2023 Misc

1/1/2023: Woke up at 4:30, got up at 7:30.  Called Anita at 8:06 for 10 minutes.  Walked a short route before swinging by PX Mart, purchased one bottle 750ml Yellowtail Moscato, one pack toast, two can XO sauce, one bag mustard 可樂果, one pack ham, one pack cheese, and 10 chicken eggs.  Visited Mom’s temporary memorial site in 聖龍會所, had a 遊車河afterward.  Dinner was at 博多拉麵, I had a mini (small) 叉燒with Miso soup, still taste nice.

1/2/2023: Woke up at 5:30, called Anita at 6:05 for 18 minutes.  Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco (was very crowded) with Peilee’s whole family, got myself a TAPO TC70 camera at NT749 (seemed a good deal but only to realize it has lower resolution at 1080p instead of the HD on C210), and one pack 北海道米菓.  Had late lunch at 新葡苑 in CityLink mall.  

Turned in at 9:00.

1/3/2023: Woke up at 5:15, got up at 6:35.  Visited Mom’s temporary memorial site at 聖龍會所, called Anita after setting the incense for 11 minutes.  Stopped by Carrefour before going upstairs after arriving Neihu, did not buy anything.  Went to the Post Office and transferred NT3000 to 玉明嫂慈濟fund, swing by PX Mart and purchased two can tea leaves, two large bag pea crackers, and two Neoguri seafood noodle.  Turned in at 9:30.

1/4/2023: Woke up at 5:40, got up at 6:20.  Called Anita at 10:00 for 32 minutes.  Stopped by PX Mart (after dropping off liquor bottle in the recycle bin near the curbside downstairs), purchased one loaf of bread, two Neoguri seafood noodle, two Fuji apple,and two pairs rubber gloves.

咖啡師 (barista).

1/5/2023: Woke up at 5:30, got up at 6:30.  Called Anita at 10:00 for 19 minutes.  Walked through 成功路四段->㨗運內湖站->CityLink->成功路四段->文德路->文德路101巷->內湖路二段->PX Mart, purchased two pairs long rubber gloves, one pack (x10) egg, and 4 pack 茶葉蛋滷包, total exercise time was 52 minutes.

Visited Mom’s temporary memorial at 聖龍會所, picked up a left behind magazine for Mom at 恩典senior care before heading to 瑞芳to pick up Sharon, we strolled along the 淡水河and close by food street since we arrived at 3:20, a bit early since Sharon won’t get off until 4:30.

1/6/2023: Woke up at 5:00, got up at 6:30.  Called Anita at 9:58 for 32 minutes.  Stopped by PX Mart and purchased one bottle 金門58°高梁, one pack carrot, one pack cucumber, one hand banana, one case cream cheese, and one pack bacon.  Modified three black mask with the strings forma damaged one, making the holding bands not as tight.

Went to the funeral home with Peilee to test projection video and audio, there was a mix up where we had to wait until 5:30 (we got there at 3:00), after some communication, we are coming back tomorrow at 6:30 where there will be a couple of hours break in the usage of the service hall.  Modified two more masks with a couple of strings from a to be thrown away mask which Peilee was using.

1/7/2023: Woke up at 5:20, got up at 6:30.  The Wi-Fi performance in Mom’s bedroom wasn’t good, it failed to provide access to Internet at times.  Called Anita at 9:37 for 38 minutes until Peilee and Ahfen came back from grocery shopping.  Walked one circle of 碧湖after lunch, stopped by Carrefour and purchased several breakfast buns, swing by 新東陽and got 4 bag grains snack.

1/8/2023: Woke up at 5:20, got up at 6:30.  Visited Mom’s temporary memorial site at 聖龍會所, there was a big crowd.  Called (drop-in from Alexa) Anita while waiting for the incense to finish for several minutes.  Intention to visit 大安森林公園was cancelled as we could not find ANY parking  in any of the parking garages nearby, went back to NeiHu and purchased some food from a 7-11 near 大湖公園, had lunch on the bench there before taking some photos of the crowd attracting 落羽松.

1/9/2023: Woke up at 6:13, got up at 6:20.  Called Anita at 10:00 for 31 minutes.  Swing by PX Mart and purchased one bottle 750ml 金門高梁, two bag Pumpkin seeds, and 4 bag pea cracker (2 Wasabi and 2 Basil flavor).

1/10/2023: Woke up at 5:50, got up at 6:15.  Called Anita at 9:34 for 8 minutes before I concentrate on working on kitchen stove spill shields.

Dropped off 金門高梁bottle in the curbside recycle bin downstairs.  Takeout dinner-mine was 打抛豬.

Picked up one pack (x5) Free Covid test kits from 富康活力湖光藥局.

1/11/2023: Woke up at 5:30, got up at 6:15.  Everyone headed out to Mom’s temporary memorial site at 聖龍會所 where we spent 2-1/2 hour for Mom’s 滿七service.  Had lunch at SOGO, our first choice was 鼎泰豐but 50 minutes wait time was unacceptable so we went to the food court instead, we the adults picked 葉味香 while Tina and Sharon picked Korean style noodle for lunch.

Rested the whole afternoon (3, 4 hours) and had dinner at 夯麵坊.

Turned in at 9:45.

1/12/2023: Woke up at 5:30, got up at 6:30.  Tucked in several clothes into the luggage, the large jacket and jogging pants plus travel toiletry bag are the only ones remaining, but it will be very tight when I complete the packing.  Called Anita at 9:50 for 19 minutes.  Headed out to Mom’s temporary memorial site at 聖龍會所 at 11:30, checked in while we were in Peilee’s car going there.  Had one bowl fast noodle before joining sis and Ahfen in the transferring service to move Mom’s memorial tablet to funeral home.  The entire service ran from 12:30 all the way to 6:00 (finishing at 慈恩-moving Mom’s urn into her new home), we had a one hour 15 minutes break while waiting for cremation to complete, 光華and 小妺attended公祭, both of them hugged me after the ceremony, not sure why but I cried while hugging them.  

日劇”持續可能的戀愛？”

1/13/2023: Got up at 5:30.  Did not get Anita’s Line call at 6:22, will call her after getting through TPE security check.  Headed out to TPE at 8:40, arriving TPE at 9:20.  Dropped off luggage through Premier access, security check now requires all cell phone, laptop, tablet, as well as cables be removed from carry on luggages.  Called Anita at 10:02 for 6 minutes.  Boarded flight UA872 at 10:50, all seats were occupied.  We took off at 11:48, 13 minutes behind schedule.  We landed at SFO at 6:45am, 10 minutes ahead of schedule.  Got through custom (asked several questions by two different Customs and Boarder Protection agents, what did you bring, reason of travel, did you bring large amount of cash…) in just 5 minutes, since there was only one flight at the hour, luggages came out rather quick.  Waited a few minutes before Anita showed up.  It rained heavily while we were driving away from SFO.  Got home around 8:15, went to bed to rest my ponding heart until it felt better around 9:25.  Copied travel notes (from MacBook Pro Note app as synced from iPad) to my journal (Google Blog), photos, however did not come along.  Could not hold awake at 1:15, went to bed until 4:30.

1/14/2023: Got up at 4:10.  Made fried rice with onion and pickled garlic (as a replacement for green onion-not as good but......).  Checked SS new payment of $2813.9 starting 1/25/2023, net payment will be $2584.0 after deductions (Medicare part B of $164.9, Medicare Part C <Kaiser> of $12.8, and Medicare Part D <Kaiser> of $52.20).  Cut and paste photos, one at a time, from Note to my journal (Google blog), found this out  just today which is easier than recreating these photos then insert them.  Anita and Rose, Patty attend Juili husband's funeral service in Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church.  I had 30 minutes MB (the first one in 4 weeks) with RM, EJ-not good one.  Ordered one 128G micro SD card for Tapo TC70.

1/15/2023: Got up at 5:02.  Dozed off most of the morning in my leather chair.  Had 25 minutes MB with legs, no EJ.

1/16/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Checked the feeder and discovered that a large amount of cat food still hang to the circular edge of the container but would not fall to the funnel, adjusted the remain and filled the feeder, need to verify it can still dispense at normal times.  Received 128G micro SD card and two Rufus Meat Rub from Amazon.  Installed the micro SD card in the new Tapo TC70, formatted it and we are in business, will decide where to install this one.

1/17/2023: Got up at 7:12.  There was some problem with the Internet but it gradually came back to normal after 20 minutes.  Another problem was discovered while using the ssc1746 and 2WIRE510 sustaining low speed in both directions, tried debugging it to no avail, finally I connected the upstairs-downstairs Ethernet wire to 2WIRE510 directly and connect Vonage to it as well, the speed seemed to be OK, will skip the hub/switch for now and see what happens, I also moved ssc1746asus to the study, it works fine with devices connecting it from downstairs.  Stopped by 99 Ranch Market and purchased one hand banana, two bunch green onion, one head Taiwan Cabbage, and one Cauliflower-it's crowded possibly for Chinese New Year shopping?!  Had 15 minutes MB with hands, EJ.  Finished reading "When You Come Back" by Debra Web.  Downloaded two books from Amazon: "The Direction of Wind" and "The Chemistry of Love".

1/18/2023: Got up at 7:12.  Rode 10 minutes bike in the garage.  Having problem accessing Tapo TC210, decided to reset it and start over, it appeared to be the only way out, but it worked and the camera is now back to normal.  Moved the table saw to the backyard, cover it with tarp since I did not have enough time to use it plus it's forecasted to rain later tonight.

1/19/2023: Got up at 7:15.  Knocked down the rain water still hanging in the Passion fruit vines over the table saw.  Started preparing iPad stand parts for Anita.

Had to use duck tapes and masking tapes to hold the glued parts together as the clamps could not be securely attached.  Finished the iPad stand for Anita, it does not look pretty but it works less the holding bottom for iPad may be a bit too narrow, next one should be better.

1/20/2023: Got up at 7:35.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one porch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one hand banana, one pack Asparagus, one pack mushroom, one pack Gold Kiwi, one pack (x3 carton) Orange Juice, two dozen cage free egg (they don't carry the pasture ones any more), one pack (x12) Turkey muffin, one bottle Olive oil, and one pack fish sticks.  Prepared parts for one more iPad stand.  Reconfigured feeder again, it appeared that the time of day was, somehow, off by 10 minutes, not sure if I did that or the feeder is getting too old?!  Finished the second iPad stand replacing Anita's, I'll use her old one.

1/21/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Started preparing New Years Eve dinner, most of them don't need much cooking but still took me nearly 3 hours.  My Hemorrhoid is acting up pretty bad, had to clean my ass every so often.  Dinner is served-3 dishes and one soup plus Kao Liang liquor.

1/22/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Decided to remove the Tapo TC70 from the feeder view as its coverage is too limited (small), temporarily positions it in the dinning room facing the damaged fence for now.  Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.  The feeder seemed to be malfunction again, not sure why, maybe the batteries are low??????  Feeder batteries were changed in July 2020, could be that time again?!?!?!  

1/23/2023: Got up at 7:35.  Checked feeder batteries, they were all at 1.18v each, changed all of them to new ones (at 1.60v each) and reprogrammed the settings, put everything in place, will check its functions at regular feeding time (7:00, 11:00, and 4:30) to verify result.  The opened Meow Mix got ants all over it, inside and out, cleaned up a bit and put it away in the garage instead.  Sprayed ant killer near the family room entrance and around the feeder, also did so in the ant infested closet near the front door.  While disconnecting Christmas lights until November I found out those anys did not come from the corner of the closet, instead they enter the dinning room near the corner behind the CD/DVD storage cabinet, cleaned them up by moving cabinet and sofa, wiped clean the dust/dirt covered floor before applying ant killer in infested area.  Recoiled all Christmas string lights.

1/24/2023: Got up at 7:40.  Drilled holes and opened up the top to insert screws to secure the patio table boards.

The patio table enhancement task turned out to be easier than I anticipated, took less an hour.  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-not bad.

1/25/2023: Got up at 7:12.  Tried several times to form a spacer for my hurting right toe, one seemed to be working OK as of now.  Visited Trader Joes on Great Mall Parkway with Anita, this store is bigger and more comfortable to shop, likely because it started from scratch and was designed accordingly, purchased one pot bulb flowers, four green Bell Pepper, one bag Brazil nut, and three bag Raisin.

1/26/2023: Got up at 7:18.  Cut the old padding of therapy boot I wore during my Achilles tendon recovery into two halves, making another toe support does not seemed to work too well either, sigh......  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and Wisteria pods, loaded them into the garbage can.

1/27/2023: Got up at 7:25.  Cleaned up Wisteria pods and seeds near the Wisteria tree, also moved the patio swing chair away from the trellis, also moved several lumbers near the fence to clear the way for new fence construction tomorrow.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, also removed weeds in between concrete block gaps, took 35 minutes.  Applied solid brown stain and seal to the patio table, need at least one more coat to make it shine.  Helped Anita transplanted a couple of flowers in the front yard, removed more weeds closer to the front porch.  Applied second coat Solid Brown Stain & Seal to the patio table.  Installed a shelf support hardware to secure second to the lowest layer shelf to reduce the warping in the center.

1/28/2023: Got up at 6:50.  The fence installer arrived exactly at 8:00 as scheduled.  Set up the power line for them with the heavy duty black cord I had in the garage.  Visited H Mart instead of Marukai since I need to be home when Anita visits City Sports, purchased one bunch organic carrot, 4 Fuji apple, one bag soy bean sprouts, one pack Lotus root, one pack California roll, one pack shrimp Dim Sum, one pack Pork dumpling, one Daikon, and one hand organic banana.  The fence installation was completed by 12:15, it's a much better job than the one did by Leo-this section has better board overlap and prettier.

Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.

1/29/2023: Got up at 7:31.  Played 60 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage, sweating the first time since at least 6 months ago.  Helped Anita dyed her hair.  

1/30/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Cleaned up loose leaves and dirt near the new fence, the two trellises that held the Wisteria vines were getting warped from the weight and leaning directions of the Wisteria, since the purpose we planted the Wisteria was to provide some privacy from out back door neighbor, now that the fence is 3 feet taller, privacy is no longer an issue, it's time to change or remove these trellises.  Anita rejected the idea of removing the trellis, sigh......  Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.  Comprise on the Wisteria and trellis, I'll remove one of the tough vines (and its off shoots) that wrapped around the main trellis support beam and try to straighten the trellis to vertical standing position (not sure how though), the trellis can now be moved more freely but need to find out how to make it solid, also the wrapped around vine can not be easily removed, will try reciprocating saw tomorrow.  Tried online movie sites and while trying to see I could watch Avata:The Way of Water, I got a pop up message saying my device was hacked......, searched online and found out it is a scam, device is not really hacked but a way to lure people thinking it is and install whatever the site promotes which most likely are more serious malware, follow the cleaning method for Chrome as described and reset browsing history, cookie....., hopefully it is OK now.

Peilee called at 7:35 for 10 minutes, asking about Google Photo questions.

1/31/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Used reciprocating saw with all available blades and cut off the wraped around Wisteria vine from the trellis, since the vine had plenty of sap, combining with the heat generated by the saw, it formed a solid layer around the saw teeth and had to be removed frequently to continue the cutting, the trellis appeared better after I moved one of the vines below the main support beam, will need additional base enhancement to achieve acceptable strength and structure.  Moved the table saw back to the garage, free up space to paint patio furniture, started painting the patio chair.  Had 10 minutes MB with mini, no EJ.  Finished painting first of the patio chairs.

2/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one bag small Mandarin Orange, one pack mixed greens, one pack (x8) Danish, one bottle 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack cured meat (sausage, pork, and chicken), one bag Godiva heart, two bag Terra chips, one bag large raw shrimp, one pack (x12) Noosa Yogurt, one pack Korean BBQ steak, two dozen pasture egg, and one pack (x4) organic firm Tofu.  There wasn't a crowd as expected since this the first day of a new catalogue sale-likely because there were nothing with must-buy label.  Painted the bottom side of the first patio chair.  Our new water bill claiming we had used 5 times cas much as last year, which is totally impossible, there was no obvious water leak and I wasn't home hapf of the bill cycle, checked the water meter by the side walk and discovered it was a incorrect read of our meter, it is at 221.3 as opposed to 228 in the bill.  

Started painting the other patio chair, bottom first this time.

2/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Put away boards and sanding pads as it's going to rain tonight.  Visited Lowes by myself and got one tube sealer and one can Stain & Sealer in solid Nature Cedar (they don't have the Timber Brown color I am using, will have to finish both benches with the old one and apply the new one on the swing).  Painted the top side of patio benches, the paint did not stick too well, possibly because previous clear stain and seal still functional.

Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-well......  Positioned rain shield and the two patio benches to protect the feeder as shower/rain is expected between 3:00am ans 12:00 noon.

2/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Walmart and purchased 5 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, two bottle TarTar sauce, 3 bottle Aloe Vera, one box gallon food bag, one pack (x2) Bounty's paper towel, and two SK Gourmet cat food.  Swing by Marina Grocery and got one fried fish cake, one bag dried shrimp, one pack pickled Mustard, two bag spicy Korean fast noodle (which we had for lunch), two Daikon, one pack pork neck bone, one string garlic, two bag HFH spicy peanut, one hand banana, one pack spicy sausage, one can water Chestnut, one easy open sliced water Chestnut, one pack (x5) Sesame Ramen, one pack (x8) bean threads, one can mini corn, and one can Chai Pow Yu.  My Amazon order of a thermal underwear did not arrive as scheduled for yesterday and today, it has been rescheduled to 4th to 9th, damn!  Removed Amazon app then reinstalled it, this process eliminated the CS11 error I have not been able to get rid of for over a week.

2/4/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports while I visited Marukai, purchased one pack thick slice toast bread, two heads of Broccoli, one pack (x3) Maruchan Nama Yakisoba, one tube Wasabi sauce, one pack Nama Sake Kirimi, one pack lean ground pork, two box pork cutlet, one Yakisoba, and one Unagi Futomaki.  Tried March but not available.

2/5/2023: Got up at 7:25.  The gutter that had been fixed due to strong wind is in bad shape again, this time caused by many days of heavy rain, it is slowly but surely detaching from the eaves, need to have it fixed/replaced soon.  Stephanie sent the roofing & waterproofing shop she used before, will try to find out if they do gutter repair/replacement tomorrow morning.  Rode bike in the garage for 25 minutes.  Had 10 minutes MB with RM, EJ.  Filled up RX300 at Costco at 4.099/gal, it appeared to be a good idea to get gas at Costco half an hour before they close.

2/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Called the roofer but he wanted me to text him out address which I did.  Received "thermal underwear" from Amazon, 7 days after order and it felt like any thin underwear, not to mention thermal-very disappointed.  No response from the roofer after 13 hours, need to find other sources.

2/7/2023: Got up at 7:00.  No text message from the roofer, giving up, pondering other options.  Trimmed some dead Wisteria stems, removed most flowering weeds.

Could not find one of my white garden slippers, filed to find it in the garden and inside the house, finding out what happened to it by checking feeder videos, it was stolen by a Raccoon possibly making her baby bed.

Finished Wisteria trimming, it looked clean and nice, ready to regrow into a better form.

2/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, arriving at 10:13.  Went through Nordstrom, Eataly (for their Gelato-now >$6.00 per scoop), Macys, short outside view at Anthropologie, KoJa Kitchen (lunch and dinner), left the garage at 11:36-within the 2 hour free parking.  Cleaned up Wisteria trimmings on the ground, moved the bigger ones to the pile ready for Francisco to pick up tomorrow, smaller ones go into the garbage can.

2/9/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased 2 porches 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one hand banana, one pack organic mixed miniPepper, two dozen pasture egg, one pack roasted back ribs, one dozen Danish, and one pack Bok Choy.  Filled $25.01 premium gas for LS400 at $4.349.

2/10/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street.  Trimmed off several Passion fruit vines near the center deck stairs.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market and purchased one 5-item bento, the walk plus shopping took 42 minutes.  Our water meter was re-read yesterday as indicated by a writen notification hung on our door knob, old reading/new reading= 228/221.

2/11/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Marukai by myself, got one bag Taro, 5 carrot, 4 Fuji apple, one pack Nama Sake Kirimi, two pork cutlet, one Futomaki, one Yakisoba, one Salmon Shioyaki & chicken, one pack Jalapeño, and one Petrale Sole.

2/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  The feeder has been beeping occasionally, it got more frequent today, searching but could not find its manual (or if there even was one), online search did not help either, not sure what could be causing this, the time of day appeared ok, after 10 minutes under the sun it stopped beeping, for now will keep watching it when feeding time comes.  Had 15 minutes MB with RM, EJ.  

