount and number of chores she had to handle every day simply were not for anyone, hat off to her. Played table tennis at 1:30, Stephanie first for 15 minutes, Kung next for 30 minutes, Stephanie again for 20 minutes, Kung tried again but lasted only 10 minutes. Gave Stephanie ride to pick her car at Costco on my way home. Before shower, had 10 minutes MB with RM and mini RM, no EJ. Leveled a couple of long tiles. Did 10 minute mat exercise with sculpting band. Had another MB with RM and mini RM - 20 minutes, no EJ. Stephanie got home safely with the new set of Michelin tires, good, a relief. She's having a nice dinner, leftover from her lunch with Angel and dishes made by her sister-in-law.
10/21/2015: Got up at 7:30. Dynamicfoundation movie day. Got there at 9:20 and started placing dinning ware - chopsticks, spoons, napkins (which I forgot until Kung reminded me). Gave Stephanie another bottle of passion fruit juice, probably should let her know her resemblance to my deceased young sister (06141958) soon. Played one hour table tennis with Kung. Came home and leveled the main granite slab on top of Monica, it's bigger and much heavier than any of the other tiles I worked on. Had 15 minutes MB with mini RM and an EJ. Called Anita at 6:30, it's raining there, she's planning to go to CHT to get Internet installed, she'll need to take a taxi if it keeps raining.
10/22/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:30, I followed Sybil into the building while she rushed upstairs to clock in. Both kitchen and mpr were out of water, luckily April came in and we found one in the locked storage room. JP came in at 9:45. Read most of November issue Reader's Digest, eyes were a bit sore. Had a whole wheat bran bun stuffed with Brie cheese, cucumber slices, and pork song for lunch - not bad, can have it when Anita comes home. Removed broken grouts in the master bathroom and replaced them with silicone instead - although not a conventional way, but it's possibly the only material that won't break due to floor movements. Leveled several more tiles for Monica's garden. Had 15 minutes MB with RM, no EJ. Cleaned out the 2 tomato plants.
10/23/2015: Got up at 7:30. Called smog test station owner cell at 9:20 to make sure it is still at 1756 Houret ct. Got there at 9:35, being the only customer at the time and got test result at 9:49 (the fastest as far as I could remember) - PASS, inspection and certificate totaling $55. Continued leveling Monica's garden tiles, ran out of paver sand, need to get another one tomorrow. Harvested 3 cucumbers, 2 short and fat 小黃瓜 and one huge Japanese - measured 14". The Japanese one would definitely be on next year's list. Played table tennis for about an hour, 15 minutes with Stephanie and 40 minutes with Kung. They both were playing better, I also need to improve. Transplanted 7 passion fruit seedlings to the tomato planter box for better growing experience. Paid RX300 registration renewal fee online - $126. Had Asian Cashew Salad plus a small piece of Mackerel for dinner.
10/24/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. Jason gave me 4 persimmons and 4 persimmon cakes, I offered him a bag of chestnuts from Dynamicfoundation. A lot of people were absent either currently in Taiwan or traveling, there were 4 people only in the group: Ching, the other Ming, Jason, and myself. John joined us at Peet's coffee. Stopped by Lowes and got another bag of Paver sand. Had nearly one hour MB with RM and minis, no EJ. Leveled the largest old kitchen tile blocks. Watched 龍應臺's 2015 speech in Hong Kong on Youtube. Called Anita at 6:30, she's on the bus again to visit 茂林國家風景區. Will be at High Speed Rail station at 5:00PM and be at home 7:00PM or 8:00PM local time. Checked online on bill payment info, got PG&E, American Express, and peichen Explorer, need to wait until 10/26/2015 to get anita15explorer and CapitalOne (-2641).
10/25/2015: Got up at 7:40. Ran out of bagel, ate the last whole bran bun for breakfast. Got to Costco at 9:25, only to find out it opens at 10:00 on Sunday, just like any weekdays, Saturday being the only day that opens at 9:30, sigh! Picked up a pack of SunGold Kiwi, a dozen bagel, one case Corona, one case Dos Equis, and a bag of Beef jerky. Stopped by SF and got 4 ripe bananas, 2 white onions, and one fried fish cake. Leveled all tiles for Monica's garden and washed the whole area, placed Monica's shrine back on the center tile, looked good, did discover a few final details to work on tomorrow - a 3-piece long and narrow tile needs more foundation sand, a thin tile on the southeast corner of center tile needs cleaning to fully reveal its surface. Had small bowl of Asian Cashew salad and beef stake for dinner. Had 30 minutes MB with RM and minis, no EJ. Called Anita at 6:30, she's in Taipei now, still recovering from a cold.
10/26/2015: Got up at 7:30. Had 10 minutes MB with RM and minis before going to Dynamicfoundation, no EJ. The Speech mainly focus on 八掛 and Chinese calligraphy, left at 11:15 and came home for lunch. Went there again at 12:30 and played table tennis, 15 minutes with Stephanie, Stephanie with Kung for 15 minutes, 20 minutes with Kung, 10 minutes with Stephanie, then another 20 minutes with Kung - a total of one hour and 5 minutes for me. Brought over the Persimmon cake made by Jason's father, and dried persimmon slices by me, one bag each for Kung and Stephanie, Stephanie ate half of them while watching us play. Stephanie gave me a bag of persimmons given to them by one member of the calligraphy class. Finished up Monica's garden by leveling the 3-piece long and narrow tile, placing the patio umbrella frame on the main foundation tile, and move the vase with roses back to its original location. Had 20 minutes MB with RM and minis, again, no EJ. Called Anita's cell several times, no answer, called KwangHui/Kwanghua home, Kwanghui walked over to Anita's residence, she notified Kwanghua at home when I called 20 minutes later, Anita's cell is upgrading (?) to 4G so there's a shutout period when no service is available. Anita called at 8:58, I called her back right away, her iPhone was missing a "switch" action by CHT during 3G->4G transition, took her another trip to CHT store to correct this. Had another MB with RM and minis for 20 minutes, excellent EJ.
