NYC Journal

There is this wipe on clear coat from Poppy’s that is offered in gloss or matte that pretty much will protect the patina and seal the surface rust on the 1966 C-10.

I think Iike the matte finish best, and surely the old patina will look mucho great.

Now the C-10 if I can just get the head taken care of would be a real head turner, and the goal would be to keep it 1966 OEM as a barn find. I’m cool if its just a local ride with no AC.

Having an old house and an old truck is mucho style. I love that the suspension organically sagged to lower the truck’s height and that the usual 2 inch rake on old Chevy trucks is kinda gone. If I do a front disc brake upgrade the front end could get drop spindles to lower the truck further.

Right now the 15x235’s are on the rear, and 15 G60 lower profiles are on the front. Pretty much right now the lower Profile wider tires are oddly on the front axel, where they really should be on the rear. The G60’s are an inch in diameter smaller than the 235’s so basically if the tires were reversed front and back I’d have about a half inch of negative rake.

Taking all that into account the 15x235’s on the front make sense because this truck has manual steering. Not having power steering means upper body strength is required when parking and going slow. Originally the truck came from the factory with 15x215’s on all four wheels.

A 2 inch drop spindle would translate into about a 1 1/2 inch rake with 15x235’s on all 4 wheels, or if I decided to go with G60’s perhaps a slight evil 1 inch rake. The idea here is to keep the OEM steel rims with the “Dog Dish” hubcaps. Muy retro look.

Evidently because of the load of a heavy camper the rear springs sagged a lot. Know that the truck came with OEM optional helper springs, and with the current reversed front and back tires the truck now kinda sits level.

The front windshield has a crack and needs to be replaced. Not a problem because I can get an after market replacement for about $325.00. Do the valve job and new tires and the truck would be close to road worthy. Not a lot of money, but mucho cool.

Cal
 
For over 25 years I was an urbanite who called NYC his home. We gentrified Greenpoint, the Southside of Williamsburg, Long Island City, and finally East Harlem.

I am not really an urbanite anymore, because Peekskill, although technically a city, has a small enough population to reall feel like a small town. Population is only about 25K and the area encompasses only 4 square miles.

I have enough wilderness nearby, either two blocks away at Blue Mountain Preserve, or the vast wilderness of two mammoth state parks just across the Bear Mountain Bridge.

I enjoy the best of both worlds. NYC is an hour train ride away, and I have the remote country wilderness nearby without having to go further north for isolation and solitude. Pretty much a perfect middle ground for my needs.

Having a car in NYC is a bit insane, and I love having a car and a recreational truck project parked in a garage. I dealt with alternate side of the street parking, and paid parking for a while. Not much fun there. I love my mobility and freedom I enjoy presently.

Of course life is less of a frenzy, but I’m cool with all that.

Cal
 
One of my B&W shots will be used on the upcoming large print edition of “Maggie’s” book “How To Be Old.”

A new idea is connect the tower room to the front bedroom to create a multi-purpose room, and make the tiny bedroom just a tiny bedroom.

Somehow when Maggie was a digital influencer she got a new designer couch for free delivered to our house. Luckily it fit through our stairwell. This couch transforms into a pretty good sleeper, so it is a keeper.

Calvin gets an upgrade for his studio, a free couch, but I have to limit my footprint and keep it loose and adaptable. The Jersey barrier has wheels, and so does my JUKI commercial sewing machine.

I like this idea, and I can see having a two or three zone mini-split for the upstairs.

Loaded up on Purdue whole chickens to BBQ, and Poland Spring bottled water that were both on sale.

I thought I saw a rat the other day in my back-backyard, then two days ago I confirmed my sighting when I saw him scurry under my gas grill near the pergola. I flushed him out, and pretty much he ran to his home underneath my neighbor’s Spruce trees.

Today I went to Home Cheapo to buy lumber, but I bought two old fashion rat traps: less than $3.00 each. I baited them with almond butter, and we will see tomorrow if I have any kills. The one I saw was a NYC sized fatso. I suspect he or she is using the ground hog nest.

I pride myself for being an Alpha Male so I expect my predatory skills will lead to quick extermination, but if you see one rat there are likely others. I wonder if the empty house is contributing to this rat episode?

