I have really been enjoying driving my Tesla around on a daily basis. I have a history of buying nice vehicles and then being hesitant to want to drive them much because of a desire to keep the odometer low and the condition like new. My 2005 Chevy SSR was the most egregious example of this, it would sit unused in the garage for weeks and weeks. When I got my new 2016 Tacoma I daily drove it for maybe the first year but then I took ownership of Cindy’s Prius and that became my reliable if unexciting daily driver until the Tesla purchase. Again I wanted to keep the truck as nice as possible.
So with the Tesla I again feel the desire to keep it pristine but I fully intend to drive the hell out of it. The dramatically reduced maintenance requirements on an EV make the penalty for stacking up the miles less severe. It feels nice to be able to enjoy the end result of many years of labor during each commute instead of having it just looking pretty sitting in the garage more or less full time.
Whatever I did to tweak my back on Sunday while playing pool games came back even stronger today. When I got up this morning the lower left portion of my back felt like it had a knife jammed into it. I took two Advil to take the edge off which seemed to help yesterday. I am hoping for similar relief today as lower body weight work is on the agenda. It could be challenging to pull off.
I have an after hours project at work that we planned to do this evening. Just to be safe I visited the branch where the work is to occur to make sure there weren’t any hidden snafus that could be a show stopper. I was glad I took that extra step as I did identify a wiring problem that would have prevented the work from being done. We are trying to come up with a plan of action to work around the issue.
Although a lot of my job requires base technical knowledge, what really makes me successful is the ability to troubleshoot. It’s just a skill that some people have and others don’t. When plan A fails, I already have plan B, C, D in the mental pipeline. It’s something that serves me well in many aspects of life.
I do not have a lot of time so this will be a Cliff Notes version of the time period beginning last Thursday. Thursday and Friday we had our annual tax certificate sale where properties with delinquent taxes are auctioned off. The bidders pay the taxes and when the property owner finally settles up the winning bidder gets a percentage of amount owned ranging from 5-18%. It’s pretty boring for me as I am there to put out a fire if one pops up, which hasn’t happened for years and years. It al least gave me an opportunity to get about halfway through the new book Howard Stern released recently.
The weekend was a rare occasion where it felt like I had a near perfect balance of chores, work, and fun. Saturday afternoon I finally got around to some Tesla mods that I had parts for for a couple weeks. It involves changing the struts on the frunk and trunk so they open on their own when activated. Neither mod was difficult and I liked the end result. It’s helpful to have the lid open up when approaching the vehicle if your hands are full. I also discovered that my car does have the newest driving computer that is required when Full Self Driving is released.
Saturday night we watched Return To Hades 2 a movie that may have went straight to Blu-Ray. It features Stallone, 50 Cent and Dave Batista among others. It was a sort of bizarre action flick which couldn’t climb out of a B rating for me, Cindy rated it lower.
Sunday morning Cindy and I went out on an extended ride down near the beach, something we had not done for quite awhile. We had a lot of fun just exploring and wound up eating lunch at Royal Scoop Ice Cream. Ironically no ice cream was consumed during the visit.
Later in the day Cindy and I did another thing we haven’t done in a long time, played in the pool. We spent close to a half hour passing a small beach ball back and forth like a volleyball. It was fun as we dove, stretched and extended to hit the ball. I felt fine last night but woke up this morning with intense pain in the lower left quadrant of my back. I was walking like an 85 year old. It was a depressing realization that something as simple a pool horseplay could have such ramifications. Getting old is such fun.
Last night I had another live stream, my 25th episode. I had a lot to talk about and the stream crossed the two hour mark however the real time attendance was quite low, never crossing 15 simultaneous viewers. I usually wind up getting a total of 300+ views after the fact but I have definitely thought about just ditching the scheduled stream if viewership doesn’t pick up.
I picked up the Tesla from the tint shop late morning. I decided to just hop back on my EUC to get there, it’s a more fun way to travel. The tint looked good but the installer did point out two things that annoyed me once again. A piece of trim by the rear window evidently is not in place as it should be and there are three scuff marks on the rear bumper right around where the paint work was done. My keen observation skills lead me to believe it was the byproduct of someone not being careful with a buffer when the paint work was being done. I will see if I can clean them up with some elbow grease and polish but it just adds to my WTF feeling about Tesla quality control and customer service.
Man it feels like I have been bleeding money lately. Of course the Tesla is the biggest impact but there have been a lot of other major hits coming in rapid succession like medical bills, the window tint, a new pool pump, kitchen faucet, and more. I need to find a way to hit the pause button on auxiliary spending for a couple months to stabilize financially. Man I wish we could sell the RV. RV ownership is akin to boat ownership. The famous saying of “the two happiest days in a boat(RV) owners life is the day they buy the boat (RV) followed closely by the day they sell it.” (at a huge loss) is really quite accurate.
