Sunday, December 14, 2025
Slept in a lot. Woke very late. No breakfast. Lunch: leftover chicken fried rice, water. Spent the entire afternoon further cleaning the two drains on the balcony. Ever since we had moved in these drains had been giving us trouble by not draining. The hydrojetting done 11 days ago helped, but the plumber told me it still needed work that hydrojetting and snaking would not resolve, and I agreed. Today I did part of that work, which involved chipping away unidentified residue from inside the drain pipe wall with my largest flat-head screwdriver while running our largest vacuum cleaner with the hose pointed at the chipping work. My best guess at the residue: a combination of some kind of black sealant, a lot of compacted dirt, and a lot of sand (why?!). The material was too soft and grainy to be concrete or grout or cement. It was too hard to be silicone sealant. This seems like the best these drains are going to get. Showered and dressed. Patrick and I walked to dinner at Super Duper Burger: chicken burger and chocolate shake for Patrick, mini burger with pickles and lemonade for me, we shared an order of fries. All food and drink were delicious. Afterwards we walked to The Academy for Gingerbread Sip 'n' See. Gingerbread house artist Peter Williams outdid himself again, this time creating in confectionery a row of gingerbread houses styled to resemble the famous Painted Ladies of San Francisco. Fairy lights lit the insides which we could see through many various windows, and the insides were meticulously decorated with artwork, ornate ceilings, furniture, and more. Each house had a different roof. Patrick particularly liked the two toucans and the pink trees and green bushes made from marshmallow rice krispies. We met and chatted a while with CF before walking home. I installed the last of the non-GFCI SnapPower MotionLights, this one in the office between the bathroom door and the closet door. Patrick went to bed. Later I chatted over Facetime then Google Meet with Lani and Dex. We switched from FaceTime to Google Meet because it was too hard for some of us to join from Windows computers.