2/13/2023: Got up at 7:20.  Played 75 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.  Robert relayed someone who had done many jobs for him, including the full function shed in his backyard, will call him later.

Called him but he's out of town working and he does not do gutter, I mentioned not a replacement but a fix so he said he "might" call me weekend.  Painted supporting lumbers of the two patio benches, skipped the bottom though.

2/14/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Got a cold early morning, had to fight it with hair blower and heater so I could start cooking Valentine's dinner.

2/15/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market and purchased two Daikon, one pack spare rib, 4 Fuji apple, and one bunch green onion,  the whole trip took 48 minutes, possibly spent 10 minutes inside 99.  Spent one hour and 15 minutes cleaning Birds of Paradise, there were simply too many leaf-only branches preventing healthy flowering, the bush did not seemed dented after the trimming, looks like I'll hve to repeat the process again soon......

2/16/2023: Got up at 7:10.   Cleaned up most Oak leaves in the Birds of Paradise, took only 25 minutes.  Rode bike in the garage for 15 minutes, had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  

2/17/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 2017 750ml Bellacosa Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750ml Ménage à Trois red blend, one hand banana, one pack small Mandarin orange, one pack Bellas mushroom, one pack (x8) muffin, one pack (x12) Noosa yogurt, one vase Tulip, one can unsalted mixed nuts, one pack (x8) tooth brush, one pack floss, and one pack San Francisco French coffee beans.  Detached two composite deck boards, one being the closest to the concrete walkway loose when stepped on, the other one is part of the lower stairs in between the planter boxes, the original screws were difficult to remove, need some time to figure out the fixes.  

2/18/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports before stopping by Lowes and picked up 2 small propane tank, swing by H Mart and purchased one bunch rainbow carrot, one pack soy bean sprout, one pack marinated beef rib, and one fish cake Maki roll.  Waited in City Sports parking lot for 40 minutes before Anita showed up and we went home.  Glued a small but adequate metal (sawed off from a 90° shelf support hardware) on top of the middle supporting beam, this addition made the composite board above steady, checked the stair lumber after removing the screws, no apparent damage of misshape of the board below, I did not want to trim the composite board to make the layer perfect so instead I reattached the board with different and longer screws, it actually leveled the step a little.  

2/19/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Trimmed off several Passion fruit vines that were low hanging.  Had julienned Daikon cake for breakfast and lunch.  Had 10 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.  

2/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Prepared the grill for BBQ for my birthday, the lighter did ignite the gas with only a couple of tries.  Rode 25 minutes bike in the garage.  

2/21/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Decided to grill the beef purchased from H Mart today to avoid interruption from the rain which is likely starting tonight, will microwave them on Thursday before serving.

Switched the two mattresses, the master bedroom and the guest room, took 30 minutes and quite some effort as they are pretty heavy and flexible, since the one from the master bedroom ws 2 inches thicker, the master bedroom bed now appeared a bit too low, will see if Anita wants to raise the bed by reattaching the original posts of the bed frame but not today.

2/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.5L Kirkland Scotch, two dozen pasture egg, one pack mixed green, one hand banana, one pack (x10) Fuji apple, one pack Orange juice, and one tub cream cheese.  Placed several buckets near the feeder to help collect rain water and at the same time protecting the feeder bowl from splashed rain water.  Planed to make two dishes for my birthday tomorrow-one Korean BBQ beef and one sea food vegetable mix.

2/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Short and light rain observed in early morning then nothing during the day.  Prepared seafood vegetable dish after lunch, the only thing missing is the sauce which I will make just before serving.  Had 15 minutes MB with RM, EJ.  

2/24/2023: Got up at 8:20-one of the few times we got up this late at home.  Cleaned up backyard leaves on wet floor, some challenge.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, not that much but still challenging due to wet ground.  

2/25/2023: Got up at 7:00.  The garage side door is once again damaged by the rain, its fiber like inner on the lock side swelled up, sanded it off a bit for easier closing, applied Flex Seal spray on it, hope it can drive away the rain water and stay flat.  With Anita's help, we managed (after some try and error) to reattach the TaTaMi bed frame support, took nearly one hour.

Downloaded one more Kindle Prime reading book "The Longest Silence" by Debra Webb.

2/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Avoid food with high Purines-red meat, seafood, beer, and hard liquor.  Drove to Ying Wang's house with Anita and picked up 3 of her classmates to join their high school reunion at CCTE, stopped by Marina Grocery and picked up one pack beef tendon ball, one Daikon cake, 4 bag HFH spicy peanut, one pack small Gai Choy, 4 green Bell Pepper, one bag carrot, one set cucumber seeds, one pack thick bean curd, 3 cans (braised bean curd, vegetarian mock duck, braised gluten), one fried fish cake, one bag dried black fungus, one pack Escolar steak, and 4 Tomatoes, I gave the idea of buying a bento from their deli department as there were simply too many people waiting (coupon expiring soon by the end of the month plus it's Sunday), went home right after.  Anita called around 1:30 saying they will be ready to go at 2:00, I drove to Marina Grocery first and picked up a bento with no one ahead of me, waited at CCTE (found one parking space) and drove them back to Ying Wang's house.  

2/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased 3 pack Cauliflower vegetable pizza, one bottle 750ml Hook&Crook blend, one pack (x2) Extra Crunchy peanut butter, and two dozen uncaged egg.  Had 10 minutes MB with legs, no EJ.  The laundry room windowsill showed some water again, after checking the frame carefully, it appeared one corner was wet possibly due to cracks on the top side of the window frame outside, all fix material I have can only be applied on dry surface, had to wait......  Applied some Flex Seal spray on the top side of the window frame outside, hope it can stop the water from showing up on the windowsill.

2/28/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stopped by Costco and picked up one dozen bagel.  Paid LS400 DMV renewal fee online.

Found out our water heater stopped working-pilot's out, water at the base plus only warm water coming out of the faucet, tried but failed to reignite the pilot, it was installed by Doug on 3/5/2009, about time to quit, called the company and someone will be here tomorrow between 9 and 12 to take a look or replace it?!?!?!  

3/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Moved RX300 onto the driveway making room for the water heater repair crews to work.  The water heater guy arrived at 11:47 just before the 3 hour period (9-12) scheduled.  The quote for the new tank is $2681 which is more than 3 times the cost of $800 13 years ago, oh well.  The installation started at 11:22 and completed by 12:28.  This guy is working on salary not hourly so he's more efficient.

Water Heater contract.

Had my own hair trimmed, mostly OK except the back (the bottom tip I could not reach) and left side (a bit awkward to make the left side the same as the right side).  The water is hotter than our old "Normal" setting, may need to dial back a notch.  

3/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Checked and inflated RX300 tire pressure to near 30 lbs, cleaned up the tire frames as they were extremely dirty from dirt, brake dust, and rain.  

3/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Anita wanted to have her hair trimmed at Hong Kong but it wasn't open when we got there at 10:05, picked up one bento at 99 Ranch Market, put the bento back in the car and it's still not open, went back to 99 Ranch Market and purchased one pack carrot, 4 Fuji apple, one hand banana, two red onion, two bag HFH spicy peanut, and one bag Soy bean sprout.  The hair salon's open by this time, so Anita decided to get her hair trimmed while I walked home.  Anita was very unhappy the way her hair was cut and $40+$5 tip she paid for it, never going back said she.  My right toe and nearby cousins was especially painful today-after the walk back from 99 Ranch Market plus a couple of short runs, not even sure if my nightly wine fast did any good??????

3/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had 20 minutes MB with RM, EJ.  Filled feeder with original Meow Mix.

3/5/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Resumed wine/liquor consumption after nearly one week strict alcohol fast, the suspicion of toe gout diminishing, back to square one on what's going on with my painful toe though.  Got a cold possibly while feeding Miley and Molly.

3/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  The cold lingers, nose's like a open faucet......  We had hail around 3:45, appeared bigger than previous times.

Finished reading "Amazon First Reads "The Maid's Diary: A Novel" by Loreth Anne White.

3/7/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard leaves, not a whole lot though.  Filled the suspected Termite hole in the floor in Anita's study.  Geico mailed vehicle odometer info questionnaire, found out my last last questionnaire response was 9/11/2021, did some calculation and entered proper mileages in the form.

Sent the form to Geico.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Called Jason, he's still the same but could not sleep at night, and it appeared that he did not pick up call from Alex and had not contact anyone at all.

3/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, filled RX300 first at $4.399 per gallon, purchased one hand banana, one pack Mandarin orange, one pack Fuji apple, one pack mixed green, two dozen pasture egg, one bottle 64 oz Hazelnut creamer, one pack (x8) Angus burger, one bag vegetable chips, one bag Brazil nut, and one bag pumpkin seeds.  Anita headed to her luncheon with her friend at Stanford Medical Center around 9:54.  Cleaned up backyard leaves-not too much, walked 1000 steps in the backyard.  Anita's not back yet-2:25.  Called Anita again around 3:20, again no response.  The network stalled all of a sudden, that's when I called Anita again with my cell phone, she answered and is on her way home but the traffic was bad.  Anita finally got home at 4:35, it took her one hour and 30 minutes.

3/9/2023: Got up at 7:02.  Robert cancelled our table tennis today as he's sprained his waist.  Francisco came early at 10:37, since there wasn't much garden waste (leaves, lawn......), I moved the 3 feet wide garden waste pile near our Korean neighbor to the garbage bin so that I don't need to clean up a much bigger mess in the street tomorrow.  Anita is skipping gym today due to cold and wet weather plus she's likely used too much of her energy yesterday meeting her friend for nearly 7 hours.

3/10/2023: Got up at 7:08.  No leftover garden waste to clean up, yeah!  I don't remember when was the last time we had such a long wet winter......  Rode bike in the garage for 10 minutes.

3/11/2023: got up at 7:00.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports then visited Marukai, purchased one Daikon, one pack carrot, one pack Eringi mushroom, half Napa Cabbage, one pack thick slice toast bread, one Karei (fish), two Karaage chicken, one Shumai, one Unagi Futomaki, 6 small white potatoes, and one pack pork cutlet.  Waited at the back of City Sports for 30 minutes before picking up Anita and came home.  Covered the grill with its original pocket shape tarp.  Day Light Saving (Spring forward) starts at 1:00am tomorrow, adjusted the time on the thermometer, wooden wall clock, head stand radio/clock, and the small thermometer in the master bedroom.

3/12/2023: Got up at 8:25 (the old 7:25).  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  The feeder stopped dispensing food possibly starting since noon time, maybe it's getting old and started malfunctioning.

3/13/2023: Got up at 8:02.  Cleaned up all weeds in the backyard that were growing in between bricks and concrete blocks.  The feeder display was showing a setup in progress waiting for input mode, it most likely was triggered by the violent movement made by the black/white cat and Milly the morning before yesterday, the rain shield was out of place at the time, the feeder was shaken and changed its operation mode.  Reprogrammed the feeder (the buttons do not respond proper while trying to program) and need to watch the next few dispensing).  

3/14/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Very windy this morning, rain was moderate though.  Received Gillette Mach 3 razor handle and 2 blades from Amazon at 11:24.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one bottle Soy sauce, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Black label Whisky ($52.99+tax), and one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red label Whisky ($27.99+tax).

3/15/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Visited Walmart with Anita, picked up one small bag mint candy, three bananas, one bag Fuji apple, one pack Sunrise raisin, and 5 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, swing by Marina Grocery and purchased one pack fish ball, two bag HFH spicy peanut, one bottle 生抽, one bottle老抽, one bottle 5% Vinegar, one Taiwanese cabbage, one small can julienned bamboo, one can baby corn, one can small mushroom, one pack Neoguri fast noodle, two 出前一丁fast noodle, and one bunch green onion, Anita picked up two small containers of deli dishes.  Cleaned up backyard leaves with blower and broom/sweep, we finally see a real sunny day.

3/16/2023: Woke up at 4:30, got up at 5:00, had one glass of Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon before going back to bed around 5:30.  Got up at 7:30.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased two pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750ml Bellacosa Cabernet Sauvignon, one dozen cheese flavor bagel, two dozen pasture egg, and one can seaweed salad.  Had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Stephanie enquired Arlo camera replacement issues.

3/17/2023: Got up at 7:30.  The feeder was acting up again-no dispensing for the last two days, the display appeared normal, removed the cat food in it and cleaned the dispense roller area, put the cat food back but only to its original container max (suspecting it could no longer handle extra weight), left it in the family room, it did dispense adequate amount at 12:00, put  everything (except the extension cylinder) back, will, again, observe its behavior, maybe time to get a new one.  Had 10 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.

3/18/2023: Got up at 7:12.  Played 90 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage, shedded 355 calories.  

3/19/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Strong wind through early afternoon, the feeder seemed to be functioning, I forgot the first meal time was set to 8:00 instead of 8:20, too many reconfiguration confused myself.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ-very challenging!

3/20/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one pack carrot, one hand banana, one pack cattle fish ball, one pack Fu Zhoo fish pork ball, and one pack green bean, the checkout lines (only two open) were long, waited nearly 15 minutes for my turn, picked up one bento from their deli department, the backpack and the hand carried bento were pretty heavy, the whole trip was 59 minutes, 20 minutes more than my usual.

3/21/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Another rainy day, will last the whole day with occasional breaks.  Gusty wind started around 1:15, the old patio umbrella frame nearly blown off, went out in a better rain coat and put away the Tulip glass container on the deck, upright the patio umbrella frame.  Finished reading "The Longest Silence" by Debra Webb-Good suspense!!!!!!

3/22/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Cleaned up the restroom downstairs for Anita's guests this afternoon.  Cleaned up backyard leaves, some simply could not be lifted due to rain water on the ground.  Anita's two friends arrived at 1:15 and left at 3:50, I spent the duration in the guest room and watched some Castle and some Youtube videos.  

3/23/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Francisco arrived at 2:13 for the garden work, unusual for him.  Had 15 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.  

3/24/2023: Got up at 7:15.  My sprained right ankle is hurting bad I almost could not walk, asked Anita to get the crutch I used when my Achilles tendon was damaged 4 years ago, it helped a little.  My ankle seemed to feel better after breakfast.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, also pulled ALL weeds in between concrete flats (driveway and walkway) and sidewalk.  

3/25/2023: Got up at 7:32.  Even though we are short on fruits (apple, banana, etc), I decided not to visit any of the grocery stores (99 Ranch Market, H Mart, Marukai, and Marina Grocery) today to better heal my ankle.  

3/26/2023: Got up at 7:10.  iPad can now track Anita's location (as a person, not the device though), tried for a while when Anita set out to City Sports for her weekly shampoo, it worked for the first 3 minutes, when I checked back after 15 minutes, her location stayed at Lundy and Hostetter, no movement afterward, I was a bit worried and drove to that location but no sign of her, not sure if the tracking failed or what.  

3/27/2023: Got up at 7:31.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one bunch yellow Tulip, one pack Fuji apple, one pack Mandarins, one hand banana, one porch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750ml Chateau Des Rochers Merlot, one Cranberry Walnut bread, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Spring Mix, one pack organic mini Pepper, one pack (x12) Noosa Yogurt, and one Pepper Jack Cheese.  Walked the neighborhood with Anita: Septembersong court->Autumsong way->Lundy ave (dropped off some used clothes near the plaza)->Berryessa road->Junesong way->Springsong drive->Autumsong way->Septembersong court, took only 22 minutes.  Sharon posted an article in Facebook on Mom's 100-day passing.

3/28/2023: Got up at 7:15.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased two dozen 750ml Chateau Des Rochers Merlot-stocking up as we are running short of 2018 Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon.  Arranged the buckets several times as it rained as the wind the weight of the water either blown away or tipped.  Had 10 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  

3/29/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Nothing special for the day.

3/30/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Marina Grocery and purchased two HFH spicy peanut, one wooden ear (fungus), one can mushroom, 4 Jalapeño Pepper, one bag carrot, two pound ground pork, one can Pork Sung, one pack thin noodle, one fried fish cake, one pickled mustard, and one bag potato starch.  Discovered and removed one of the Passion fruit vines, damaged most likely from the strong wind that blown down (hanging around 30° angle) the old patio umbrella frame. Cleaned up falling leaves in the backyard.  Received Boston Advanced gas permeable contact lenses solution from Amazon at 3:51 (delivered at 3:47).

3/31/2023: Got up at 7:05.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, Anthropologie->Macys->Nordstrom->KoJa Kitchen (lunch and to-go dinner).  

4/1/2023: Got up at 7:05.  Decided not to walk to 99 Ranch Market as it was almost 11:00 after I finished kitchen chores.  Had 10 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ-good one but it seemed to affect my heart rhythm a bit, maybe it's getting to the end of this exercise.  

4/2/2023: Got up at 7:20.  It rained unexpectedly this morning, a deviation from the forecast.  Fixed one of the composite stepping boards near the Passion fruit vine planter box, one of the screws was broken just below the surface and the support lumber was a bit warped upward, removed the broken screw with plier, chipped away the uneven support lumber, used a longer screw to replace the broken one and reattached the stepping board.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports before I head out to H Mart, there were so many cars and no available parking in front of H Mart, discovered there were plenty of open spaces in the next block where Cathy Bank is, purchased one bunch organic rainbow carrot, one pack 甘藍, and one Bibimbap meal pack.

4/3/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market with a light jacket, it turned out colder than I thought-windy and windshield factor almost turned me around but I continued the walk, walked one big loop inside the market and purchased one bento, the whole walk took 46 minutes (9:42-10:28).  Separated the huge tarp I made combining two smaller ones when building the new composite deck, it served its purpose covering the deck area from rain, removed the staples and masking tapes, need to clean the dirt from the joining area before storing them.  The feeder is out of cat food.

4/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Reattached extension cylinder before filling the feeder.  Cleaned up backyard leaves with blower, cleaned up the two tarps, folded them into 2'x3' and placed them in the shed.  Dismantled the old stand-up vacuum we had for a long time but had been sitting in the garage collecting dust, dumped most of the parts except the motor and a couple of relating mechanism.  

4/5/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one hand banana, one pack (x9) Fuji apple, one Cranberry Walnut bread, two dozen pasture egg, two pack (x2 each) crunchy peanut butter, one pack (x8) Chicken pot pie, and one tub cream cheese.  Filled RX300 at $4.399/gal.  Received vehicle jumper cable from Amazon at 12:07 (retrieved at 12:24).  Reattached the swing patio bench to its base so it can swing again, abandoning original idea.

4/6/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Cleaned up backyard in-between bricks/concrete flat weeds, walked 15 minutes in the backyard paths, toe seemed to be OK.  Had 20 minutes MB with hand and RM, EJ.  Processed Johnnie Walker Black bottle and left the remaining in a small glass bottle.

4/7/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Spent 30 minutes cleaning up leftover garden waste in the street.  Walked 2000 steps in the backyard, cleaned up Oleander leaves and flowering stems, spent 20 more minutes trimming off more from the trees to reduce more fallings on the ground.  Finished reading "The Forgetting" by Hannah Beckerman.

4/8/2023: Got up at 7:05.  Visited Marukai after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased one pack carrot, one pack Japanese cucumber, two red onion, one bag bean sprout, one Unagi Futomaki, one pork cutlet, one Karaage (Chicken), and one Yakisoba.  Walked 2000 steps in the backyard.  Ordered one more pair Skecher shoes as I am wearing the 2019 ones indoor now since discovering they can greatly reduce the pain in my right toe.

4/9/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Trimmed off more Oleander dead flower stems, had to climb higher on the ladder.  

4/10/2023: Got up at 7:21.  Cleaned up backyard leaves with blower.  Had 20 minutes MB with legs, no EJ.  Reroute several Passion fruit vines over the deck, installed one steel wire over to help rerouting.  Received Skecher shoes and Dr. Scholl's insole from Amazon at 2:19 (I picked up at 2:20), the shoes were way too tight, noticed the fabrics was different which made it hard to stretch and looks like I'll have return it.  Ordered exactly the same one I purchased on October 9, 2021, hopefully they use the same design and material.  

4/11/2023: Woke up at 4:15, went downstairs and had one cup of red wine before going back to bed around 5:30.  Got up at 7:31.  Walked nearly 50 minutes in the backyard.

Received the Skecher from Amazon at 11:26 (picked up at 11:31), the new shoe fitted even better than the one I ordered on October 9, 2021.  Had 20 minutes MB with mini, EJ-good one!  Anita returned the Skecher shoes for me at the UPS store next to City Sports.