Cindy and I have been watching the HBO miniseries, Chernobyl, which documents the horrific nuclear meltdown of a Russian nuclear power plant in the mid 80’s. Of course I remember hearing a lot about it but Russia made a huge effort to hide how cataclysmic the situation was from the rest of the world. The stories and visuals depicted in the series are shocking. In a nutshell the Russians addressed some of the most crucial moments of the disaster by sacrificing men who were willing to broil themselves with radiation for some extra rubles. The series is only five episodes long. I had to fast forward through sections of the episode last night where they showed how Russian soldiers were ordered to canvas the area around Chernobyl and kill every animal they found, including dogs and cats. It’s a pretty fascinating and sobering series, I wonder how long until they document the Japan meltdown as well…
I don’t even remember where I left off. Sunday morning I went to the birth center with Cindy. Originally Katie and Daniel were told the baby couldn’t go home until Monday but that schedule got moved up a day, meaning they could come home Sunday. After hanging out there for awhile and grabbing some of the stuff to take back to the house we left them and the baby as they had to jump through some more hoops before getting discharged.
Katie’s dad and his family came to the house to hang while we waited for Katie, Daniel and the baby to arrive. They wound up waiting much longer than expected as there was a delay getting out of the birth center. When they did arrive baby Daniel was passed around like a precious commodity, everyone loved holding him. Before I knew it my Sunday had expired, the five day weekend was flying by at warp speed.
So I had heard nothing from the Tesla service center since dropping the car off on Thursday, despite being told that I would be notified of progress/completion. So Monday morning I call them asking what is up with the car. “Oh it’s done”, ok nice of them to let me know. I asked them if they could verify that the paint looked good as I did not want to drive across the state only to see there was an issue. A service advisor checked and called me back, saying everything was good. I told her I would hop in the car and be there in a couple hours.
The drive back across the state in the Model S loaner was uneventful but I did find myself missing autopilot to make the mind numbing highway miles less so. When I got there I did not see my car in the lot, I later found out it was parked around back. When the service advisor pulled the M3 around the first thing I noticed was how dirty the car was on the outside, followed by how dirty the floor mat was as well. He apologized for the car being dirty. He said the city of Dania Beach made the service center shut down it’s outside car wash. Um ok, I guess they made them shut down putting paper mats on the floor mats too.
The dirt was only a minor annoyance, I was most concerned about them fixing the paint run near the trunk lid. Once I brushed some of the dirt off I verified that things looked good back there, thank goodness. The service advisor handed me my key card and headed back in.
When I turned on the car I saw another thing to get annoyed about, they neglected to put any more juice into the M3 after I dropped it off so I needed to charge before returning home. Maybe I am assuming too much that they would proactively charge the car. The bright side was this was an opportunity for me to do my first supercharging of the Tesla, which I have been wanting to do.
The closest supercharger was less than 10 miles away. I figured I would go there, hook up, and then grab lunch while it charged. Supercharging was stupid easy. Back into the spot and plug in. The charge rate is ridiculously fast compared to home charging. However it limited me to charging to 80% because it was supposedly a busy charging station, despite 80% of the spots being available.
So as I walked towards the shopping center I tapped my pockets to make sure I had my wallet and phone with me. I felt the phone but no wallet. Hmmm. I went back to the car thinking it must have just fallen onto the seat. When an exhaustive search revealed nothing, the ugly reality set in, it’s probably in the loaner car.
I did have the wallet out to pay for my coffee on the way and I didin’t recall jamming it back into my pocket. I called over to the service center and after an anxious minute or two they verified my wallet was indeed still in the loaner. They kept it out front for me. So I waited roughly 25 minutes for the car to go from 43% to 80% charge. I then backtracked to the SC, grabbed my wallet and THEN stopped for lunch at a dumpy Subway.
It felt good to be back behind the wheel of the M3 and I used the autopilot for the majority of the drive home. Of course I documented the experience.
I didn’t get home until early afternoon. By the time I was done editing video it was later in the afternoon. I headed outside to wash the very dirty car. It looked great once it was clean. I am hoping I can get around to just enjoying it now instead of worrying about repairs looming overhead.
This morning I dropped the car off for a non-repair item, window tint. Tinting your windows is a near requirement in Florida. The brutal sun bakes the interior of your car without it. I am opting for the top of the line ceramic stuff which is very pricey but I plan to have the M3 for a long time, it’s an investment that is worth it.
Instead of bothering someone to pick me up to go to the office I threw my KingSong 18L in the trunk. After dropping off the car I one wheeled it the roughly three or four miles to the office. It was mostly bumpy sidewalk riding the entire way which is never fun, especially navigating around pedestrians and bike riders. I got a call the car is already done so I am debating to ride back or get someone to take me.