I remember when NYC rebuilt the Court Square subway station, that my backyard became infested with rats. I used two traps and often had double kills that I would harvest every morning. I eventually won that war. One day I discovered that I happen to kill two rats in one trap. How cool is that?

I just hope I don’t snag a squirrel of a baby rabbit as collateral damage. I saw a baby rabbit the size of my hand just the other day. They live near rat headquarters.

Cal
 
My life is kinda boring. The spouting of carrots and summer squash is exciting to me.

It also seems my creativity gets channeled in non artistic ways. The terracing in the back-backyard is an ongoing earthworks project, and I’m building all these garden objects out of wood. Some creative landscaping and gardening.

I’m learning something new, but using my skills and old tricks.

A thought came to mind to create a book of prints from the mess I made shooting film that started around 2007-2008 and the housing crisis. Pretty much a farewell to NYC because I knew I would leave one day, and I wanted to take with me a sense of home.

At the time I did not realize why at one point I was shooting 150 rolls of film and processing it every month using a changing bag. Somehow I capture a changing New York and inadvertently created an archive of sorts.

In total I had about 24 years, maybe 25 years of living in NYC, and in this frantic shooting I think I capture something. Pretty much I don’t really know what I have, and pretty much it remains somewhat undiscovered.

What I did was shoot film with a total disregard to printing. Pretty much this made no sense to many people, some people got angry including “Maggie,” but I knew film was cheap and it would not remain that way forever. I actually did a very smart thing by shooting mucho film when rebranded Tri-X was available for $2.89 a roll and rebranded Arcros for even $1.89 a roll.

So now I have a big mess to un sort. This should be fun.

A possible title, “Goodbye New York.”

Not sure if this will include the work I did using the Leica Monochrom, It leads to the digital work and could be included, but of course is also different, so much that it can stand on its own as a body of work.

I shot 120 and 35mm so I could keep things separate to subdivide further. Then there is aspect ratio’s to consider because I intend on making my books of prints.

I think this might lead to an Imacron scanner, and using Piezography for printing. Definitely a cool project. Time consuming work for sure.

Cal
 
Had a Zoom call with our financial analyst to do a check in and for help in planning our retirement.

“Maggie” will be 71 very soon, and she is already on a fixed income. I’m not yet living on my longer term fixed income yet.

The results are we have only a mortgage as debt, and I have a small student loan that will be gone I figure when I’m 69.

Pretty much we are money managers at this point and got some expert advice.

We had to set our goals, and a big part of that is aging in place and avoiding long-term care. The hypothetical age is 95 years. This exceeds the 94 years that Maggie’s mother’s lifespan, and my father’s 94 years.

My Grumman pension it seems likely has a survivor benefit for Maggie, because she not only is within 10 years of my age, and is about 5 years older than me pretty much not much of a haircut in benefits if I set up the survivor pop-up benefit.

I need to contact my Grumman pension plan to get the spread of numbers for my financial analyst to do the cost analysis for me.

Anyways I learned some useful things today for our retirement planning. We are in a very nice position. No debt other than the mortgage and my inconsequential school loan, no real big expenses, no real heath issues or chronic disease, and a real sustainable future.

Anyways a decade out from now of course the numbers will change.

Cal
 
Getting an estimate on connecting the tower room to the front bedroom. The idea is break through the two walls that have basically a closet in each room. Pretty much a 72 inch wide doorway will unify the two rooms where the two closets were.

Eliminating the two closets is not a problem since the attic will be used exclusively for storage. I intend to give “Maggie” the closet in our master bedroom for her exclusive use, and my clothing will get relocated into the attic.

No big deal since I tend to wear the same comfortable cloths all the time that I call rags because they are not really fancy or fashionable.

This one closet is rather deep and has a low ceiling. I did something creative to exploit the odd size and cut down one of those wire shelf carts that are modular so that it can telescope in and out of the closet. In effect it is a form fitting cloths rack that exploits the space in such a manner that it fits perfectly.

Pretty much the free couch could make it a second bedroom, or the third bedroom if the tiny bedroom is utilized as a bedroom. This space will be a combined office/studio space, pretty much a Swiss army room of sorts for flexibility.

The tower room has three windows, and the front bedroom has also three windows for mucho natural light.

“Maggie” likes our current master bedroom. I had to ask because this new expanded space will be rather pretty, although kinda long and narrow. Anyways the space will be kinda open.