4/12/2023: Got up at 7:12.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one hand banana, one pack (x8) Fuji apple, one pack (x12) Artisan roll, two dozen pasture egg, one bag BiBigo Wonton, one pack (x2) organic Raisin, one bottle 1.7L Johnnie Walker Blue label Scotch Whisky, one pack beef short rib, and one pouch 3.L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, Anita used her UA Chase Explorer card for bonus (qualified with >$150 purchase).  Trimmed more Oleander flower dead flower stems.  

4/13/2023: Got up at 7:15.  Visited Costco by myself, found and purchased 5 pack (x5 each ) Colgate advanced formula tooth paste, Anita was surprised I bought 5 pack, turned out she only wanted one pack...... our discussion of 5 pack was due to online purchase requires>$75 for free delivery......  Walked about 30 minutes in the backyard, had to stop since the Achilles tendon in my right foot was hurting, not to exacerbate it.  

Spent another 30 minutes trimming and cleaning Oleander dead flower stems.  Tried to read Amazon book on the swing chair in the backyard, not a good time as it's too hot with direct sun but cold under the shade.

4/14/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Walked 30 minutes in the backyard, listening to MB video sound did help.  Trimmed off more dead Oleander flower stems near our backdoor neighbor.  BBQ Korean style beef, but only consumed half, turned out the cost of Korean style beef from Costco was less than half that of from H Mart.

4/15/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Visited H Mart after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased one bunch rainbow carrot (the dark purple ones were really small, the bunch I chose only had one), one pork dumpling, one California roll, one Taiwanese Cabbage, 4 small Chinese egg plant, two bunch green onion, four green Bell Pepper, and one Bibimbap.  

4/16/2023: Got up at 7:35.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ-tired afterward, getting closer to the end?!?!?!  Had Johnnie Walker Black with cookies, may have created gas and upset my stomach, throughout the afternoon, dinner and into the evening.  The 5W led light in the ceramic lighthouse is dimming, maybe time to replace it.  Order 2 pack (x2) of different brands from Amazon.  

4/17/2023: Got up at 7:00-a first in a long time.  Ground one can coffee bean.  Tried open up master bedroom toilet with toilet auger.

Not sure how effective it is though, or did not help at all?!?!?!  Made 4 wood strips to strengthen the patio chairs.

Installed the 4 wood strips prepared this morning and secured them with screws and wood glue.

The effect of added support of the two patio chair was good although one of them wobbles a bit most likely due to deteriorating wood and the screw combination.  Received 2 pack Neanete E17 3W led light (for the ceramic lighthouse).

4/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  It rained during the night, my converted leather sandals were soaked in rain water.  Walked 60 minutes in the backyard.

Received TAIYALOO E17 5W LED light bulbs (for the ceramic lighthouse) from Amazon at 11:52 (picked up at 12:02).  Finished reading Amazon Prime book "The Lost Victim" by Jennifer Hunter.  Tied several Passion fruit vines under the patio umbrella frame to the top.  Made one piece wood strip from an old fence board, Anita wanted to use it as gap filler in the backyard.  

4/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited IKEA in Palo Alto with Anita, had a mid-morning snack after entering IKEA, strolled through their displays before getting lunch (salad for Anita, Chicken tender for me).  Received Anita's hair dye from Amazon at 11:33 (picked up at 12:57 after returning from IKEA).  Walked 58 minutes in the backyard.

4/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marina Grocery by myself, purchased 4 bag HFH spicy peanut, one pack preserved/dried pork belly, one pack sweet pickled turnip, one pack pork sparerib, one pack pork shank boneless, one pack thick bean curd, 4 Fuji apple, one pack small Gai Choy, one hand banana, 4 white potatoes, one bag soy bean sprout, one string garlic, and one pack chicken mid joint wing, picked up one bento and one Vietnamese snack.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  

4/21/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack Strawberry, one bag Macadamia nut, two Areds 2, one Nature Bounty Fish Oil, two dozen pasture egg, one bag large raw shrimp, one bag Pistachio, and one bag Pumpkin seed.  Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.  

Spent 30 minutes cleaning up leftover garden waste in the street, once again the pickup truck did a GOOD job distributing garden waste from 4 different families all over the cul-de-sac.  Helped Anita dyed her hair for their Las Vegas reunion next weekend. 

4/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had a sumptuous breakfast.

Cleaned up backyard leaves Passion fruit and Oleander......).  Made two diagonal wood strips and one small rectangular piece to fix the gap and wart hole on the fence to our back door neighbor.

4/23/2023: Got up at 7:15.  Caught a cold, possibly from a colder temperature than yesterday, this morning.  Received stainless steel grill rack from Amazon at 4:22.

4/24/2023: Got up at 7:02.  Walked 20 minutes in the backyard.  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Adjusted the location and depth of the two bricks, removed some soil from the gap before laying down the wood strip-they are at the same level now.

4/25/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one bag carrot, one hand banana, one pack Oyster mushroom, and 4 Fuji apple, the walk took 45 minutes (9:25-10:10).  

4/26/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Walked 35 minutes in the backyard.  

4/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, got one pouch 3.L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one pack (x8) Danish, and one organic Spring Mix.  Walked 42 minutes in the backyard.

Sent several more points of interest of Paris to IShing.  

4/28/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Walked in the backyard for 50 minutes.

Took yard flower photos:

Tried to request a free beginner Yoga kit from Silver&Fit, but was rejected since I ordered the Fitbit on 9/26/2022, apparently the one year starts from the day of ordering not per calendar year.  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Changed iMac trackpad batteries.

4/29/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Left the house at 9:25 with Anita, picked up Ying Wang at her house and dropped them off at San Jose airport, they are on their way to TFGH reunion in Las Vegas for two nights-met nearly all red traffic lights throughout the trip.  Stopped by Costco, discovered I could not purchased roasted chicken drums as their Rotisserie department is closed until Monday, got one pack uncooked frozen Tyson chicken breast.  Walked 42 minutes (10 minutes in Costco and 32 minutes in the backyard).

Swept up most Wisteria flowers in the ground, half went into the recycle bin and half onto the planter box under the fake Cherry tree.  Need to ask Anita for her new Explorer card info to update Geico charge info.  Had 15 minutes MB with RM, no EJ-tender.  Anita called at 2:18, got her credit card expiration and updated Geico payment info.

4/30/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited H Mart at 9:10, most likely too early for the pork dumpling and Bibimbap I bought the last two times, but got one pack California roll, one Korean Daikon, one pack Gai Choy, and 6 Fuji apple.  Missed Anita's call at 9:00, but called and reached her while she's brewing bowel movement.  Got stung several times by rose thorn while removing yellow leaves, a couple of the wound bled, took care of them with liquid band aid.  Made 6 more 1 1/2' boards for gap coverage.

5/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Attached the thin wood strips to the fence post gaps.  Cleaned up the table saw before covering it with plastic sheet, getting it ready for possible rain later today.  Anita called at 11:22, they are at Las Vegas airport waiting already.  Filled feeder-it had stopped dispensing since last night.  Left for San Jose airport around 2:25 (delayed arrival time is 2:39), there was no cell phone waiting spot available, I circled around the airport and stopped at a business building on technology Dr, Anita called, she suspect it will be a while before their luggage came out and suggested I park in airport garage instead which I did-at lot 3 across the street from domestic baggage claim/exit.  They came out only a few minutes after I parked my car, an added task was to send Elle home first (Daniel had to go to Phenix), possibly aded 40 more minutes sending Elle home.

5/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, picked up one dozen Dynamite Red Blend, one hand banana, one pack Salmon filet, two dozen pasture egg, one bag BiBiGo mini Wonton, one can unsalted mixed nut, one Cranberry Walnut bread, and one Nature' Bounty Probiotic 10.  Anita called Rushmore Tours and got confirmation that they will pick us up at the hotel at 8:30 (even though the stated tour start at 8:15, but it actual starts at 9:00) on 5/8/2023-good news, I only need to reserve transportation to and from Rapid City airport and Hotel Alex Johnson).  Discovered Rapid City is in MDT, one hour ahead of us.  Tried booking, at around 12:45", airport shuttle to our hotel at City Cab, their "Quick reservation" to be made not later than 24 hours, waited but got no response until 2:01 saying I am confirmed, strange......

Will try to book our return shuttle on the 7th (the second day of our arrival) using the same quick reservation.  Had 25 minutes MB with mini, EJ.

5/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Struggling with iMac accessing Chase secure site, also Anita's iPad access to Chase.  Updated Anita's iPad to iPadOS 16.4.1, and tried accessing Chase...... but no luck!  Backed up my iPad, took several hours, tried but failed several times backing up Anita's iPhone, it appeared to be working right now but will keep my fingers crossed.  Backup of Anita iPhone was successful, also backed up Anita's iPad Air.  Will put backup disk in the attic tomorrow.

5/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Sent return (Hotel Alex Johnson to Rapid City airport) transportation request to City Cab.  Backed up MacBook Pro to keep current iPads and iPhone data.  Moved my wallet and the two backup disks to the attic.  Walked in the backyard for 25 minutes.  Anita's off to have lunch with her TFGH classmates in Milpitas.  Got return transportation confirmation from Deanna of City Cab.

Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  

5/5/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, the mess was above average combined with rain water in the street made the task harder, took me 30 minutes, sweaty as I finished the task.  Walked 62 minutes in the backyard.

Checked in United flights for tomorrow, for some reason, our San Jose to Denver flight became United First and our seats are now 2E and 2F, boarding group #1-a first ever.

Our Denver to Rapid City remained in economy and boarding group 2.

5/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Decided not to bring along my backpack as the tote bag is getting a bit too large to handle or take on the plane.  Mr. Shu (舒) picked up us at 12:10 (10 minutes late), got to SJC around 12:30, we thought wrong that our UA flight is in terminal B, Sue followed our suggestion but had to circle around to get off at terminal where we thought is for international flight only, I paid him $45 ($10 more for his trouble).  Got through security and arriving gate 6 at 12 45.  Boarded the flight at 1:46.  Had a late afternoon lunch in the United First cabin, economy class passengers can only purchase snack/sandwich.  The flight landed at Denver at 5:26, 9 minutes ahead of schedule.  Our connecting flight UA1074 is late, we waited first at the group 2 line and boarded the flight at 7:45, there were many babies in the two final rows behind us.  The plane took off at 8:21 (scheduled at 7:34) and landed at Rapid City at 9:03 (scheduled at 8:43)-there must have been a strong tail wind since the whole trip was only 42 minutes, much faster than the scheduled 69 minutes.  Our City Cab driver called twice while we were still in the plane taxing, by the time we got out and called him, he’s left the airport, it took him 15 minutes to return, the run from the airport to Hotel Alex Johnson took another 20 minutes, it was 10:18 when we finally checked in and got to our room 819.  Took a long time to fall asleep.

5/7/2023: Woke up many many time, got up at 7:10 local time.  Had the leftover bun and pastry from our first flight UA2488 yesterday plus room coffee and our own stewed egg and IKEA meat ball for breakfast.  Strolled through Rapid City historic part of the streets, took many photos of past president sculptures, had lunch at Carls Junior/Hardee’s.  Anita visited the Starbucks downstairs and got 3 pastries for breakfast tomorrow, the cashier automatically added 21% tip for herself, shameless!

5/8/2023: Got up at 6:35.  The tour shuttle picked us up at Hôtel Alex Johnson at 8:11, shuttle driver Jerry picked up 3 more people before driving to Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper & Show, since it’s the beginn8ng of the season, there was only one bus with 21 people-which is good, no heavy crowd.  We left the lot and started the tour, first stop is Mount Rushmore National Memorial, had lunch at a lodge in Custer, visited Black Hills and Crazy Horse Memorial before heading back, $10 for Billy, our bus driver, and another $5 for Jerry, our shuttle driver, got back to the hotel around 6:00.  Neogriego noodle, bean curd, IKEA meat ball plus Bok Choy for dinner, two more Neoguri noodle and 4 meat balls for breakfast tomorrow.

5/9/2023: Go up at 6:25, had Neiguri noodle (two bag) plus 4 IKEA meatball for breakfast.  Called City Cab to confirm 8:50 pickup, the guy answering the phone sounded like the same one at the airport.  Checked out at 8:15.  Since the flight will be full, I checked in my carry on tote bag at the gate (per gate crew’s recommendation) and avoid risking no space for it on the flights, thinking it won’t be too bad even if the tote bag somehow got delayed.  We got to pre-board the flight with the tagged tote bag.  Boarded the flight at 10:50, flight took off at 11:30.  It landed in Denver at 12:26.  Boarded flight UA1057 at 1:04, a big guy sits next to me, oh well.  After some delay the captain informed us there’s a mechanic problem with the oxygen system, saying it will be fixed in a short while, but after nearly half an hour the problem persisted, after another 15 minutes, the plane finally was set to go but we did not take off for another 20 minutes, finally UA1057 took off at 2:31 (Denver time) and landed in SFO at 3:49.  Joe (the one who retired but was called back to help) rode us home from SFO, got home at 5:25-the traffic was BAD.  Restored all hide away device, wallets, keys, and disks. 

5/10/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 68 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Cleaned up backyard leaves (Passion fruit and Oleander mostly), trimmed off most accessible small fake Cherry new shoots as they were infected by bugs.  Hosed off bird drop stains on the deck.  

5/11/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, filled up RX300 for $4.199 first since there weren't many people there, purchased one hand banana, one dozen Bagel, one pack Ox tail, one pack mini Pepper, one poach 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack crispy party wing, two dozen pasture egg, one bottle Olive oil, one pack mushroom, and one pack grape tomato.  Had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Received one of the in sole ordered from Amazon at 5:17, heel portion was too thick for my intended toe support......

5/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Removed the mini blind in the kitchen, finding ways to fix it if possible.  Found customizable mini blinds at HomeDepot, carefully measured the dimension and placed order, to be delivered on 5/26/2023.

Walked 45 minutes in the backyard.

Received replacement in sole (Ltohoe) from Amazon at 3:06 (picked up at 3:27 after making dinner).  

5/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marukai after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased 6 Romaine (Roma) Tomato, 6 red Potato, two pack carrot, two red onion, one bunch Asparagus, one pack Nigiri Sushi, 6 Fuji apple, one pack ground pork, one Karaage (Chicken), and one Unagi Futomaki, stopped by Lowes and got two pack paver base before waiting for Anita at City Sports.  

5/14/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed Wisteria vines and branches to keep it clear off the fence, also removed a lot leftover flower support shoots, need to do this more often.

5/15/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up the deck a bit with steamer, not a complete job but for now, will have to wash the deck first before steaming it.  Moved most of mb photos from Nexus 5 phone to Google Drive 000-mb, plan to reset Nexus 5 to factory settings to reduce information leaking danger.  Started resetting the Nexus 5 at 4:20...... It's sort of done by 5:10, but it seemed to be unable to finish software update, kept asking to restart and finish update but never really end.

5/16/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked 40 minutes to/from 99 Ranch Market, did not buy anything.

Received my Skechers sandals from Amazon at 12:19-delivered by USPS.

5/17/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Walmart with Anita, there wasn't any Barefoot Riesling, got 4 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato instead, also purchased one bottle 750ml Stella Rosa Stella Berry, one pack quart size freezer bag, and two 16 lbs original Meow Mix, stopped by Marina Grocery and got four bag HFH spicy peanut, one bottle Sriracha sauce, one bottle sesame oil, one pack GaiLan, 5 Fuji apple, one pack thick bean curd, one pack spare rib, one bag plum meat, one can Iodized salt, and one pack Taiwanese sausage.  Received Electrolyte tablets from Amazon at 7:40.

5/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 65 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage, used handshake paddle throughout.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

5/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one bottle Johnnie Walker Red, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one hand banana, one box Spring Mix, one bottle 64 oz Hazelnut creamer, two dozen pasture egg, one bag BiBiGo beef Mandu, one pack (x12) Noosa yogurt, and one pack grape Tomato, surprisingly no big crowd for Friday.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, the pile of mowed lawn near our Korean neighbor was possibly too close to the curb since most of it wasn't picked up by the collector truck, Mr. Kim returned home while I was sweeping that pile and helped finishing the task.  Manually cut the two potatoes into thin threads (finely julienned?), planned to make hash browns tomorrow morning.  

5/20/2023: Got up at 7:00. Visited Lowes after dropping off Anita at City Sports, find a new toilet water supply line from the same manufacturer (Fluidmaster), stopped by H Mart and purchased two pack organic carrot (the regular carrot I was going to buy was way to big a bag), 6 Fuji apple, and one Bibimbap meal.  Discovered that the newly purchased replacement supply line upper adapter is much wider that the original and simply could not be installed, I tried to widen the gap between the connector and the toilet but failed, finally came up with a solution-cutting off the entire outer part of the new adapter and was able to connect the new line, pending water test observation for the next few days before declaring a success.

The new supply line with wide turning knob removed.  

5/21/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Started working on the deck walkway, it appeared that leveling it would be more challenging.  Received the new mini blind from Home Depot through FedEx at 11:14, 5 days earlier than scheduled.  Studied the installation a bit, looks like I can attach the holder brackets to the top of the window wall, 3/4" away from the side wall.  

5/22/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Walked 36 minutes in the backyard.

Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Installed new brackets for the new mini blinds, discovered the center support hardware in the attached box, removed the new mini blinds and installed the center support hardware, finished the whole installation after reattaching the mini blinds.

5/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Discovered at least one of the main Passion fruit branches were dying identified by many tethering vines-need to trim fro their base.  Spent 50 minutes working on the deck walkway, realized the different width of the composite board is another challenge leveling the walkway.

5/24/2023: Got up at 7:00.   Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack (x8) Danish, one pack (x3) English cucumber, one tub cream cheese, one pack Artisan Romaine lettuce, and two dozen Milestone Cabernet Sauvignon, looked through all refrigeration section but could not find any cheese popper as promoted by an e-mail received yesterday.  Searched Costco website and found out it's for delivery only purchase, it charges $11 for "keep frozen" delivery service, never mind.  Finished repaying deck walkway, it's still not perfect (can not be as these small boards all have different size) but I believe I did the best that can be done, may want to replace the bricks alone with the boards all together if uneven situation recurs.  

5/25/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Cleaned up (with sweep only) backyard Oleander leaves and flower buds.  Watered front porch flowers.  Discovered most (95%) of the Passion fruit vines on the patio umbrella frame were dying, traced and found out they were all from the sick branch, will gradually trim them AND the sick branch off.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, no EJ.

5/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leaves and Kim family's leftover garden waste in the street.  Walked 28 minutes in the backyard.

Started another section of the backyard sidewalk leveling task, shifted and lowered one of the large brick to allow more space for the wood pieces.  

5/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Feeling a little light headed, balancing issue??????  Visited Marukai after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased one hand banana, one pack egg plant )Japanese Nasubi), 6 Fuji apple, one bag bean sprout, 3 pack fish ARA trimming (good size, not really small-piece ones), one California roll, one Yakisoba, one pack Jalapeño, two Broccoli crown, one pack carrot, and one pork cutlet.  It took me nearly 35 minutes to get back to City Sports as there was a traffic accident on 280.  Stopped by Robert's house to pick up the black berries he grew, he's going back to Taiwan day after tomorrow, his famous uncle (the right hand man of 台朔) had passed away.  Restored bedroom Echo, Amazon Alexa app made it very easy to reconnect/reconfigure it.  Filled feeder.

5/28/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Leveled one more brick near the fountain.  Booked 2 senior Express Bus tickets from Tromsø airport to Radisson Blu Hotel for 8/2/2023.

Had 10 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.  Walked 20 minutes in the backyard after dinner.

5/29/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Finished the leveling and reposition task plus laying the gap pieces near the fountain.

Invented eggplant dish, will know how they turn out at dinner time.  

Trimmed Passion fruit vines that were withering due to dying branches, it's a big task as the vines travel all around, tracing them is a huge challenge.  

5/30/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack (x2) Skippy super chunky peanut butter, two dozen pasture egg, one pack (x10) Noosa Yogurt, and one bottle (64 oz) Kokomo soy sauce.  Stopped by Peet's at Oakland and Brokaw at 10:00 to meet Ching Hu and Jason Wang.  They arrived at 10:12, Ching treated us coffee and pastry but I had nothing as I already had coffee this morning, we ended the conversation around 12:20, Jason is walking with a cane now, Ching had more grey hair, his wife's still working, obviously not for money though.

5/31/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stopped by Costco to fill up RX300 for Anita's Friday trip to Filoli but the pump I used could not pump without holding it manually, and it shut off every few seconds, I ended up adding only 4.17 gallon at $4.39/gal, will possibly come back later for more.  Installed GoogleOne VPN on my iPad, tried but fail to install it on my MacBook Pro as it requires MacOs 11.0 and later but this MacBook Pro max out on 10.15.7.  Cleaned up kitchen windows inside and outside, also washed the screen shield.  Trimmed off quite a few new Wisteria vines, they were sprouting so fast.  Trimmed several withered Passion fruit vines, it's gradually getting too hot to do yard work.  Installed and enable VPN on my Pixel 6 Pro and Anita's iPad Air.  After updating Google One one Anita's iPhone 6 Pro, had to do something special to turn on VPN and still be able to connect to Wi-Fi (remember to reverse when removing VPN).

