20AUG20/Thursday: evacuated from the CZU Lightning Complex fires of 16AUG20 to Sunnyvale...
Howdy from Sunnyvale!
Tuesday night we were awakened at 2:30am (well, I guess that was actually Wednesday morning) and told of a mandatory evacuation order... we packed as much as we could into the Solora convertible and waited for daylight... around 8am we left, Sharon driving with 2 dogs as passengers, me on the 2004 Harley and headed out for a friend's vacant house in Sunnyvale, well, mostly vacant but still in the process of moving, and we have been settling in...
Daily accounting of the lightnig-fires's progress:
- http://www.russellrazholder.com/eventpics/2020/200816_CZU_Fire/thumbnails.php
Our temporary accommodations in Boulder Creek, were interrupting to our previous routine, and now, here in Sunnyvale... well... we have a roof and electricity and water and refrigerator and air conditioning and a garage for the bike and internet, and, we are out of the path of the fire!!!
about the weeds...
- weeds in front aren't too bad...
- tallest weeds in back are over 6'
- plan to use a shovel found in the garage to chop tallest weeds at ground level to flatten in front and back...
- Penny smells something strange
- you can barely make out Lucy by the garage back door
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22AUG20/Saturday: Penny & Lucy settling in...
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25AUG20/Tuesday: We've been making ourselves at home...
<DIGRESSION>
one of my dad's favorite things to say was "GET BUY!"... soooo... having that drilled into me I have got to be doing something if I am awake...
</DIGRESSION>
- removed obviously expired stuff from reefer (lot of stuff still in freezer)...
- garage freezer... virtually MT, removed nothing, added ice cream...
- stacking/organizing "stuff" & positioning along walls (leaving room center open)......
- - tools, books, etc...
- - brand new clothes, UGGs, etc...
- - hung up clean clothes...
- - folded clean clothes and put into large MT boxes...
- - dirty clothes into dirty clothes hamper...
- - - Sharon's going to the Laundromat on Thursday...
- moved big shipping/packing boxes to the half bath
- collapsed MT pasteboard boxes, e.g., amazon...
- - into the big green garbage can
- got rid of empty plastic grocery store shopping bags (Patti said)...
- as for sorting: only OBVIOUS garbage was disposed of, so, although there may be a lot of stuff that would be classified as garbage, it will be here, neatly "organized" to be delt with later... better to error on the side of caution than toss something I might think is junk that is actually treasure...
<DIGRESSION>
garbage truck dumped green garbage can into truck, driver got out of the truck, climbed into the truck's collection bin, threw all the cardboard and plastic bags out onto the front yard, got back into the truck, got back out of the truck, wrapped a piece of paper around the handle of the green garbage can, tore the pink copy off, got back into the truck and drove on... hmmmm... wonder if that was a citation???... lemme know if you get a bill from the garbage company for violating their collection rules... we will pay for that... ignorance is no excuse for the law... next garbage truck came by and emptied the other garbage can, and, there was an older man out there picking up the plastic bags and putting cardboard into the green garbage can... and when the garbage truck left... he was still there... went out to talk to him... it was the father of a boy that used to work with home owner... when I told him who I was he said "oh, you know the home owner... you must be well armed"... he's correct... I am... he also said " said some of the garbage truck drivers were real weenies"... Sharon came out and we all talked for quite a while... well he said he would get rid of the plastic bags at work and I found another garbage can that matched the neighbor's can that had cardboard sticking out the top and so got all the cardboard out of the green garbage can and filled the other can up (garbage truck that came later took all the cardboard... finally)... but never found the piece of paper the previous driver put on the green garbage can... put the green garbage can behind the gate and the other two by the bushes by the front porch...
Home owner says "The driver throwing the cardbord on the front yard was unacceptable and if they try to fine us I will bill them for cleanup."
</DIGRESSION>
- swept with broom (floors, walls, ceiling [cobwebs])
- - helped a lot w/Sharon's allergy to dust
- found sweeper in entry coat closet, ran it on living-room rug
- there were a LOT of papers, mail, etc I suspect waiting to be shredded...
- - their fate uncertain, they were put into boxes to be dealt with by you later...
- overhead kitchen light by the stove was burned out, pulled glass, pulled light element... never saw anything like that...
