Graffiti

 

I went to a lot of trouble to be able to post this picture - shame it's not a better photograph. The sun was shining on the screen of my little flip phone while I was on my bike ride, so I really couldn't see what I was looking at. And then I couldn't get it to load up in my e-mail program so I sent it to my gmail account on the desktop computer and then sent that to my laptop. Tech version of Tinker to Evans to Chance.

The point of all of this is that Christina Orange is a whore. Not just your run of the mill whore but a cheating using bar whore according to the signatory Best Friend. Which reminds me of this: 

I started teaching in 1976 at Washington High School in East Chicago, Indiana. It was a comprehensive high school with a diverse student population - Blacks, browns, first and second generation Eastern Europeans, and occasionally, a student from south of the Mason-Dixon line. Interesting mix and for the most part everyone got along. The mills were booming and a lot of my students went to work right after graduation in a good paying job with insurance, pension, etc. I really enjoyed the job and it was a great experience for me. And every morning as I pulled in I was greeted by "Rosalinda is a ho" in big letters painted on the side of the building. I never knew who Rosalinda was, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for her.

Meanwhile back on the bicycle ride, I put 30 miles in before it got too damn hot again. No sore muscles later on, so I think I'm ready for the big ride coming up this weekend. We'll do either 41 or 62 depending on weather conditions. I plan on getting one more 20 miler in Tuesday or Wednesday. 

I did see something interesting besides the graffiti while out. As I was pedaling down a pretty sparsely traveled country road, I went by a guy standing at the end of his driveway holding a few tomatoes and he didn't look too happy. I'm thinking somebody pissed him off and he was planning on settling the score with the tomatoes if they drove by again.  

Break It To Me Gently

 

This one's been around for 60 years now but has aged well.

I had a photo I took on my bike ride yesterday I planned on posting but when I sent it from my phone to my e-mail account it never came in. And I sent it twice. And I sent a picture from my other computer and e-mail account that didn't come in either. And all the emails that were in the mailbox were all jumbled up rather than being listed in chronological order. Don't know what's going on but what's life without a few annoyances?

I am able to load up photos from my camera again, so I've got that going for me. Now I just need something worth posting. 

Yodeling Altered

 

If I had really deep pockets, I'd build me a fuel altered. Driving that stock car last Sunday was cool but driving one of these things would have to be close to the ultimate driving experience.

Lots of horsepower with a short wheelbase - just like Wild Willie from back in the day.

Since the jitney is stretching the finances about as far as I'm willing to go, can't see there ever being a fuel altered in my future. An "econoline" dragster would be conceivable if I wasn't building a car and had a line of future projects a mile long waiting in the wings. And because of my eagerness to remedy that, I didn't make it out to the shop at all yesterday. 

I got twelve miles in on the bike in the morning, came home, cleaned up and took the Missus to the eye doctor. She's not a morning person so tries to get her appointments scheduled in the afternoon. While that works for her circadian rhythms, it blows a big hole in my day. However, no further appointments on the schedule for the next couple of weeks. 

I'm planning on a 20 mile ride this morning and then doing a little something in the shop. It's going  to have to cool down a bit before I get to eager to jump in with both feet on anything, though. The days when the heat index is 100 plus suck the ambition out of me. Which brings me to something I'd like to do that doesn't require sweating: yodeling. 

While you can't go wrong with Patsy Montana, Susy Boggus does a top notch version.

I didn't realize any current Country and Western artist did any yodeling - except Ranger Doug of course. He's one of the best.

Since I'll never have a fuel altered and I don't know when I'll be able to get to Hawaii, I should work on learning to yodel. One of the few remaining things on the bucket list. I could practice out in the shop without annoying anyone - and it might keep the wild animals away! 

Have a good weekend!

Bitchin' Wheels

 

I got out into the shop yesterday about 7:30. It was already close to 80 degrees and steamy due to all the rain we got the night before. I set a box fan up blowing under the car but I still had a hard time keeping my safety glasses from fogging up and my welding jacket was sweaty by the time I was finished.

