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Arizona Lou

Blog Archive 2012 Jul

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Sun 7/1 - In the leaky drip department, I cut and pulled out the 1/2" black drip-line feed tubing and replaced it with new from Home Depot. I did try flying my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
and the tail rotor motor is not compensating so the heli is spinning (yaw) at a rate of about 200 rpm.

Mon 7/2 - At the gym, the right leg of my cargo shorts tore clear across the back under the rear pocket. Evidently the material is rotten and the time I spent in Altus repairing the same kind of tear on the left leg was waisted.
- To finish the drip repair, I photographed the splices, filled in the soil, tamped it and replaced the granite. The job was not very expensive but took about two half-days - time I could have been taking care of my dead myoporums or planning a kiteboarding trip to Maui.
- My day's trip included the gym, Frank's Hobby House to spend $40 to buy the rest of the
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
from which they have been scavenging parts for me, and Play It Again Sports where they gave me a tight replacement snap buckle for the Bauer hockey helmet I use kiteboarding. At Cheney, my last time riding, the helmet came unsnapped a couple of times. Not good.
- I researched all the kiteboarding shops on Maui's north shore and studied maps of the kiteboarding and restricted areas.

Tue 7/3 - This morning I phoned my friend Christian Canese and he filled me in on kiteboarding in Maui. Now I am getting stoked! For some inexplicable reason, at 9:16am the atomic wall clock on my desk showed "2-10 SAT 10:14pm." I pressed SEARCH, and by evening, both the date and time were correct.
- This afternoon, for Duet, I took Kathleen to her doctor's and then to Walgreen's for prescriptions and some food.
- Later I replaced the tail rotor in my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
and it flies better than ever before. This evening I caught up on my blog and re-did the Brooke Marble Machine videos that evaporated from my computer.

Wed 7/4 INDEPENDENCE DAY - On the way to Mesa, I went by
Dahlia
my rental house located on Dahlia Drive
to find that Shauhnessy Roofing did not seal their new mansard roof to the existing roof. In Mesa, I met
George
younger brother who lives in Mesa
's at the east end of the Valley Metro Light Rail line and took it to the Mill Avenue stop to watch the Tempe Town Lake fireworks set off from the Mill Avenue Bridge. Our vantage point was the top level of a parking garage. The trip back aboard the light rail was unbelievable crowded. We were standing, packed in to the car with people standing at the door so it would barely close. At a subsequent stop, four more people decided they could squeeze in. They were successful but I don't know how they did it.

Thu 7/5 - I took my van over to Atchinson Automotive for an oil change and to check out a quiet roar which may be tire noise or something else. They found nothing to cause the noise, but told me that the tires were cupping and that I should consider replacing the springs, shocks and struts to eliminate the cupping.
- About ten months ago at the Moon Valley La Fitness, BIG, MUSCULAR Jimmy, got in my face, yelled and threatened me after I had asked him if I could work in while he was just sitting on an adjustable bench. It was quite a spectacular scene. I have not seen him in about nine months. Today he was at the gym and apollogized, which appology I accepted. Later in today's workout, when he was standing by the squat rack, I asked him if I could work in. He said, Go for it! Then I amitted that I really did not want to work in, but was just wanted to see what he would say. Today may be the start of a friendly relationship! We'll see how long it lasts.
- At the La Fitness gym on my way back home, Jimmy, whom I had not seen there for about nine months, apologized for yelling and threatening me about 10 months ago when I asked him if I could work in while he was just sitting on an adjustable bench. Later in the workout, when he was standing by the squat rack, I asked him if I could work in. He said, Go for it! Then I had to admit that I really did not want to work in, but was just seeing what he would say. Today may be the start of a friendly relationship. We'll see how long it lasts.

Fri 7/6 - First thing this morning I took my van to Discount Tire for a rotation and balancing of the new front tires. I asked them about cupping. They said there was no cupping of the tires.

Sat 7/7 - I checked my airline miles. All my miles from American Airlines were expired, I have only 7000 miles with Delta but I have enough Hawaiian Airline miles from my Philippine trip (22,260) to get me one way to Maui (takes 20,000 from US).
- For my morning trip I did an arms workout at 24-Hour fitness (no heli flying because aerobics were in session) and then to Summer Winds Nursury to buy four myoporums to replace the ones that died during my Kansas/Oklahoma trip.
- This evening I went to the weekly Hamfeast. Good group as usual, with about three older new guys there. I was going to fly my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
at the E Camelback Rd La Fitness on my way home but they were closing when I went by at 8pm. When I got home I completed clearing off and wiping my kitchen island and rewarded myself with a one-battery heli flight. Taking off from the island gives me lots more airspace to maneuver and recover from mistakes than does taking off from the floor, where it is only a few feet to a counter, wall or couch.