- WEEDS . . .
- - back yard phase 1 completed: shovel cleared most of patio, sweep patio, chop other tall weeds by fence
- - back yard phase 2: stuff from patio just pushed to fence, next is get all that dead stuff away from the fence, bag it and put it into green garbage can
- - *IF* I can figure out how to get rid of the dead recliner... will do that too...
- - front yard: will likely do a pass on weeds in front before phase 2 in the back...
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28AUG20/Friday: Penny & Lucy checking out the back yard...
... well, Penny being lumpy and Lucy being curious...
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31AUG20/Monday: Penny naps while Lucy is on guard...
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01SEP20/Tuesday: Back yard weed project 2nd pass complete... cleared weeds & boxes by fence...
... garage policing project 1st pass complete... someone else can do 2nd pass...
BUSY, BUSY, BUSY...
can't help it...
idle hands are the devil's workshop...
go stir crazy if I have nothing to do...
well...
Monday before last ended up with all the garbage cans emptied...
which if you recall I mentioned had a lot of collapsed boxes and empty plastic grocery bags...
Note that the photo of the patio cleared of weeds did not show the shit job I really did...
i.e., all those weeds were merely pushed to the side of the patio... and up against the fence...
that seemed like a fire hazard to me...
but, the patio was cleared, and, cleared sufficiently for me to do a test via zoom...
had previously passed all five of the 2nd Degree Black Belt mid-term tests...
it has been a long process... and...
last Wednesday I passed my 2nd Degree Black Belt recommended test...
now all I lack is the 2nd Degree Black Belt decided test...
sooooon...
anyway this last weekend I drug all those weeds away from the fence and put into the green can...
also, ordered a battery tender from amazon and connected it up to the bike...
and... while in the garage, began standing tools up against the walls...
and... collapsing empty cardboard boxes, sweeping, and emptying small garbage cans...
still wouldn't recommend walking barefooted in the garage...
but now you can pretty easily see what all is there...
So yesterday all the cans were emptied...
and today all the weathered cardboard that was by the fence was collapsed and put that into a garbage can...
and then a photo of the patio with the area by the fence scraped was taken...
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02SEP20/Wednesday: Solora to Sunnyvale Toyota...
... front yard weeds attacked... leveled...
... hard to see much difference in the before and after photos, but, does look better when standing in the yard...
... reckon the home owner know is wondering what things look like here after the, for lack of a better term, reorganization...
... sooo... here are a few photos of the kitchen and dining room areas' policing project 1st pass complete so photographed...
... someone else can do 2nd pass...
... nighty night... (with out flash, with flash)...
Well, the Solora overheated going over Bear Creek Road on the way to Boulder Creek a few weeks back and have not really trusted the car to take on the road... looked at cooling system... sensors, relays, thermostat (the replacement of which is a non-trivial task), so today finally got around to taking it to Toyota to diagnose what part of the cooling system was failing... they supplied a shuttle ride back to the house, but, no pickup service, turned out a fan connector was loose that was required to turn fans on and off... well, Sharon got her cousin to come get us and take us to the dealership... she was in her old Oldsmobile and she commented when she pulled up that she felt like her car was right at home with the overgrown weeds... that was it... attacked the weeds with a shovel... mostly leveled... looks some better, still not green but a little less ratty looking...
Well tonight we has ground pork and made some REAL HAMburgers!!!
Thought after dinner we'd load the dawgs up and cruise Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road over to Saratoga... din't happen...
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05SEP20/Saturday: Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you...
- 75 & So far, so good... KF!
- breakfast: 2 Jimmy Dean snausage patties and 2 Eggo waffles w/butter & maple surple...
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05SEP20/Saturday: spent birthday updating photographic records, e.g., the Sunnyvale house...
- entry, guest half-bath
- livingroom
- hall, bathroom
- front bedroom (our stuff on outside wall)
- back east bedroom
- back west bedroom
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06SEP20/Sunday: hot days, temperatures in the 100s, bad air warnings for typical Silicon Valley smog further contributed to by the smoke from the CZU, SCU & LNU fires...
... open doors at 5am, close after sun comes up...
... GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE...
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09SEP20/Wednesday: another day trapped inside because of temperature & bad air warnings...
... so much for the lockdown warnings...