10/27/2015: Movie day at Dynamicfoundation, got there at 9:20, met Stephanie in the parking lot, she already placed dinning ware on the tables. Made the plating a little nicer, added a dozen missing spoons. The second shuttle arrived at 11:05, movie did not start until 11:15 after badge photo session. Played table tennis after the movie, even Stephanie was able to play nearly 20 minutes, Kung played 40 minutes. Submitted online bill payments on Fidelity - AmericanExpress ($808.02 due 11/15/2015), PG&E ($21.24 due 11/12/2015), anita15explorer ($3143.71 due 11/23/2015), peichenexplorer ($47.17 due 11/11/2015), CapitalOne (-2641) ($230.95 due 11/23/2015), all scheduled for 11/2/2015. Played Wondering Star with lyrics (https://youtu.be/kaHTdsxr5RU).
Paint the Wagon "Wondering Star" lyrics:
I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star
Wheels are made for rollin’
Mules are made to pack
I never seen a sight that didn’t look better looking back.
I was born under a wanderin’ star
Mud can make you prisoner
And the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes
But only people make you cry
Home is made for comin’ from
For dreams of goin’ to
Which with any luck will never come true
I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star
Do I know where hell is?
Hell is in Hello
Heaven is good-bye forever
It’s time for me to go
I was born under a wanderin’ star
A wanderin’ wanderin’ star
Mud can make you prisoner
And the plains can bake you dry
Snow can burn your eyes
But only people make you cry
Home is made for comin’ from
For dreams of goin’ to
Which with any luck will never come true
I was born under a wanderin’ star
I was born under a wanderin’ star
When I get to heaven
Tie me to a tree
Or I’ll begin to roam
And soon you know where I will be
I was born under a wanderin’ star
A wanderin’ wanderin’ star
10/28/2015: Got up at 7:50. Started working on LS400 oil change process, Removing bottom panel turned out to be as expected - needed to remove all existing screws, partial removal wouldn't work since it till blocks the oil drainage path, did panel removal, oil plug removal, drain engine oil, reinsert oil plug, add WD-40 to the gap between oil filter and oil tank as it wouldn't come off (have not changed at least 4, 5, or even more years) - had to stop there as it was 12:02 already. Played table tennis for about 50 minutes, 10 minutes with Stephanie, 25 minutes with Kung, another 15 minutes with Stephanie. Spent 2 hours finishing up LS400 oil change: removed oil filter (the WD-40 appeared to be working), screwed in new oil filter, added 5.6 quarts of 5W-30 engine oil, ran engine for 5 minutes to check leakage, reattach bottom panel, put engine oil in recycle bottle, oil filter in a plastic bag (city used to issue special bag for this), replace all tools. According to my record, last oil change was 6/1/2--8 at 112000 miles, current mileage was 115839, 339 miles over target, next change is set at 119000. Jammed my right thumb between LS400 door and the car after placing future oil change label, I have not felt so much physical pain for a long long time, killing me. Had 10 minutes MB with RM, no EJ. Called Anita at 6:30, she's waiting for CHT to install Internet+landline. Anita called at 7:37 from her newly installed Internet from CHT. Purchased ANA tickets ($854.79) for Chinese New Year visit of Taiwan: 1/25/2016-2/18/2015. Checked ANA reservation and found out that my passport information was missing for some reason, had to fill out/register again, lucky for me, automatic check-in won't take place if I did not refill this*******
10/29/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:31, did not get in until 9:40, JP arrived at 9:36. Teresa inserted 5 acupuncture needles (one on left thigh, two on left foot, and two on left hand) to smooth the recovery process of my jammed thumb. Played 40 minutes table tennis: 15 minutes with Stephanie and 25 minutes with Kung, had to play 100% defense because of my injured right thumb.
Had 10 minutes of MB with minis, no EJ. Checked LS400 engine oil level, looks OK, ned to do road test tomorrow, also added some power steering oil as it was low. Slash called at 6:04, chatted with him and sis for about 20 minutes, basically Slash will extend his work there for another month and sis will extend her stay for a week, Maggie already returned to Taipei due to uncomfortable environment. Called Anita at 6:31, the Internet, TV program, and Wi-Fi are OK, need to get a phone for landline. Had 20 minutes MB with RM, no EJ.
10/30/2015: Got up at 8:10. Took nearly half an hour to clean up garden waste leftover in the street - 8:50. Just realized that I forgot to call mom last night, need to make it up tonight. Decided to make pickles out of 6 harvested cucumbers, the original 小黃瓜 were a bit old as all of them have to be deseeded, the two Japanese 小黃瓜, although much bigger, still maintained good quality - no need to remove seeds from them, peeled all of them and sprinkled salt on them, added 2 carrots along with leftover cuts from last week. Played table tennis with Stephanie for nearly one hour, Kung was out at the dentist and didn't play, played with push most of the time because she needed to go back to the basics to correct bad habits, also because of my injured thumb. The 06141958 subject was out in the open. Had 10 minutes MB with minis. Applied fertilizer to remaining cucumber plants. Rinsed salt off the cucumber shreds and carrot slices, added garlic, sugar, black pepper, hot pepper (from the deck), and vinegar to start pickling process. Called Kung to ask about airport ride issue, he said Stephanie will take him to SFO on her way to pick up her niece from Hayward, returning ride is up in the air, he would let me know if needed. Had 15 minutes MB with RM and minis. Called Anita at 6:30, also tested calling her new landline 0229225853. Called mom at 7:00, Skyped with Peilee at 7:18.
10/31/2015: Hiking day, Jason to drive. Jason got here at 7:50, he brought me 9 persimmons - big ones. There were 5 people in the hiking group, Ching, Wayne, Ming, Jason, and myself. Had a few Line messages with Stephanie during Peet's coffee hour, she's going through hair loss and searching for remedies - quite an ordeal on top of losing her husband, wish there's something I could do to help.
Got home at 11:30, weight was lowest in as many years as I can remember - 142.6. Had 20 minutes MB with RM before shower. Prepared the 9 persimmons from Jason to make dry slices, made use of 2 hours of hot sun in the backyard, apparently did not do much to dry that many slices. Lazy Saturday afternoon, just sat in front of the TV and played Sugar Smash. Had another MB with minis for nearly 30 minutes, no EJ. Called Anita at 6:30, she just got up, tired from too much activities. Had several Line messages with Stephanie. Found out UA flight from SJC to TPE cost $300 more even though they used ANA as carrier.