A note on turning on VPN, it increase data usage, it also reduces battery life.  Discovered my gmail 2-factor authentication had already been in place.

6/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander and Passion fruit leaves, put them in the garbage bin instead so that I don't need to clean them in the street tomorrow.  The feeder stopped working, likely since this morning, found out there was totally no display, checked the battery to be in OK range, since there were a few Skunks roaming near the feeder, at least one of them was moving violently under the feeder, most likely damaged by it, but when I removed the bottom of the feeder to check inside, there was water inside, pondered a while and realized I did spray water while cleaning the bench, some of the ater must have been drained over and short circuited the feeder, my bad.  The feeder started working on 1/6/2017 and terminated on 6/1/2023.  Will start searching for replacement on Amazon soon.  Ordered a replacement feeder from Amazon, to be delivered tomorrow.

Walked 34 minutes in the backyard.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

Purchased tickets to Baltimore for NCL cruise in September.  I could only apply my part (1/2) of the fare with my travel credit, need to use the remaining (~$116) before the end of this year.

6/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Anita left for Filoli around 9:00.   Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street before heading to 99 Ranch Market-driving not walking as my right toe is a bit painful, purchased one bag (2 lbs) carrot, one pack (x3) green onion, one head Cauliflower, 6 Fuji apple, one pack pork cube, one bag bean sprout, and one hand banana.  Got text from Anita just before I arrived home.  Anita called at 12:28, she's coming back.  Received feeder from Amazon at 12:45 (picked up at 1:12).  Traced and removed most of the withered Passion fruit vines over the Cherry tree.  Removed the Passion fruit branch that was the source of all withering vines.

6/3/2023: Got up at 7:24.  Dropping off Anita at City Sports before heading to Marina Grocery, picked up one fried fish cake, one pack (x6) sweet steam bread, one pack dried pork belly, one pack (x4) Neoguri seafood noodle, one Taiwanese cabbage, one pack small Gai Choy, two bag HFH spicy peanut, one pack (x6) preserved duck egg, and one bag dried shrimp.  Since it was only 11:00 I decided to stop by Walmart where I purchased 3 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling.  I got lost trying to find 880 south, struggled and finally made my back to 880 south after mistakenly got on 880 North even with Google Map's help.  

6/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed more withered Passion fruit vines on top of the planter box near the fake Cherry tree.  Examined the old feeder's protective enclosure, the new feeder can fit inside after 5 smaller gap fillers were removed, need to make a couple of new gap filler plus a modified front panel so that feeder chute won't be blocked.

6/5/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red label, one pack large Portobello mushroom, one pack roasted chicken drum, one bag Peet's coffee bean, one bag BibiGo beef Mandu, two dozen pasture egg, one pack (x4) firm tofu, and one seafood salad.  Added ~$25 Octane 91 for LS400 for $4.599/gal, Costco had all huge pines removed from the corner of Hostetter road and Automation parkway, taking down them is such a shame.  

Two narrow but long pieces were added to fill the gaps after unconventional gap fillers (new feeder would not fit with them) were removed.

The lower part of front panel had to be trimmed off to expose the food chute.

6/6/2023: Got up at 7:08.  It started to rain around 9:45, postponed from 2:00am as forecasted, don't remember when was the last time we had rain in June.  The new feeder enclosure still has several issues to solve: gap between the feeder and the enclosure sides, gap at the back of the feeder, kind of loose feeder bowel, and the power connection location and source.  More design ideas were contemplated.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ-hard one to achieve.

6/7/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Made a bottom board to support the feeder bowl, will need to secure the bowl to the bottom base as well as the support board.  Applied transparent Flex Seal to it.

Going back and forth on how to place the feeder-with back to the bench or front to the back of the enclosure panel, each has its own flaws, currently leaning toward the first option.

6/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one Napa Cabbage, 4 Roma Tomato, one pack green bean, and one pack Cherry.

The Cherries looked weird as majority of them were twins (in odd shape), plus nearly a quarter of them was rotten.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ-good one.  Anita's City Sports friends (Julia, Pattyy, and Rose) took her out for her Birthday dinner, I had fast noodle plus one chicken drum.  Anita came back at 6:08, way earlier than I expected.

6/9/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Secured feeder riser board to the base with 4 screws, secured feeder bowl (from the old feeder) to the base with two screws, assembled the whole new feeder enclosure and voila, all done pending successful operation verification.  

Made 3 dishes for our 43rd anniversary.

6/10/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited Costco after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased one set Apple Air Pod(3rd generation), one pack (x6) Cheese and Berry Pastry, two pack (x2 each) Cauliflower pizza, one hand banana, one pair slipper, one can seaweed salad, one pack Canadian bacon, one pack D size battery (for the feeder), and one pack (x12) Noosa Yogurt.  Swing by H Mart and got one lunch pack and three Korean Melon (香瓜).  Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, also cleaned up most Passion fruit leaves.  

6/11/2023: Got up at 7:25.  Replaced one of the gap fillers for the fence to backdoor neighbor.

Re-leveled the ground gap fillers for one of the planting areas.

Made enough same length (width is smaller) gap fillers for the largest planting area-to replace shorter ones in place, need to level them later.  

Started contacting gutter repair shop.

6/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Got a response from the gutter shop, but no concrete time for inspection yet (8:45 am).  Walked 25 minutes in the backyard, moved the 17 ft ladder to the Wisteria side, need to remove some new vines, hurt my left hand while reconfiguring the ladder.  Trimmed several Wisteria vines that were reaching over our back door neighbors, they are sprouting so fast, had to watch them weekly.  

6/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Discovered that the old pruner had 2 screws loose during sharping process, tightening them and washed with detergent+vinegar+baking soda mix, it felt (not look) like new now.  There's still no normal response from the gutter repair service, texted the handyman to see if he's available.  With the remaining cleaning liquid, I managed to clean up the 1/2 bath sink, the kitchen sink (x2), and the master bedroom shower.  Started trimming Oleander branches too close to our Korean as well as Vietnamese neighbors.  Cut off two large branches over the fence with our Korean neighbor, this cleared up their fruit tree (peach?) sunlight access.  Had 20 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  

6/14/2023: Got up at 7:14.  Discovered the handyman I texted on Monday did call on Tuesday but I simply did not notice, will call him a little later.  Called Adan Lamas the handyman, he'll come by to take a look but no time was given though, plus his English was a bit challenge to comprehend.  No new message from the handyman as of 4:30 pm.  Moved all backyard trimmings/garden waste to curbside, saving Francisco some trouble tomorrow.  

6/15/2023: Got up at 7:08.  No message from the handyman, now I am not sure if he said to give him address or whatever.....  I was planning to remake the tools/misc table just outside of th family room sliding door, but after carefully examined the current setup, I realized it's going to be a really big job which I am not, currently, ready to tackle, need to ponder how to make it better by some simple add-ons.  Walked 55 minutes in the backyard, achieving both goals (heart points and steps).

Tried, again, to unclog master bedroom toilet with toilet auger, hope it help somewhat.

6/16/2023: Got up at 7:02.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one pack Cherry, one pack (x7) Fuji apple, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Jalapeño Jack cheese, one box mixed green, and one pack (x8) Cherry and cheese pastry, filled up RX300 with 89 Octane at $4.399/gal.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, took 30 minutes.  Removed the remaining of one electrical wire from the garage ceiling (one portion was used in the installation of family ceiling light fixture.

Received two pack Tapo C210 camera and two 64G micro SD cards from Amazon at 2:30.  Watered front lawn for 40+30 minutes.

6/17/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  Trimmed a lot new Wisteria vines, boy do they sprout fast.  Pondered a couple of days on adding AC power to the feeder, there were too many challenges, the live wire (need to turn off power to work on it), hard to access wire connectors in the outlet to connect wires, protection of the wires with conduits, a separate receptacle is needed to attach the feeder USB power adapter, routing of the conduits......, decided not to tackle them at this time, will use batteries for now, need to check battery level regularly.  Installed the new Tapo C210 cameras, put them just outside of the garage side door to monitor who were pooping there!

6/18/2023: Got up at 7:02.  Reconfigured the feeder dinner portion from 8 to 6, the battery level remained at 2 out of 3 bars.  the bottom gap of the fence to our Korean neighbor had been filled with steel metal sheets long ago, but the one closest to our backdoor neighbor has been abused by small animals, the enhancement wood pieces I screwed in was broken lately, removed the metal sheet, made lumber gap fillers, will secure them after coming back from ValleyFair.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, the schedule on Google Map claimed 11:00 opening hour but the Mall door had been open when we got there at 10:38, figured there must be a special event since it's Father's Day today.  Strolled around a bit, Anita bought 2 candles (on sale now, nearly 2/3 off) she liked the last we visited at Anthropologie.

Had lunch at KoJa Kitchen plus ordered one Ahi Tuna salad for dinner, the parking garage gate open to let us out by reading the license plate, we got to keep the ticket which stated our activity timestamp.  Secured the gap filler replacements, not pretty but should work well.

6/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Inspected and installed 5 small lumber pieces to cover the gap below the entrance gate.

Leveled, again, the wooden gap fillers near the succulents, the weight of these wood pieces were simply not enough to hold themselves down, walking over them will cause problem unless they are surrounded by cement.  Anita called the handyman and he responded right away, came over and quoted $380 for the gutter repair job, his English is pretty limited but talking face to face made it easier to comprehend, he's coming tomorrow morning at 8:30.  

6/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Adan and his son arrived at 8:35, preparation took a lot of time, which is good.  I cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, trimmed several low hanging branches.  The job was completed at 10:30, will not know if it works until the next big rain.  

Leveled a couple of wooden gap filler near the apple tree, took 30 minutes.

6/21/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack Olay, one pack ROC, one pack Perricone MD, one pack Strawberry, one pack Gold Kiwi, one pack short rib, one pack (x6) Sardine, one bag Pumpkin seed, one pack (x2 bottle) non-alcohol margarita, one bottle Kirkland Tequila, and one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon.  Rest most of the day as my lower right back was hurting possibly from leveling the large bricks yesterday.

6/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Both sides of the side gate had their filler pebbles dug out, possibly by the skunk trying to get into our backyard, this plus the gate had some problem closing due to warped gate and locking post, need to come up with a solution that can solve both issues.  After trying a couple failed ideas, I finally fixed the gate problem-Relocate the lower door hinge so that the door is now move balanced in terms of straightness, attached two piece lumber pf the same width to cover the gap between the door and the post, it's not pretty but serve the purpose.

Rode 20 minutes bike in the garage.

6/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Applied lawn fertilizer while Anita watering it, hope this helps make it greener.  Stayed mostly in the house as my irregular heart beat acted up again.

6/24/2023: Got up at 7:29.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports before stopping by Lowes, checked their exterior paint and realized it is now extremely expensive, one gallon exterior paint costs over $70, decided to halt on purchase until I really need it.  Swing by H Mart and purchased three Korean melon, three Fuji apple, one pack fried tofu, one bag bean sprout, one string garlic, one bag carrot, one pack Gailan, one bunch green onion, one Beef Kimbap, and one Bibimbap, waited at City Sports side parking lot for 45 minutes before picking up Anita.

6/25/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had lunch at In-N-Out, we each had one protein burger, plus one order small fries, the protein burger had only one slice of tiny beef patty, did not feel eaten much at all.  Stopped by Trader Joes and purchased one pack garlic and cheese stick, one pack muffin with blueberry, and one organic Peppermint, swing by Marshalls and got one black Pepper corn with grinder and one 33 oz New Zealand honey.  Stopped at Lowes on our way home to purchase one Kohler toilet tank flapper.  First attempt to install the flapper failed as I could not put the rigid back holder (the original was a all rubber product with a continuous thick string as the back holder) into place, after going back and read the instruction I was able to insert the de-attached holder first before connecting the flapper onto the holder.  Watered the soil under the wooden gap filler lumbers, will add some more wet sand base to those that are still wobbling tomorrow.  Ordered one bottle 33.8 oz Paul Mitchell shampoo at $30.50 (was $22.00 just 2 years ago) from Amazon, to be delivered tomorrow between 4:00 am and 8:00 am.

6/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  The Paul Mitchell shampoo arrived at 5:30 am (picked up at 7:50), delivery was done by private sedan though.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Re-examined the wooden gap fillers and leveled the ones that were a bit off.  Rode 20 minutes bike in the garage.  Secured all wooden gap filler lumbers to the soil ground, a total of 22 4" and 22 2-1/2" screws were used.

6/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers-they produced these fast and in large quantity, nearly filled up the garbage bin.  Trimmed off all Birds of Paradise flower stems, there were no new blossom in sight.

Transplanted the five cucumber seedlings to the small planter box, added some new soil from our compost, setup an animal barrier at the border of the planter box.

Had 40 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ.

6/28/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Helped trimming several rose stems in the fron porch, cleaned up spider webs on the porch ceiling.  Discovered there's more issues to tackle installing Tapo camera in the front porch, I may have to abandon the idea-in fact all three possible locations for new Tapo cameras have their own issue, none are easy to solve.  Trimmed off the rotten edge of the old fence boards, cut each remaining portion in half, ready to install them similarly.  Filled the feeder-not a single bit was in it, quite effective.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers.  Secured the feeder housing weather shade with one more screw/washer.  

6/29/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one hand banana, two dozen pasture egg, one pack grape tomato, one pack BibiGo dumpling, one pack (x12) muffin, one bag pumpkin seed, one bag Chili Tamari, one bottle 1.75 L black label Johnnie Walker, one pack (x3) English cucumber, and one pack cocktail shrimp.  Decided to find a way to install new Tapo camera outside the kitchen sliding door, I finally figured out how I did this many years ago after some trial and error, all outside hardware and wires had to be removed to allow access to the hole in the wall, with a 3-ft blue coated wire (the hook wire) and a number of trials I was able to insert the hook wire from the outside wall into and down to the old telephone wiring housing hole, from there both power wires (old Arlo and new Tapo) were pulled to the outside wall opening, I had to repeat the process twice because I forgot to insert old mounting plates and then discovered I insert one of the plate inside out.

Reattached outside junction box wiring to turn on backyard flood light, will work on the camera connection tomorrow.

Arlo and Tapo power wires on the left and right, respectively.

7/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marukai after dropping off Anita at City Sports, purchased two Broccoli crown, one bag bean sprout, two red onion, 5 Fuji apple, one pork cutlet, one tube Wasabi paste, one Karet fish, one Futomaki, one pack (x3) Maruchan Nama Yakisoba, one Yakisoba, and one pack green bean.  Waited 40 minutes at City Sports parking lot before picking up Anita and came home.  Staying indoor the remaining day to escape high heat in the second day.

7/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Another hot day in San Jose.  Designed a new camera support for Tapo, also  moving the old Arlo camera to just below the kitchen window sun shade, detail to be devised shortly.

7/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed off the holding lumber of the new camera support fixture to make the camera closer to the eaves, painted it the same as the outside wall.  

Had 40 minutes MB with mini, EJ (the fashion show helped some).  Played 66 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

7/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Finished new Tapo camera installation (the last step was protecting power wire in conduit.

Got an issue with the old Arlo camera power wire, the USB head was too big to go through a 90° conduit adapter, a bended 90° conduit turned out to long for practical purpose, after a long pondering came up with an idea, a piece of old hose seemed to work, will try finishing it later.

After a little struggle with a few more issues, the old Arlo camera is finally re-installed, applied the same outside wall paint and voila, it's done!

I thought I lost my one and only contact lence while taking a shower, my right eye vision was blurred just like after taking off the contact and I could not feel anything in my eye, with a flash light I looked everywhere-bedroom floor, bathroom floor, examined the water in the bucket-but found nothing, Anita came home as I went downstairs getting screwdriver to check the shower water drain, just as I waited for her to help with my search I felt a sharp sting in my right eye and my one and only contact lence showed up, thank God!  Anita booked a flight going back to Taipei after our Baltimore trip.

7/5/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Started leveling extended walkway near the fence with resized old fence lumbers, it appeared that paving san base would not help as they would simply fall through the gap between lava rocks, mix large and small lava rocks still could do the job.  Finished leveling the lumbers, will start secure them after additional 4" screws arrive tomorrow.

7/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Pre-drilled holes on all lumbers, made entries a little wider to hide screw heads.  Received 4" screws from Amazon at 1:02.  Secured all lumbers with old and newly received 4" screws.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers with blower and broom.  Had 30 minutes MB with legs, EJ.

7/7/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one poach 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one hand banana, one pack Gold Kiwi, two dozen pasture egg, and one pack Mediterranean salad, swing by Walmart, got 4 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, two bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato, and one bag 16 lbs original Meow Mix, stopped by Marina Grocery, purchased 4 bag HFH spicy peanut, one can baby corn, one can bamboo shoot strip, one pack (x6) sweet steam bread, one bag dried shrimp, 6 assorted Nissin noodle, one bottle premium Oyster sauce, 4 tomato, 6 Nectarine, one pack green onion, and one soft tofu.  The whole trip took one hour and 37 minute.  Amazon van delivered 4 Sharpie marker at 11:29 which I picked up at 11:32.

7/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Prepared two (one with aluminum foil and one with clean wrap wrapping) cloth strings to test water dripping for the cucumber plants.  Visited Lowes after dropping off Anita at City Sports, got one bottle 64 oz pipe build-up remover, swing by H Mart and purchased 7 carrot, one pack marinated chicken drum, one Bibimbap, and one Kimchi fried rice.  While waiting for Anita, I walked one circle around the plaza to see what's there.  The dripping design didn't seem to work, try a different approach, giving up the clean wrap approach and resort to aluminum foil instead, also made the cloth thread longer.

7/9/2023: Got up at 7:10.  The 2 dripping lines appeared to be working even though the dripping was kind of slow, but it's ok as long as they continue to drip, made two more of the same from a second bucket.  There's one major concern-if the weather gets too hot, the dripping effect will be non-existent, I can only do the best and leave the nature do its job.

Tried double the volume of cloth in one dripping fixture, still not working too well......  Adjusted feeder dinner volume from 6 to 4 to avoid leftover at night which may attract other animals.  

7/10/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Made 3 more tube based dripping lines, hope they work better.  Walked 55 minutes in the backyard.

Had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.  Booked transportation from Reykjavik pier to international airport (KEF) provided by NCL-$75 each.

7/11/2023: Got up at 7:00.  All black tube based dripping lines pretty much dried out, made one line based on paper towel, it seemed to work better but it also drip very slow.  Made another paper towel drip line with full size (double that of the first one) paper towel, hope it performs better.

7/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand banana, one box Cherry, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Black label, one bottle 64 oz Hazelnut creamer, one pack BibiGo pot sticker, one pack (x2) Skippy Extra Chunk peanut butter, one pack (x2) ketchup, one roast chicken, one pack (x12) Bounty paper towel, one Areds 2, and one pack (x12) muffin.  Received Weweya cushion foam sandal from Amazon at 3:57, first impression felt good, it did mention not to leave it under the sun though.  Ordered one Keurig coffee maker plus a My K-cup universal reusable filter for Pei-lee.

7/13/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Made one more full role paper towel drip link and placed it for the third cucumber plant from the right.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers-did not shake hard enough as there were more falling after I finished sweeping.  Made another full size dripping line from the 5th 1/2 width paper towel based line-enhancing it.  Had 20 minutes MB with mini and legs, EJ.

7/14/2023: Got up at 7:28.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street.  Checked in NCL 20230804 trip to Norway & Iceland (3 weeks prior to embarkation day).  Walked 45 minutes in the backyard.

Received Anita's backpack from Amazon at 1:27.  Watered front lawn and porch flowers for 80 minutes.

7/15/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one bento.

Tried remove the top part of the garden faucet next to the deck after shutting off the main water line, I wasn't able to remove the head even after making it loose,  but the water kind of stopped leaking (when the faucet is turned on and the sprayer is still shut off-the problem I was trying to solve), not sure why but I am still going to get a new faucet, a new hose, and a new 2-way water restricted-flow shut-off from Lowes, Trimmed some Rose buds, watered roses one the left side of the backyard.  Stopped Lowes and purchased one 25 ft hose, one 2-way water restricted-flow shut-off, and one 3/4 faucet.  Received Anita's facial cream from Amazon at 6:37.  

