http://pst.org "Nobody pooped, twice." The life and times of Paul Traina Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:08:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The house won't be furnished like this, but the model is correct for the room architecture. I should have done this months ago, so much less angst. http://pst.org/2009/01/03/google-sketchup-to-the-rescue/ In other news (tree death day), it's time to update the house to-do list: electrical: done roofing: done heating: done arborist: hired and in progress carpentry: install attic stairs painting: in progress decorating: decided to do it myself http://pst.org/2008/10/14/house-update-2/ Not a good day to be a tree in my life. Last night, around midnight, this happened... it sounded like an explosion out back. I had just called the dogs in 5 second earlier, they were going nuts, guess they knew the tree was giving way. Tree guy came out this morning, then ... http://pst.org/2008/10/14/tree-death-day/ Almost six months have past and the list looks almost the same, but strangely enough, much has happened under the covers. New heating ducts and a furnace, rebuilt and insulated attic, deck rebuilt, new roof going on next week, plumbing fixed. Todo: electrical: ground/replace parlor outlet, add office outlet, add tv ... http://pst.org/2008/09/20/house-update/ Heading down near Santa Margarita for the week to hang out with friends. Someone suggested this route: View Larger Map Seems like a nice idea, explore earthquake country... Parkfield is the most active part of the San Andreas fault. Almost constant tremors and quakes. I may skip the Parkfield loop if it's too hot... ... http://pst.org/2008/08/22/earthquake-country-ride/ A friend of mine pointed me to this site, great tools for sharing proposed routes or actual tracks from motorcycle, car, and hiking trips.  It's sort of a social networking site for trip sharing. Unfortunately, most of the users seem to be from Oregon, so if you're a Californian, get busy! ... http://pst.org/2008/08/17/ridewithgpscom/ I'm planning on heading up to Tahoe this week on the bike to stay with some friends at their cabin. This is the route I'm considering -- cross the bridge to 84 east on tesla road to stockton (pashnit.com suggestion) north on 88 to ione hit sutter ione road (pashnit.com suggestion) hit fiddletown road ... http://pst.org/2008/08/02/motorcycle-to-tahoe/ (a) everything takes longer with four people (b) make sure people are paying attention when you propose meetup-points (c) I need a more comfy seat for the bike (d) don't eat the fish taco's at "El Fenix" unless you already have food poisoning (two of our group got sick, I didn't because I ... http://pst.org/2008/07/02/things-i-learned-from-my-first-week-long-motorcycle-touring/ Big game parks. Both owned by a guy named Ratray. We met old Mr. Ratray at Mala Mala, he was wearing red tartan trowsers and a red sweater for dinner. His traveling companion was a blue haired woman wearing a pith helmet to lunch. I kid you not.... but first... Fish, the ... http://pst.org/2008/06/06/africa-botswana-history-lesson-as-told-to-me-by-fish/ We were mega-border hoppers today. We not only went into Zimbabwe for the elephant ride, but also crossed the border again to head over for high tea at the Victoria Falls Hotel. Zimbabwe is falling apart all around us (we didn't realize that while we were there, Tschangere came back into ... http://pst.org/2008/06/06/africa-zimbabwe-part-2-who-wants-to-be-a-zimbabwean-billionare/