11/1/2015: End of Day Light Saving today. Got up at the new 7:30 time. Moved the Persimmon slice trays to the backyard to soak up the sun. Went to Walmart in Milpitas and got 4 bananas, 4 bottles of Fruit of the Earth Aloe Vera, one FM3614 oil filter for RX300, 3 32OZ Hazelnut creamer, one Tony Roma's baby back ribs, one 3 pack paper towel, one bike tire repair sealer, and one bottle Dawn Apple scent dish washing liquid. Stopped by OSH but did not get anything. Appeared to be catching a cold during visit of Walmart, hope it gets better by tomorrow before the game. Dozed off a little in the afternoon, could be from the cold. Called Anita at 5:30 (new time), she's on the toilet:-)
Used sanitized needle to drained some blood from the swollen thumb. Had a few Line messages with Stephanie, there appeared to be a generation gap here:-)
11/2/2015: Woke up several times during the night - 1:15, 2:30, 3:50, 5:10, finally got up at 7:30. It started to rain possibly around 3:00 in the morning, down spouts were delivering lots of water fast, spent 15 minutes deploying buckets underneath them, by 11:00AM, nearly all non-litter box buckets were filled. I think this would be what I want to do for this rain. Had 25 minutes MB with RM, no EJ. Played table tennis with Stephanie for 40 minutes, she's playing better. It turned out Kung did not make Sunday's flight as his visa to China had expired, had to reschedule for Wednesday, he played 25 minutes. Experimented with super mini, seemed to work fine, in fact, it sometimes felt like the real thing:-), again no EJ. Cleaned the two bathrooms upstairs, vacuumed part of the master bedroom, will vacuum the floors tomorrow. Called Anita at 6:31 on Skype - first time ever on her iPhone while she's in Taipei, she will be on the plane this time tomorrow, either I call her at 2:00 my time or she'll call me when she's at the CKS airport.
11/3/2015: Woke up at 1:30 and 5:30, got up at 7:45. Cleaned out remanent of RM, put away the larger part of RM in LS400. Cleaned backyard oleander leaves/flowers and wisteria leaves/needles, hosed off dirt/sand from Monica's garden. Confirmed with Stephanie on 12:15 table tennis schedule. Played 60 minutes table tennis, Stephanie is playing much much better now, refocus on basics paid off. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and got a bottle of rice wine (for Anita's chicken soup), a pack of thread noodle, 3 buddha melon, some ginger, a pack of bean curd, and a bag of dried red dates. Had 20 minutes with minis, no EJ. Read the chapter in "Social Security:The Inside Story" about survivor benefits, and discovered that Stephanie will be able to collect 71.5% of her husband's full benefit, she should be very happy about this. Made chicken soup for Anita, she can start drinking it tomorrow.
11/4/2015: Had MB in bed with small mini, EJ. Got up at 7:45. Heading to SJC to pick up Anita at 9:41. Flight NH172 landed at SJC at 9:44, I got to the customs gate at 10:00, waited about 10 minutes before Anita got out. Ride home was faster, took only 15 minutes. Played table tennis with Stephanie for one hour. Found and shared an article regarding Aloe Vera and hair loss to Stephanie.
11/5/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:25, there were people waiting at the parking lot for the opening setup of 媽媽教室. Since Elaine was there hosting, JP and I put on volunteer vest :-(. Almost got a cold after I took off my light jacket as I was feeling a bit hot right after entering the lobby, drove the cold away after putting the jacket back on and drank a cup of hot tea, lucky me. Had salad and beef for dinner.
11/6/2015: Anita got up at 7:00, considered very quick recovery from jet lag, I also got up right after. The temperature was lower than last week for about 10°F and rain is coming Sunday. Played 60 minutes table tennis with Stephanie. Renewed CoveredCA online with IRA $19000 and Northstar Reit Dividend $4000.4 - website temporarily offline at 5:20PM, need to get back to finish it - login again and started the changes, there's problem after changing income, it asked me to give reasons for the changes but there were 6 entries where I only made 2 changes, I could not get out of it no matter how I tried, since the difference was $6 per month, I thought I just kept the original and not make any changes, this allowed me to go through, but just like the previous two years, it claimed that it wasn't able to verify income tax info entered and issued 90 days temporary pass to join the plan, I'll have to get income info and upload them to CoveredCA website to get approval - meaning I'll need to do this (get tax forms prepared) before returning to Taiwan on 1/25/2016.
11/7/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. Jason gave me another 5 of his persimmons. We got to meeting point at 8:13. There were 8 people today: Ruby, Jerry, James, Steve, Ching, the other Ming, Jason, and myself. Sent Stephanie article on the benefits of consuming passion fruit and pineapple. After tasting the two apples picked up the other day, we picked three more from the tree (of our backdoor neighbor), also tasted good, only one of the five had insect inside.
11/8/2015: Got up at 7:10 with Anita. Disassembled the support frames for tomato - don't think I'll grow any tomatoes next year. Harvested the last 4 cucumbers, the official tally 2015 is 56.
It started to drizzle, very light though, at 12:00. Rode with Anita to City Sports while I did grocery shopping at SF, got one fish cake, one shrimp cake, two white onions, one pack garlic, 6 bananas, one daikon, one pack shitake mushroom, two bags of rice noodle,one bag dried seaweed, one pack bitter melon, one bag bean sprout, and one nag of green bean. We were going to get food to go from 食為天 but gave up the idea because we were unable to find a parking space.
11/9/2015: Got up at 7:40. The sky got darker after 8:00, T-storm show started at 9:20 - quite a few thunders in the first 10 minutes, positioned several empty buckets under down spouts to replace filled ones. Since Stephanie and her colleagues were going to a group lunch and a company meeting afterwards, no table tennis today, changed plan instead to go to the movie "Bridge of Spies" in Santana Row at 12:25 - can still play table tennis on time tomorrow. Stopped by Costco on our way back and got a roast chicken, 2 bags of beef jerky, one case (x6) of Pomegranate, one dozen bagels, two dozen organic eggs, and one cookie gift box for Francisco.
11/10/2015: Got up at 7:30 (Anita beat me by one and half hours). Emptied 2 12 gallon buckets and portion of a third one to fill the 32 gallon tank. I rained a little more during the evening as the deck was pretty wet. Stephanie has been busy all morning, we may need to postpone or even cancel noon time table tennis. Got message from Stephanie, she can play at 12:30, we ended up playing a full hour till 1:30. Updated info: 06171958-O(1.71/120lbs). 丁寧 - 06201990-O(1.70/128lbs). Had 40 minutes MB with minis (the smaller mini was too tight due to all around taping, need to fix that), no EJ.