The welding was a bit tricky due to the fact that the fit-up wasn't perfect. It never is when things like this break since the part will bend or stretch when coming apart. Plus, the bottom of the frame rail is paper thin. There was also two brake lines, a fuel line and some wires real close to where I had to weld. I wrapped the lines and wires with a chunk of fire blanket and then further protected them with a sheet of plywood with some sheet asbestos stapled to it. The job looked pretty decent when I finished up but as Brother Johnny used to say: "You can't make ice cream out of shit."

I took my tires and wheels to the tire shop later in the day and they got me in and out right away. The tires are from the original Firestone molds. I might have to doll them up with some tire paint on the Firestone logo and lettering. Most all of the old Champ cars from the thirties and forties ran Firestones with white lettering on the brand name. 

I'll probably order the rear wheels as soon as the September Social Security check comes in. I'm still on the fence about running a quick-change rear - big expense but I probably won't be happy any other way. Maybe just get that first so I can complete the chassis. I did notice while under the Jeep that it has an extremely short driveshaft. That's been one of the concerns I've been thinking about. As long as I get the angle of the differential matching up with the angle of the engine, I should have enough length on the driveshaft after I splice in another 11 or 12" on the frame rails.

Anyway, the Jeep's done, I can move the jitney back up front and I can work on some parts for the side hustle or do some welding on the Rickati frame. Never a shortage of project work. 

New Wheels And Old Bike

 

Photo of my trusty steed - I took it out to the shop to oil up the chain yesterday. I've gotten one helluva return on my $4.00 investment. Of course, I've had to replace some things over the years - wheels and saddle most notably. This rig and I have been all over the country. I was ready to post another 100 mile update on here but I was 1/10 of a mile short when I finished my long ride last week and when I was putting the front wheel back on I straddled the bike to hook the brake cable back up I must have pushed against the button and reset the trip odometer to zero. The total mileage is 1764 and that's after changing out the speedometer several years back, so the absolute mileage is probably well over 3000. The new number should be well over 2000 by the season's end.

My wheels came in yesterday. The color rendition in the photo isn't very accurate. The wheels are more of a dark gray - they're going to look good on the finished project. I'll get the tires and wheels to the tire shop and have them mounted in the next couple of days.

I moved the engine back on the jitney, raised it up an inch and then welded the motor mounts in place. Afterwards I moved the car back to allow me to get the Jeep in the shop. I crawled underneath it to get a better idea of what it will take to get it fixed and then I bailed out. According to the Chicago weatherman, yesterday was the hottest day of the summer. My thermometer read 95 and the heat index was about 107. No wonder I was sweating like I was. It's supposed to be hot again for the next few days. I'm planning on getting out in the shop early today and getting after it. I want to get the Jeep done and gone. 

I got the results of my appeal from the US Post Office - rejected. No real surprise there. The reason given was I didn't have any supporting documents such as a receipt for the brake shoes. I then received an e-mail survey asking for my opinion on the service I received. For all the good it will do me, I explained that no one has receipts for all the individual parts of a vehicle purchased and that I had sent them an eBay listing of a new set of brake shoes. I don't know what one would do to prevent this sort of thing if you found yourself in a similar situation. Regardless, I'm done with it. I've got brake shoes on the rear wheel, so I'm golden.

Stock Car Ride

 

I finally got a chance to drive the stock car Sunday. The Missus got me the ride for Christmas a couple of years ago. I got rained out the first time and I cancelled out last year due to the cooties. While the cooties are still a problem I figured it was time to get out just the same. 

They suggested doing a ride along to get more comfortable before driving so I took them up on that. The young gun who wheeled me around is a regular driver there and he wasted no time at all getting around the track. The car had a big motor so it really ripped and the driver had the ass end hanging out all the way around the corners. So I did learn what is possible to do on the track.