I daydream about the 1966 C-10 and how it would look with a matte clear coat and a new oak bed. Pretty much a real stunning looking truck, and mighty cool even with the 250 cubic inch inline six. In fact muy cooler with the inline 6. Pretty much an advertisement as a lucky barn find with mucho you suck factor.

Cal
 
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Made an A-frame trellis for string beans and peas today.

The Rode-A-DEN-Drums on our side yard are in a full bloom, and it is kinda spectacular. Never saw a bloom like this. We have a total of 5 bushes, and 4 of them are about 8 feet tall and in diameter. Colors are mostly purple, but we also have red and a pink.

This is on our side yard underneath a series of windows, so the bloom is also in your face when indoors. Crazy good.

I have to talk with AJ to see if he is in on putting together a vintage bike show in downtown Peekskill. He mention perhaps making a gallery in the Berkshire’s where his dad has a massive commercial space.

Let’s see if I can snooker him…

I already have a loft space above a vintage T-shirt shop. The space is free, at least for me.

I need to stop at a nursery with “Maggie,” and go to home Cheapo to buy more lumber to build a sturdy trellis for the raised beds to support eggplants, yellow summer squash, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.

I’m excited because now the yellow squash has germinated, and also the scallions.

A somewhat overcast day with bouts of sun. 74 degrees.

On a side note Gold is priced at $2420.00 an ounce. Here we go again…

Cal
 
The economy is slowing down, and inflation is also going down. The headlines suggest though that interest rates are likely to remain high for an extended period. One month of lower inflation does not establish a trend.

Anyways this is not a bad scenario, and I hope it is true. Pretty much the high interest rates along with high debt levels is slowing down the economy.

On the home front it seems like we will be building out the capacity to house a family of 4: the grandkids and their parents. Perhaps not a bad thing. A 1500 square foot house that is a three bedroom, 1 1/2 bath is a rather small home. For me it is kinda cozy, but with house guests it will be crowded.

My next construction project is a trellis for the raised beds. No sense of immediacy because the plants are still tiny and immature. There is also a nice stained glass window in my garage that I need to frame to probably hang in our dinning room.

I’m thinking of buying a Daiwa BG series reel for a two piece surf rod that I bought for $30.00 new at the Stormville mega flea market. Basically an old discontinued rod on an otherwise new rod. I have a weekend at the Jersey shore coming up, and pretty much can spend a lot of time surf casting like in the old days. Thinking of spooling braided line.

Also coming up is the Westchester Mountain Bike Festival at Blue Mountain Preserve, and also the Peekskill Open Studios.

I talked with AJ today about the Pop-Up vintage bike show. He of course is enthused, but then again the bikes have to be prepped and cleaned up. Also a spec sheet/blurb/history needs to be done on each bike.

AJ mentions for him it would be best in the fall when work slows down, but then again not the best time for the pop-up as far as foot traffic goes. I see it being a lot of work for such a short showing. Still it is a clever idea. I left with AJ thinking about it.

“No sweat off my balls,” I say.

Cal
 
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I mistaken a Vole for a rat because it was so big. Today I killed a baby vole that has a body length of 4-5 inches. The big rat traps were getting tripped but only today did I have a kill.

Voles are not so ugly and evil looking as rats, actually they are kinda cute, but I have to protect my garden so it means I’m OK with killing all them. They eat plants and bulbs.

The problem now is that the monster traps I set are too big for the babies, so I found two mouse traps in the basement to recycle. Evidently the baby voles can trip the big rat traps and not get killed. I kinda need the in between size. Kinda funny the Gold-D-Lox size: a Vole trap. Not sure a mouse trap will exert enough force to kill a vole which is like a mouse on steroids.

Another experiment ensues.

Been shopping for a spinning reel for a 10 foot surf rod that is designed for 12-17 pound test line and 1-2 ounce lures. Kinda light for surf, but I’m not a meat fisherman. I’m thinking of going with an undersized reel that’s a Diawa BG-MC 3000 class and using 15 pound braid.

This reel is small enough to fit shorter rods for inshore fishing and would be a nice compliment to my conventional reels.

As time goes on, I’m still thinking of a Hobie pedal kayak.