7/16/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Tried the angled watering stick but the water simply drop like a waterfall instead of spraying, need a new solution.  Tried the "Mist" setting on a sprayer, it seemed to work better but only if water flow was set at a higher (than previous setting) level, I'll need to attach and secure the sprayer higher over the planter box to allow equal application of mist to all cucumber plants.  Received 3 orders from Amazon at 11:07-antenna, Keurig coffee maker, and My K-cup filter.  Installed a wood piece to the two vertical conduits for the sprayer head, secured the sprayer head to top of the horizontal wood piece, it did not sit well and leaning toward the wall, re-secured it to the lower side of the horizontal hanger and tried the effect, it worked much better.

7/17/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 88 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Adjusted the sprayer for the cucumber plants so that the one on the right edge can get enough water, probably need to increase time period to 2 minutes, will see.  Booked Whale Watching through Viator, the meeting point is quite close to cruise terminal.

7/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one hand organic banana (the regular appeared too ripe), one pack Gold Kiwi, one bag Fuji apple (the boxed ones not available), two dozen pasture egg, one bag large raw shrimp, one poach 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Red label Johnnie Walker, one pack Mediterranean salad, and one pack Asparagus.  Tried new antenna at different locations-bedroom, bathroom, attic, none worked better than the old one, need to try outdoor placements later.  Had 20 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  

7/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers-there was a lot due to consecutive hot days.

7/20/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Cleaned up front porch withered flowers and leaves.  Levitated the new antenna in the backyard with ladder and a 4-foot conduit, the reception seemed ok, but only for channels received through the old antenna, not sure if the new one should be installed.  Putting away all related parts, will install it somewhere on the wall after returning from European cruise.

Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves.  Received Pump Spinner with Bowl from Amazon (delivered by UPS-slow and suck in status).

7/21/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed off several Wisteria vines reaching over back door neighbors.  Walked 25 minutes in the backyard.

Help Anita dyed her hair.

7/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited 99 Ranch Market after Anita dropped me off near it before she went to City Sports, purchased 2 large Bell Pepper, 4 Romain lettuce, one pack Chives, and 2 Sand Pear, also got half roast duck ($16.75+tax) at their BBQ department.  

It took a while to figure out how to make our second leg trip (from LHR to TOS) travel ready by going to SAS airline website (used SAS confirmation numbers listed on United app travel detail) to fill out our passport info.

7/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Set the water timer to 3 minutes.  Played 75 minutes table tennis in Robert's garage.  Started preparing travel clothes, will decide which luggage to use after most necessities were measured.

7/24/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Filled feeder (only 3 little pieces left), adjusted the dispensing volume to 9-5-4, need to check battery and refill on Saturday.  Decided to use the fabrics based luggage based on the amount of stuff I plan to take.

7/25/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one hand banana, one pack (x6) Cherry pastry, one bag Kirkland unsalted mixed nuts (they changed packaging-no wonder I could not find the box container ones), one pack grape tomato, two dozen pasture egg, and one tub cream cheese.

7/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Put away iMac (behind bird cage) and backup disks (Keurig box) in the attic.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers-I was planning to do this tomorrow morning but Robert invited table tennis playing the same time so......).

7/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 70 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage-got tired earlier today!  Had 10 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  

7/28/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, cleaned up some peels from the Myrtle tree.  Booked shuttle bus from Heathrow Terminal 2 to Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel but the result showed validity is between Aug 1 11:30pm to Aug 2 11:59, cancelled it and we decided to change hotel to Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow which is next to Terminal 2&3, the price is, of course, nearly double that of Renaissance.  Called Peilee via Line, no answer-turned out he's hiking in BeeHu with Tina, he called later and chatted for 20 minutes.  My gmail appleid (xxxxAczzzz!?)

7/29/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed off several Wisteria vines, one of them fell over to backdoor neighbor, oh well.  Checked feeder battery which is at 2 bars(out of 4), should be OK, filled feeder which should last through our trip-almost 16 days.  Accessing my blog from iPad seemed OK, and I was able to edit it as well, excellent!  Added two more cucumber vine supports as the vines seemed to grow too fast upward.  Walked 1000 steps in the backyard.

7/30/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Robert cancelled our table tennis event as he's suffering from sore arm from his game at Milpitas senior center yesterday.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander leaves and flowers, also trimmed off their new shoots at root.  Put wallet between the attic floor and the opening shutoff door.  Disconnected LS400 battery and lock the car.  Put MacBook Pro on top of the master bedroom cabinet.  closetWalked 47 minutes in the backyard.

Put old iPhone and Pixel in the attic under the flip floor opening cover.  Checked in (we had to check in individually since tickets were purchased separately) United flight to London, will know if the luggage goes to Tromsø directly.  Adjust water heater temperature setting to low.  Watered front lawn and plants for 2 hours.  

7/31/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had 10 minutes mb, EJ.  Watered all roses in the backyard.  Locked RX300, keys to the side of dryer.  (fqm29299/xxxxacyyyy!?)/(jyj44683/remembermonicayear).  Jack picked us up at 4:30, arriving SFO at 5:10, sine there wasn’t a crowd, we dropped off luggage, went through security and got to United Club around 5:45.  Headed to gate 9 at 6:40 and wait for boarding.  Because of the long 17 hour (more than 7 hours as explained by United check in counter employee) stay over at LHR, we had to retrieve luggage and enter UK, return to LHR terminal 2 to continue the trip.  Boarding started on time at 7:00 but was halted for 15 minutes before resuming, we got on board at 7:35.  Flight 930 took off at 8.15, 25 minutes behind schedule.  We landed at LHR at 1:50pm, after a long walk we finally pass through passport control and claimed our luggage, finding the supposedly easy task turned out to be a bit more challenging, there wasn’t any sign in the terminal, the info we got from information was confusing, we finally figured out how to get there after 15 minutes struggle, after checking in we found out there was a link bridge between Hilton Garden Inn and terminal 2, simply pass through the parking lot on the second floor and we are there (either way).  Purchased one sandwich, one “king”prawn, and one chicken salad from M&S Simply Food in between terminals 2 and 3.  Checked in SAS flights, since we booked separately, we had different seats for both flights.  

{A bit of repeat below}

Boarding started on time at 7:00 but was halted for 15 minutes before resuming, we got on board at 7:35.  Flight 930 took off at 8.15, 25 minutes behind schedule.  We landed at LHR at 1:50pm.  After a long walk before getting to passport control and then luggage claim, finding Hilton Garden Inn was supposed to be easy but the info we got was confusing, it turned there’s a straight walk path to the hotel after we checked in the hotel.  Purchased one sandwich, one “king”prawn, and one chicken salad from M&S Simply Food in between terminals 2 and 3.  Checked in SAS flights, since we booked separately, we had different seats for both flights.  There was an fire alarm around 4:00 but it went away in just a few seconds, but there’s another one at 10:12pm, we first thought it was another test but it went on an on forever, we finally decided to vacate the room, the stairs were filled with patrons, some empty handed, a few actually carrying their luggages, we each had our most important stuff with us-passport, cell phone……k, there were fire trucks and emergency service vehicles outside the hotel, but there was no smoke or obvious fire in sight, so after 20 minutes we were allowed to return to our rooms, there was a similar instance in 2017, the hotel staff never give reason or apologize that time, will review 2 stars later.

8/2/2023: Stayed awake most of the night waiting for alarms to go off, got up at 4:00.  Brushed my lower left teeth to ease toothache.  Checked out around 4:20, walked to terminal 2 but took a while to find departure on 5th floor, the way Heathrow was designed making it one of the least user friendly airport, dropped off luggages and passed security at 5:05, they request iPads to be in a separate bin for inspection.  Both boarding passes were printed on the same paper, that’s a first. Flight SK920 was fully booked, but possibly due to tailwind we actually arriving Oslo 20 minutes earlier.  My stomach was filling lousy with gas, I need to start working on relieving it with some kind of exercise.  We found several quiet resting area in Oslo airport gate C, took over two of the big seats and stayed there until time to board.

Flight SK4424 was fully booked but the fly time was one hour and 50 minutes, very tolerable short period, I tried listening to 神鵰俠侶but dozed off constantly.  We landed at Tromsø airport at 6:25, by the time we collected our luggages, the first Bussring AirPort Express, the next one we got on wouldn’t leave until 8:45, but luckily the airport was empty by 7:10 and we left the airport way early than expected.  Arriving Raddison Blu Hotel at 7:25, check-in was a breeze, we have room 834 with a view of the harbor.  Found KIWI Fredrick Langesgate grocery, it’s small but got enough ready food (all cold) we need, we purchased one small tube of Caveat, one pack (x2) corn, one shrimp stuffed bun, two banana, one 1.tL sparkling water, and one bag cheese crunchers, it did not carry any wine or liquor though.

8/3/2023: woke up many times (starting at 11:05 last night), finally got up at 5:20, had the pastries purchased in LHR and coffee for breakfast.  Headed out to Tromsø Tourist Center near the pier, it’s behind an ugly bus station building, purchased two bus tickets to cruise terminal tomorrow, found out how and how much it cost to ride and enter the cable car at Fjellheisen.  Went back to the hotel to get warmer clothes before heading to Arctic Cathedral, walking over the spanning bridge between Tromsø and the bigger island that the two vista points sit was a challenge, not only it has a ~20º ramp, the wind was like going through a storm, by the time we got to Arctic Cathedral we were tired, the church won’t open until 11:20 due to a funeral service, a 40 minutes wait so we gave up, Anita was too tired to keep hiking toward Cable Car station so we headed back instead, leaving Cable Car visit for future venture.  Tried but could not reach Burger King, so KIWI Fredrick Langesgate-lunch, dinner and breakfast tomorrow, we purchased two banana, one pack (x2) cooked corn, a dozen small tube Caveats, one large tube Caveats, two muffins, one box cooked shrimp, one box shrimp/crab salad, one pack (small) smoked salmon, two can beer, one pack small tomato, and one shrimp egg stuffed bun-these are for our lunch, dinner, and breakfast tomorrow.

Went out again and visited several nearby attractions.

8/4/2023: Got up at 4:30, there’s sunshine already.

Had breakfast-leftover seafood, corn, and muffins plus coffee.  Decided to get going earlier, checked out Radisson Blu Hotel at 9:25, got on bus #42 to cruise terminal at 9:45, arriving cruise port at 9:50, dropped off luggages at 10:00.  Waited for check-in until 11:00, but the security line did not move until 11:10, the check in process is quite different compare to previous ones, security scan first, then went into the ship to get key card (after some regular passport…… checks), sat down at Garden Cafe and had some lunch, checked our stateroom at 12:10-not ready, was later informed it won’t be ready until 3:00.  Had dinner at 5:20.  Realized Anita did not have NCL app on her iPad, so I stayed in the stateroom trying to fix this while she went see “The Dance” in Stardust theatre.  For some reason iPad Air behavior different than my iPad for exactly the same VPN setting, iPad Air will attempt to connect to VPN server even though there was no real Internet connection while iPad simply stop doing that, this made iPad started connecting VPN server once it connected NCLInternet_Star resulting in suspending other activities (like updating local contents) which made NCL app behaving weirdly.  After some tweaking, it seemed to work.  Went to deck 13 to see Star set sail, nothing truly spectacular though.  

8/5/2023:  Woke at 1:30, 2:05, 3:15, got up at 4:20.  Had early coffee and pastry at O’Sheehan’s Bar&Grill, they claim to be open 24 hours a day but they only provide coffee and pastries during the odd hours.  Went to Garden Cafe around 5:15 but they opened after 5:45, had some egg, ham, bacon, and fruits.  Star docked at Harstad around 9:10.  The disembarkation was different from our last two NCL cruises during the pandemic, it’s now crowded plus long wait, we waited in our stateroom until 10:45 to head out but an announcement came in stating that the disembarkation process had been slow and asked people to be patient, we decided to stay put and probably head out after lunch.  Headed out to see Harstad around 12:05, discovered it’s windy and chilly, Anita went back to the ship as I waited outside.  Went see Harstad Church after walking uphills for 15 minutes, it’s not big but serve the community well, turned out this is not the historical church discussed online, the one we should go see was Trondenes Church, also called “Stone Church”, Anita bought a mini one in stone.

8/6/2023: Got up at 5:20.  Had early breakfast at 5:30.  Returned and had breakfast at 7:10.  Since it’s a at sea day, we stayed in the stateroom as much as possible because the ship waved a bit much for our comfort.  Changed our dinner schedule at Le Bistro to tomorrow at 5:45.  Attended NCL Latitude Cocktail party at Bliss at 6:30, had 2 white wine and two red wine, one of the red wines was later consumed in our stateroom with some food/snack from Garden Cafe-good one.

8/7/2023: Woke many times after 12:00 before getting up at 4:45.  Had early riser breakfast at 5:25 follow by regular breakfast at 5:45 when it opened.  Visited so-called town center-one souvenir and one Coop grocery stores.  Stopped by the Olden old church, a very unique church made of all woods, since it’s windy and rained pretty hard, we decided to go back to the ship for lunch first, maybe going to the Olden new church about 30 minutes walk this afternoon.  Visited Olden new church, 1/4 of the path did not have pedestrian walk, had to step on the side of the road where cars zoom through, but they did keep a distance from us though, the new church was also made completely of wood.  A lot of walk today.

Had dinner plus a bottle of wine at Le Bistro, the lamb chop was delicious,  total cost was $0 as we did not order anything outside of the covered dishes, left $20 tip to show our appreciation.

8/8/2023: Woke up at 3:00, got up at 8:30, had breakfast the first time with tons of fellow guests.  After delay and further delay, the port call at Lerwick was cancelled, this became a sea day and NCL Star will proceeded to Torshavn, Faroe Island directly instead.  Had dinner at 5:00 when it opens but there were plenty of people in it, guess we all didn’t have any good place to go on an at sea day.

8/9/2023: Got up at 6:00.  The ship has docked since 1:30am.  It’s mind bugling that I was able to get LTE signal a few miles from the port but the signal was gone after docking and anywhere on the island.  Got off the ship around 9:10 after waiting more than 30 minutes, rode the free shuttle to the pier gate, walked to information office, Anita managed to acquire bus (free) info to Kirkjubour church, took #5 bus then connect to another #5 before getting to the church (a total of 32 minutes), the strong wind and low temperature made it challenge to enjoy the scenery outdoor, luckily we were able to get on the same bus (driver was resting in the terminal house before returning to continue the route at 10:16) heading back to Torshavn, the next bus is at 1:20.  Headed out to town again after lunch, just to catch up with a few places we missed this morning (The Fort of Torshavn which is just next to where we got off the pier shuttle, for example).

8/10/2023: Got up at 6:15.  Ship docked at Djupivogur at 9:15, one hour and 15 minutes behind schedule.  Heading out at 9:45, but did not get on the tender until 10:15, got on shore around 10:33, there weren’t many vista points in the small town (population~500), we walked about 15 minutes to see the Eggin-a 34 egg shaped granite stone lined up , each representing a bird species in this region.  After extended strolling around and getting some souvenirs, we headed back to the tender station, waited only 10 minutes before got on board and returned to NCL Star at 12:56, had a late lunch at Garden Cafe before calling it a day.  Watched “White Magic” at Stardust, a very high caliber show.

8/11/2023: Got up at 6:20.  Headed out at 9:00, a short wait for the tender and we were on board, go to Seydisfjordur at 9:19, hiked to see Gufu Waterfall first before visiting Tourist Information Center, strolled the town for about 80 minutes, although the population is only ~700, it has many cute houses with different design and color.  Wen track to the ship, had lunch and headed for the town again at 12:30, visited a few more corners of the town before heading back at 1:45, got back to our stateroom at 2:19.  Decided to skip dinner at Cagney’s Steakhouse for lack of interest in steaks.  Watched Michael White’s White Magic trick lesson at Bliss at 4:15.  

4/12/2023: Got up at 6:15.  Headed out to Whale Watching meeting point at 8:15.  The route to Edling Whale Watching meeting point by Google was a bit longer than common sense in that it circle the block when there’s a more direct path, but only for 2 minutes’ difference, got tickets from the voucher at their office which opened earlier, boarded Whale Watching boat Hólmasól at 8:40, also earlier than scheduled 8:50.  We set sail at 9:04, took about 55 minutes to get to the watching area, throughout the waiting period of about one hour, small whale was spotted but catching its movement was challenging, the most I got was glimpses of long range view, since it’s getting too cold so we gave up and went back to the lower deck to keep warm, but before long someone notified everyone the spotting of another whale, I took my Pixel and ran to the side of the boat (next to the exit where only a few people were there), caught one great video showing a good performance of the whale-thank God!  Went back to Akureyri after lunch, visited the rest of the town, the church was closed on weekends-opposite to common church hours.

8/13/2023: Got up at 6:20.  Gave up the idea of going on shore at 10:20 after finding out there was a long line trying to get on tender, it got better after waiting 15 minutes in our stateroom, got on Isafjordur at 11:10, of all Iceland ports we’ve visited so far, this is possibly the least attractive one, very little to see, we wondered for about one hour and 40 minutes before getting lost trying to find tender boarding location, after numerous requesting directions from locals we finally got to the tender docking location.  Anita found out the Seattle hotel she booked was cancelled due to invalid credit card, not sure why and how to tackle this problem.  

8/14/2023: Got up at 6:05.  Headed out at 9:25, got on the tender without any waiting, got on shore Grundarfjordur at 9:40, found their information center (also serve as the library), got waterfall information and on our way, it’s a relatively long walk but the scenery is nice, air is fresh, got there at 10:46, this waterfall is better than expected, it’s multi-level plus relatively wide made it pleasant to watch.  Coming back to town center was a bit faster, only 40 minutes.  After visiting the city church and local grocery store, we headed back to the ship and got on NCL Star at 12:35.  Had lunch at Garden Cafe after discovering Gonzalo does not open for lunch, also discovered “Shui”, “Giza”, and “Teppanyaki” share the same entrance-very confusing……. Started packing, should be able to put luggages outside of our stateroom after dinner to be transported off ship tomorrow morning.  Checked in Icelandair at 4:50, even though both board passes were issued, but since there was an error updating contacting information, we still have to go to the check-in counter to get paper boarding passes tomorrow.  Finished packing and left the luggages outside our stateroom after 8:00 for pickup.

8/15/2023: Got up at 5:30.  Got off NCL Star at 8:05, picked up our luggages and got on the airport expreee bus at 8:15, bus took off at 8:53, arriving airport at 9:50.  Have to wait until 12:30 to check-in/drop off our luggage.  Finally checked in out luggages and got paper boarding passes at 1:00.  Was extremely tired from over 12000 steps for 5 consecutive days.  Passed security and found a small windowsill next to a heater, moved to gate area and found real seats as that windowsill was getting too warm.  Two more hours before boarding gate info (3:20) and two and half hours before boarding (4:00).  We boarded the flight 1681 (767-300) at 4:35, about 15 minutes late.  Flight took off at 5:14, 24 minutes behind schedule.  Iceland Air is possibly one of the few that do not provide free meal on a long haul flight, they charge all food and most drinks (except a few soft drinks), so Anita had one cup coke while I had a cup of water, a good way to start shading weight.  Arriving Seattle at 5:50pm, 10 minutes behind schedule.  Took nearly 10 minutes to luggage claim, this was nothing, the passport check process was terrible, unlike most US airport we’ve been to, Seattle Tacoma airport appeared to be unorganized, very few airport employees were at work and direct people to proper location for the process, it took us one hour and 30 minutes to pass, the hotel shuttle info was also vague, we had to ask around and finally Anita called the hotel to find out exactly where to wait for the shuttle, Redroof Inn has its own shuttle with the name posted on the top front of the shuttle but you have to be at the correct spot to see it.  Purchased some food for dinner and breakfast at a nearby Foodmart.  Checked in Alaska Airlines, had to pay one (mine) check-in luggage for $30.  

8/16/2023: Got up at 5:00.  Checked out Hôtel at 6:15, got on airport shuttle (operated by Redroof Inn) at 6:20, for some reason I could not find my boarding pass screen shots or e-mail from Alaska, this made luggage drop off a little delay, one Alaska employ helped us by printing the boarding passes which I used to print luggage tag and dropped off it-this is one of two nice things about Tacoma airport, security check was a totally different story, there were many different lines-pre TSA, one Clear, and one regular, there was no signs indicating where to go, asking around many times before getting to the correct (regular) line, it took another 30 minutes before we got through the long line and security check, my backpack was detoured to special check and was delayed by 10 minutes due to an Indian family’s many luggage re-screening, checking out gate afterward to be N19, as we were wondering where to go, a old gentleman (we guessed he’ probably a volunteer) helped us with directions, turned out we need to ride train to get there, got to gate N19 around 7:30.  Boarding started at 8:32, since our boarding group was F, most likely the last, even though there were quite a few empty seats on flight 1080, we were instructed/told to stay in our assigned seats, unfortunately 24A (Anita), 24B (me), and 24C were all occupied while at row 22 and 23 had only one passenger, since the flight was only one hour and 40 minutes, it ran through quite fast-I listened to 神鵰俠侶two third of the flight time.  Flight 1080 took off 24 minutes behind schedule but landed at 11:08, 8 minutes ahead of schedule, picked up my luggage (Anita execute carry-on decision to save $30) and waited for Jack, got home at 11:50 paid Jack $50 ($40+$10) for out of smaller changes.