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19SEP20/Saturday: almost had squished puppy when the recliner wwent to its not-reclined position... penny lumping out... and after several attempts, got them both into a photo facing me...
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22SEP20/Tuesday: yardwork day: back yard - rake dead weeds and large leaves, front yard - large flat low growing weeds removed from driveway and sidewalk joints, all into green recycle can...
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| well drat, it is hard to see the differenfe in the leaves inthe backyard photos, so... |
 
26SEP20/Saturday: "You snooze you loose"... a typical situation if Rusl crashes before Sharon... Penny makes herself comfortable on Sharon's side of the bed... and Penny's response: I stick my tongue out atyou... and... with FLASH on
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28SEP20/Monday: drug a jigsaw puzzle out of the closet, a good mind occupier to keep mind off of what'shappening with the Oregon house purchase, Sharon says "It's a good thing I like to read" beause her view of the TV is similar to her view riding behind me on the motorcycle... finished on 06OCT20/Tuesday... 1 piece missing... [SIGH]...
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04OCT20.Sunday: shrubbery
- looking at shrubbery on east side of house, you have to walk with your back to the wall to get through to the gate...
- - could trim to 18" clearance...
- - but, as it is... seems like it's a good deterrent to unwanted felons...
- looking at shrubbery on the west side of the house inside the gate...
- - virtually impassable from just inside the gate to back yard
- - overhanging into neighbor's yard
- - thinking about trimming
- - - something like the edited "after"
- - - if not all that, then as much as will fit into green garbage can...
- would make it easier when Mel wants to paint the outside of the house...
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- Mel says "have been trying to kill it for a while now. I cut it back and drilled holes in the trunk to receive roundup. So go crazy on it. If you kill it so much better!
- turns out merely trimmed front of shrub and side as high as I could reach getting greenery off of the side of the house and the eve, leaving just a few stragglers to obscure any larcenous viewing into the back yard, but top: too high to trim, and, for the neighbor, contacted, said he trims what is over his side of the fence he trims in the spring enough that he can walk under it - don't worry about his side... well... it turned out to be a green garbage can full of trimming, and, all the weathered IKEA cardboard all along the side of the house... got rid of that too...
- Mel says "have been trying to kill it for a while now. I cut it back and drilled holes in the trunk to receive roundup. So go crazy on it. If you kill it so much better!
- left: planned trimming, right: 1st pass trimming...
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07OCT20/Wednesday: the sail boats puzzle completed, we looked at puzzles GoodWill and Target, bought clunkers puzzle and felt puzzle roll up at GoodWill and 2 dog puzzles at Target... attacked the Buffalo Games dog puzzle, "It's a Ruff Life," 1500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, HUGE: 31.5 x 23.5 inches purchased at Target... Lucy attacked 2 pieces that fell onto the floor, but, did not consume them, so, they still fit in their respective places, just a little discolored, finished on 09OCT20/Friday... (on amazon.com, local image)...
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10OCT20/Saturday: the Huge dog puzzle completed, we attacked the Brand: Ceaco Brand Clunkers Rusty Shimmer Jigsaw Puzzle "Going to Kansas City," 750 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 24 x 18 inches purchased at GoodWill... finished on 11OCT20/Sunday... 1 piece missing... [SIGH]... (on amazon.com, local image)...
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11OCT20/Sunday: PASS 2 on the weird leaf oak tree which Sharon says is an olive tree... oh well... little do I know...
- trimmed the 659 side of the tree even with the top of the fence and by then the green garbage fan was over filled.
- also trimmed so can easily walk between the tree and the house.
- now none of the tree is against the house, the eve, or the roof.
- a lot of the tree still up there over the neighbor's side of the fence.
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12OCT20/Monday: the Clunkers Rusty Shimmer Jigsaw Puzzle "Going to Kansas City" puzzle completed, we attacked the Buffalo Games Dog Days "Painting Puppies" Jigsaw Puzzle, 750 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 24 x 18 inches 14OCT20/Wednesday... (on amazon.com, local image)...
