Difficult Choices

 

I came across an article on the old internet of things that Kentuckians are now going to have to choose between a medical marijuana card or their firearms. A new law went into effect January 1st, but since smoking pot is against federal law, if you register for a medical marijuana card you aren't able to fill out honestly the 4473 firearm paperwork when purchasing a firearm. And if you've previously bought a weapon or ammo, it looks like you'll have to give it up. So, if you want to own guns and smoke reefer, it looks like you'll have to decide which law you want to break. Cash sales from private individuals would seem to be an option - like people have been doing for years, regardless of the legalities.

I went to the opening of Coach Jen's Jen-nasiun Monday evening. I helped her out with her first group of boxers - small group but a good way for her to start out. I've got my eye surgery today, so I won't be able to help any for a couple of weeks, I imagine. I'll find out more when I see the doctor tomorrow for the follow up. 

The television was on yesterday afternoon while I was waiting on the phone call from scheduling to get my arrival time for surgery. When Carter arrived in Washington and the band started playing, I told the wife they should be playing Salt Peanuts. Since they didn't, I did.

Music & Fabrication

 

The Missus found the movie Hell or High Water on the "smart" TV while I was fixing supper Friday night. Not a bad flick - decent story line and enough action to keep me interested. Also had a good soundtrack. This one was the first cut that I heard. I rarely hear any Townes van Zandt, since he's not much of a presence on the stations I listen to, those being the ones I can pull in due to the limited reception out in the shop. In reality, he probably doesn't get too much airplay anywhere.

Likewise with Guy Clark. If I had my own radio station, both of these guys would get played on a regular basis along with quite a few other artists that I like that aren't exactly a great commercial success. When I was at the high school my buddy Kevin and I looked into starting a low wattage station. The idea didn't meet with great success from the man in charge, so we dropped the idea. Now there are other ways to select what you want to hear on your own playlist, I just don't partake of any of them. I did have SiriusXM radio in the truck when I was working at the college my first time around. I enjoyed many of the programs during my commute and I was traveling more then, so it was worth the money. Now, most of my driving is local so I'm lucky to hear three songs in a row.

I figured out a work-a-round on importing photos from the phone. Not the most convenient way of doing business, but until I take the time to look into it a little deeper, at least I'm able to post some project photos - now I just need more progress on the projects. But the sled is done.

Cold weather is here and will be for a while - morning temps are in the teens, so I'm going to work on a few inside projects until my eye surgery later this week. I started another book and when I finish that one, I'll start studying for my General license and watch my Then Came Bronson movie I've been saving.  

Winter Weather

 

Looking like winter now. It's been pretty mild so far but it was mid-twenties yesterday morning when I went out, it warmed up a bit later and started snowing in the late afternoon. Nice pretty snow with big flakes. The photo is from the files since I still haven't figured out how to get my pictures downloaded from either the email account or directly from the phone. I had a reader who was gracious enough to recommend a way to download the pics directly to the hard drive but I haven't mastered that yet. I followed the online directions, the screen message said the transfer was successful, but I wasn't able to locate them on the computer. Otherwise, there would have been a finished photo of the sled and an egg.

I'm down to only three chickens these days and the egg yesterday was the first one I've seen from them in a couple of months. Seems like a strange time to start laying with the cold and the short daylight, but at least I'm getting a small return on my investment. I need to decide if I'm going to stay in the chicken business or not. The coop yard needs some work and a half dozen chickens are not really economical anyway. But I do like keeping chickens.

Since the sled job is done, going to spend a little time on some more cleaning and organizing and then try to get back to finishing a couple of things. I had a meeting with the finance guy yesterday morning and started working on getting a room set up for the ham radio. As it stands now, I've got a power supply, my new radio and my old Heathkit receiver I put together years ago to accommodate. I've got a good FM receiver and mediocre speakers in there already. I need to throw, give, or donate some things away - like out in the shop and the barn, too much stuff. At least things are moving in the right direction.

State of the Union

 

That pretty much describes me these days. Maybe not too much ruder, but older and definitely more intolerant. If St. Don can drive the snakes out of Washington like St. Patrick did in Ireland, my mood may improve some - but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

I think most everyone will agree that the Covid -19 was a gigantic scam-o-rama right from the start and it's done irreparable harm to people's health, finances and education. Knowing that, I just read where some pork producers are injecting the hogs with a mRNA vaccine, for what purpose I don't know, but according to what I've read there hasn't been any safety testing done at all. What could possibly go wrong with that?

I also read that New Jersey started the new year dropping the requirement for new teachers to pass a basic education test prior to getting their teaching license. If they can't read, write or do math, seems like there shouldn't be a place in a classroom for them. According to the article I read, classroom teachers can earn $80K per year. That's substantially more than I ever made, and I had two Batchelor degrees, a Master's and a skilled trade. I would think someone needs to look into why people are no longer willing to go into the teaching profession if $80 large won't entice them. 

And one of my pet peeves: trucks that can't haul anything. Fortunately, it's still possible to buy a 2-door pickup with an 8' bed for around $40K, which isn't all that bad as long as you can live with a vehicle that's very much utilitarian - which is precisely what I think a truck should be. But as always, to each their own.

I'd buy one of these bad boys for $10K or maybe the Hilux if they were available in the US. Between the Chicken Tax and regulations, however, that's not likely to happen.

Anyway, here's hoping for a better 2025 than what we've seen the last few years. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast", and all that.

Best wishes for peace, prosperity and good health to you all this year.