Sun 7/8 - This morning I alternated planting one my four new myoporums with sit-down projects like my blog and leaving a voice mail message for
Stan
Stanley, my older brother who is a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS
, reading emails from kiteboarding shops in Maui.
- Did a torso workout at La Fitness and flew my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
, for the first time in one of their empty racquetball courts.
- The Internet has been down or spotty for the last day or two, so I went to the Rainbow Cactus Saloon for good company and to check on my Delta Airlines sky miles (7,000 - not enough to do anything with, read some camper van reviews for Hawaii, caught up on my emails and downloaded instructions for a couple of
SWR
Standing Wave Ratio used in ham radio to check the match of an antenna to a radio for efficiency and to prevent radio damage
meters.

Mon 7/9 - Because he did not have a telephone greeting explaining that he was on vacation, I wasted an hour this morning attempting to phone into the national Clark Howard Show. I wanted to get some ideas on booking my Hawaii kiteboarding trip.

Tue 7/10 - Hawaii, here I come! A little before five this morning I woke up to pee and decided that booking my flight early in the day would be best, since rates tend to be lower early in the week. I found the rates a little higher than when I checked last week. Slow me! It took me all morning and, after trying to do it myself online, nearly three hours on the phone with Hawaiian Airlines to do the deed. After the flight was booked, I learned, from one of their tech people how I could have done it all online and saved the $25 live-person-booking fee. The problem was paying for the round trip with a combination of Hawaiian Airline miles and dollars.
- This afternoon I took Hanne to her doctor as part of the Duet transportation program. After that I stopped by Fitness 1 for an arms workout and to fly my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
. I broke the older main rotor blade with a mild crash into a wall during my first flying session. Later, in the evening, I installed and dated a new rotor blade. I still have one spare blade.

Thu 7/12 - This morning I took my van into Ken's Transmission to check out the quiet roar (turns out was a slight cupping on the tires) and a vibration (Phil said it was not the transmission). Phil suggested an alignment should prevent further tire cupping damage.
- I went to Fitness 1 for my legs workout and to fly my
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
. All of a sudden, on my first flight, the heli started spinning tail rotor motor lost it's umph (a scientific term, you know), only 12 days after I installed the new one.

Fri 7/13 - I took my van in to Network Alignment. They said the left inner tie rod is worn and it will need an alignment. No time for that today because I went home and finished the research and booking of my Maui, Hawaii lodging and rental car. Economical lodging quiet and away from the ocean with Maui Discount B&B in Wailuku and an economy car that should be big enough for me and my equipment with Enterprise at the Kahului Airport.

Sat 7/14 - Seven days left on my countdown to Maui so I spent most of today on computer maintenance trying to find why my
computer
Asus eeePC XP 9" net book computer
is so slow to hibernate and to shut down and imaging the C: drive to the 1TB Western Digital external hard drive that I store in a fireproof box.
- Trips today? Goodwill for their half off Saturday, LA Fitness for a torso workout, Basha's for grapes on sale and the Saturday night Hamfeast at Miracle Mile in Scottsdale

Sun 7/15 - I woke up at 3am and decided to restore my computer to Jun 8th at 3:29am. That was the last time it was fast, according to my records. Since my previous unsuccessful attempts at restoring, I discovered a restore option when starting up in safe mode (F8). It took about an hour to get the restoration going and I went back to bed.
- Later in the morning, through Duet, I took Mildred shopping. We both enjoyed the 2.7-hour, 19.3-mile experience more when she tried to express, at my suggestion, a more positive outlook.
- Boy does my computer seem fast now! Hibernating is now taking about 25 seconds when it was taking about 4.5 minutes before my restore. I spent much of the rest of the day updating its software and, for my house, clearing and sweeping
all the tile floors
kitchen; hall bathroom; master toilet; entry way
.

Mon 7/16 - Mostly phone calls today - related to the van,
Dahlia
my rental house located on Dahlia Drive
, allergist, urologist and Frank's Hobby House. This evening I spent about an hour working with my new
camera
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150
. I got some experience with the menu and the quick menu for Auto-Focus Tracking and the three Custom User-Setting memories.
- I topped of the day by squeezing in a heavy, slow-rep arms workout at the Fitness 1 gym and buying a big sponge at 99-Cent Only.