I was the second to last driver to go out for the day. The track was freshly watered, so no dust and I was out there by myself. It took me a couple of laps to get the feel of the car but I got things rolling pretty good after about five laps and then got the ass end hanging out a ways my self on the last five. 

It was a lot of fun. I've never really wanted to be a race car driver, motorcycles were always more my style but I'm glad I got a chance to do this. The people were all very nice, friendly and helpful. Safety was stressed at the orientation and the cars all ran well. Some of the driving suits were pretty shabby but if you purchase your ride through Groupon, like the Missus did, it's a lot of bang for your buck.

If It's A Rocker, That'll Get It

 

I've been listening to some Chuck Berry in the shop lately. A lot of his songs are a bit repetitious as far as the guitar work goes but it'll definitely give you happy feet. I'll see if this one stays up since White Bird flew the coop a couple of posts back. Apparently someone didn't want it to be a beautiful day.

My front tires and lug nuts showed up yesterday right after I got back from my bike ride. I was surprised to see the big brown truck on a Saturday, especially since I had received an e-mail saying the delivery was scheduled for Monday. No big hurry anyway. The wheels won't be here for a while and the car won't be on the ground for an even longer while. I'm just getting some of the big ticket items before the prices go up any more.

I took a couple photos of the tires with the little digital camera like I always do but when I put the card in the computer the pictures wouldn't load. I took the above photos with my cheapie flip phone but I'm puzzled as to why the photos from the camera wouldn't load up. 

I got a text yesterday from a friend needing a welding repair on his Jeep. He brought it up on a trailer and it doesn't look too tough - not fun but I've done a lot worse. I'll need to move the jitney out of the way first so I can back the Jeep in on the concrete. The weather should be good for working today but I've got a previous engagement - I'm driving a late model stock car on a dirt track today. Should be big time fun.

Jam Nuts

 

The Missus got a reprieve on getting her teeth pulled. After we got home I went for a bike ride and found a 13mm gear wrench in the road. I've got a set of these I keep in the new barn for working on the bicycles and the occasional job on a motorcycle or auto. Mine aren't the flex head style but they are pretty handy. I've found lots of different things on the road with all the running and cycling I've done over the years - pretty much everything except any real sum of money.

I bored the threads out of the jam nuts that I'm planning on welding on the draglink and tie rod. I'll slide them over the tube and tack them on which will make it easier when I want to adjust the steering.

I looked at hooking up the brake hoses to the calipers. The kit came with hoses and brackets to hold the hoses where they'll join to the metal brake line. It looks like I'll have to grind a little off the caliper where the hose bolts on. As it is, the only place the hose can be bolted on is if it's pointing right at the kingpin. If I grind the shoulder off on one side of the recess I can get the hose pointing out to the side, it should be long enough and I can weld the brackets on the edge of the frame. I'll get the hoses hooked up and then I can see about some type of shock mount. I'm leaning towards using "aircraft" shocks rather than the friction shocks that would have been used back in the day. I'm going to look at a few old cars, see what they're running and then decide.  

Gimme A Brake

 

I finished hanging the rest of the front end parts on the jitney. The parts in the kit are nicely made and should make for a nice front end. I had to take some emery cloth to the spindles to get the bearing adaptors to fit. I was tapping them on with a brass drift and they were just too tight so I tapped a bit, pulled the adaptors off, shined the spindle up with the emery and then tried it again until they went on without too much force. 

I ordered the front wheels and tires yesterday - the wheels are coming factory direct so should be here about Sept. 1st. Tires and lug nuts on Monday. 

In the meantime, I'm taking the Missus to the dentist today. Busy week for the old girl - a couple of tests and now three extractions. That chemo was hard on her teeth. I imagine I'll be spending some time tending to her the next day or two and I've got a fun thing on tap for Sunday. Hopefully work a little shop time into the schedule as well.