11/11/2015: Got up at 7:20. Cleaned Wisteria leaves as well as oleander flower/leaves, trimmed off some branches from the J plant in the backyard as they were too heavy and leaning towards the ground. Called California Waste Solutions (408)213-7800 to request engine oil jug and oil filter bag, at 10:15. Played 70 minutes table tennis with Stephanie, instructed her to serve the last 30 minutes as I either sprained my leg or had a cramp and could not move well. She got the right idea of serving in the last 5 minutes, hope she still remembers it by Friday.
11/12/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got up at 7:05. Got there at 9:27, Sybil got me in. There are more inquiries by people from Mainland China on visa to Taiwan. Attempt to make bitter melon wasn't very successful, need to cook it in hot water first the next time - to save time and to soften the texture. Had 40 minutes MB with minis, no EJ, the small mini was still too tight for comfort, I either have to rearrange the tapes on it or make a fresh new one. Called mom at 6:00 before having dinner, she and the family went to 兄弟飯店 for Birthday, the buffet was good according to her.
11/13/2015: Got up at 7:10, cleaned leftover garden waste in the street for nearly 30 minutes. cleaned up all remaining cucumber plants, mixed them in the bottom planter box as compost. Played 65 minutes table tennis with Stephanie, she gave me some medicine patch for my leg, thank you. Quickly cleaned up a bit then went with Anita to ValleyFair, she got one small wallet and a passport/credit card holder. Had Fried chicken from ChickenWow, stopped by Nordstrom but did not purchase anything, left ValleyFair at 3:30 - Anita ran out of energy. The boiled broccoli was a bit over cooked - wasn't very hungry anyway, will consume it tomorrow.
11/14/2015: Hiking day, Jason to drive. Jason gave us 7 more persimmons. The meeting place was packed with vehicles, we had to park in the side street. There were 9 people in the hiking group: Jerry, Ahmei, Yung, Steve, Ching, the other Ming, Alex, Jason, and myself. John and ShingKuo joined us at Peet's Coffee, there were many snacks at the coffee table, Alex's special cracker, 牛軋糖 (Nougat), Yung's 貢糖, and ShingKuo's Japanese Rice snack. Had 40 minutes MB with minis before shower, no EJ. Cemented a portion of the additional design Anita put in for Monica's garden, the new design was to insert tile remnants to gaps in between some of the tiles as a result of tile placements due to angle differences.
11/15/2015: Got up at 7:15. Checked rain water collection, the overflow arrangements were not successful as most of the overflow simply ended up in the ground, emptied the buckets directly underneath the down spouts so they could collect more rain. Stopped by Trader Joes', got a case of White Zinfandel, a case of Cabernet Sauvignon, a bag of roasted/unsalted peanuts, a bag of candied Pecans, a bag of roasted/unsalted cashew nuts, a bag of roasted/unsalted almonds, 2 Cheddar cheese roasted garlic batard. Swing by Marshall, got 4 Turkish Delights and an exercise pant for me - still need to alter the length to fit. Had 50 minutes MB with RM and minis, over 2500 count, EJ. Altered the exercise warm up pant by reducing 3" off its length, took me over 2 hours, but it's worth it. Stephanie asked me to pick up Kung at SFO Tuesday (9:30 flight), I might be able to depending on Anita's seminar schedule.
11/16/2015: Got up at 7:35. Cleaned leaves (Oak, botched Cherry tree, Wisteria...) on the deck and backyard, never had I seen so many leaves on the deck. Had 15 minutes MB with minis, no EJ. Played 65 minutes table tennis with Stephanie, she's resorting to 12:30 play time after Kung returns, too bad, I have more fun playing with her. Received the MP3 cassette adapter, seemed to work but the volume was much smaller than the broken one, I guess this is good enough for $7.
11/17/2015: Got up at 7:25. Cleaned up the cemented tiles, the cement was still wet, not sure if it'll become solid soon with cold and humid weather. Played 70 minutes table tennis with Stephanie, will have to start at 12:30 tomorrow onward until Kung is taking trip again. Seemed to be getting a cold. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and got a bag of baby carrots, a bottle of cooking rice wine, a small bottle of vinegar, several potatoes, a bag of green beans, and a pack of Beef Flank Steak. Forgot to purchase ginger!
11/18/2015: Got up at 7:25. Applied more cement to the additional tile remnants. Played 60 minutes table tennis, 25 minutes with Stephanie and 35 minutes with Kung. Kung still has some shoots that are pretty good, he still needs to improve his footing but he does not listen to me most of the time, comparatively, Stephanie took my advises better, it's more fun that way, also more fun playing with her, now that Kung is back, she won't be able to play as long, too bad.
11/19/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:25. There were many visitors in the morning. JP had to leave early at 12:00. Afternoon substitute came early at 1:15 so I left right after and went by Marina Grocery (永欣) and got two bags of salty radish, 4 bags of 黃飛紅 peanuts, one pack frozen cooked clams (I though they were raw at the store), five tomatoes, one cut Winter Melon, one bag younger ginger, one Taiwan cabbage, one pack rice wrapper, one pack red snow crab legs, swing by Costco and got gas for RX300. Had 40 minutes MB with minis, no EJ. Made fish soup with carrot, shitake mushroom, potatoes and rice wine - not as good as expected, something's missing?! Had another (10 minutes) MB with new mini, no EJ.
11/20/2015: Got up at 7:25. Cleaned most of the excess cement on the remnant tiles, need final touch up tomorrow. The engine oil jugs and oil filter bags I requested 2 weeks ago were not delivered, need to call them (California Waste Solutions (408)213-7800) again. Played 50 minutes table tennis: on and off 30 minutes with Stephanie, and 15 minutes with Kung. Called California Waste Solutions at 2:30, got no customer service personnel for 10 minutes, decided to send e-mail instead: customerservice@calwaste.com. Had a short 5 minutes MB with mini. Paid Anthem $23.98 due on 12/1/2015 with United Explorer card. Had 10 minutes MB with new mini in the garage, no fun, return to the family room, continue with EJ.
