This & That

I think this thing is just the coolest wrecker ever. I wouldn't think this was an "off the shelf" rig but where would one have gone to get something like this done? There were more than a few coach builders back in the day but even back then, this kind of work would have been somewhat costly I would think. Might be Cuzzin Ricky and I need to take a road trip to Chattanooga and visit the museum down there. If anyone would know about old wreckers, they'd be the ones.

I suggested to my boss that he should consider welding on a few of the broken plastic parts they use. He gave me the look indicating he didn't know if he should take me seriously or not. He did a bit of investigating and decided it was worth giving it a try, so he bought a plastic welder from Harbor Freight. I farted around with it a bit on a scrap part and things welded nicely. I'll need to practice some but it looks like it will do the job - save him a bunch of money and once again makes me look like a hero. Pays to have a skilled craftsman on hand when you go outside your area of expertise.

I finished up making all the parts for the motorcycle carrier but I'm not happy with it. I need to raise it up a couple of inches. I wanted to keep it as low as possible to make loading it as easy and safe as possible but I over did it a bit. I can't imagine it snagging on something but if it did it would be a catastrophe. The extra braces really stiffened things up. In fact, I think you could probably hook a crane to the carrier and pick the whole truck up with it. It's going to be a bit of a hassle to raise it up a couple of inches but I'll sleep better with it lifted up.

I haven't decided what to do about the animal burrow out in the barn. It's dark now when I get home from work and since I don't know what's living in there now, nor do I have electricity in there, I'm a little uneasy about going in there in the dark. Last night the coyotes were howling across the tracks while I was getting some chicken feed adding to the spook factor. It'd be just my luck to go out there in the dark and trip over whatever is living out there, fall and hit my head, and then have whatever it is eat my face while I'm lying there unconscious. I am considering putting on a sidearm while I'm doing my chores in the future.

It looks to be winter now for all practical purposes. There's snow in the forecast and it'll be November in a couple of days. I ordered a pair of insulated bibs to keep in my locker at work. Much of what I normally do is in the unheated part of the building. What I should have done was typed up a letter of resignation rather than an order for warm clothes. Since I'm damn near 70, have to wonder why I keep working. We'll see what the winter brings. Might make up my mind for me.