8/17/2023: Got up at 4:00.  Had sore throat ever since getting off Iceland Airwaves from Reykjavik to Seattle, it’s getting worse, tested positive for COVID.  Anita’s test was negative.  Spoke to Dr. Yao regarding my Covid symptom, even though he said medication was optional due to my mild case, I still asked the Paxlovid be prescribed, Anita went to Kaiser Permenete and picked up Paxlovid for me, took 3 right away.

8/18/2023:  Got up at 4:30.  Headache, coughing, and sore muscle are the main symptoms now.

8/19/2023: Got up at 4:20.  The only symptom remaining appeared to be coughing.  A new symptom started showing up-diarrhea, about two to three hours after taking the pills, it started this morning.  Received Cheetos Crunchy from Amazon at 3:35, the crunchiness wasn’t as good as the ones we purchased in Norway but……. Airdrop Anita's trip photos to my iPad, which automatically appeared in my Google Photo, started processing them on my iPad before applying them to new photo album.

8/20/2023: Got up at 5:50.  Filled feeder, it’s clear now that with current settings, feeder will have only be able to dispense for 3 weeks.  Continued working on trip photos.

8/21/2023: Got up at 5:20.  Trimmed off withered cucumber leaves, there are over 10 new ones growing.  Had 10 minute MB with legs, EJ.  Covid test showed negative-thank God.

8/22/2023: got up at 6:25.  Finished the last dose of my 5-day Paxlovid prescription.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, there was so much, had to do it in two phases.  

8/23/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack (x6) Cherry & Cheese pastry, one pack Artisan Lettuce, two dozen pasture egg, one pack Jack Cheese, one bottle vitamin D3, one bottle Kirkland 1.75L Tequila, one bag Pepper Jack Crisps, one ROC vitamin C serum, and two bottle Kirkland Margarita mix.  

8/24/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack (x7) Fuji apple, one hand banana, one pack Korean style short rib, one pack (x12) Chicken melt, and two bag Pepper Jack Cheese Crisps, swing by 99 Ranch Market, got one bento fro their deli department and placed it in the car before going back and purchased one bag carrot, one Cauliflower, one pack small Gai Choy, two red onion, one pack Jalapeño, one string garlic, and 4 tomato.  Cleaned up (again) backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, cleaned up front yard peaches, the garbage bin is full and very heavy now.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini as well as legs, no EJ.

8/25/2023: Got up at 6:40.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, took me 25 minutes, also trimmed some withered Lily of the Niles and their companion plants near the street light post.  Harvested 8 more cucumbers (a total of 22 so far), this batch looks similar to the photo shown in the seed package-the right length and width, consumed one of them raw, really fresh and crunchy.

Had to turn in at 8:00 as I wasn't feeling too well.

8/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Resting all day, turned in at 8:30.

8/27/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Anita tested positive on Covid.  Amazon delayed my thermometer oder by one to two days instead of today.   Anita slept all day, did not eat much.  I still have occasional cough.

8/28/2023: Got up at 6:40.  Anita took a couple of CVS pain reliever and felt better, she could move around the house and do something.  I have a sexy voice with the continued cough.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, EJ-not a good one.

8/29/2023: Got up at 7:05.  Walked 20 minutes in the backyard.

8/30/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Anita felt better, my cough did not ease up much though.  Cancelled Amazon thermometer order which obviously had gone nowhere, ordered one black 6ft USB-C to lighten cable, one pack Bigelow Cinnamon apple tea bag, and another thermometer from Amazon-to be delivered tomorrow.  Harvested two more cucumbers (making the total 24 as of today).  Visited Walmart by myself, purchased 4 bottle Barefoot 1.75L Riesling and 6 3.25 oz Cheetos Crunchy (their location was listed at isle Z5, which I could not find until checking with a couple of Walmart employees then found them at checkout stands), swing by Marina Grocery and got one pack fried fish cake, two pack sweet Turnip pickle, one pack pork chop, one bottle Kdoya sesame oil, one pack HTY smoked ham, one can Iodized salt, 4 crunchy white nectarine, and one pack steamed roll.  Had 5 minutes MB with legs, EJ-ok.  Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 20 minutes.

8/31/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up all front yard peaches-done for this year, thinking removal of the tree...... Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, cleaned up fallen apples and peaches from neighbors, cleaned the residues from Korean neighbor's peaches that were sticking to Anita's in-ground art work, cleaned up Miley's vomit on the bench, washed up the shelf outside kitchen window, also washed the griller a bit.  Received thermometer, USB-C to lightening cable and Cinnamon apple tea bag from Amazon at 10:57 (I picked up at 11:01).  Checked in NCL New England & Canada, they always ask to take photo, never save any from previous trip.  Trimmed several Wisteria vines crossing neighbors' fences.

9/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  The newer batch of Covid test kits were all expired, unlike the older ones, they require app to activate/check the validity of the kit before you can actually use them, so the first message after app checking the kit, it simply announced "expired" then quit, oh well!  Anita decided not to go to her "Shoot" class luncheon today.  Added UBER to Pixel, changed PW to xxxxAczzzz#->most likely the same as UberEat which I thought was different so the PW change.  Trimmed off several Oleander branches, the pile size grew fast.  Updated Uber payment credit card info (expiration date and cvs code).

9/2/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stopped by King Egg Roll and ordered one order Xiu Mai and two orders of shrimp dumpling at $6.30 each, the taste was good for for the price, worthy of next visit.  Ying Wang delivered the small moon cake shared by Elle during their luncheon Friday.  Rose dropped off one box (x2) Covid test kit fro Anita.

9/3/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Visited Marukai with Anita, it's nice to go out for a ride even a short one, purchased 4 Fuji apple, one bag bean sprout, two crown Broccoli, one pack lean ground pork, one pack Ara fish rimming, one Salmon Shioyaki & chicken bento, one pack (x4) NS Shin Ramen, one pack fish Ara, one Unagi Futomaki, one pork cutlet, one pack Nama Sake Kirimi, one pack Gindara, and one hand banana.  Decided to visit Costco tonight before it closes at 7:00 since it will be closed tomorrow (Labor Day), there were a lot of people around 6:45, purchased two dozen pasture egg, one pack Tyson chicken strips, one pack (x12) Jimmy Dean Croissant sandwiches, one pack (x10) chicken broth, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one pack (x6) Cherry pastries, and one Italian Panettone.

9/4/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Walked 52 minutes in the backyard.

Finally got hold of this one (one of the three remaining) blossoming.

9/5/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Trimmed several withered roses, discovered there were a couple of new cucumber female flowers waiting in the wing, looks like the watering will likely continue during our New England cruise (maybe!?!?!?).  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

9/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up Oleander flowers and leaves in the backyard, also cleaned portion of the mixed leaves near the back side of our Filipino neighbor, they were kind of hard to reach plus their guest was coughing in their backyard so I did not stay long in that area.  Received 20 KN95 masks from mazon at 10:14 (picked up at 10:44).  Feeder battery level is at one bar, not sure if I should change to new batteries before the trip (?!?!?!), changed feeder volume from 9-5-4 to 8-5-4, the evening volume 4 did not seem to match actual amount dispensed (appeared more than 4?).

9/7/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves, more cucumber (female) buds showing their faces.

9/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack grape tomato, two dozen pasture egg, one can Nature's Bounty Fish Oil, one bag unsalted mixed nut, one bag 3 lbs San Francisco Bay coffee bean, one pack Chocolate Mousse, and one bag Korean pork jerky, swing by Walmart, got one bag carrot, two hands banana, and 4 bag 8.5 oz Cheetos crunchy.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, watered front yard flowers (not the lawn), also washed away bid drops in the street, near the driveway.  Found out our Quebec hotel I used was cancelled last year, all the preparation I made on Google Drive was based on incorrect hotel, had to redo it.......  Called Peilee and chatted for 30 minutes.  Watered front lawn for one hour.

9/9/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked to 99 Ranch Market, purchased one can pork Sung ($20-likely $5 more expensive than Marina Grocery), also purchased one small order fried noodle and one small order chicken.

Finished reading Kindle book "In the Likely Event".

9/10/2023: Got up at 7:05.  Dropped by King Egg Roll and purchased two orders each of Xiu and Shrimp dumpling ($27.56), should be enough for lunch and dinner.  Cleaned the two sliding doors to the backyard, cleaned up the windows of the vehicles as well.  Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.

9/11/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Walked stairs 12 cycles (up and down = one cycle), more tiring than I used to be.  Found and played one 5 hour long classical masterpieces by Mozart-Beethoven-Bach-Tchaikovsky-Chopin (from left to right in the photo below) on Youtube.

Had 10 minutes MB with Riku Minato, could not do it, no desire and not enough ho.  

9/12/2023: Got up at 7:07.  Brother printer is once again low on cartridge-black, we still have one unused in the laundry room, will replace only after the old one fully exhausted.  Stopped by GBC International Bank to have a REIT redemption (with big loss) paper notarized, dropped off the document in the post office drop box and came home.  The feeder was empty while dispensing lunch meal, changed the batteries (3 D size ones) and filled the feeder-using the USB power cable while changing batteries saved reprogramming process.  Visited Dynamic Foundation, Stephanie showed the table tennis pad I asked, the ones I made for her and Kung, she also showed me the remaining pads which were stored on the pool table, I picked up two Japanese pads and one brand new hand shake style bare pad, also took over most balls, I need to buy some rubber to make them work.  

Moved iMac and its companion keyboard and trackpad to the attic, replaced them with old iMac.

9/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Replaced Keurig water filter.  Visited Costco by myself after lunch, got one pack Artisan lettuce, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack Tyson chicken strip, one pack Macadamia buts, two dozen pasture egg, and one bag organic pumpkin seed.  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Purchased a 5 unit Covid antigen test kits from Amazon ($35 after tax).  Anita and myself both passed the antigen tests after dinner.

9/14/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Walked 54 minutes in the backyard.

9/15/2023: Got up at 4:10, had one glass of wine+, went back to bed and got 7:15.  Walked 41 minutes in the backyard.

Reserved two Uber trips, one from Baltimore airport (BWI) to Tru by Hilton Harbor East on 20230920, and one from Tru by Hilton to cruise terminal on 20230921.

Ordered Saguenay excursion.

Changed feeder dispense volume fro  8-4-4 to 7-4-3.

9/16/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Anita found a transportation on bookings.com at $75.66 so we booked this one and cancelled 9/20 Uber.

Walked 26 minutes in the backyard.

9/17/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander flowers and leaves.  Filled feeder.  Managed to arrange 3 dinner dishes from cucumber and corn can.  Reconfigure feeder volume settings to 6-3-3 from 7-4-3.

9/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had 10 minutes MB with mini, EJ-getting close to no fun any more......  Walked 58 minutes in the backyard.

Stopped by CVS at 1401 Berryessa road and picked up one CVS brand cough suppressant.  Finished listening "神雕俠侶", but episode 38 did not end as it should, so I got the book 10 from our storage and found and finished reading the last 40 pages.

9/19/2023-9/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Harvested one medium and one small size cucumbers, wrapped them in paper towel and sandwich bag, hope they stay fresh in the refrigerator.  Lowered the water heater setting.  Disconnected LS400 battery.  Reconfigured feeder dispensing volumes from 6-3-3 to 6-4-3.  Attended Ruby’s funeral service at Madronia Cemetery at 11:00.  Put away our wallets under the attic floor cover.  Watered front lawn and flowers for one hour and 45 minutes.  Locked RX300 and hid key in the laundry room on the side of the dryer.  Jack picked up us at 9:30, got to SFO at 10:10.  Passed security check and got to gate E12 at 10:30.  Boarded flight 643 at 11:30, there appeared to be quite a few unoccupied seats, including the seat between Anita (22F) and myself (22D).  We took off at 12:01, 2 minutes behind schedule but landed at BWI at 7:44, 29 minutes ahead of schedule.  Our ride picked up us right outside luggage claim, got to Tru by Hilton at 8:50, we have $25 extra for early check in and just in time for breakfast before it closes at 9:00.  Walked to Whole Doors Market and purchased one slice pizza and one self-prepared bento from their varieties of readymade food (meatball, green bean, fish stick, noodle….), picked up two 16 oz Michelob Ultra from the Tru by Hilton front desk.  

9/21/2023: Got up at 6:00.  Had breakfast downstairs, decent meal.  Uber (driver Cindy from Hong Kong) picked up us at Tru by Hilton curbside at 9:16, arriving Baltimore cruise port at 9:35.  Placed luggages for delivery and waited in line for security check, later decided to get the luggages back to bring along.  Finished security and checking in process got our key card and waited to board (group 2 [this is likely the time slot we signed up for 9:30-10:00] at waiting area not the time we passed the security and check-in process).  It turned out Latitude members (Sapphire and Platinum) got to board earlier (not group 2), had to stop by our assembly station C first before heading to Garden Cafe for some lunch, checked stateroom readiness after lunch, no luck, keep waiting!  Checked again around 12:30, it’s ready and we finally settled in the stateroom (smaller than all our previous window view ones).  Went back to Garden Cafe and had some snacks and tea.  Anita and myself quickly made dinner booking decisions, settled on 24th (Le Bistró-6:00), 26th (La Cucina-7:45), and 29th (Le Bistró-5:45).  Anita checked a couple of potential 2024 NCL cruise routes with CruiseNext representative, we both liked the one start and end in Southampton, but when I checked e-mail from NCL, almost all ports listed were replaced, it turned out NCL had made changes its since we got the printed listing, Anita went back to the CruiseNext desk and cancelled it then booked our other choice-starting and ending in Athens, once again I checked the e-mail and discovered the disembarkation port was Istanbul instead, we went back to the desk and discovered their printed list did show Athens as starting/ending port but her system show otherwise, after some chatting we decided to sit on current booking (with Athens and Istanbul as embarkation/disembarkation ports) for a while since we have 4 months to cancel it.

9/22/2023: Got up at 6:45.  Attended Latitude party (for Platinum and above levels-Silver & Gold will be a separate one at 1:00 this afternoon), had one cup white wine, one red wine and some cheese, brought back to stateroom another red wine for later.  Had lunch at Garden Cafe, Anita discovered Ox tail dish which each had a load of, very stuffed.  Slept through the afternoon, as the wave picked up, ship’s movement was too big for us to stand up so we decided to keep lying in bed and skip the magic show at Stardust.

9/23/2023: Got up at 5:30.  The port call to Martha’s Vineyard was cancelled due to rough waves which made tender operation dangerous, we’ll be at sea one more day before arriving Boston tomorrow morning as scheduled.  Anita borrowed “” from the library on deck 6 while we waited for our stateroom to be cleaned.  Read several pages of “Malibu Burning” in the lounge on deck 7 not too far from our stateroom.  Rested after lunch until 2:30 when we got a burger without bun plus onion, radish and French fries from Bar & Grill next to Garden Cafe, consumed them in our stateroom.  Finally got confirmation e-mail for 2024 NCL Athen to Istanbul.

9/24/2023: Got up at 6:00, since we had another at sea day, we arrived Boston at 7:00, three and half an hour earlier.  Headed out at 8:15, the driver for NCL hop-on-hop-off excursion told us where to buy the ticket for the same ride ($68 vs. $109), we walked about 5 minutes and found the place, we got on the bus (the last two seats) at 8:33 and started the tour, we got off the bus at #12 which is near the Boston Common, found the red brick lined walkway and started our Freedom Trail walk, the walk wasn’t what we imagined being a straight line walk but rather a zig zag type and sometimes broken, so after about one hour and 10 minutes before deciding to head back to the ship, the first 2 buses were either full and nobody foot off or not enough seats left for us to get on (there were 4 people ahead of us), we finally got on the third bus which had 7 people getting off and we took the first row to the right and enjoyed the rest of the bus ride.  Got back to our stateroom at 12:10, about 3 hours tour.  Had dinner at Le Bistro at 6:00, using a discounted dinner package, ordered Long Island Ice tea for Anita and Blue Martini for myself, Anita had Escargots for appetizer and Portobello mushroom while I had Escargots for appetizer and Mediterranean Bass, both were delicious although we were not used to slow serving, I was given 4 pieces of receipts to sigh, I did not read them well thinking they were the sam, turned out they were two copies of two checks, one for the meal and one for the drink, the tip I imposed on the drink probably should not be there since it already added 20%.  The alcoholic effect of my Blue Martini took effect after getting back to our stateroom, a slight headache lingered for over an hour.

9/25/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Headed out to Portland at 8:40, strolled along commercial street until 9:30 when we headed back to take a break but was stopped at the gate for passport, luckily the lady warned us to always bring along our passports the next time and let us in.  Headed out again at 10:05, this time went up Market street to the center of the old port, went back to the ship at 10:45.  Had a last minutes breakfast at Garden Cafe before going back to our stateroom to rest.  Had a light  lunch before Heading out once again at 1:30, got back at 2:45, achieving over 15000 steps.

9/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  At sea day.  Not doing much except dinner at Sushi at 5:30 (we abandoned our La Cucina reservation at 7:45 which was way too late for us plus we want to attend the Showdown at Stardust at 7:00), we each ordered 4 items (as allowed free from the Latitude benefits) plus Michelob Ultra, the beer and all the dishes matched perfectly.  Anita’s order included Dragon rolls, hand rolls, EBI and Unagi Nigiri, my order included Tuna Poke Bowl, Ahi, Hamachi, and Sake Sashimi.  Watched NCL Sky Production Show: Showdown, a very energetic dance &sing show, 4.5/5 rating from me-we’ll eat at Sushi bar with one of Latitude free special meal benefit offers from now on.

9/27/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Docking at Sydney around 7:30.  Headed out at 9:00.  Finished first round at 10:30, rest a bit before having lunch at 12:00.  Started second round of exploration at 1:30, purchased one Beaverdog from a unique food truck on the street, very tasty.  Got back to our stateroom at 3:20.

9/28/2023: Go up at 7:20.  There was no cell phone signal even after we have docked at Charlottetown, very unusual, I hope it’s not my Pixel 6 Pro issue……. Headed out to Charlottetown at 00:00, our focus was the four churches recommended: St. Dustan’s Basilica, Trinity United Church,, St. Peter’s Church, and St. James Church.  Found three of them relatively easy but took nearly 20 minutes to locate Trinity United Church.  Got back to the ship around 00.00, Anita headed to Garden Cafe while I set up charging my Pixel 6 Pro to get ready for visit to the visitor center to finish system update, hopefully resolve not network service issue.  Spent nearly two hours in the visitor center, finished installation, restarted a few times, reset network options, airplane on/off a few times, same result, running out of ideas.

9/29/2023: After seeing a +H sign indicating some cell signal (it also occurred sometime last night but I wasn’t able to do much), I enabled then disabled Airplane mode, the LTE sign showed up, I was able to get online since then, still not sure if it was the area (Sharlottetown EPI) that Pixel had problem connecting or what I did made the difference??????  Finished reading “Malibu Burning”.  Got up at 6:30, final At Sea day.  Attended “How to Run a Floating Hotel” by Chief Engineer, General Manager, and Capitan at Stardust at 10:30, very informative, e.g. one Nautical mile=1.15 land mile=1.852 Km.  Had dinner at Le Bistro, Escargots, Portobello mushroom for Anita, Escargots, Salad, Braised Shank and roasted Lamb chop for me, plus a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington, brought the remaining wine back to the stateroom.

9/30/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Headed out to Baie-Comeau at 9:00, purchased NCL shuttle (operated by yellow school bus) at the pier for $20 each, visited St. Amelie’s church and its park nearby before coming back at 11:00.

Headed out to Baie-Comeau again after lunch at 1:30, visited St. Andrews & St. George’s Church, a kind of challenge place to find though, it’s the first church built in the area.  Stopped by the Tourist center where Anita bought a magnet and I connected their Wi-Fi and returned several Line messages.  Got back to the ship at 3:05.  Watched NCL Production Show “Rock Your Night” at Stardust.