Progress - Such As It Is

 

The Missus needed a copy of our marriage license to get the new Real ID drivers license. We've never needed an official copy before, the one that was issued to us by the church has always been sufficient. As far as I'm concerned, if you have a valid drivers license and a passport that should be all that's required but the license bureau seems to pride themselves on sending you home to get at least one more piece of paper or having you fill out one more form. Anyway, the bike trail goes right by the court house, so I figured I'd ride some more of the trail and then get the marriage license. I rode it almost to the end of the line - put in 26 miles round trip yesterday and got the license.

My buddy came down in the evening and got the motor for the Rickati project. He's got quite a bit going on now but he said he'll get it apart and see what he needs. He just picked up some parts and tools for these little Ducati motors but he hasn't got them all sorted. One step closer.

I got the axle assembled on the jitney. Everything fits together well. I'm not sure how tight the nuts on the spring shackles should be. If I tighten them up nice and snug the suspension doesn't move. If I put a jack under the axle it picks up the whole car without the shackles pivoting. Looks like a little more research is required. Of course there's no weight on the front end yet either. 

I'll keep working on the car and do some welding on the bike frame. I need to take the Missus to a few more appointments and get some more miles in on the bicycle. Progress might be slow but it's still progress.

Painting Parts

 

I got the axle, spindles and brake brackets painted up. They're Ford gray. However, I'm thinking a darker gray would be more to my liking. This will do for now. It'll keep things from rusting and when I get ready to paint the rest of the frame I'll get a color I'm happier with and shoot every thing with the spray gun rather than a rattle can.

The caliper paint came yesterday afternoon so I got those painted up. I would imagine everything on the front end will need another coat before final assembly but that'll be easy enough since the prep work will be done.

I'm going to get the front end parts put together, figure out the drag link, shock mounts and brake line brackets and keep working my way back.

My buddy was supposed to come down yesterday to check out the Rickati but he rescheduled. I'm hoping he's planning on taking the motor with him when he does get here. I'd like to have this done and get started on another bike before the weather gets cold.

Depending on how things go with the doctor visits and the test results with the Missus this week, I'd like to make some apple cider. The big storm last week blew a bunch of apples down but there's still plenty on the tree. I made the grinder and press a few years back but only used it once. This has been a bumper crop year for the fruit trees. It's a shame to let it go to waste.

I came in the house for my afternoon break and the Missus had the NASCAR race on. Just about the time I sat down they had an issue with some metal curbing and all hell broke loose. Since I don't normally pay any attention to NASCAR anymore, I didn't realize they were running the road course rather than the oval. Anyway, they stopped the race, pulled up the curbing and I see what looked like Doug Boles manning a broom. Boles is the president of IMS and definitely a hands on kind of guy. When Cuzzin Ricky and I went to the midget race at the Speedway a few years ago, we saw Boles shaking hands with all the drivers and thanking the fans. Definitely not a guy who stays behind the desk all the time. From what I've seen, the kind of guy you wouldn't mind working for. 

It's A Beautiful Day

 

It has been a beautiful day lately.

I drug my ass out of bed fairly early yesterday without having to worry about getting rained on while out on the bike - did 20 miles. When I got home I had some breakfast and then because it was so nice, I had a hard time getting going again. I did make it out to the shop later. I cleaned the rust off the jitney axle and then welded finish the spring perches. While I was out on the bike I swung by the hardware store and bought a can of paint for it. I'm planning on painting the car gray and orange with a few shiny bits. I'm going to paint the axle gray and I've got a can of silver brake caliper paint coming from Amazon that should be here today. Depending on when the delivery shows up, maybe get the calipers painted today, the axle for sure.

Thursday late afternoon/early evening, the dog started barking, we heard a crash and then I see a car backing up off the pad out front. There's a place to park on each side of the pad, so no reason to pull up on the pad other than the Missus backing up on there to unload groceries. The crashing noise must have been the front apron on the car breaking since she hit the concrete hard enough to chip some of it off.

