2022-05-San-Diego

 We left Amy's house at 5:30 and it only took about 20 minutes to get to the airport. It was smooth checking in outside, going through security and the plane left at 7am, right on time. I had purchased a one-time pass for the United Club but when I went to the club in Chicago, they weren't accepting the one-time passes at the club in the C concourse. They said I could try the B concourse but it would have taken me half an hour to get there and back so I didn't bother and will try to get a refund. Boarding for the flight to Albany was complete early and I overheard one of the flight attendants say everyone was on board 20 minutes before the scheduled departure. Then when it was just about time to depart, the pilot came on the PA system and said that something happened that he had never experienced before - the food delivery truck broke down right behind the jet and they were having trouble moving it as the hydraulic lift was stuck on the ground. We ended up leaving about hal

 A typical gray morning. Amy is working from home and Penny is staying home. Penny is very hyper over the foundation guys working under the house. They finished up the rebar for the foundation and Trent from SD Engineering came over in the afternoon to inspect and verify that it was ok. Then they finished putting the forms on the outside. Another very busy and exhausting day. I put up the broom and mop rack in La Casita to help organize her tools. When Amy was here a year ago, she picked up some driftwood at Indian Lake which we brought back when we drove out last August. We had intended to help hang it from here ceiling as a support for hanging plants but didn't manage to fit this in during the 3 trips there afterwards. I bought some strong hangers at Home Depot and was able to get them installed in Amy's ceiling. Two went nicely into the joists in the new part of the house. In the original part of the house I couldn't find the joists due to sheetrock over plaster over lat

 A very busy day. First thing in the morning, I started patching the holes in the bathroom and bedroom closets caused by the plumbers, spackling cracks and putting backing supports for the sheetrock patches. Brandon and his partner arrived and dug out all the pea gravel that I had put in to cover the sewer connections and put in the correct bands to connect the piping. I told them that I would backfill. I dug it out more to set the sump pump reservoir in place (Home Depot bucket), put down landscape fabric and put back all of the pea gravel. I dug out for the new crawlspace entry, built the forms, cut the concrete blocks using the diamond blade, mixed two bags of concrete, set it in place and set the concrete blocks into the concrete. Finally, installed the new GFI in the bathroom for the BioBidet. Amy and I went to "Barn" for dinner. New crawlspace entry Closet work

 A "May Gray" morning but it cleared up fairly soon. The foundation guys are back this morning for what is hopefully the last day with the jackhamer. I worked on clearing around the sewer line and cleanout, making a deeper pit for the sump pump that I want to install, although there is no water in the opening now. When we were here a month ago before the kitchen drain was rerouted, water was running out of the crawlspace and the area around the sewer line was constantly filling with water. Now it is bone dry. Anna and I had a very pleasant lunch outdoors in Pacific Beach. We then strolled along the boardwalk with Farrah who had fun walking along the top of the barrier between the boardwalk and the beach. After we got back, Anna decided to explore under the house with me. She was concerned about the noise the water pipes make but it is just typical of the pipes moving against the wood. The space under the house is very tight and we had to squeeze to get under the beams. It is

 It was fairly sunny here but when we went towards Coronado Island, it was quite dark from the "marine layer" which almost looked like smoke from a distance. We had a nice time with Penny at the dog beach. I got my feet wet in the water which was pretty chilly. After lunch we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park which is about 45 minutes north of us. We took the tram ride and since Amy has a certain class of zoo membership, we were able to get on first without waiting in a very long line. (Or one can pay $20 per person if not a member). On the way back, we got sheetrock at Home Depot to fix the holes in the wall left by the plumbers. At Coronado Dog Beach Amy and Penny at dog beach Hole in closet wall next to bathroom

 We got the 10am Amtrak train to LA, arriving at noon. It was a beautiful ride along the coast for the first part of the trip where we could see the surfers and people enjoying the beach.  We took an Uber to Alhambra which was nearly a disaster. Only a few blocks from Surana's, the driver started to turn left into oncoming traffic. We shouted at her to stop and averted what would have been a serious accident. At our destination we met Cathy, Nic, Surana, her uncle Coldeep, cousin Raj and cousin Jen. It was nice to see everyone at the celebration. There were video calls with Carmen, Verlin, Carl and  At 5 we got an Uber back to the train station and had a drink before getting on the 6:10 train. On the way back we enjoyed seeing the sunset over the Pacific just below San Juan Capistrano and then just before pulling into the Old Town station we saw the fireworks at Sea World. Enjoying the morning train ride