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14OCT20/Thurssday: the Buffalo Games Dog Days "Painting Puppies" jigsaw puzzle completed, we attacked the TCG Toys Photo Gallery 6 Jigsaw Puzzle Family Pack SURE LOX PREMIUM QUALITY blue box, a box containing 6 puzzles purchased at Walgreens for $7.99...
we attacked the puppy in the tulips jigsaw puzzle, 1st of 6, a 300 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 16 x 11 inches ... finished on this same day... 1 piece missing... [SIGH]...(on ebay.com, local image), 300dpi scan image)...
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15OCT20/Thursday: the puppy in the tulips jigsaw puzzle 1st of 6 completed, we attacked the Blue Ridge Mountain sunset jigsaw puzzle, 2nd of 6, a 300 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 24 x 18 inches... finished on this same day... (on ebay.com, local image), 300dpi scan image)...
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16OCT20/Friday: Blue Ridge Mountain sunset jigsaw puzzle, 2nd of 6 completed yesterday, we attacked the Waterfall in Hawaii jigsaw puzzle 3rd of 6, a 200 piece jugsaw puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... finished on this same day... then we attacked the San Francisco "Painted Ladies" jigsaw puzzle 4th of 6, a 500 piece puzzle, 18 x 11 inches... finished on 17OCT20/Saturday... (on ebay.com, local image), 300dpi scan image)...
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17OCT20/Saturday: typical start of the day making a pot of coffee at sunrise...
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The San Francisco "Painted Ladies" jigsaw puzzle 4th of 6, which, by the way came with 2 extra duplicate pieces (row 15, column 3 and row 10, column 7)... so... someone got an extra piece for their puppy in tulips puzzle, and, someone is missing 2 pieces in their San Francisco "Painted Ladies" puzzle, was completed this afternoon... so we attacked the Notre Dame Cathederal in Paris jigsaw puzzle 5th of 6, 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 18 x 11 inches... finished Sunday... (on ebay.com, local image), 300dpi scan image)...
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18OCT20/Sunday: continuing with the Notre Dame Cathederal in Paris jigsaw puzzle 5th of 6...and... completed...we then attacked the Eiffel Tower in Paris jigsaw puzzle 6th of 6, a 200 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... also finished today... (on ebay.com, local image), 300dpi scan image)...
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19OCT20/Monday: having completed all 6 puzzels in the the TCG Toys Photo Gallery 6 Jigsaw Puzzle Family Pack SURE LOX PREMIUM QUALITY blue box.we attacked the TCG Toys Photo Gallery 6 Jigsaw Puzzle Family Pack SURE LOX PREMIUM QUALITY brown box, a box also containing 6 puzzles purchased at Walgreens for $7.99...first we attacked the "Cry Wolf" jigsaw puzzle 1st of 6... a 200 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... and... completed this day...we then attacked the "A New Day (at the beach)" jigsaw puzzle 2nd of 6, 16 x 11 inches, a 200 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... also finished on this same day... (300dpi scan of guide sheet: image)...
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20OCT20/Tuesday: having completed the "Cry Wolf" jigsaw puzzle 1st of 6... and... having completed the "A New Day (at the beach)" jigsaw puzzle 2nd of 6... we attacked the "Stonybrook Cottage" jigsaw puzzle 3rd of 6, a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... finished today...(300dpi scan of guide sheet: image)...
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21OCT20/Wednesday: we jet over to Boulder Creek with the dogs to visit Sox and pick up mail via Bear Creek Road which has some interesting signage...
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... and having completed the "Stonybrook Cottage" jigsaw puzzle 3rd of 6... today we attacked the "Golden Harvest" jigsaw puzzle 4th of 6, a 300 piece jigsaw puzzle, 16 x 11 inches... finished today... with 1 extra duplicate piece...(300dpi scan of guide sheet: image)...
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22OCT20/Thursday: having completed the "Golden Harvest" jigsaw puzzle 4th of 6... we attacked the "The Ladies of Lancaster" jigsaw puzzle 5th of 6, a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle, 18 x 11 inches... finished today...(300dpi scan of guide sheet: image)...
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23OCT20/Friday: having completed the "The Ladies of Lancaste" jigsaw puzzle 5th of 6... we attacked the "Winter Mansion" jigsaw puzzle 6th of 6, a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle, 18 x 11 inches... MISSING 1 PIECE... finished 24OCT20/Saturday...(300dpi scan of guide sheet: image)...
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IMG_5309_tn| ... THA... THA... THA... THAT'A ALL FOLKS... |
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