Then instead of turning to the left and following the drive around the back of the barn, she turned right and went out into the yard, went between two trees and then headed back. She made it onto the driveway and headed out without any further damage. I didn't get a good look at her but it was some woman with black hair who must have been drunk as a skunk. I'm surprised she made it between the two trees without any damage or that she didn't end up out on the railroad tracks. Worse case would have been to have bounced off the propane tank. No telling how that would have worked out.

We used to get quite a bit of traffic coming down the lane until the county put a "no outlet" sign at the end of the lane. I'm thinking this was someone who had too much to drink after work at the tavern just down the road. Let's hope that's the end of that.

Postcards, Pitmans and More

 

Surly and the family took a vacation out West and the boys all sent me postcards. In the old days when I was free to travel, I would always send them postcards from my travels both domestic and international. Nice of them to reciprocate.

My Speedway order came yesterday. They included a sheet of stickers in addition to the bumper sticker like they normally do. I dig stickers - like the old decal sheets I would get in the car model kits back in the day.

New pitman arm - shiny stainless steel. Sexy thing ain't it.

Speaking of sexy things - it's the Missus' 29th birthday today for the 2.448th time. Pretty neat trick seeing as how I took that photo 50 + years ago. Not much of a celebration on tap today. We did lunch yesterday after taking the long drive to the hospital for a covid test. 84 miles round trip to get a Q-Tip stuck up her nose. She got the call later that everything was good. That means we can make another trip next week.

It's rare that I watch any sports ball on television any more, but I tuned in to watch the Yankees versus the White Sox at the Field of Dreams last night. Pretty good idea that someone had. For baseball, this was like the first outdoor hockey game. I can see this being an annual event. Since I lived fairly close to Chicago growing up, my dad took me to Comisky Park a few times when the Yankees were in town. I got to see Maris, Mantle, Berra, Ford and Aparicio, Fox, Minoso and all the others. I was disappointed in the Yankees uniforms last night, however. The Sox were sporting throw-back uniforms and really looked the part - just like in the movie. The Yankees looked out of place in their polyester. Even though they were the visiting team, they could have been sporting something like Lou Gehrig is.

That would have been more in keeping with the moment. Nice interview with Kevin Costner, however. 

Collier Lodge

 It's been hot again - and wet too. The hired man came off his vacation long enough to help me out Tuesday morning. We knocked off about noon and I was soaking wet with sweat. The temp with the heat index factored in was around 105. Pretty damn hot and sticky for an old man so I took it easy after lunch and then cut the back yard early in the evening since they were forecasting rain. And rain it did. Rained that evening and again about 4:30 Wednesday morning. It cleared up about 7:30 so I headed out on the bike. 

I rode up to the river - about 11 miles. This is the Collier Lodge, or what is left of it. It's the last of the Kankakee River hunting lodges from back in the day. More info about the lodge and the area can be found here.

I've never attended the River Walk. Might see about doing that this year - that's assuming the sign is current. I should probably check out the historical society's website.

On the way home the wind started to pick up - a headwind, of course - and the clouds started to roll in. I made it up to about a mile from home when the rain started. Big drops but not many off them, along with a couple of claps of thunder. After I made it into the house it rained like a bastich. The rain cooled things down quite a bit but after the sun came out later it was pretty steamy again so other than a trip to the grocery, I took the day off.

Lots of things lined up the next week or so. Lots of medical stuff with the Missus, I sent my entry for the bike ride so more longer training rides and a few other things. It's supposed to cool down some so the conditions should be a bit more conducive to my getting back out into the shop.

My Blue Heaven

 

A lovely little ditty before I toss out the bad news.

Apparently the new infrastructure bill contains a provision to tax us on the mileage we drive. This will require a newer automobile for the gov to track where you go, how fast and far you go. Actually pretty damn scary, especially if you're a car buff of any sort. Take the time to read the whole article here. This Big Brother stuff is no laughing matter. It's here and it's now. The Biden admin, with some help from the Republican Party, in addition to flexing their muscles with all the cooties craziness is now going to be able to track all your movements by auto - don't know what that means for motorcycles - and soon they'll be implementing digital currency so they can track where and what you spend your money on too. Scary stuff here boys and girls.