Tue 7/17 - Up in time to mop
all my tile floors
kitchen; hall bathroom; master toilet; entry way
with a magic no-rinse cleaning solution of 2 gallons of water, 12 oz of vinegar, a cup of alcohol and a few drops of dishwash detergent (I got the formula from ehow on the Internet) before going to Network Alignment for a new left inner tie rod and alignment for my van.
- Before supper, it took over an hour to hand water all my granite to activate the preemergence I had applied a week ago. After supper I packed the two small tech boxes for my suitcase for the Hawaii trip.

Wed 7/18 - Went to the Physician Assistant for urgent care of my back pains. I gave the pains long enough and they're not getting better. Hopefully I can get the pain cleared up before my Maui Trip. I got a prescription for cyclobenzapprine 10 MG for a muscle relaxant. I'll be adding some Diclofenac that I already have on hand.
- What a mess! biggest in a year or so. In the laundry, I have four plastic bottles of liquid Tide sitting on a shelf. Those bottles had not been disturbed for around 15 years and, without any holes or visible leaks, enough detergent seeped out onto the shelf to make a gooey mess under each bottle - even enough to start dripping off the shelf. I have know plastic sealed water bottles to lose water volume over several years, with no leak. It looks that the liquids get out through the molecular structure of some kind of plastic. Oh, yes, I did my last loads of laundry before Maui.
- At Gangplank this evening Chris helped me organize a new multiple array that will hopefully be compatible with older browsers. It will not be quite as sophisticated as the one Tim helped me set up using jQuery, but should be more versatile.

Thu 7/19 - This morning I drove to
Dahlia
my rental house located on Dahlia Drive
to meet Rick, who put a new foam roof on about eight years ago. He said the roof was going strong, patched up a few areas with a small brush and some elastomeric material. He said the roof was in much better shape than most others of the same age and that I have been taking good care of it. He said that an indication that respraying the entire roof needed to be done, would be when the gray elastomeric undercoat showed through the top white coat.
- I did lots of time tests of my Dig drip controller, found it not operating correctly, burned up more cell phone minutes talking to Rob, technician for Dig. We concluded that my controller was not working properly and would need to be replaced. Since there is not enough time before my trip for him to do that, I'll buy a new one at Home Depot and then return the defective unit to Home Depot in the box so they can send it back to Dig.

Fri 7/20 - Amica Insurance phoned to add comprehensive and collision coverage to my van so it will automatically transfer to the rental car in Maui. That means about a dollar a day instead of the rental company's approximately $32 per day.
- I started tracking the wind forecast for Hawaii this morning. It looks to be good winds starting Monday due to a building high pressure north of the islands that will add to the trade winds. Now I'm getting excited.

Sat 7/21 - Got everything packed and weighed (best trip prep yet, I think) - on average, about a pound under the allowable weight limits. We'll see what happens with Hawaiian Airlines (HAL) size limits when I get to the airport and check my bags. Instead of taking the Super Shuttle to the airport, I'll drive - early. Airport parking will cost me about $20 more, but if HAL rejects my Cabrinha bag I will take the bag back and leave it in my van. In it are my two biggest kites and Naish Custom Fish 5’2” which I might not use anyway.
- The Dig drip controller evidently has a bug in the program so it will not water after the first day on the interval setting, because the new one has the same problem as the old one. As a result I am dripping four hours on Sa, Mo, Wed, Fri. The drip bug may be why my dwarf myoporums have been dieing.
- This evening I cut my hairs, showered and headed to bed early with the alarm set at 4:00 AM.

Sun 7/22 - Today was a long day, getting up at 4am, driving down to Sky Harbor. Checking my two big kite bags was a piece of cake. The guy at the curb-side check in was very helpful and I am sure he appreciated my $20 tip. I arrived at Maui's Kahului Airport in time to rent a car, find my hotel, get settled in and go grocery shopping. It is the first time I have ever paid as much as $156.76 for my groceries. They should last for most of my stay.