11/21/2015: Hiking day, my turn to drive. Jason brought over 4 more persimmons. There were 10 people in the group: Ahmei, Yung, Ruby, Jerry, James, Wayne, Steve, Alex, Jason and myself, Alan joined us from the opposite direction. Had 15 minutes MB with the new mini, no EJ. Had dinner at Golden Dragon (金龍), Anita and I both ordered the same stuff we did last time - Lettuce/BBQ pork wrap and number 4 regular, price has risen along with smaller quantity.
11/22/2015: Got up at 7:45. Placed a bluetooth head phone on Amazon.com for $23.89 (original price $29.99) at 9:30 when sale began, delivery was before 8PM tomorrow. Went to visit Valley Fair, got there at 10:10, Macy's wouldn't open until 11:00, we went in the mall through the gate next to Maison de Patisserie, sat down and ordered a cup of latte, a bottle of water, a Ham&Swiss Croissant, a Creme Feuillete, enjoyed them (except the Creme Feuillete) until 10:50, walked the mall until Macy's open. Cleaned up the remaining tiny cement marks on the tiles - done for Monica's garden for now until new expansions are ready.
11/23/2015: Got up at 7:30. Plank one minute message at 11:23PM last night, way past her normal bedtime. Confirmed with her and Kung to play table tennis earlier today at 12:15. Had 50 minutes MB with minis, nearly but no EJ. Played 60 table tennis, 30 minutes with Stephanie and 30 minutes with Kung. Brought electrical air pump for Kung to inflate his bike tubes.
11/24/2015: Got up at 7:40. Knocked down loose leaves from all backyard trees, dumped them in the ground level planter box, took 45 minutes and it started to rain as I was 2/3 done with it. California Waste Solutions called, they did deliver the jugs and bags on the 13th, likely taken by someone else, they will put new ones in the empty recycle bin the next time (within 2 pickup days). Played 55 minutes table tennis with Kung. Had 50 minutes (3000 counts) MB with minis, no EJ.
11/25/2015; Got up at 7:40. Cleaned leaves on deck and backyard, a little difficult to sweep due to sticky condition from the rain last night. Had 30 minutes MB with mini, almost but no EJ. No table tennis today as both Kung and Stephanie are busy preparing food for this afternoon. We will be there by 3:30 to setup table and such. The tables had been setup by the time we got there at 3:35, did not help much at all. There were 16 people at the dinner table, the turducken was very nice, the amount of food was for 20 or more people. Everyone except people working there took food home, I mean a lot of food, looks like I do not need to cook anything tomorrow:-)
11/26/2015: Thanksgiving, got up at 5:45, couldn't sleep, had some 56° and went back to bed at 6:20ordered an Amazon 7" tablet, regularly priced at $49.99, black Friday priced for $35 (before tax) - whatever the tablet behave is acceptable for this price. Got up for the day at 7:55. Watched 9:30 "Hunger Game: MockingJay, part II" at Century 20 Great Mall, movie did not start until previews ended at 9:50, got out at 12:10, well made conclusion of Hunger Game series. Stayed home the remaining day, had leftover from yesterday for lunch and dinner. We did consume a whole bottle of 2009 Ridge East Bench Zinfandel (from The Yeh's a number of years ago).
11/27/2015: Got up at 7:45. Removed an army of ants in guest bathroom, still coming out of the small hole which I filled and blocked the last time, somehow they opened it up to allow passage, filled it with silicone this time, hope it works better. Visited IKEA, got two candle packs and one red candle for Monica's garden. Stopped by Nordstrom, Anita got a pair of earring. After finding out the Fresh Choice in Great Mall was closed, we decided to host the meeting at our house tomorrow noon with Tony Roma Baby Back Ribs, Sea food soup, Costco salad, corn mix if time allow.
11/28/2015: Got up at 7:20, took 25 minutes to clean leftover yard waste in the street. The barometer read 28.4°F sometime during the night, it was OK while sweeping the street but had to come in the house once finished. Went to Costco and got a bag of sweet bell peppers, a pack hot links, and a bag of Asian Cashew salad. Swing over to SF and got 2 packs of mochi, a bag of beef tendon balls, 2 packs of Fried Fish Cake, a string of garlic heads, 3 white onions, and 5 tomatoes. Made diced corn/white onion/tomato mix - plus minced cilantro. Prepared Asian Cashew salad with shredded onion and tomato. Made a large pot soup with beef tendon balls, sliced tomato, sliced fish cake, sliced squid rolls, diced tofu, and shitake mushroom. Pan fried beef steaks after both Ishin and Chiming arrived at 12:15 and 12:25 respectively. Ishin showed us the year book from 海洋, some were quite interesting.
11/29/2015: Got up at 7:40. The ant invasion in guest bathroom continued, tried to removed the faucet filter head but was stuck, found the small tools that came with faucet and removed the head, no food like substance was found, cleaned the faucet chrome body and reinserted the head, will keep watching it. Checked the barometer, we did have a new record low in our backyard - 28.2°F. Prepared a gate width + 1/2cm long lumber and placed on top of the gate to expand opening so that the gate would not stuck to the post while in closed position. Left the house at 1:56 to visit Marshall, I had a sudden stuffy nose after getting on the car, it got worse once at Marshall, so after grabbing a couple packs of wine stopper and a T-shirt for Anita, we came home at 2:58, shortest visit ever.
11/30/2015: Got up at 8:00. The battle with ant invasion continued although less fierce. Cleaned leaves on the deck and backyard, not as much though. Played 40 minutes table tennis, 25 minutes with Stephanie and 15 minutes with Kung (he had to go the John due to mild cold). Had 15 minutes MB with minis, EJ.
12/1/2015: Got up at 7:55. Juiced the lemons giving to Anita by Judy last night at the CLDAA session. Played 50 minutes table tennis, 20 minutes with Stephanie and 25 minutes with Kung - he's still under the influence of cold medicine. Went to SF and got the following: one pack thick dried bean curd, some Lotus root, one pack Shitake mushroom, one bag dried seaweed strips, one bag Mung bean sprouts, one bag bamboo shoot strips, one bag dried red dates, one bag dried wolfberry (枸杞), and one chicken bouillon.