I cut some pieces for braces for the spring perches on the jitney axle. The perches were originally part of the radius rods, rather than coming off the axle. Since that's no longer the case, I wanted to make sure there was plenty of metal to hold them. The radius rods are only an inch or two away from the new brackets so there shouldn't be a concern of the perches twisting the axle under load. 

Some More Bike Stuff

 

The perfect pirouette. I had a buddy of mine that used to do that on his bike. This guy must have practiced a few times.

The odometer clicked over another 100 miles yesterday. Actually, I should have another 10 miles but I didn't record one of my rides due to the pickup bracket failure - but who's counting, right?

Pretty hot day again yesterday. After my bike ride I took the wife's car and ran it through the car wash, gassed it up and did some grocery shopping. The grocery store had pork chops on sale for 99 cents per pound so I got two packages with six each in them. By the time I got home it was 1:00 PM and I hadn't eaten all morning, so I broke training and fried up a pork chop along with some peppers and onions and an ear of corn. I figured I'm way behind on my pork consumption since I didn't get my pork burger at the fair or any tenderloins at the races for the last two summers.

Since it was hot but I still wanted to get in a little shop time, I made the new brake arm for the Rickati. I haven't heard from my buddy about taking the motor off my hands. Might have to light a fire under him if the bike's going to get finished this year. 

Bicycle Stuff

 

The Handle bar tape and helmet showed up yesterday. I got the bars wrapped. I wrapped the end of the tape on the top of the bars with some hockey tape as a temporary fix. I'm planning on wrapping either 550 cord or a leather shoe string around it to finish it off.

The other end has the corporate logo machined into the plug. I made the blanks and my buddy Kevin machined the logo for me when we were both working at the high school. Since he's going to be back in the classroom again, I might have to hit him up for an idea I have for a similar piece to mount on the radiator shell of the jitney. It would be nice to have it machined and then enameled. On a simple design like the one above I could just paint the part in the lower relief. I'm a long ways from needing a piece on the radiator shell but most all of the old Indy racers from the thirties had one that identified the builder.

The new helmet's pretty cool. It's got a built in "blinky" light and reflective material on the outside of the shell. I don't know how much riding I'll do after dark in the future, but I'm a big believer in being seen when out on the road. I used to ride home in the dark during the fall and winter when I was commuting at the high school and I always had at least three tail lights blinking. I talked to a guy years ago at a ride and he said he'd ride after dark with about six other guys who each had a couple of lights on their bikes. He said all of the blinking lights were hard for car drivers to identify from a distance so they'd slow down on approaching the cyclists.

I put in 14-15 miles on the bike yesterday morning. I was planning on putting in a few more but my regular routes were screwed up. I did get in almost 70 miles last week. Depending on the weather, I'm going to try and get out on one of the rail trails and get a longer ride in this coming week. 

I ordered the pitman arm and a few other bits for the jitney project - they should be here the middle of the week. 

Resist

 

That's starting to be a common theme it seems. I read something the other day by Rand Paul and that's what he was preaching. He seems to be a lone voice in the wilderness when it comes to what's what in the cooties game. I like the fact that even though he's a politician, he's also a medical doctor and knows of what he speaks. Nice that he called out Fauci on the lies he's been spreading. 

Meanwhile back at the ranch, the plastic mounting bracket for my bike speedometer broke the other night when I was taking the wheel either on or off when I was preparing to ride the bike trail.

I rolled the bike into the shop, pulled the stool up, did a bit of cogitating, made a quick sketch, and went to work.

Quite a bit of machine work for such a little part but it works. Actually, I needed to do some machine work - I was getting a little rusty and I was figuring on starting on the job for the side hustle which would be a similar type of job. That job didn't show up, however. Maybe it'll show today, maybe not. 