 Another beautiful clear and sunny morning - no "May Gray". The plumbers were back a little after 9, after having left at 11:30 last night. They worked all day until a little after 6pm when they finally finished and took the old (only two year) tank hot water heater away. I asked Brandon if he would do the connections for the new HW heater for cash - he said he would do it for $100 which seems excessive as it would take me less than half an hour but it was complicated because the water supply connections had to be in coordination with the new waste line connections. Anyway, it is done. We fired up the new hot water heater and it works like a charm. Anna picked me up around noon and we went to the EV charging station near the IHOP at the far end of the shopping center from Costco. The machine said it would take 41 minutes to charge Anna's car. For lunch, we went to the Kuchi Japanese restaurant next to Costco and had a nice lunch. After lunch we went shopping at REI where

A bright sunny morning. The foundation guys were here a little after 7. The plumbers came around 9 - it is a bit complicated working around the foundation guys. I picked Anna up at the airport around 3. Farrah and Bella were very excited to see her.😄 The plumbers cut holes in the back of both bedroom closets in order to access the pipes. I installed the BioBidet on the toilet that was sitting in the shower area. We thought the plumbers would be done by 5 or 6 so that we could go out to Ponce's Mexican restaurant for dinner but we kept waiting and waiting and they didn't finish until 11:30pm.😠They used 4" pipes even though I thought we had decided on 3" pipes. The larger pipes made it much harder to get all the fittings in place. The way they are running the drains will make it difficult to get into the crawlspace. I think I could have done a much better job. Outside connection to main sewer line

Domingo, Rodrigo and Fahway are here again a little after 7, removing more of the existing foundation and digging down 2' for the new foundation. I can't imagine working with a jackhammer all day, hauling out the broken concrete and then the hard clay below. House supported on left-front corner This morning I dug out the 4" ABS sewer line running along the back of the house so that it was clear for the plumbers to make the connections - I hope it is enough! It is hard work scooping the clay soil out with a trowel, putting it in a bucket and emptying the bucket. Cast iron waste lines At 10am, Daphne from Ruland Design Group came over for the site visit to examine the auxiliary building space, draw of a plot plan and get information to move forward with plans and the permitting process. It was helpful that I already had the existing floor plan for the Casita, house and property available. We have a review meeting set in 3 weeks. I cut and soldered the rest of the pieces of c

 The foundation guys are always here a little after 7am. They usually hold off on using the jackhammer until a little before 8am - I hate to think what the neighbors think. I worked in the crawlspace, clearing most of the soil away from the cast iron and bringing the ground level down more to make it easier to work and to run the pipes. I will certainly be glad when this is all over! Amy paid for me to have a massage in the afternoon in Hillcrest which was delightful. Afterwards, I didn't feel much like working. On the way back I made my daily visit to Home Depot to get plumbing and wiring supplies. Back at the house, I soldered some of the fittings on the copper pipes for the hot water heater. Amy came home about 5:30. We went over to Anna's house to walk Bella and Farrah as they hadn't been getting walks since Anna left, just being let into the backyard by Meagan who is staying at Anna's house. We drove to the Taste of the Himalayas restaurant in Hillcrest for dinner.

The foundation guys arrived around 7 and started chiseling the foundation.  I joined the church stewardship meeting remotely at 8 but after about half an hour had to quit with all the noise outside.  Amy left for work around 8:30, taking Penny to daycare so she wouldn't be so excited about all the noise under the house. Around 9, the plumbers arrived. It only took them about 20 minutes to run the gas pipe over near the hot water heater. Brandon thought this was the extent of the job - I asked him to complete the connection which took them about 1.5 hours - it would have been a challenge for me to do this. I started organizing the copper pipe and fittings for the hw heater water supply and hot water in to the house. At 3, I took Nana to the San Diego Depot for her trip to NY. I was able to bring her in to the ticket counter where she tried to check her suitcase to Rhinecliff but couldn't because Rhinecliff does not have a baggage service. So she checked it just to Chicago - at l

Amy had made a brunch reservation for us at The Rabbit Hole. Eric met us here for our 11am reservation. We had a very pleasant lunch in the patio in the back. After lunch and a break, we went to Balboa Park for the organ concert. Amy was going to drop us off but the police had the road barricaded a short distance before the organ pavilion. The park was being locked down due to the protests about the Supreme Court leaked draft about overturning Roe vs Wade. Amy parked and came up with Penny just as the concert was starting. It started again with the Ukrainian national anthem - very moving. After the concert we went over to the Botanical building but it was closed for renovation. It is hard to imagine moving out all the plants moved out, some of which are large tree. As we were walking to the car, the protest was in the main plaza. Lots of people chanting with signs. We eventually got to the car but the traffic was so backed up that we sat on the grass for about half an hour before tryin