So I was up bright and early Thursday morning for my cross state trek to Dania Beach to get three things addressed on my Model 3, the paint run, misaligned steering wheel, and installation of the homelink kit I bought. The drive across the state went smoothly, especially since I was able to use Auto Pilot for most of it. I had packed a bunch of stuff to keep me busy during the day, my laptop, a book and even one of my EUCs. Imagine my surprise when the service guy told me he was getting the keys for my loaner vehicle.
He said they will be sending the car to the body shop for the paint run and it will take a couple days. I thought they planned to try to sand and buff it all the same day. I was mistaken. Of course it would have been nice if this was communicated to me ahead of time but oh well. The nice part was my loaner vehicle was a Model S 85 Signature series, a car that cost over 100k back in 2012.
So I moved all of my junk that I brought with me into the Model S along with other important items like sunglasses, the EZ Pass, and Altoids. I had never driven a S before, there are quite a few differences from the Model 3 besides the obvious size difference. The inside of the car is more conventional with an instrument cluster in addition to a monster sized screen in the middle, which is rotated 90 degrees from the M3 screen orientation.
Back in 2012 they had significantly less tech in the car, it is sort of “dumb” compared to an M3 with no autopilot, autosteer or even adaptive cruise control. I did enjoy the larger dimensions immediately, the S series definitely fits someone with my long arms and legs better.
The drive back across the state went well although I did have a bit of range anxiety. Originally navigation estimated I would only have 5% of my battery left at the end of the trip. It advised me to keep my speed below 70MPH to ensure I got back. I later discovered that the climate system was cranked down to a bone chilling 60 degrees. When I adjusted it up a dozen degrees I had a little bit more padding in my journey, when I got back it showed I had roughly 25 miles of range left.
So I had planned to spend pretty much all day on the east coast. Instead I was home around lunch time. I couldn’t squander that time and decided to get out and mow the property which was shaggy in certain spots. I tended to other small tasks to try to get ahead of the work curve for my extended holiday weekend.
On Friday I continued the trend of working ahead, running errands and doing chores which normally would be relegated to the weekend. I also got my latest blood tests out of the way, The woman pulling the blood asked me three times if I was ok as she saw the sweat piling up. I assured her I was fine as I just hoped for her to get it over with. She pulled at least 7 or 8 vials. I figured out a way to make a video out of this as well.
One of those errands involved me stopping at Costco to get a couple things. As is often the case, I walked out of there with something I didn’t plan to get on the way in. This time it was a touch free Kohler kitchen sink faucet. Our faucet has been going downhill for a while. It sticked badly when trying to rotate side to side, so much so that it actually was rotating the entire fixture. I have been trying to skate by for a couple years by spraying the sleeve with WD-40 but even that is no longer working. I had wanted one of those no touch faucets for awhile due to their much cleaner on/off mechanism that only requires passing a hand under a sensor. When I saw Costco had one I threw it in the cart.
I wasn’t looking forward to the install. Our kitchen sink is really deep so working on the faucet is not much fun. I was pleasantly surprised that the installation was actually straightforward. It was more difficult removing the old fixture, the Kohler install was very clean and trouble free. My test runs of the faucet went great, the sensor works perfectly and the faucet itself is very easy to move and has a strong magnet that snaps it back in place if you pull out the hose for cleaning.
Right around the time when I started the faucet work Cindy told me that Katie was going to the hospital, she was feeling some things that made her feel like the time had come. Once Cindy got to the house she quickly packed her things and was off to the birthing center. I stayed home to man the homestead as I had no desire to experience the miracle of childbirth first hand.
I got a call a little after midnight that it was all over, the baby was born and everything went smoothly. Originally I expected Cindy to stay there overnight but she actually came home in the middle of the night to catch a few hours of sleep before she headed back in later this morning. I headed there mid-morning but stopped at Pinch-A-Penny on the way to order a new pool pump. My 18 year old unit is leaking badly and is probably five years past needing to be replaced. I have popped the capacitor on it four or five times.
When I got to the birth center Cindy and her ex-husband’s family was there. Baby Daniel was being held by Mike. The baby has a full head of dark hair which you don’t see very often. Cindy was anxious for me to hold the baby since I didn’t even want to touch Katie’s stomach when he was inside. Holding him was fine, he looked at me a bit and then sort of napped. Holding a baby feels very unnatural to me but I have a feeling it won’t be that way for long.
Daniel came back and I handed the baby off to him. The whole gang then headed out to go take some naps. I probably could use one as well since I didn’t get much more than five hours of sleep but I have stuff to do.
After the birth center I ran to Home Depot to get some parts to allow me to run a stand alone sprinkler in the chicken area. With it being dry season I have been spending at least 20 minutes a day manually watering the grass in there that I added as part of the elevation project. The last thing I wanted was for my $500 in sod to turn into dried up hay.