I've got some new handlebar tape and a helmet on the way - maybe get the bars wrapped today. I need to get started on the other job for the side hustle - might get started on that today too. I tightened up the new nuts on the steering pieces on the jitney since the hardware order came. It looks like the extension piece I made for the tie rod will work for me. I'm going to order the pitman arm and a couple other pieces. While waiting for the parts to come in I'll get the engine moved into its proper location.

Nutz

 

My hardware order came in. I've now got a selection of fine thread nuts on hand - except 5/16. I somehow or other neglected to order any of those. I'll get them next time. I want to get some Grade 8 bolts to hold the steering box in place and I'm sure there'll be more besides that I'll be needing.

The jam nuts in the top left of the photo are for the tie rod and drag link. I'll bore the threads out of them, slip them on and then weld them. It'll make adjusting the tie rod and drag link a lot easier.

I rode the Erie Trail Wednesday evening with two of the coaches from the boxing club. Nice change of pace from the walking/running on Sundays and all of my solo riding. We did about 12 - 13 miles on a nice summer evening. There were quite a few other people out on the trail as well - walkers, runners and bikers. This is the same trail that I did the ruck march on about a year and a half ago. It's a nice trail and very well maintained. I think I might ride it again next week in order to get some longer mileage in without having to ride the same old roads I normally do around here.

Steering Box Bracket Finished

 

The top view shows the steering box as it will be mounted on the frame rail. The bottom view shows the outside. The frame rail will be horizontal, rather than vertical of course.

The top hole on the box will bolt through the frame rail. The above piece will get welded in to the frame to support the bolt.

Next up is to locate the engine in its final position and get the engine mounts tacked in place. I get that done I'll see what I need to start on the steering linkage. I'll wait and order the pitman arm and a couple other items until I get that taken care of. I'll need a coupler to connect to the steering box, at least two U-joints and some shafting. 

I was out on the bike yesterday morning working on building up my mileage base - got 20 in - and I got a text from the the boss at the side hustle. I rode over on my way home and made arrangements to fix the item he texted me about and then he told me he could use some more of another part I make, so I've got some work ahead of me on his stuff.

The weather's been ideal for outside work, so I've been taking advantage of it and getting a little something done every day around the shack. The heat and humidity is supposed to return this weekend - not looking forward to that - but that's how summer goes in Indiana.

Attack Of The Killer Locust

 

I went to get a couple of things out of the garden shed and found the exoskeleton remains of a cicada. Once I realized it wasn't a spider, I grabbed my tools and went to work.

When I came back a little later I saw what had crawled out of there. It must have been packed in there pretty tight judging by the size of it. I haven't heard them making noise. Maybe this is just the beginning.

Still got some lilies blooming. Beautiful flowers with little to no maintenance.

The hired man was a no show yesterday but I went ahead and tackled the job on my own. There were a bunch of branches rubbing the roof of the shop which required the big extension ladder and the lop shears and I did some work with the chainsaw. I got things done but it would have gone a little easier with some help. I've got to do some similar work behind the big barn also. 

I did get the bracket for the steering box made and welded up. I'll get it ground down and cleaned up today. It looks pretty good - should look even better after I get it cleaned up. Should work too. 

Over The Rainbow

 

I'm thinking I need to find the end of that rainbow - or maybe I have and I just don't know it. In spite of all the craziness, things are actually pretty good around here. Weather's been perfect the last couple of days. I got ten miles in on the bike and walked four with the gym group yesterday.

I drove past the Ford dealer on my way home from the park and saw a new Bronco on the lot. It's badged as some type of special edition. The sticker showed $48K. Nice looking vehicle. Don't know that I'd want to be on the hook for that kind of money, though. There's another one running around town that I've seen. It's a solid gray color. I like the look of them both.

I came up with a design for mounting the steering box on the jitney and got a decent beginning on making it up. The top bolt on the box will be into the frame rail, the lower two will be below the rail. Should work out well. I haven't heard from my hired man about working today. If he does, might be pushing it a bit to get the mount finished since I've got some more bushwacking on tap, but as long as I'm making a little progress I'm happy.