Cal
 
The Mel’s Mix is really-really good for spouting seeds. It is like potting soil, very loose, and with lots of peat moss for water retention.

The other two yellow squash seeds are sprouting. Pretty much you just plant what you need. No need to oversow and thin. Pretty much save extra seeds for next year.

Also have a watermelon plant sprouting.

Planted green beans and peas today.

Yum-yum.

Cal
 
Calvin 2: Voles 0.

Killed another vole today. “Maggie” worries that I will hurt or kill a baby bunny rabbit, so she order a Have A Heart Trap.

Wish I had someone I didn’t like to release these pests on. Driving to Long Island to where How-Weird my old boss lives is just to far away, but the thought did pass my mind.

Meanwhile she is boiling water and adding some dish soap to ease the surface tension to kill ant nests around our yards.

The yard is a big part of our mornings. It is inspiring to see the growth and beauty every day brings. It is also a source of stimulation being outside and learning about gardening. Simple pleasures…

Cal
 
Just use food grade diatomaceous earth and boric acid for the ants. No messy soap to deal with, no mud; it just gets taken into the nest and desiccates every invertebrate it touches. The boric acid will both dry out and actively kill. You can mix boric acid with a small amount of confectioners sugar to create a very effective bait.
Soap and water won't kill a queen and a whole colony will sacrifice itself for her. But they will bring her sugar laced with boric acid.
Phil
 
Devil Cal,

How are you baiting your voles? Earlier in the spring I had hundreds of small deep holes in my front yard. The cameras reveal a smallish creature, like a large hamster shape with a short stubby tail. I think I have voles too! Nocturnal digging, maybe going for grubs or bulbs? Exterminators have no idea.......... I do have a few fresh holes so they are still around.

What do you bait your snap traps with? Are the big traps catching anything, or are you using a combination?
 
Devil Dan,

A mature Vole can be about 7-8 inches long on the body. They also have a long thin rat tail. Initially I thought it was a rat. What I saw was an adult.

Voles kinda has a mouse face and are not mucho ugly and evil looking like a rat. The two I killed so far are immature ones that are 4 1/2-5 inches long in body length.

Voles eat the roots of plants and bulbs. Mucho destructive. I have seem bags of Vole poison, but we are not going that way.

I use rat traps. Mouse traps are too small, but the rat traps are a little too big. The best bait are nut butters: I use almond butter.

In Long Island City I used peanut butter to exterminate a whole colony. Every day I killed some, but it took a while.

The Voles seem to trip traps and not get killed. I will be stubborn. Death to all Voles. They do seem to be nocturnal…

BTW Voles are very destructive.

Cal
 
Today we went to a brewery in Newburgh. The building formally was a factory for building steam engines. What a cool building with brick walls and a timber frame roof that had 45-50 foot ceiling at the peak.

The views of the Hudson River and the mountains are spectacular.

Not far away is George Washington’s headquarters.

Newburgh is a bigger city than Peekskill and poverty is deeply entrenched there, but for $850K you can buy a restored Victorian mansion over looking the Hudson that is turnkey. Advertised as a 3-bedroom second floor landlord dwelling with a 2-bedroom rental on the first floor.

This mansion sits next to Washington’s headquarters. In the distance you can see the Beacon Newburgh Bridge.

“Maggie” had an event there. Small turnout, but it was cool.

I think I might pitch a deal and try and pitch a flat trade for a Gibson Custom Shop ES-335 that was made in 1982. I got a good deal on the Santa Cruz known as “HOG.” If this deal works out pretty much I would profit.

I like the “HOG” but it cannot match the Santa Cruz Model “F” that I custom ordered and had spec’ed out as a 1934 with all old growth woods. Pretty much I have two versions.

The ES-335 is a blonde, meaning a natural finish, and the maple is a flaming blisters figure to it. All original, and that includes these Tim Shaw PAF humbucking reproductions that are kinda bright and low output versions which kinda suit my style. These are no high gain pickups, and they lack potting so they are a bit prone to microphonic overtones that kinda create a bloom of sorts.

Kinda nice to have cool stuff to barter with. Nice thing about this deal if it works out is that I stand to gain financially because I bought the “HOG” for little money and it gives me leverage to strike a deal that works in my favor.

I’m a good salesman, and let’s see if I get my way.

Cal
 
I played the HOG some today and think it really is a great guitar and a keeper.