I put a two connection manifold on the well hose bib. Getting off the hose that was originally attached there was a Herculean task. It felt practically welded on. I sprayed it with some PB Blast and used a huge pipe pliers to break it free. I was applying so much torque that the hose bib was starting to bend in it’s PVC mount point. I was dangerously close to breaking the fitting but thankfully it started to turn before the breaking point was reached.
I connected a second hose to a manual water timer that I can use to have the oscillating sprinkler run for any period of time up to two hours. My plan is to just turn that on in the evening for maybe 30 minutes and go about my business. It should be a real time saver for me. I have two more days to try to enjoy myself, most of the work is done. Katie and the baby aren’t due to be released from the hospital until Monday, that is when the real fun begins.
So today I had my appointment with the endocrinologist, the appointment that took two months to occur. This is also the place that requires a credit card number just to make an appointment and charges you a missed visit if you don’t confirm the appointment ahead of time. I went into the visit hoping the guy would say based on my family history of thyroid issues that my problems of the last year are all related to it. Instead what I got was directives for additional tests like more blood work, a coronary CT, and even a bone density scan.
He seemed more concerned about the coronary calcification that was found on one of the CTs than any of the other medical professionals I have spoken to. The blood work will be running more thyroid tests and testosterone, although that has been done once before. I left the office feeling somewhat defeated and frustrated. There is a growing part of me that just wants to say f it, and just deal with this as my new normal.
Cindy and I finally got to see the Game of Thrones finale last night. Unfortunately I heard a blurb on the Stern show earlier in the day that revealed who eventually sits on the throne however I did not hear any other details. I won’t spoil details for you either, I’ll just say that I was not as disappointed with the ending as you read many were online. I think in the big picture the last season of the show needed more than six episodes to wrap up this epic story. Certain things happened too abruptly, to the point where they seemed non-sensical at times. If I were to rate the ending I would give it a B+. It’s sad to see one of the most epic television productions of all time come to an end but it may only be farewell and not goodbye. I heard they are already shooting a prequel.
I have been fighting with a hinge on the corner cabinet we have in the kitchen for literally years. It has had a tendency to work it’s way loose as the door is used which results in an annoying angular gap when it’s closed. I had tightened the screw so many times the head of it was starting to strip out. I even tried getting a new screw but still had it slip. The obvious solution would be to just buy a new hinge assembly, something I have tried to do at least four or five times at various Lowe’s and Home Depot locations. The issue is this hinge is pretty specialized and not normally stocked evidently.
I last looked for a hinge during a trip to Lowe’s last weekend and struck out once again. Then just for the hell of it I search Amazon and BANG, there is the hinge I need. I look for pretty much EVERYTHING in my life on Amazon, why I neglected to do so previously for this hinge is beyond me. Anyway, the hinge arrived yesterday and I installed it last night. I added some red loctite to the adjustment screws to hopefully retard future slippage.
I only have one more day in my short work week. Tomorrow morning I finally have my appointment with the endocrinologist, the guy that I had to wait two months to see and wanted a credit card up front. My current theory is my come and go fatigue is related to a thyroid issue, something my mom had and my sister has. It would be great to be able to finally identify the ailment that has been affecting me since late last summer.
The Katie baby watch has continued throughout the weekend. It still could happen any day, hour or minute.
Saturday was work as usual around the house. Saturday night we watched Tag, a funny movie based on a real world story of a bunch of men that played a lifelong version of this childhood game. I’d give it a B.
On Saturday I also pulled the hub caps on the Tesla and exposed the sweet alloys underneath. I think visually it looks a lot nicer.
Sunday I went for a solo ride to Dunkin Donuts on the Monster. It reaffirmed why the Monster is my favorite wheel for long range, open road trips.
Sunday afternoon we went to a matinee showing of John Wick 3. It definitely could have waited until it came out for rental. It did quite possibly have the most killing of any movie I have ever seen, a title which used to be held by Rambo and Commando. It was just non-stop carnage. Granted, the John Wick series is supposed to be somewhat silly, a throwback to old kung fu films, but man it was kind of crazy. I’d give it a B as well.
Sunday night I had a live stream that was cut short by an internet outage that happened about 45 minutes into the broadcast. The abrupt ending left me feeling unsettled as I tried to fall asleep. Generally speaking I like things to have distinct beginnings and endings.
So we are at the point in Katie’s pregnancy where the baby can literally drop at any moment. I haven’t really been giving a lot of thought about how all of a sudden there will be a newborn child in the household and maybe it’s a defensive reflex reaction. Thinking/dwelling on it a lot about it could definitely lead to anxiety and worry which are not two things I do on a regular basis. The baby will come and we will deal with the new reality, that’s just how things go. Until that happens I plan to keep going about with a business as usual attitude.
In fact I really don’t have much of anything I feel like rambling on about at the moment, so I won’t.