Mon 7/23 - Most of the morning I spent driving around looking for stuff like kites beaches. I finally found five, which I put in my GPS receiver. The beaches like one continuous section of Maui's north shore than really separate beaches, but each one has its own characteristics. I also spent some time trying to see what it would take to get a cut key bar that would get me into my rental car's door. $65.00. To start the car one needs the actual fob that communicates with the car AND the bar key. Instead decided I'd hide the fob/key somewhere on the car.
- I didn't get on the water until about 5:40 pm but had a good session with my 6m kite and twin-tip board at the second beach. I was comfortable in the light overcast in my Mystic spring suit. I think it's about a half millimeter thick. I found Maui to be a lot more gusty than I expected.

Tue 7/24 - For variety today I decided I'd kiteboard from a different beach. I seriously considered the others, but each one had an issue, like gusty wind shadow at the beach, rocky approach, very narrow beach etc. Back to the second beach for two sessions with my 8m kite and my 5-year-old 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board in just my riding shorts (it was sunny). The first session, at 1:50pm, was an hour of a jump and a slide jibe with a kite loop on each tack. The second session I came back in after only 16 minutes when I noticed a little red spot on my right big toe where the foot strap was rubbing.
- On the way driving to the beach this morning I stopped by Ace Hardware to buy a little whisk broom and dust pan to sweep the sand off my equipment before putting it into the rental car.
- I have some unwanted house guests here in the B&B. Little tiny ants are randomly crawling around in about every room. I squish an average of one every ten minutes.

Wed 7/25 - This morning before 7, for free anytime minutes with AT&T, I phoned Tim at Align about the
heli
little TRex 100x RC helicopter that has a tail rotor and flies similar to a real one
tail rotor motors that keep loosing power - after 38 and 9 days respectively. He offered to replace them and we worked out a way for me to get the replacement tail assemblies with motor in time for my next trip. I WILL need to send him the old tail assemblies along with copies of my receipts.
- Finance: I almost strained my brain but figured balances, closing dates dates due and credit limits and worked out a schedule so I will get my credit card balances paid just before the respective statement's closing dates. That way they will show no balance and my credit utilization will be well below the 10%, which is needed for a really high credit score.
- I found a little insulated lunch bag at Foodland so I can keep my lunches cold at the beach.
- At 12:35 I got on the water with my 8m kite and 130cm twin tip at the second beach. The session only lasted 19 minutes because the protective cover I had on my right toe's red spot was not quite doing the job. I came in and put a blister protector on it, ate my lunch and took a little nap, and then went back out with my 8m after some indecision about the wind. For a while there was an 18-inch sand cloud above the beach from the blowing sand, then the wind dropped off and the sand cloud disappeared, although you could still feel sand stinging your legs. I went out 55 minutes and did some toe-to-heal carves with kite loops. Still working on my jumps, I did my first real jump off a wave - pretty high and I landed it! The wind was fairly gusty and there were three to 5-foot high wind waves. My hour session yesterday seemed awful long and I was really tired after it. Today's 55-minute session did not seem that long. Maybe I'm getting tougher.

- I wanted an ice cream sandwich for Monday's treat night. I did not find one. Neither Tuesday nor Wednesday. After a half hour of walking around the Queen Ka'ahumanu Center (Kahului's big mall), I finally settled for frozen yogurt of various flavors (mostly chocolate types) with some macadamia nuts on top at Yogurtland. The yogurt is sold by the ounce and was actually quite tasty - especially after waiting for three days for the treat.
- I got on the water at 12:20 under my 8m Best Nemesis and on my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board. Each day I get on the water a little earlier. Some day I may reach my goal of 11:00 AM. Each tack of the 1:09-hour, 9.12-mile session included a jump (not as good today as yesterday) and a toe-to-heal side carving jibe with a kite downloop. My top speed was 20.5 mph, trying to go fast in the 3-6 ft. wind waves. I ate lunch, took a nap and dittled around almost four hours before going out for a short, 22-minute, session, still on the same equipment. The wind was less gusty than any of my previous Maui sessions. I did my first jump jibes with a kite loop in about a year. They all were uneventful, but would have been better if my jumps were higher.
- This evening I had a good visit with John Noble, who runs the B&B where I am staying and got to see his high-tech work shop - mostly photography and audio and two computers. He and Teresita certainly work hard at treating their guests right.