12/2/2015: Got up at 7:50. Dug up the sprouting bulbs underneath the tiles next to epiphyllum, moved them to the now vacant rose bed, the task was easy with soft soil. A total of 55 minutes was spent on table tennis today, in which Stephanie and I played 20 minutes, Stephanie and Kung played 15 minutes, and Kung and myself played 20 minutes, Kung's still taking cold medicine, he looked tired and weak.
12/3/2015: CCC volunteer day. Door was open when I got there at 9:29. It rained cats and dogs as I was leaving, luckily I parked the car closer to the entrance, got on the car without totally getting wet. Went to Marina Grocery and picked up a bottle of cooking rice wine, a box of firm tofu, one pack sweet Taiwan sausage, one pack sour mustard, and one jar of pork sung (on sale for $9.99). Cooked 薑棗茶 for Anita. Had 35 minutes MB with experimental mini and one old mini, no EJ.
12/4/2015: Got up at 7:40. Cleaned deck and backyard leaves, took me 40 minutes, there are much much more still hanging on the trees :-( Used duct tape to cover small holes and supporting nuts in the wheel barrel, placed it under the satellite dish, the location rain water comes down over the gutter edge. Played 55 minutes table tennis, 25 minutes with Stephanie, 30 minutes with Kung - Kung's still sick but appeared better than yesterday. Visited Costco with Anita after returning from Dynamicfoundation and got A box of Brie cheese, a pack of Tenderloin beef, a case Modelo beer, two Dungeness Crabs, one bag Pine nuts, one box organic raisin, 2 dozen organic eggs, 2 Kirkland Belgium chocolate cookies, and one dozen bagels. Ordered 5-port USB charger ($14.99 before tax, half that of Amazon) from Fry's, picked up the charger after 8:30 (to be sober to drive), and luckily got gas from Costco on my way home at 8:55 before it closes at 9:30.
12/5/2015: Hiking day, Jason to drive. The hiking group today has 9 people: Ruby, Jerry, Ahmei, Yung, James, the other Ming,Wayne, Jason and myself. Tried soapy mini in the shower, did not work well. Had one of the two Dungeness Crabs for dinner, very tasty, possibly the best one we ever had from Costco.
12/6/2015: Left home at 10:05, got to Valley Fair at 10:20, there were plenty of parking space at the newly constructed parking garage even though only 1st and 3rd levels were open. Macy's opened at 10:00 instead of 11:00 for the Holiday shopping season. Got two cheese feuillete from Maison de Patisserie to go. Strolled in Nordstrom for about 30 minutes but purchased nothing, went to Macy's Christmas ornament department and got a Ceramic Dickson News Stand, a Seasons Greeting plate, and 2 little books. Had Sushi for lunch at the food court. Anita also got several items from Zara. Had the second Dungeness Crab for dinner, still tasty. Filled the flat bike tube with sealer and the result wasn't as expected, it still leaks and I could not find out where:-(
12/7/2015: Got up at 7:45. Filled more sealer into the flat bike tube, will check back in half an hour. Had 45 minutes (2500 count) MB with mini, EJ. Bike tube seemed to be holding air , will need to wait for another day to be sure that it had been fixed. Got to Dynamicfoundation at 12:25, it turned out that Stephanie just got came back and asked to start at 12:40, Kung came out at 12:30 so we started first, Stephanie came down at 12:45, we played 20 minutes than she had to take John to SJC for flight to Fiji, Kung and I continued until 1:40.
12/8/2105: Got up at 7:30. Checked bike tire again, it appeared to be OK, maybe I'll bike to play table tennis today. Ordered a Computation Book for Anita's journal. Used the electric blower on backyard and deck fallen leaves, much easier and took just a few minutes, will use it tomorrow afternoon on front yard and neighbor's drive way. Decided not to bike to play table tennis, a bit tired and cold. Played a total of 55 minutes table tennis, 40 with Stephanie and 15 with Kung, Kung is still not recovered from his cold.
12/9/2015: Got up at 7:45. Used blower to move leaves on neighbor's quarter back to ours, my weight dropped to 146 lbs after the task. Played 65 minutes table tennis, 35 minutes with Stephanie and 30 minutes with Kung.
12/10/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got up at 7:15. Got to CCC at 9:25, door was already open. JP called to take the day off as she wasn't feeling well. A couple of Jehovah's Witness members dropped off several pamphlets. A number of people were early for the library, Susan finally showed up at 10:10. Nancy came back for volunteer after nearly 2 months, another substitute came as well. Went to CVS and purchased 6 bottles of various Moscato from Barefoot - Merlot (x1), Red Moscato (x2), Pink Moscato (x2), and Rich Red Blend (x1), also got a twin pack dry eye drop. Stopped by Marina Grocery next door and got 4 Tomatoes, one head green cabbage, a pack beef prime roast, one pack mung bean sprouts, 8 bags HFH spicy peanuts, 3 heads broccoli, 6 bananas, 2 fried fish cakes, and one pack Winter melon. Swung by Target and got a bag of cat food. Had 40 minutes (~1200 counts) MB with RM, no EJ - the openings were pretty small, I wasn't able to perform long due to the tightness, need to adjust it next time.
12/11/2015: Got up at 7:25. Cleaned the leftover garden waste in the street, I only picked up 80% of them, but filled 80% of the garbage can, the remaining 20% was pretty much stuck on the ground and could not be easily lifted, will try when they dry up a little. Cleaned leaves on the deck and backyard, had to use hands to lift leaves stuck on the deck and ground from time to time, left Wisteria leaves where they were - out of energy. Received the Dickens coffee ceramic set from Amazon at 11:10. Visited Valley Fair with Anita to return 3 items - Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Zara. Anita purchased a long leg boots from Nordstrom.
12/12/2015: Hiking day, Jason to drive (to reach 200 miles mileage for smog test) - I will be driving the next two weeks. There were 12 people in the group: Ruby, Jerry, Ahmei, Yung, Ching, James, Alex, the other Ming, Shingkuo, Steve, Jason, and myself - Ming joined us at Peet's. Went to Great Mall after 2:00, the parking lot was all full but we were lucky getting a parking space in just 5 minutes wait. I found another can of meat rub (to be taken back to Taiwan) as well as a light sports jacket without hood, Anita found several legging for her Yoga class.
