THREE UP, THREE DOWN

This ugly and dated faucet (one of three) was finally replaced with...


















These new stylin' faucets in the master bathroom!


The third faucet in the second bathroom.















Shaving and brushing one's teeth became fun again!

Accomplishing all three required the plumber's theorem "three trips to the hardware store."

The first was the hardest. Quite an endeavor.

Trip #1
I had to go the the TrueValue hardware store in our community, right? I take digital photos of the work to be done. I take the old plumbing hardware with me.

I see the associate. He only has two of the 1/4-turn shutoff valves. Damn. Not what I wanted to hear. I want to finish this job this weekend. I buy the rest of the 16-inch PCV tubing and I am good to go.

Trip #2
I wanted to complete my job, so I go to the TrueValue in Oakhurst to get the rest of my hardware. They have everything I need. Now, I am ready. Back to work. Me happy.

I disassemble the first faucet and do the work underneath. I go outside to turn the master water valve off. I go back inside and remove the old shutoff under the sink.

AARGGGGG!!! I got the wrong parts!

Back to the store.

Trip #3
I return to the TrueValue in our area. I tell the same guy I need these for this, that for these, and that for this, only threaded. He has all the shutoff valves except one which will require a 1/2-inch hose instead of the 1/4-inch hose. Okay! It's just one hose, right?

I go back and finish the first faucet. Turn the water on....no leaks! Turn the shutoff valves on...no leaks! Ask my wife to turn on the faucet...leak in the P trap. Twist and turn. Turn on the the faucet...no leaks! YES!

The first faucet took me 7 hours to complete including the drive time to the hardware store in our community and in Oakhurst.

Faucets 2 and 3 were completed Sunday. The third took less than 45 minutes.

The only thing left to do is to return the hardware I "didn't need."

My back upper body is sore from being on my back. I swear the plumber who installed all of this had to be a munchkin with contortionist skills to squeeze into the cramped areas I had to be in.

Hey, at least this "honey do" project is DONE! WOO HOO!

At least my work is "100% guaranteed." If anything goes wrong, you can be "100% guaranteed" who will have to fix it!

It's done.

No leaks, no drips, no errors.






Now, we can go hiking!

HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY

Twenty years now...
Where'd they go?
Twenty years...
I dont know.
I sit and I wonder sometimes...
Where they've gone?

And sometimes late at night...
When I'm bathed in the firelight...
The moon comes callin' a ghostly white...
And I recall...
I recall...
"Like A Rock" by Bob Seger

To my great friends and former co-ed softball teammates, Bob and Jayne!

Wow, 20 years. A lot sure has happened in that span. Sure do miss those softball playing days at Centennial, El Camino, Columbus Tustin, Hart, El Modena, just to name a few. TIME TO BREED!

And to think you would celebrate #20 on 09-09-09.

You had that planned all along...

Hopefully, Pam and I will be able to meet up with you two someday. We may be able to start up a team! Pam can rifle that ball! Sorry, Sarah, my wife has got the "Guns!"

Enjoy your day!

ASPEN GROVE PART II

Imagine this in your very own backyard...

Basecamp Aspen Grove.

The Hobitat.

Creature comforts. Now, in case you are wondering, if Pam is "working" then what am I doing? "But, honey, I have to catch these precious moments on camera!"

We love hiking, camping, fishing, and cooking in the Gr8YdOpn.

The one that DIDN'T get away! Now, as for the rainbow trout, I forgot to get a picture until after we ate it. Oh well. The fish were very tasty.















We depart for Aspen Grove again by way of Sonora Pass due to the Big Meadow fire closing the road from Crane Flat to White Wolf.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009
We leave work a little after 3:00 p.m. and head up the 99 to Manteca then heading east towards Bridgeport and spending the night at Walker River Lodge. We arrive in Bridgeport around 8:15. We check into our room, freshen up a bit and then walked to Rhino's go grab a sandwich to eat, and went to bed. The room was next to the Walker River. Really nice.

Thursday, September 3, 2009
We arise only to see the severity of the smoke in the valley from the Big Meadow fire. You could barely see the Sierra Nevada. We eat breakfast at Hays Street Cafe before heading south towards Lee Vining and the Aspen Grove campground.

We arrive to find out our Site 30 we had hoped to secure was already taken. We travelled a little further down the camp road and settled into Site 45, which was a lot better than Site 30. There was a fallen log where we set up out tent next to.

We head up to the meadow adjacent to Tioga Lake to dig up some wild onions and to look around for places to fish. My wife had fished here years ago with her children and encountered a black bear in this area as well.

It drizzled a little just enough to settle the dust.

Friday, September 4, 2009
We drive to Lee Vining to purchase more fishing tackle. The air in the valley was 100 percent better than the day before. The easterly winds have blown the smoke out. Did the fire crews contain the Big Meadow fire? The only smoke we could smell was from the campsites.

We go fishing for the first time at Tioga Lake. We fish along the shore at first with no luck. Then we move to a stream from Dana Lakes that feeds into Tioga Lake. My wife reels in a 9 inch brown trout. I barely get a nibble. I did manage to reel in someone's fishing fly. I love fishing. We had to quit around 4:00 p.m. because it started to get overcast, windy and cold.

Again, the drizzle arrived again.

Saturday, September 5, 2009
We again drive to Lee Vining to stock up on some lures and headed out to a small dam just east of our campsite along Highway 120. Fishing along the shore my wife snags a 15 inch rainbow trout! The only "bites" I get are from the mosquitoes! I love fishing. Oh, I already said that!

Later that night we feast on our catches of the past two days along with brown rice and cooked vegetables.

Sunday, September 6, 2009
Time to pack up and head home. We were going to return home by way of Sonora Pass. We stopped in the Lee Vining convenience store and asked the cashier if he had any news from the road closure. He said he just made a phone call and said the road was now open between White Wolf and Crane Flat, but the road to the valley was still closed. We had to exit the west side and drive towards Groveland and Coulterville. There was devastation everywhere. Sad that the prescribed burn on August 26 went wrong. Hopefully, El Nino will spare anymore devastation.