Fri 7/27 - Two kites; two boards; three sessions today at beach #2. My 8m Best Nemesis and 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board were a good call at 12:20, but only for 15 minutes because the water was relatively flat and I wanted to get out on my Naish Custom Fish 5’2” x 17.5” surfboard without footstraps, as I have not ridden it in about a year. I took the surfboard out for about a half hour at 12:45 and actually accomplished about 50% of the jibes without falling off. Speaking of falling off, the wind did but I was able to get in by pumping the kite quite a lot. Out came my 12m Cabrinha Switchblade-4 for the first time in about a year. I was nicely powered with it on my twintip for half hour ride. I actually did a couple jump jibes with kite loops, although almost all my jumps today were on the lousy side. At 11:00 am I measured the wind at an average of 22 with a peak gust of 29mph. Then about 4:00pm I measured it at an average of 16 with a peak gust of 21mph.
- After the kiting I found Neil Pryde for an airlock valve for my Cabrinah 12m and to get some self-adhesive canopy patch material, which they gave me. Thanks, guys!

Sat 7/28 - This morning I patched the canopies of my 12m Cabrinha Switchblade-4 and 8m Best Nemesis where the strut fill elbows had abraded small holes then drove as far to the east as Pauwela Point (the furthest north point of East Maui) looking for new kiteboarding spots. Found none that were any better than the 2nd Beach spot where I have been going.
- Had a single :48-minute session today on my Naish Custom Fish 5’2” x 17.5” surfboard without footstraps under my 8m Best Nemesis kite - one of my best surf board sessions yet. I made all but two jibes with three to five-foot wind waves and also did not get cold in just my riding shorts, although it was overcast.
- This evening John Noble fixed me up with a wired eathernet LAN cable for Internet. Now the Internet is fast and awesomely dependable. I was able to finally update the maps for my Garmin Nuvi GPS receiver.

Sun 7/29 - This morningI found why ants were finding their way to the bathroom upstairs. The culprit was two paper-wrapped sugarless throat longeses in my shaving kit. Also while chasing an ant under a tray I broke two glass glasses. What a mess to clean up!
- 2:10 - the longest kiteboarding of any day yet here on my Maui trip: two sessions with my 12m Cabrinha Switchblade-4, the first, 1:03, with my hat on my surf board and the second, 1:07, with my helmet on my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board. I wasn't even too tired!

Mon 7/30 - "Don't tell about today's kiteboarding on your blog," one of my kiteboarding friends told me on the beach this evening. It was some of the gustiest conditions I have ever experienced, even way out beyond the point. Kiting today was a good experience and I learned to almost relax while dealing with the gusts and about 5-foot wind waves, trying pops, a few jumps and carves. There were few kiters out at 12:15 during my first session of :36 minutes. There were quite a few out at 3:15 during my second session of :45 minutes. I couldn't believe that people were actually having fun out there.
- I ate the supper I had taken along on the way to about six stores, including Neil Pryde, Walmart, Kmart and Sports Authority, looking for a top or spring suit in smoothskin. My Mystic spring suit is knit fabric, which retains water on the surface and, in the wind, keeps me chilly with evaporation. The closest thing I found was a $125 (expensive) top of mostly smoothskin top at Neil Pryde.
- Before going to the beach this morning I paid off my Citibank and Elan credit cards online - just before the statements closed so the statements would show zero balances. That will keep my FICO score high. Treat tonight was soft-serve at Yogurtland.

Tue 7/31 - I hope I'm not sorry I spent $90 this morning on a textured smooth skin top at Second Wind Sail, Surf and Kite shop. It has everything I want - except is not really smooth and unbelievably difficult for me to get into and out of, with no zipper front or back. In fact the sales people though I had taken up permanent residence in the changing room.
I received a phone call from Stuart M. Spaulding, technician for DIG, the company that markets my drip controller, confirming a bug I found in their programing. Two sessions of Kiteboarding: First was at 2:20 for :55 minutes with my 8m Best Nemesis on my Naish Custom Fish 5’2” x 17.5” surfboard without footstraps. The most exciting thing that happened is that I did not complete one of my jibes and ended up accelerating on a broad reach, going faster and faster with the board bouncing across the waves and my feet bouncing on the board - without foot straps. Finally, at 22.4 mph, I bounced right off the board. The rest was easy. I just depowered the kite, drug back to the board and started riding again. By the end of the session the winds had become noticeably more gusty. The second session was at 5:05 for around a half hour with the same kite and my 130 cm Lite Wave Stealth twin-tip board. I worked on some jumps and carves, but by now the winds had become pretty gusty.
- After the kiteboarding I did a heavy full-body workout at 24-Hour Fitness, checked out Savers thrift store and bought a $4 combo lock at Home Depot. Walmart, across the street was out of 'em.

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