12/13/2015: Got up at 7:30, went to McDonalds and picked up breakfast #2 and #4. Started working on RX300 engine oil/filter change, removed protective cover below the oil filter, started removing oil plug but failed with all available sockets, it turned out the oil plug screw had been damaged over the years, the edges had been rounded out and could not be removed easily especially with my sockets, gave up the idea of changing it myself, put all tools away, made an appointment online with Stevenscreek Lexus service department, the earliest available date was 12/23/2015, I picked 10:00am 12/24/2015. Ordered a Fleece Jacket for Anita from Costco.com ($27.61 - tax, shipping, and handling are all inclusive).
12/14/2015: Got up at 7:50. Leaves from the Oaks, Wisteria and Cherry tree were piling up like crazy, I'll have to lump them up and leave for pickup this week by myself, will use blower to ease the task. Had MB with mini (no fold), no EJ (as garage door opened sooner than I expected). Went to play table tennis, I waited but no one opened the door, sent Line message to Stephanie at 12:35, it turned out they have some issue with one member of the calligraphy class so it ended late. Stephanie and I played less than 10 minutes when she got a call from Teresa and never came back and played again, Kung and I played from 1:00 to 1:40. Gave Kung a ride to Stevenscreek Lexus service department on Martin street to pick up his wife's new car on 5000 miles services. Had 50 minutes (2300 counts) MB with flat mini, EJ - good one.
12/15/2015: Got up at 8:00. Went with Anita to Marshall on Coleman, trying to find Christmas tree skirt, the ones they have are either too heavy or to thick, stopped by Lowes and bought a large bow tie for decoration, they don't have skirt at all. Decided to take off the old and dirty skirt currently in use and simply cover the metal stool with silver tinsels, looks good enough. Table tennis started at 12:30, Stephanie played 20 minutes and Kung 30 minutes, not enough for me:-(
12/16/2015: Got up at 8:00. Got notice from Stephanie saying Teresa will there for 1:30 meeting, we should start table tennis earlier at 12:20. Cleaned deck and backyard leaves a bit, since the leaves are now drier and thus becoming easier to rake them into piles. Caught a cold possibly while raking leaves. Played table tennis with Stephanie for 35 minutes, and with Kung for 35 minutes. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and picked up some ginger roots, a pack of garlic, a bag of small gai choy, and a pack of pork spare rib cross cut. Anita's boots ($159.41 from Amazon.com, tax included) was delivered at 2:48, fits perfectly for her, her coat from Costco was delivered at 3:49, she also liked it, very comfortable. Had one of the two crabs for dinner, not enjoying it as the last time possibly due to suffering a cold.
12/17/2015: CCC volunteer day, got there at 9:28. It turned out CCC still opens on the morning of 12/24, I had to take the morning off since I already have an appointment. Stopped by CVS, Marina Grocery, and Big 5 but did not get anything. Rake majority of the leaves in the front yard and backyard, took nearly one and half an hour, sweaty and exhausted. Had 5 minutes MB with flat mini, no EJ.
12/18/2015: Got up at 7:35. Cleaned leftover garden waste in the street, there wasn't much leftover in the street compare to prior week when a full garbage bin was filled with. Knocked off part of the Cherry leaves, raked them in the bin along with the leaves of the other Cherry tree and Apple tree. Had lunch at Costco (Polish dog and pizza), picked up a bag of raw Pecan, one bag of Creme Brulee Almond, and one flannel for me. Played table tennis from 2:50 - 4:30, Stephanie played 30+25 minutes, Kung played 45 minutes. Had the second crab for dinner, this one is smaller but still good.
12/19/2015: Got up at 7:35. Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ. Cleaned backyard leaves a bit - swept leaves from Monica's garden. The cold sore was getting worse, possibly due to my eating nuts and chocolate more the last few days. Need to eat more cheese, meat, also avoid nuts.
12/20/2015: Got up at 7:40. Heading toward ValleyFair at 9:50, Macy's open at 8:00 but the Monroe parking garage was only less than half full when we got there around 10:05. Anita returned the 7 1/2 boots at Nordstrom. On our way to the Christmas decoration ornament department Anita spotted a red flannel and bought for me, the final price after various discounts was about half of the original $60. Got a decoration Christmas wall light. Had noodle lunch from Noodle&Company, not bad - light and tasty. Went back to Macy's jewelry department and got 8 small pins (trees, cat, angels,...) - $5 each. Rested a bit after getting home before going to CVS, got 6 bottles of Barefoot Moscato and a Cold sore treatment gel. Applied the gel following its instructions, hope it helps. Paid Anthem online, new rate $70.48 for 2016. Watched "The Sound of Music", experienced several heart warming moments.
12/21/2015: Got up at 7:40. Swept backyard leaves into two piles for Francisco this Thursday. Played table tennis from 12:45 to 1:30, 25 minutes with Stephanie and 20 minutes with Kung. Costco was packed with shoppers even though it was raining, I managed to find a spot shortly after arrival, picked up a box of Brie cheese, a case of Modelo, a pack of large shrimps, a pack of organic chicken thighs, 2 dozen organic eggs, 6 no-show socks, one pack of beef for stir frys. Did not wait in long line for gas, will try tonight. Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and got 6 bags of 黃飛紅 peanuts, one pink 柚子, 2 bags of string mushroom, one bag oyster mushroom, 3 white onions, 6 tomatoes, one bag mung bean sprouts, and 2 breakfast butter cream filled buns. Went to Costco at 9:08 and got gas, waited only 2 minutes, this could be an ideal time from now on - Costco store closes at 9:00 this time. Donated @20 to support Wikipedia.
12/22/2015: Got up at 7:40. A carrier rang the door to deliver a package, the box appeared to contain a couple of wines and was addressed to me, but since I did not order anything from this company I decided to refuse to accept and asked the courier to return it to the sender. Played table tennis with Stephanie from 12:20 to 1:15, Kung was out taking care of his guests.
12/23/2015: Got up at 7:30. Sunny day for a change. Knocked off all the leaves still on the Cherry tree, swept leaves off Monica's garden. Played table tennis with Stephanie from 12:15 to 1:07, Kung was out having lunch with his brother/sisters.