Year in Review

 

End of the year review, mostly for my benefit. It helps me keep track of my progress and plan a few things for the upcoming year. I always have big plans for the projects, but rarely do I get anywhere near done what my plan calls for.

My health is good presently. I'm still having trouble with my chest. Apparently, I should have nursed my recovery a bit longer before trying to do some "sissy" pushups. I'm about at the point I'll just need to reconcile myself to having an issue that's going to be with me to the end and work around it. I hadn't planned on the eye problem, but no one ever does plan for these things. Looking forward to the surgery, which should correct most of the problem but will set my progress back for a few weeks. Nothing new there, though.

One of the big accomplishments of the year was getting my ham radio license - something I've wanted to do for years. I'm planning on moving up to the next level this coming year. Now that I'm unemployed again I'll get started on that while on light duty and hopefully take my test at the February club meeting.

I did a ton of projects this year but didn't finish any of the motorcycle jobs. The vintage trials bike is really close to being done. I was ready to weld the last piece on the shift linkage when I got distracted with some boat work for a customer and then making pieces for Coach Jen and her Jen-nasium. Having the trials bike and the Sportster running for next year are at the top of the list. Time to finish up several other bike and car jobs as well. 2025 needs to be the year of motor vehicles. The Missus broken wrist was another of the unforeseen setbacks that seem to come along on a fairly regular basis. 

The shop clean-up and organization, while not completely finished, should help pick up the pace of completing projects. I'm still contemplating getting a couple new machine tools. Like the clean-up/ fix-up work, they would probably improve thru-put on the to-do list. Plus, I figure it wouldn't hurt to reward myself for all the years of working both full time and a side hustle. Since I'm never going to get that Jag XKE that I've been wanting since about 1968, a new drill press would be a lot cheaper and much more practical. And before leaving the clean-up topic, big thank you goes out to Surly for being the driving force behind it.

Not much travel this past year. Cuzzin Ricky and I did manage to get to a couple of open wheel races but nothing like we were doing before Covid hit. I did make it to a few boxing matches and some sparring events. Now that Coach Jen will have a training facility for boxers, I'll be able to tag along to work a corner or coach a bit at sparring sessions. I'm hoping Cuzzin Ricky and I will finally make it to Hawaii this coming year.

My book reading is still below par. I managed to read 19 books and the weekly newspaper, but I had trouble keeping up with my magazine subscriptions. Too much time on the computer feeding my paranoia with other people's blogs, especially those giving a different slant on the political and financial state of current affairs and how it affects those of us in the proletariat. It'll be interesting to see what the future brings with the change of leadership in Washington. Of course, Slow Joe still has time to start WWIII before Trump takes office again. 

What's to come? I still can't yodel or tap dance but those aren't very realistic goals with all the other items on the list ahead of them. I am going to try and tighten up the diet and get back on a regular training schedule. I need to update the to-do list and also the bucket list. Other than the Hawaiian trip, I think I've done most everything I've ever wanted to do on the bucket list. It might merit a little thought, however - hate to go to my grave having overlooked something I'd regret in the afterlife. 

Hope all of you have a happy and productive New Year!

Finishing One

 

The sled project is about done. I got the plastic runners for the skis fit up - still need to bevel the edges, though. Weld the couplings, top plate and the hooks on and that's it. Coach Jen is going to do the painting on this one. I painted the chin-up bar gray, and she repainted it black, so I'll just let her paint the black from the get-go. The main thing is I'll get it to her in plenty of time so she'll have it for her grand opening. 

I want to get the shift linkage done on the vintage trials bike before the eye surgery, so that's up next. I need to replace an undercabinet light in the kitchen. I already swapped one of them out. The new lights are dimmable LED units, so I bought a dimmer switch that you can set the desired lighting level and then turn the switch on and off without having to fiddle around with the level every time you turn on the lights.

I've got a knife project to work on and some work to do on and in the basement workshop. I got a nice book all about the diesel railroad streamliners for Christmas and it's got me thinking about working on the model train layout. Maybe do a little work in that room and set up my ham radio "shack" there as well.

 I've been doing a bit of work on my family history project again. My family name is the same as a defunct company based out of Louisville, Ky. I'm supposedly related to that group but I haven't made the connection yet. To gain a little more knowledge might require a road trip to Kentucky and Tennessee. I imagine Cuzzin Ricky would be up for that, since my relatives are his relatives, since my father and his mother were brother and sister.

As always, lots to do with the to-do list all over the map. I don't know how much I'll get done in 2025, or if I'll ever finish half of the projects, but at this point in my life I can't really see any reason to change. The pleasure for me is in the doing, not the finishing. 

Easing Back Into It

 

Got back out into the shop yesterday. I wanted to take advantage of the relatively warm weather and I can only eat so many Christmas cookies while sitting on my fanny.

In addition to making a couple of pieces for the sled project, I cut some plywood pieces to put in the bottom of the milk crates I bought to store the cut-offs & short lengths of metal. I was able to cut the plywood out of a couple of pieces that were drops from a job at my old side hustle - which is why I never want to throw anything away, but if I'm going to keep all that stuff, it definitely helps to be organized.

The weather is going to be warm again today, so I'm planning on spending some more time in the shop. I did get a few indoor things taken care of lately in addition to the Christmas get together. I was pressed into kitchen duty Christmas Eve due to the wife's broken wrist. However, the daughter-in-law and the wife's sister knocked out most of the clean-up - bless their hearts.