Looking into perhaps coming up with a plan “B” for a trade. I have an electric upright bass that I will consider downsizing. Tuesday the guitar shop opens. Right now I have to do some research to check the value of the upright bass.

I come to the realization that I’m the kinda guy who likes and needs challenges. Part of my DNA and perhaps to the extent a personality flaw. This is why I likely identify as an artist also.

So the idea of learning how to play Jazz solo is a pretty big/huge jump. It is the dare devil in me that wants to define life and retirement on my own terms.

Lastly the only person I’m trying to impress is myself. I kinda like/love that I don’t need or have peers in this manner, and all I’m trying to do is be me.

To me the ultimate free spirit and a style of life of being really free.

No dead Voles today, and no triggered traps. I’m thinking that either the Voles are smart enough and learned that the traps are not a free snack, the mature Vole was just passing through, and perhaps I might have killed all of the ones under the spruce trees.

Hmmm… Let’s see…

“Maggie” has a meeting in NYC with her editor. I have to stop in downtown Peekskill to photograph the owner of a barbershop.

Some last trellis building for the raised beds. They expect almost 90 degree temps on Wednesday. I would like to do some riding. I can tell I am already shedding some weight by just cutting down a bit. I guess I have skinny bitch jeans.

If I can I will likely do a run today. Already started with some strength exercises.

Cal
 
Mowed the lawn before Wednesday’s now expected 90 degree temperatures.

It is during sweaty weather that I loose lots of weight. A lot of it is water weight, even though I don’t really have a big salt intake. Also I think my body works hard to keep me cool.

The electric upright bass kinda doubled in price for a new one from what I paid. Now I wonder if one day I would like the challenge of becoming a good upright bass player. Know in grade school I played the Cello till about 5th grade. The bigger kids got to play bass. Anyways a way to live up to a childhood dream.

I guess I have to see if I really like the Custom Shop ES-335 Tuesday.

Did some more Knotweeding before the plants get more than a toehold. Not a lot, but I’m keeping on top of it.

Made an appointment to meet Hugo the owner of a barbershop in Peekskill. Not for a haircut, but to do a portrait of him for the Peekskill Herald. A thyme in the shop was boxing, and of course Hugo was a boxer. I had him spar with me and the camera and the backgrounds were of boxing and the sign for his shop.

Check out Main Event Barber Shop in Peekskill and you’ll get the vibe. Actually a cool barber shop. It also was a kinda hangout. Hugo now is an interesting friend. The shop Hugo bought 11 years ago after he got out of the Navy.

My editor at the Peekskill Herald has these series called “10 Questions,” which I have to explain to the people I am photographing who are owners of businesses in Peekskill that have been around a long time, or long enough to be fixtures in the community.

Hugo tells me that growing up in Peekskill that being a Latino with three other kids was his back in the day. Today Latinos are the biggest portion of the population. The connection to boxing is understandable. I explained to Hugo that I grew up in Lillie white communities, and in kindergarten the first thing I learned was how to fight, and by third grade I was good at it.

Same story, just a little different…

Cal
 
Gold closed at $2430.30.

Meanwhile a troubling sign is that people are using credit cards to buy food. Remember that prices on food have risen 25% over the past 4 years…

My spin is purchasing power is getting weak for many. Any down turn will be ugly.

Looks like we will have the grandson tomorrow.

Been playing the Santa Cruz Model “F”’s a lot today. Interesting to hear them open up and get louder as the day goes on. Basically still new guitars that have to be played in and opened up to get to their full potential.

The HOG was a custom built guitar with mucho high end options. Pretty much if I had it built today to spec it would be a $10K-$12K guitar, but I paid about a third of that. The guitar when I bought it was about a decade old, but it had not been played. Basically went unloved and was stored in it’s case, then I bought it.

Pretty much a no brainer to buy, and pretty much a deal of a lifetime. This deal was like buying a 7 year old Audi A4 with 16K miles on the odometer for no money. Like the Santa Cruz the Audi was parked in a garage in storage.

Pretty lame to trade the HOG because it still needs to get broken in. Kinda nice having two dramatically different Model “F”’s.

BTW the body size of a Model “F” is a Mini-Jumbo. Smaller than a dreadnaught, but still a big guitar.

Cal
 
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