12/24/2015: Got up at 7:30. Left house at 9:30 to send RX300 to Lexus service for oil change, got there at 9:45. The service representative told me if the oil plug damage was sever, the oils pan would have to be replaced - hope we don't come to that - preying. Will take 2 hours if no oil pan replacement necessary. They replace the oil plug plus engine oil, oil filter, and gasket for $72.91 which is not expensive, maybe I'll bring our cars here for oil change from now on. Made a make shift cat house from beer case with a used paint floor cover, 小花 did not use it. Had Lobster claw for dinner, the first time ever, these claws are huge, Anita and I can only finish 2/5 of the 3 claws purchased from Costco.
12/25/2015: Got up at 7:40. Reshaped the make shift cat house and place it between the wall and the Epiphyllum pots, wait and see. Had the remaining of the giant Lobster claws for dinner, added Wasabi in the ginger sauce to stir up the flavor - much better. Over estimated our appetite, still has 15% leftover, will just cook up stir fried chicken and oyster mushroom plus the leftover for tomorrow's dinner.
12/16/2015: Hiking day, Jason still wants to drive so that his car can qualify for smog test. There were 10 people (9 at first until Ching caught up with us) in the group: Ruby, Jerry, Sujen, Steve, Yung, Alan, James, Ching, Jason, and myself. Finally had the last portion of the Lobster claws for dinner, probably the last time we have giant lobster claw. New phrase: Sleep eludes me.
12/17/2015: Got up at 8:00, very sunny. Left house at 9:50, got to Valley Fair at 10:10, picked up some Christmas ornaments and table mats, Anita also got one summer wear from Macy's and a couple of $5 pins (she got 8 of them a few days ago). Had lunch at the food court - a chicken/shrimp noodle, very good! A record low 27.6°F was recorded early morning.
12/18/2015: Got up at 7:45. Had MB with RM for 20 minutes, EJ. Went to Century 20 Great Mall and enjoyed "Star War: The Force Awakens" with gift tickets from Stephanie - paid nothing even for expensive 3D version because of senior day (Monday).
12/29/2015: Got up at 8:10. Trimmed the fake Cherry tree, but only the outer skirt, will trim its top other day(s), a seemly small task tok one and half an hour. Ride the bike a full circle for about 20 minutes - Vincipark way--Berryessa Rd--Lundy Ave--Sageland Dr--Mossland Dr--Rue Avati--Hostetter Rd--Flickinger Ave--Berryessa Rd--Vincipark way. Should do this more frequent.
12/30/2015: Got up at 8:10. Trimmed off dead branches of the bushes next to the front porch. Played table tennis from 12:40 to 1:30 - 20 minutes with Stephanie and 30 minutes with Kung. Tried to purify Amazon Fire 7 to be Android only device, Windows 2000 simply could not start anything useful while the old Dell NB progressed half way but could not continue because it does not have the knowledge of "Android" device. I either have to wait until I get back to Taiwan or borrow from someone here?????
12/31/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:30, called April to let me in. Their new boss is swearing in today in San Francisco, so only April is in the office. Made an excuse to leave early so that I could play table tennis at noon. Had seafood soup Kung made for lunch, lucky me. Stopped by Marina Grocery but did not spend the $5 Deli coupon as there was a long line. Played 70 minutes table tennis from 1:15 to 2:25, 30 minutes with Stephanie and 40 minutes with Kung. Received notice mail from DMV saying I qualify for online renewal of my driver's license, this is the second and last no in-person renewal for me. Renewed my driver's license online paying with American Express.
Bye bye 2015.
12/25/2015: Got up at 7:40. Reshaped the make shift cat house and place it between the wall and the Epiphyllum pots, wait and see. Had the remaining of the giant Lobster claws for dinner, added Wasabi in the ginger sauce to stir up the flavor - much better. Over estimated our appetite, still has 15% leftover, will just cook up stir fried chicken and oyster mushroom plus the leftover for tomorrow's dinner.
12/16/2015: Hiking day, Jason still wants to drive so that his car can qualify for smog test. There were 10 people (9 at first until Ching caught up with us) in the group: Ruby, Jerry, Sujen, Steve, Yung, Alan, James, Ching, Jason, and myself. Finally had the last portion of the Lobster claws for dinner, probably the last time we have giant lobster claw. New phrase: Sleep eludes me.
12/17/2015: Got up at 8:00, very sunny. Left house at 9:50, got to Valley Fair at 10:10, picked up some Christmas ornaments and table mats, Anita also got one summer wear from Macy's and a couple of $5 pins (she got 8 of them a few days ago). Had lunch at the food court - a chicken/shrimp noodle, very good! A record low 27.6°F was recorded early morning.
12/18/2015: Got up at 7:45. Had MB with RM for 20 minutes, EJ. Went to Century 20 Great Mall and enjoyed "Star War: The Force Awakens" with gift tickets from Stephanie - paid nothing even for expensive 3D version because of senior day (Monday).
12/29/2015: Got up at 8:10. Trimmed the fake Cherry tree, but only the outer skirt, will trim its top other day(s), a seemly small task tok one and half an hour. Ride the bike a full circle for about 20 minutes - Vincipark way--Berryessa Rd--Lundy Ave--Sageland Dr--Mossland Dr--Rue Avati--Hostetter Rd--Flickinger Ave--Berryessa Rd--Vincipark way. Should do this more frequent.
12/30/2015: Got up at 8:10. Trimmed off dead branches of the bushes next to the front porch. Played table tennis from 12:40 to 1:30 - 20 minutes with Stephanie and 30 minutes with Kung. Tried to purify Amazon Fire 7 to be Android only device, Windows 2000 simply could not start anything useful while the old Dell NB progressed half way but could not continue because it does not have the knowledge of "Android" device. I either have to wait until I get back to Taiwan or borrow from someone here?????
12/31/2015: CCC volunteer day. Got there at 9:30, called April to let me in. Their new boss is swearing in today in San Francisco, so only April is in the office. Made an excuse to leave early so that I could play table tennis at noon. Had seafood soup Kung made for lunch, lucky me. Stopped by Marina Grocery but did not spend the $5 Deli coupon as there was a long line. Played 70 minutes table tennis from 1:15 to 2:25, 30 minutes with Stephanie and 40 minutes with Kung. Received notice mail from DMV saying I qualify for online renewal of my driver's license, this is the second and last no in-person renewal for me. Renewed my driver's license online paying with American Express.
Bye bye 2015.