10/01/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Final day of the cruise.  Headed out to catch tender at 9:50 for our 11:00 (it had been changed twice, from 2:30 pm to 11:30, and from 11:30 to 11:00) excursion, got to La Baie around 10:15, checked with NCL representative at the meeting area and discovered their message on the ticket was misleading, meeting at 11:00 with “allow 45 minutes to tender” actually meant 11:45 departure time, we’ll have to come back in one hour for it, did some beach front trail and street strolling, we went back at 11:05 was able to catch an slight earlier bus to start out excursion.

The excursion ended at 2:10, we did not bring any cash for tip to the guide, sorry!  Got back to the ship around 2:35, had a light lunch at Garden Cafe before returning to our stateroom and did some packaging.  Expecting a nice dinner on the final cruise day was a total disappointment, I guess NCL Sky average out their effort so that every day was above average.  Tried to use the remaining of my Internet minutes around 9:30, nothing moved, the wireless speed test showed a crawling speed, gave up.

10/02/2023: We docked at Quebec at 5:10.  Got up at 6:30.  Got off the ship at 9:00, ordered UberX and waited in the designated area (a parking lot) where a guy helped Uber vehicles connect their passengers, our wait was 15 minutes but the connection was smooth, the ride from Quebec cruise port began at 9:20, we got to Chez Hubert B&B at 9:29, since checkin time was 2:00 (not 11:00), we left our luggages in the hotel and started our random tours: The Fortification of Quebec and the Parliament of Quebec, the latter required even more security check than airports, plus getting a badge to scan in after passports were thoroughly checked.  Stopped by Subway and purchased one sandwich, took a long time as it was close to 12:00 lunch time (we almost always made our purchases [in Paris] at least one hour before meal time and was able to get in and get out quickly).  After resting a while on the road side bench and watching other tourists, we decided to go back to where the hotel is, within a block of the hotel, Lucas texted room ready” so we got in our room in just a few minutes.  Found Carrefour but they did not have hot food and our preferred wine, we purchased one can shrimp (which turned out over cooked), one bottle Merlot Rose (too dry for our likings), and one can Couscous (better than we expected).  Ordered COVID test kits (4), should be receiving them in a week or so.

10/03/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Had breakfast downstairs, simple but homey , the B&B caregiver (Lucas) prepares breakfast by himself.  Reserved Uber to the airport for 10052023 4:00 am.  Headed out to see Quebec at 10:00.  Stopped by Epicerie Richard (the closest grocery store, only 3 minutes away) and was satisfied with what we can buy later, Château Frontenac is just a couple of minutes away.  Before coming back to the B&B, we got one sandwich, one bottle 1.0 L Cabernet Sauvignon, two bananas, one bag Cheetos Crunchy, and one can 16 oz beer.  Enjoyed lunch on the second floor common area balcony-beer, sandwich and Cheetos.

Headed out at 2:45 to see Cathedral Holy Trinity, it’s not too far away from Epicerie Richard grocery store.  Planned to get sandwich from another Subway Sandwich near Carrefour, but decided to check out Carrefour first, decided to get one pack ham and the same Couscous we purchased yesterday and leave Subway for tomorrow.

10/04/2023: Got up at 6:30.  Anita checked in United flights 3703 (YQB to EWR) and 2164 (EWR to SFO) at 6:50.  Headed out to see more of the fort gates.  Stopped by Epicerie Richard and purchased two 16 oz beer, two bag Cheetos Crunchy (one regular and one Jalapeño), and one sandwich.  Had lunch on the second floor balcony.  Strolled along the Promenade and enjoyed the songs and music by local performers.  Stopped by Subway and purchased one 12” sandwich, half for dinner (plus leftover Epicerie Richard sandwich and red wine) and half for breakfast tomorrow.  Finished packing at 7:15.  Consumed the second can of beer and Cheetos with Anita at 8:00 before going to bed at 9:00.

10/05/2023: Got up at 3:15.  Waited downstairs, our Uber driver arrived at 3:56.  Got to Quebec airport at 4:15.  Anita forgot about the Maple syrup bottles in her luggage, the security check lady was kind to unwrap each one and put them in a quart size bag for her.  We were probably too early here, still one hour and 30 minutes before boarding.  Boarded the flight at 6:17.  Flight 3703 took off at 6:43, 4 minutes behind schedule, it landed at EWR at 7:57, 37 minutes ahead off schedule, since we had no check-in luggage, we were able to go through passport control in just 10 minutes.  We didn’t have to worry about late for our connecting flight, walked from terminal B to C, checked in our luggages since no more connecting flight, got to gate C75 around 8:50, ordered one Stromboli pizza to take on the flight as there wouldn’t be any free food.  Boarded flight UA 2164 at 9:35.  Since they changed plane and reassigned our seats to be 37A and 37B (a two seat row just ahead of emergency exit, this was much much better than our original 31D and 31G (with two other people sitting between us).  This flight was virtually full except for 3 empty seats-it could be why United changed to this bigger plane.  Flight UA2164 took off at 10:29, 29 minutes behind schedule.  We landed at SFO at 12:44, 3 minutes ahead of schedule, total flight time was 32 minutes shorter.  Jack pick up us at departure level (to avoid arrival pickup crowd) at 1:20, Jack took 280 instead since 101 had one section under construction, got home at 2:21, home sweet home.  Harvested 10 overgrown and fat cucumbers.

10/6/2023: Got up at 6:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one box Golden Kiwi, one hand banana, one Walnut Cranberry bread, two pack (x2 each)Cauliflower pizza, one bottle Kirkland Olive oil, one pack Trident fish stick, one pack Mediterranean salad, three French butter cookies, one bottle 1.0L Kirkland Tequila, and one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red.  Processed all cucumbers, pickled all of them in two different flavors.  Got Anita's Taipei trip schedule.

10/7/2023: Got up at 6:00.  Trimmed off withered Cucumber leaves, counted about half a dozen small cucumbers, not sure if they will become harvestable shortly though.  Tried airdrop trip photos from Anita's iPhone to my iPad, but the resulting phots lost all their original timestamps, found out I had to do this in Apple's Photo app and turn on "All Auto Data" to keep original timestamps, Google Photo did not have this feature and thus could not retain it.  Re-inserted the photos disappeared during Notes copy and paste operation (from iPad Notes to MacBook Pro Notes).

10/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Replaced the batteries on the feeder with the ones I removed before the trip (as their level was at one), will let them run out before using the new ones again.  Filled (had to empty it when changing batteries) feeder.

10/9/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 90 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage, excellent exercise!

Anita has luncheon with her Shoot class classmates at Shanghai Delight in 環球廣場, Milpitas.  Had 10 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

10/10/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack grape tomato, one pack (x8) Danish, one pack Mediterranean salad, one pouch Kirkland 3.0L Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 2019 Broken Earth Cabernet Sauvignon, two dozen pasture egg, and two boxes Merci chocolate.  Update Pixel 6 Pro to Android version 14.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander as well as Wisteria leaves, water cleaned the tiles and other decors near Monica's garden.  Ordered one set HomeKit from Silverfit, I actually selected it long ago but did not know how/where to proceed to redeem it, it turned out I need to go to "Dashboard" to finish redeeming it.

Placed another for myself, also from Dashboard and moving down one page.

10/11/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Headed out to South Bay Smog Test Center at 8:06, arriving there at 8:20-the traffic was pretty bad.  The owner did not show up until 8:50, after driving my RX300 into the test bay, he informed me that he could not do the test as his machine was broken, only vehicles built after 2000 could be tested, after some pondering, he told me to come back tomorrow when his machine was adjusted/fixed, he said 4:00pm would be better-fewer customers and lighter traffic, I need to think about this as Anita needs to use the car for her gym visit.  Trimmed off two large shrub branches near back door neighbor, tried handsaw before switching to chain saw which made the job much easier, also trimmed off some smaller overshoot branches.  Received Christmas light and my convertible pants from Amazon-Anita picked them up after it was dropped off at the door.

10/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Started working on the new antenna installation, after trying master bedroom access to the outside wall, I gave up that location as it'll be impossible for me to safely work there.  attached antenna to the TV and examined different location in the backyard, the best location is right next to the down spout near the small planter box, don't have to be high (a clear view of the northwestern sky will do, the only thing left is how to route cable-which junction box, the one behind the small planter box is now unaccessible plus the wall inside was blocked by the display cabinet, the junction box on the second floor wall need to to be examined to be sure it is usable but I'll need to move the utility table and cover to access it.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports before heading to South Bay Smog Test Center, there was one other car ahead of me, waited only 10 minutes before my turn and it was done within 15 minutes, the owner told me that he's closing down the place in November as the landlord possibly had development plan, and he's not doing this anymore-very sad as he was, he said he did the test for me even though the machine was broken and needed adjustment but he did it just for me, bless him and thank God.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ-good one!

10/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Filled up RX300 at Costco for $4.999/gal.  Paid RX300 vehicle registration renewal fee online.

Replaced master bedroom weather station main unit batteries, pressed "Reset" button at the back of the main unit and reconnect the remote unit.  Adjusted the floating shelf next to the printer, it was leaning downward on the out side edge.  Installed antenna base, this includes drilling 4 holes in the really hard stucco wall, took me nearly one hour.

Peilee returned my call and chatted for 38 minutes.

10/14/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Purchased one order Xio Mai, one order shrimp dumpling, and one order pork bun from King Egg Roll.  Walked 51 minutes in the backyard.

10/15/2023: Got up at 7:00.  My hemorrhoid has been acting up the last two days, maybe I drank too much?!?!?!  Applied outside wall paint to the antenna holding arm.  Trimmed off all unnecessary (ones that do not have new cucumbers) cucumber plant branches.

10/16/2023: Got up at 6:45.  Heading out to SFO at 11:16, got to SFO at 12:00, scanned Anita's passport and got the luggage tag, asked for Premier tag at the drop off counter.  Left Anita at security check entrance and headed home, the traffic wasn't too bad but it still took 45 minutes to get home, just missed Anita's third call, she called again after 5 minutes, she forgot her red scarf on the sofa and will have to ask flight attendant for more blanket.  Decided to visit Costco since I will be playing table tennis tomorrow morning at Robert's garage, purchased one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (I did not get the discount after checking the receipt at home-shoot!), one pack Trident fish stick, one box Jalapeño Cheese Popper, and two dozen pasture egg.  Setup all three RMs, tried them out, seemed to work fine, pondering if I should get another Yoga mat or wait for the free ones which should arrive Wednesday?!?!?!  Anita's flight UA871 took off at 2:41pm, 21 minutes behind schedule.  Had one hour and 15 minutes MB with RMs, no EJ-held it off.  Had another hour of MB with RMs, no EJ.

10/17/2023: Anita called at 6:18, her trip was fairly smooth.  Got up at 6:50.  My lb most likely bruised somewhat from MB with RMs yesterday, it's a little sensitive-need to break for a while.  Played 75 minutes table tennis.  Trimmed several large Oleander branches.

10/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stopped by Costco but did not find any more cheese popper, guess they were all out yesterday, purchased one pack Trident fish stick, one pack grape tomato, one pack wild rock fish fillet, one pack (x2) 32°Heat underwear (the same I bought on Amazon, it's got only one and cost at $15.20 more than 2 (at $14.99) from Costco, one bottle 750ml StoryPoint Pinot Noir, one bottle 750ml Kirkland Malbec, and one pack Polish Sausage (info below).

Trimmed off some smaller Oleander branches and new shoots, cut off a good amount of Birds of Paradise leaves/stem-it still looked over grown afterward, will probably do it again next week.  Had one hour MB with RMs, EJ-need to take a break.  Missed Anita's call at 4:45, she also missed my call but through Echo Drop-in feature, we were able to talk on Line for 25 minutes.

10/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Moved all tree trimmings to the curbside, a total of 6 wheel barrels, I had to remove the wheel from the barrel to inflate it half way through, cleaned up the residual trimming in the backyard as well. I was pretty tired during my efforts and felt exhausted afterware, maybe I had too much to drink and/or too much MBs?!?!?!  Cleaned the RM Anita use in the gym and tried MB, it was too rough on the edge, had 20 minutes MB with the other three RMs, no EJ.  Paid Francisco $90 for October service.  Received two sets of Yoga mat and towel from Fedex, they were ordered (free) from Silverandfit on 10/11/2023, very slow delivery (shipper possibly use the cheapest rate), tried them out and decided that they were not suitable for MB-material was too coarse, the towels were in good size but was informed to wash before first use.  Chatted with Anita for 33 minutes, she's adjusting to jet lag well.

10/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street-that's a lot, took me 35 minutes to complete.  Stopped by Walmart, purchased one tube fabric glue, 3 bags cat treats of different flavor, 5 8-1/2oz Cheetos crunchy (2 regular and 3 jalapeño), two bottle Barefoot 1.5L Riesling, three bottle Barefoot Moscato, one bag carrot, and 4 Fuji apple, and one hand (x4) banana.  Swing by Marina Grocery, got two pack needle rice noodle, 4 bags Ramen, one pack (x4) Neoguri seafood noodle, one pack fried fish cake, one pack Taiwanese sausage, one bottle Kimlan Soy Sauce, one bottle original Sriracha, one pack thick bean curd, two pack beef tendon, two pack beef shank, one pack small Gai Choy, and one pack Gailan.  Called Anita at 5:10 for 20 minutes, told her I plan to purchase premium economy for my trip back to Taiwan, she was reluctant to agree......

10/21/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Decided to walk in the backyard instead of out in the street, started stripping away likely webs in my usual walk paths but my head ran into one of the Oleander branches which made me angrily got the extension cord and chainsaw and started cutting it off, cut off two more large branches, one of them expanded way over into our Korean neighbor's backyard, cleaned up the trimmings and leftover leaves and wood chips, took nearly one haour and 30 minutes.  Walked 51 minutes in the backyard.

Called Anita and chatted for 30 minutes.  Had one hour MB with RMs and legs, EJ.  The flood light outside of the family room sliding door appeared to be broken, it failed two other light bulbs, will install a new one (purchased at Costco a long while ago) tomorrow.

10/22/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Installed the new flood light fixture, all plastic body may not last long, there's only a single bold to hold the body to the plate, it looked fragile and unsteady, need to do something to secure it better after testing is done tonight.

The mounting bracket had to be reversed (with the protruding screw hole facing inward) to allow mounting screw to secure-not mentioned in the guide.

Placed buckets below a couple of the downspout for developing shower.  cleaned up master bedroom-lots of dust and lint, will do master bathroom another day-tired.  Received red table tennis rubber at 11:12 (picked up at 1:25 after seeing e-mail notification)-it was scheduled for delivery on 10/17/2023, rescheduled for 10/24-10/25/2023 but arrived two days ahead of new schedule.  Called Anita at 5:06 for 24 minutes.

10/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Donated $20.8 to Wikipedia/Wikimedia with my United Explorer card.  Cleaned master bedroom closet, vacuumed the carpet, turned the carpet 180° so that the dirty part is on the other side covered by baskets.  Reserved United flight tickets back to Taiwan: 2/19/2024-3/12/2024.

Walked in the backyard for 30 minutes.

Called Anita at 5:00 for 27 minutes.  Iron on the "Canadaian" patch on to the Polo Shirt I kind of damaged while removing the logo.

10/24/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Stopped by Costco and purchased one pack Artisan roll, two bottle1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (read the price tag carefully this time and realized why I did not get the discount the last time, the discount was $6 off each bottle for two bottles purchase), and one dozen StoryPoint Pinot Noir.  Filled LS400 power steering fluid as there was noise while turning the steering wheel.  Drilled a small hole on top of the new flood light fixture, secured the light with additional screw-the original single screw attachment was, in my opinion, a really bad design.  Applied outside wall paint to the junction box above the small planter box as well as the one hosting the new flood light.

Call Anita at 1:50 for a few minutes.  Had 40 minutes MB with RMs (5), EJ.

10/25/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Walked 40 minutes in the neighborhood streets: Septembersong Court

->Autumnsong Way->Vinci Park Way->Lundy Ave->Sierra Rd->Flickinger Ave->Berryessa Rd->Junesong Way->Springsong Dr->Autumnsong Way->Septembersong Court.

Started making cell phone pockets for my Jean shorts, first one was way too small, the second one was too still small to fit my Pixel 6 Pro, the third one looks better but pending completion.

10/26/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned master bathroom floor and lower walls, don't remember when was the last time, the tile groves needs separate treatment, need to find out the best solution.  Mixed baking soda and vinegar after finding it would do the job on "Line", applied it to all the groves with tooth brush, the effect wasn't as good as it claimed, water alone would probably do the same, finished the whole bathroom and wipe cleaned residual baking soda, it's done.  Moved Oleander trimmings to the curbside in two loads.  Anita called at 1:44 for 3 minutes-Kwang Hua's still asleep, she'll call around 3:00 again.  

10/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, the part that our two door away neighbor dumped was cleaned up by it's owner but I still detailed it a bit.  Turned off and removed cucumber watering control, the controller, batteries, water splitter, and hose were all carefully put away for next year.  Anita called at 1:36 for 7 minutes, her migraine headache is acting up again (for a couple of days now).

Walked 54 minutes in the backyard.

10/28/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 71 minutes table tennis in Robert's garage.

Anita called at 2:06 for 4 minutes, call quality wasn't good, broken frequently.  Trimmed off two large Oleander branches.

10/29/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Stopped by Marukai and purchased one hand banana, one pack Fuji apple, one bag bean sprouts, one pack lean ground pork, one Yakisoba, one pack fried chicken (Karaage), one Salmon Shioyaki&chicken, one pork cutlet, and one Karei whole.  Had 15 minutes MB with RMs, EJ-quick.  Anita called at 1:37 for 7 minutes, she's in a single room, they are in Tokyo now, will head back to Taiwan tomorrow.  Anita called again at 4:12 for 7 minutes.

10/30/3023: Got up at 7:00.  Continuing phone pockets for jeans.  Called Anita at 2:11 for 15 minutes, she missed my 2 previous calls as she's still asleep.  Anita called at 4:00 for 31 seconds, they are leaving for their final day of Tokyo tour before flight back to Taiwan.

10/31/2023: Got up at 6:55.  Anita called at 8:21 for. 2minutes, she just arrived 博愛街 residence.  Swing by Costco and purchased one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack organic grape tomato, one bottle 64oz Hazelnut creamer, and two dozen pasture egg.  Finished processing the New England & Canada cruise photo album, sent link to Anita.  Spent a little over one hour trimming Birds of Paradise as well as the small purple flower tree near the porch, cut most of them into shorter pieces and placed them in the waste bucket, watered some plants with the dark color rain water in the two buckets.  Anita called a couple of times to get Charles Schwab access identification code.

11/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed the Golden Dewdrops (金露花) and the Rose close to the fence, also cleaned up the leaves and withered flowers in the flower lot.  Had 25 minutes MB with RMs, no EJ.  Anita called several times while I was working on MB but finally picked up at 5:02 and chatted for 19 minutes.

11/2/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Played 88 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Found out by using table saw I was able to trim off the handle style plastic part from the aluminum stick so that it could be used to extend the new antenna.

Had 50 minutes MB with RMs and legs, EJ.  Called Anita at 5:03 for 21 minutes.

11/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stoped by Costco and got one bottle 750ml Complicated Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, one pack crispy onions, one can seaweed salad, and one tub cream cheese.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste-lots of sand and dust.  Applied outside wall paint to antenna extension bar.

Swept kitchen floor then steam mopped it.  Anita called at 4:23 for 26 minutes.  Called Peilee at 7:36 for 24 minutes.  Watered front lawn and flowers for 100 minutes.

11/4/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited H Mart and purchased one bag carrot, one pack Ganlan, and one small Taiwanese cabbage.  Swing by Lowes, got 4 large rectangular bricks and 6 regular bricks-the left wheel barrel handle broke as I was to wheel them.

Tested the large round bucket, still leaks, had to sun dry it than apply more Flex Seal later-again!  Replaced temporary blockage to the hole under the fence to our Korean neighbor, 4 regular bricks were used, hopefully sturdy enough to hold whoever was digging it.

Placed the remaining regular bricks at the location where squrrels were digging for plant bulbs.

Applied the last portion of Flex Seal to the large round bucket, hopefully this improves the leakage situation.

Dusted and steam mopped living room, dinning room and kitchen, also attempted to steam clean the running carpet, maybe softer but definitely not cleaner.  Had one hour MB with RMs, no EJ.  Anita called at 4:00 for 38 minutes.  Fall back one hour on Day Light Saving.

11/5/2023: Got up at 6:55 (new fall back time).  Ordered one pack (x10) CR2032 3V batteries from Amazon.

Installed new antenna pending the cable.

Adjusted the base J-mount angle to better direct the antenna-also appeared nicer.