It was so nice sleeping on a real bed that didn't deflate during the night! Will post more later but here is the new water heater: We went to the Coronado dog beach around 9, getting there pretty early. The tide was fairly far out and there were impressive high waves. As usual, there was an extraordinary number of different  breeds chasing around. Penny chased her ball for quite a while but then became less interested in being with or coming to us so it was time to go home. Eric arrived around 4pm just as we were watching the Kentucky Derby. We had a nice visit with Eric before having dinner at Kairoa.

 A typically overcast morning. It cleared up a bit and I finished the wiring for the new hot water heater. We heard from Anna that Mason's mom is in the hospital on a ventilator and they made plans to return to Arizona on Saturday less than 48 hours after arriving in NY. We hope that his mom improves. Amy bought a bed from her Ben, her boss at Pitaya, and Colt, one of her co-workers, brought the bed over in his truck. We were able to get it into La Casita without any difficulty. I was able to put the Ikea bed frame together - I've too much experience with Ikea beds! I'm looking forward to sleeping on a real bed! Colt also helped hang the new hot water heater on the wall which was great as it is quite heavy. We walked to the Venice Pizza House and had fried artichoke hearts, Mediterranean  pizza and red wine.

 Another night with a deflating air mattress.😠😠😠😠 I worked on the wiring, putting an outlet near the toilet, running the power from the junction box on the south side to a junction box on the north that will provide power for the new tankless hot water heater. Dug a little more dirt out from the cast iron piping. Had a meeting with the ADU designer, Ema, and will get the proposal prior to a meeting on Monday. Went to Izakaya Japanese restaurant for dinner.

 The foundation guys were here again, bright and early. I started to work on the plumbing side but there was a pile of dirt from the foundation guys in the way who said they would clear it away later. Amy took Nana and me to the San Diego Depot for our 10am train, Penny along for the ride as she was going to doggie day care again.  The sun was shining brightly and it was a pleasant ride on the ride up to San Juan Capistrano. We could see many surfers along the way. The San Juan Capistrano mission is an interesting historic site to visit with the ruins of the Basilica that was finished in 1806 and then collapsed in an earthquake in 1812 and never rebuilt. There are also many interesting exhibits about the mission which was founded in 1776 and had many ups and downs of its history with ownership by Mexico, then private ownership and then transferred back to the Catholic church by Abraham Lincoln just before his assassination. We took a break in our visit to have lunch at Hennessey's,

My air mattress deflated completely overnight. I aired it up at 4:30 (fortunately, it has a quick electric pump) but at 6am, I got up. Amy's air mattress also deflated - not a good night for sleeping on air mattresses. I went over to the 7-11 to get coffee for Nana and me as Amy only has an expresso machine. The foundation guys, Domingo, Rodrigo and Fahway arrived around 7am. Penny was very excited with all the noise. Brendon from John Padilla plumbing came over around 9 to talk about installing the tankless hot water heater and what was needed to do the cast iron replacement. Assuming I get it installed, the hot water heater will have the gas connected next Monday. The foundation work in the crawlspace should be done on Tuesday so the cast iron replacement will start on Wednesday. Nana and I walked by Anna's house but didn't go in as she was working with clients. We walked up Cherokee Ave to the Rite Aid and Vons, then to the ice cream shop that was closed on Monday and Tu

 Carmen, Nana and I left the house at 9:00 on a drizzly morning and got to the airport at 11:00. Our flight to Chicago and our flight to San Diego both left a little early and arrived about half an hour early. I used my United points to fly first class and Nana bought a first class ticket to fly with me. We were able to use the United lounge in Chicago for about two hours which was nice, having lunch with the free snacks and drinks. Anna met us at the airport a little after 7 and took us to Amy's house. She then went back to get the air mattress for me and came back with Mason. Penny was very excited to see me but was quite apprehensive about Nana but eventually warmed up to her - very strange she wasn't friendy Amy made a nice spread for dinner with lots of tasty snacks. Nana slept in Amy's room, Amy slept on an air mattress in her office and I slept on Anna's double air mattress in La Casita.