Called Anita at 3:04 for 12 minutes-she's a bit tired and wanted to go back to bed.  Had one hour MB with RMs, no EJ.

11/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  It rained last night, all positioned buckets were full, since the large round bucket was still in the process of strengthening the Flex Seal applied yesterday, it wasn't used.  picked two apples from backdoor neighbor's apple tree.  Called Anita at 2:04 for 23 minutes, the cab will pick her up at 8:30, Kwang Hua and Kwang Hui will go with her for a stroll near the airport or whatever.  Had one hour and 15 minutes MB with RMs and legs, EJ.  Received CR2032 batteries from Amazon at 5:16-picked up at 5:25.  Anita called from Tao Yuan airport at 5:42 for 4 minutes.

11/7/2023: Got up at 5:30.  Headed out to SFO at 5:55, got there around 6:40, met Anita at the arrival gate where she just exited at 6:50.  Heading home was very challenging as the sun beam directly at my eyes throughout the journey, I had to focus 110% on the winding road, arriving home at 7:42.  Played 80 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage-the chart below has 29 additional minutes which counts the time Robert and his wife played some table tennis before my arrival.

11/8/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Filled feeder with both SpecialKitty and Meow Mix.  While retrieving two long lumbers (from dismantled sofa) also threw out some old switch face plates and recycled several electrical metal parts from the garage.  Received the Wasabi sauce (x2) from Amazon at 10:26-picked up at 10:39.  Created a simple yet space saving hanger for Anita's boots.

11/9/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, there were no electric blanket in the store, purchased one hand banana, one pack organic grape tomato (tomatoes in this batch are bigger than the previous two times I bought), and two dozen pasture egg.  Ordered Westinghouse King size electric blanket from Amazon ($149.99-10% coupon+tax~=$147.65), delivery is scheduled for coming Saturday (11/11/2023).  Started working on wheel barrel handle replacement, cut up the pieces needed from our old sofa support lumbers.  Used wood glue to make two wider pieces.

11/10/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Continued working on the wheel barrel new support bars, set table saw blade level at one cm, made coarse cut of the handle portion, with belt sander I was able to make a smooth looking handles.  Trying to remove the old bars from the wheel barrel but the screws that tied them were all rusted together, I could not get any of them off, looks like I either dump the wheel barrel or come up with another solution.

11/11/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 87 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Received the king size electric blanket from Amazon at 12:43-picked up at 12:47 after seeing notification from Amazon, this blanket has the controllers on two separate connectors.  Made four new lumber pieces to salvage the wheel barrel-a new solution forced by unremovable rusted screws.

Moved table saw back to the garage, stored some tools that are no longer needed.

11/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Finished the second wheel barrel handle enforcement, need to get paints from Lowes to finish the appearance.  Took the two cables from the DirecTV dish antenna and with the help of my digital multimeter, confirmed one of them is the free hanging cable on the family room floor, this made using this very cable as the wire to the new antenna, all the connectors I have in the parts box turned out having a smaller center hole for the dish cable, after searching for existing cables I have, I was able to salvage one of the head (with a larger center hole) and complete the new cable, connection appeared to be good, will test it a few days before removing the sheet antenna in the master bedroom.

Almost forgot to insert the rubber shiled first before clamping the connector.

The connector on the right was salvaged from an old cable.

Zip tied up the loose cable to cables on the wall.  Applied outside wall paint to the cables+zip ties as well as wall in the vicinity with faded paint.

11/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Dropped off Anita at City Sports before visiting Lowes, got two yellow spray paint, one green spray paint, and one premium wood glue, swing by H Mart and got one quarter Kabocha, two white onion, one bunch green onion, one Celery, and 6 Tangerine honey.  Backed up Anita's iPhone 6 Pro to Macbook Pro, then backed up Macbook Pro to Seagate 1T.  Spray painted the wheel barrel handle enforcement lumbers, somehow the spray paint did not cover the surfaces well as the regular paint, maybe it's not thick enough, will try to find regular yellow paint the next time I visit Lowes.

11/14/2023: Got up at 6:40.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack unsalted mixed nut, two dozen pasture egg, two bottle 750ml Stella Rosa Black (from Italy), one pack organic grape tomato on vines, one pack mushroom, one pack (x5) Artisan lettuce, one MoveFree Ultra, one pack (x8) Marie Calendar chicken pot pie, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack large raw shrimp, one pack Ox tail, one pack Jack cheese, one pack Dungeness crab claws, and one Cranberry Walnut bread,  Anita could not find the Noosa Yogurt she desired.  Walked 20 minutes in the backyard.  Had 5 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

11/15/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Blowed leaves in neighbor's yard, walkway, and driveway onto the front lawn so the rain won't cause them to stick to the ground, cleaned up backyard leaves (Oleander, Wisteria, as well as neighbor's fruit tree), dumped them into the garbage bin.  Extended feeder cover to the whole bench, secured them with screws as well as zip ties.

11/16/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 73 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Replaced Brother printer black cartridge, need to order new ones in a few months.  Anita called from City Sports parking lot saying the cart wouldn't start, I rushed over there and somehow started the car with a single try, not sure what was the problem or was there a problem but need to pay attention to this from now on.

11/17/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marina Grocery with Anita, purchased one head Broccoli, two Daikon, one pack carrot, 6 red potatoes, one hand banana, one pack pork neck bones, one can Pork Sung, one can baby corn, one pack (x4) unsalted butter, one bag small dried shrimp, one pack dried mushroom, one pork chop mix, one steam meat mix, and one pack (x4) squid, got $3 coupon, Anita went and use it along with the $4 coupon from last visit and got two Vietnamese rice snack.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street, it was A LOT, took me nearly an hour to do the task.  

11/18/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Stopped by 99 Ranch Market, looking for mint and ginger, but turned out the a small pack of mint leaves/stem cost ~$12 and only large bag of ginger was available, I gave up on both, purchased one bento from their deli department, a good amount of rice noodle, two pieces of tofu skin square, two large pork chop, four strip of Ganlan, and 6 pieces of stewed chicken.  Fixed fence gate door latch string.  Listened to André Rieu's music and found one instrument we liked the most-pan flute by Gheorghe Zamfir.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ-so so!

11/19/2023: Got up at 6:50.  Played 94 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Checked the feeder and confirmed the old batteries I put back in were now all depleted, replaced new batteries and reconfigured the meal settings to 8:00, 12:00, and 5:30 fall-back-time, also found out I could separate the food container from its control/base module so that I wouldn't need to remove all the food to access battery compartment.

11/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Trimmed several Oleander branches near the fence to our Korean neighbor, trimming smaller ones one at a time maybe possible without cutting the whole large branch directly provided that I could rope the ones to avoid it falling to other side of the fence. 

11/21/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up Oak leaves in the backyard (including the deck), cleaned the tiles near the fence to Filipino neighbor.  Walked 46 minutes in the backyard.

11/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Oleander and Wisteria leaves and flowers.  Had 20 minutes MB with hand and legs, EJ.  Played 91 minutes table tennis at Robert' garage.

11/23/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Started preparing Thanksgiving dinner dishes in the morning-mashed potato, Dungeness crab, and seafood bowl.

Finished everything just before 5:15 but the liquid base for the seafood bowl wasn't thick enough, should have kept cooking it for another 30 minutes, will do this tomorrow for the leftover.

11/24/2023: got up at 7:00.  Visited IKEA with Anita, purchased one red candle, one pack assorted white candles, one white metal candle cup, and one set rectangular metal cans, also got two scones from their cafeteria.  Had 15 minutes MB with legs, no EJ.

11/25/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Setup some Christmas lights and trees.

Put up all remaining string lights.

Played one hour and 37 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.  Received 12" Hexclad wok from Amazon, Anita picked it up right after the delivery at 3:34.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Setup the small figure lights on the coffee table.

11/26/2023: Got up at 7:15.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, Nordstrom, as opposed to online info, was also open when we got there at 10:00, so we paid Nordstrom a visit first, Macys Christmas deco area did not have much of what we liked, ended up in the food court area at 10:05, had the usual for lunch and togo dinner before getting out before 2 hour free parking expired.

Ordered one Dickens' Village series item from Amazon.

Ordered another AA battery pack (Amazon Basics, x48) from Amazon, it's cheaper than last year.

11/27/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one hand banana, one pack (x2 smaller bag-new packaging) Mediterranean salad, two dozen pasture egg, one original Madi Gran Panettone, one Cranberry Walnut bread, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red, and one pack Lamb rib roast.

11/28/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased two dozen Uncorked Cabernet Sauvignon at $5.99 each after $5 discount.  Cleaned up, again, windows of the cars, cleaned up sliding door glasses in the kitchen as well family room, cleaned up some leaves in the backyard, fallen leaves wasn't as much though.  Received Amazon Basics AA batteries at 4:47, Anita happened to get home at the same time-delivery was made by third-party van, not Amazon truck, the package was supposed to be late but turned out to be on schedule.  Received the Dickens' Village figure from Amazon at 7:36 (picked up at 8:35).

11/29/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Picked a couple of the larger apples from backdoor neighbor apple tree.  Collected 3 from the ground and picked a couple from our backdoor neighbor's apple tree.

Had 10 minutes MB with legs, EJ.

11/30/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 90 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.

Replaced the old microwave oven (still runs but it would not stop after time is up as the mechanical timer function is broken) with the one we bought one year ago.

12/1/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street.  Visited 99 Ranch Market by myself, purchased two red Onion, one small Kabocha, one Taiwanese Cabbage, two green Bell Pepper, and one Cauliflower, also got one bento (small amount of fried rice noodle, 4 pieces Ganlan, two stewed Tofu skin, 5 pieces stewed chicken, and four deep fried fish steak-likely leftover as they appeared hard) from their deli department.  Visited Marshalls with Anita after lunch, purchased one Lucas luggage (to replace Anita's two-wheel one), one can Cinnamon, and one can furniture/floor wipe.

12/2/2023: Got up at 715.  Arriving Robert's house at 9:20 but his Lexus wan't out in the driveway, thinking he's just a little late, decided to check Line on my phone after 5 minutes, turned out he sent a Line message around 7:16 but I did not see it until it's too late, went home after Robert came out to meet me saying he's got things to take care of before flying to Taiwan.  Cleaned up backyard leaves of many kinds.  Replaced Milly's bedding-an old piece of floor paint shield.  Had 15 minutes MB with mini, EJ.  Called Peilee on Line for 21 minutes.

12/3/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Played 94 minutes table tennis at Robert's garage.  This will be the last game of the year since Robert's going to Taiwan for nearly two months.

12/4/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one dozen Uncorked Cabernet Sauvignon, two dozen pasture egg, one pack BibiGo Mandu, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one pack organic grape tomato, and one hand banana.  Called Jason, he's still in Taipei recovering from surgery due to "常壓性水腦症" which caused his muscle control in his leg problem, he won't be back until March 2024.

12/5/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Attempted to fix the laundry room leaking faucet, examined both cold and hot water controls, several rubber rings were seen but could not find any replacement in my stash, will keep them as is and likely replace the entire faucet fixture when it gets intolerable.  Examined the toilet tank valve and found possible replacement on Lowes website, will get it when I go there.  Milly has been behaving weird lately-not eating, afraid being close to people (me), old age or something else?!?!?!  dropped off Anita at City Sports before visited Lowes, purchased 8 small brick, one toilet flapper, and one 3M duct tape, swing by H Mart and got one bag carrot.  Joined Anita in City Sports, walked 15+2 minutes on treadmill.

12/6/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marina Grocery by myself, purchased one pack rice, one pack rice vermicelli, 4 fast noodle, one pack smoked pork belly, one pack pork neck bone, two pack beef tendon, one small Napa cabbage, one pack pork sparerib, one pack small Gai Choy, two Daikon, and one can roast eel, also purchased half a roast duck from their deli department.  cleaned most oak leaves away from the driveway and onto the lawn.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Shaked the Wisteria to allow loose leaves fall, blew them away from the brick flat-impending rain may stick them to the ground if left on the ground.

12/7/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Prepared and cooked pork neck bone+daikon soup, also prepared Pumpkin+pork sparerib for steaming-likely tomorrow!  Walked 20 minutes on the bike in the garage.

12/8/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, she returned a hat at Anthropologie before getting a couple of letter knittings, stopped by Macys home department and got one pair Henckels International kitchen scissors and one 2023 Christmas cookie hanging plate, had lunch at KoJa Kitchen, did not purchase dinner as we still have more to consume.  Reset Sail Internet router/antenna and restore Internet connection.  Filled up gas for RX300 at Costco for $3.919/gal.

12/9/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Marukai by myself, purchased 4 white tomato, one pack Mung bean sprout, 3 loose garlic, one pack soft tofu, one pack Nama Sake Kirimi, 2 pack (x3 each) Yakisoba, one pack pork cutlet, one pack Unagi Futomaki, one pack (x5) Yamahide Katsuo, and one can Sushi Shoga Natural.  Took a different route home as there was an accident on I-280 south which I noticed on my way to Marukai, Stevenscreek->Lawrence->101, took possibly 10 minutes more plus 5 minutes recover from a wrong turn I made on Stevenscreek.  Ordered one iPad Air 5th generation (2022) from Amazon with Anita's Explorer card (~9981).

12/10/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Helped Anita cleaning Molly's mouth/teeth, turned out most of her teeth were gone and she's suffering a gum wound which, most likely prevent her from eating anything thus the odd behavior.  Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.

Drove a short distance with Anita to see the Christmas lights one of our neighbor displayed.

12/11/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Had MB with legs, EJ-good one but tired.  Received my iPad Air 5th generation (2022) from Amazon at 7:28pm.

12/12/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Visited Costco with Anita, purchased one pack ready-to-consume cocktail shrimp, one pack organic grape tomato, one hand banana, two dozen pasture egg, two bottle 1.75L Johnnie Walker Red (on sale $27-$6 when purchase two), one pack (x8) Danish, one pack (x2) Yogurt, and one pack Mediterranean salad.  Walked 53 minutes in the backyard.

Transferred old iPad data+ to new iPad Air 5th gen, Line and Sling need special attention.

12/13/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard leaves, mostly near both our backdoor and Filipino neighbors.  Trimmed 10 scrap woods to the same size for Anita.

12/14/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Cleaned Oak leaves in Filipino neighbor's front yard, cleaned some Oak leaves in the front porch garden, trimmed a good portion of dead Lavender leaves/branches.  Lunch: Chicken Pot Pie.  Walked 50 minutes in the backyard.

Dropped off Anita at Julie's home, they are going downtown for their annual Christmas gathering.

Ordered 2 clear silicone case for Anita's 4th generation and my 5th generation iPad Air from Amazon.  Ordered iPad Air 4th/5th generation screen protector (2 pack) from Amazon.

12/15/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover in the street, this time with the blower which saved about 10 minutes' work.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.  Received iPad 4th/5th generation silicone cases from Amazon at 4:03.

12/16/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up backyard Wisteria leaves after shaking the tree, rain is coming tomorrow!  Stopped by King Egg Roll and purchased one order Xiu Mai and one order Shrimp dumpling for lunch.  Received iPad Air 4th/5th generation screen protector (x2) from Amazon at 12:59.

12/17/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited ValleyFair with Anita, there are more crowds as this being the second to the last weekend before Christmas, Anita bought one beanie and one Christmas tree ornament  at Macys, headed home without making our usual purchase at KoJa Kitchen.  Had Yokisoba I made yesterday for lunch.

12/18/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased one pack organic grape tomato, one pack Asparagus, one pack organic chicken thigh, one pouch 3.0L Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon, one bottle 750ml Stella Moscato, one pack BibiGo beef Mandu, one pack (x2) Skippy super chunky peanut butter, and one jar soy sauce.  When I started heading home, I realized that Anita need this car to go to City Sports, but she drove off in LS400 by the time I got home, sorry......  Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.

12/19/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Filled the feeder with original Meow Mix.  Cleaned most leaves on the walkways/deck in the backyard.  Made a replacement cork (the old one broke in the middle) for my favorite wine bottle.

Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

12/20/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Processed all remaining Asparagus-boiled them before colling in cold water, made sauce to be applied (Sriracha+Wasabi+Oyster sauce), a smaller plate for the next couple of days and one large plate for Christmas eve).  Rode 15 minutes bike in the garage.  

12/21/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Visited 99 Ranch Market by myself, purchased one hand banana, one pack spicy pork sausage, one pack Gailan, one soft tofu, one pack green onion, three Bell Pepper, and one pack carrot.  Cleaned up most Oak leaves in the street and on the curb of the neighbors across the street, moved majority of the leaves piling up on both curbs and the lawn which I moved them there a few days ago, it took me longer than I anticipated, I was tired and sweaty afterward,

12/22/2023: Got up at 7:00.  Cleaned up leftover garden waste in the street.  Spent one hour and 20 minutes cleaning up backyard leaves-80% Wisteria, 20% apple and peach ones, piled most of them in the planter boxes, some in the compost bin, the rest in the garbage bin.

12/23/2023: Woke up at 4:30, went downstairs and had a glass of red wine before going back to bed at 5:40.  Got up at 7:20.  Received CR2016 battery from Amazon at 12:04, also received the incorrect order of Champion closed bottom yoga pants which I thought was the thick ones I wear during winter, my bad!  Original plan to go with Anita to workout at City Sports was interrupted since I had diarrhea all of a sudden before heading out.  Had 15 minutes MB with hands and legs, EJ.

12/24/2023: Got up at 7:30.  Mop cleaned all granite decors in the backyard.  Light boiled squids, shrimps, and scallops in 麵切, finished seafood dish plating.

Steamed sausage and cured pork, cut up and along with beef tendon made a single plate.

Grilled all Korean style beef and placed them in the plate given by our Korean neighbor last year.

Received Rufus Teague meat rub (x2) from Amazon at 3:20 (I retrieved it at 3:25).  7 course Christmas Eve dinner with two bottles of wine.

12/25/2023: Got up at 7:40.  Walked to the Post Office and 99 Ranch Market with Anita.  Purchased one loaf od bread at 99 Ranch Market Deli department.

12/26/2023: Got up at 7:14.  Visited Costco by myself, purchased 4 bottle Stella Rosa Moscato (will bring 2 to Jerry's cross-over party), one pack organic grape tomato, two dozen pasture egg, one pack (x12) whole Kernel corn, one hand banana, and one bag Brazil nut.  Stopped by King Egg Roll and purchased 2 orders (x4 each) Xiu Mai, 2 orders (x4 each) shrimp dumpling, and one order sesame ball (x5).  Anita's church friend Judy and Helen visited for just one hour and left around 11:30.

12/27/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Blower blew Wisteria leaves away from the brick platform.  Visited Valleyfair with Anita, she asked the casher removed the security lock on the beanie while paying for a house shaped Christmas decor, she also bought a 50% off scarf at Anthropologie, purchased one Tuna salad to go for dinner.  

12/28/2023: Got up at 7:10.  Visited Walmart with Anita, purchased 4 bottle 1.5L Barefoot Riesling, one bottle 1.5L Barefoot Moscato, 3 bag Cheetos crunchy Jalapeño, one bag Cheetos crunchy, 6 small can cat pate, two lick-able treat and one small bag cat food.  Swing by Marina Grocery, purchased one bag HFH spicy peanut, one pack green bean vermicelli, one pack Escular steak, 4 出前一丁 fast noodle, one bottle Oyster sauce, one small cup jello, two Daikon, one pack sausage, one pack cured pork, and one pack small Gai Choy.  My blood pressure appeared around 145 even after several tries, need to watch it closely.  Walked 55 minutes in the backyard.

12/29/2023: Got up at 7:08.  Anita had lunch with her high school classmates, I had fast noodle.  The forecast rain was 9:00 in the morning but it kept delaying to 1:00, 3:00, 4:00, it finally started around 5:30.

12/30/2023: Woke up at 4:00, blood pressure was still at ~150, went back to bed at 5:00.  Got up at 7:20.  Measured blood pressure after light ping pong pad exercise, 88/156, 82/121, and 79/128, with the first being right after the exercise.  Had to postpone sweeping leftover leaves in the street as it's still sprinkles.  Reposition the small transparent side shield on the bench so that both Molly and Milly can easily acess, also added a canvas on the bench for comfort.  Went to City Sports with Anita, walked on the treadmill for 49 minutes.

12/31/2023: Got up at 7:50.  Joined old friends at Jerry's house for New Years End, brought two bottle Stella Rosa Moscato, Jerry tried to make as many dishes as when Ruby's still around, thanks to his/her friends, the dishes (many) were prepared in time.  Unlike the old time, every one left around 9:20 instead of the usual midnight, few could last into late night now.