Here's the most recent tee shirt from the 5K walk last Saturday. Long sleeve 100% polyester - not exactly the thing a welder wears to work but a nice shirt for wearing on my walks and bike rides in the fall and late winter, or an addition to the tee shirt booth at my funeral.
Surly and I walked the 3.1 miles together and my running buddy ran it. Surly and I hit miles two right at 33 minutes, which was just about the same time as the winning walker crossed the finish line. I used to walk at about that pace, or even a little quicker, but I doubt I'll ever see times like that again. I could definitely do better with some serious effort and training but I'm not sure it would be worth the effort. I had a good time walking with Surly, I got another shirt and Surly won a gift card in the raffle. You really can't ask for much more.
My running buddy came in a little ahead of the winning walker. The first time she's run three miles in a while but she said she didn't have any trouble and could have gone four easy enough. She about has her mind made up to do a full marathon this upcoming year. She also wants to do a Century ride on the bike. I found one not too far from here we could do. The last 50 miles are on a rail trail that's nice and flat with smooth pavement. I'll have to get out on the bike early in the year to start training but I did the 50 miler without any difficulty, so if I train properly I should be able to handle it. Plus, I've now got a couple of reasons to get out of the recliner over the winter.
My buddy who is working on the Rickati trials bike motor sent me a couple of photos of the innards. He said there is lots of grit but things look OK for the most part. As long as he can flush the bearings clean, should be in good shape. He said the gearbox is a five speed. Getting closer to the finish line with this one.
There's a million versions of this one but this one has a genuine cowboy feel to it.
This is a small representative sample of the music I enjoy listening to. I went walkies Thanksgiving morning and turned on the parade went I got home just as some mope was singing some pop tune. I decided I couldn't sit through that, so I changed the station. I turned on the Bears - Lions game, even though I've given up on "sportsball", just because it was Thanksgiving. Even though I had the volume down low, I couldn't bear to watch the half-time "entertainment" either, so I turned on the end of Quigley Down Under even though I had just watched it recently.
Sirius Radio said they turned my receiver in the truck back on for a couple of weeks, but I'm not even going to plug the power cord back in since I'm rarely in the truck for any length of time. They do have a good selection of music. I'm just not a fan of their business model. My disappoint with recent commercial music options isn't that big a deal. However, on my way home from walkies I was expecting to listen to Alice's Restaurant on WXRT at 11:00 like I've done for years and years but not this year. Somethings should just be sacred.
I was going to print some of my negatives the other night but the developer had gone bad. I just placed the order for the tintype kit and I should have looked closer before I placed the order and bought some developer. I looked Friday night and the stuff I normally use is out of stock anyway. I ordered another brand from Amazon Prime, it'll be here soon enough and no shipping cost that way.
I was concerned about figuring out the exposures for the tintypes but after reading the instructions, I find that you have to cover the meter with a piece of blue acetate- not sure how accurate all that would be. The film holders for the old box camera that were designed for glass plates work well with the aluminum plates for the tintypes. I need to check if the holders will work in my field camera. If so, I should have everything I need to make tintypes except warm, sunny days.
Fuse Block Kit
Should make for a nice tidy installation. If a fuse blows an indicator light is supposed to come on making trouble shooting easy. And you can use the supplied stickers to mark the various circuits.
Heat Shrink Tubing Kit
This will probably fix me up for life. I started making a wiring diagram on a big piece of cardboard. I think I've got a pretty complete list of all the electrical components - just need to figure out how to connect them all. My brother from a different mother is real good with this stuff. When I get what I think is right, I'll have him take a look at it and double check it.
I need to see about getting some crimp-on connectors of a better grade than what you usually come across at Harbor Freight or similar. I don't know what the old timers used on these things but a little more research might be called for. I don't need that fabric covered wire like they used back in the day but an upgrade on the connectors might be good. I know they make some connectors that have heat shrink tubing and some type of solder or glue built into them. I'm thinking something like that, marine grade or similar.
Doing the 5K this morning. Should be a decent day for it.
Lots to be thankful for today, at least on the home front. Not so sure about the national and international scene. The Missus and I had our turkey dinners yesterday from the local meat market. Tasty dinner and lots of it. We'll be eating leftovers today.
I shot another roll of film, this time with the old Franka Rolfix Jr. that used to belong to my mother. I wanted to take a few shots after measuring the exposures with my old light meter. This was to check the accuracy of the meter before tackling the tintypes and just to take a few shots during the nice fall weather. I developed the roll yesterday and the negatives look good. I was going to finish off the roll under the exact same lighting conditions using the meter Surly loaned me so I could compare readings but the shutter on the old Franka locked up. The camera is roughly 70 years old but it's always taken good photos and the shutter speeds have always been on the money. I'm going to try and fix it but that might not go anywhere. So I still don't have my test images yet. Looks like I'll have to shoot another roll. This time I'll use one of my good twin lens cameras.
I worked on the jitney a bit in the afternoon. I filed the holes in the steering shaft support bracket squaring them up so the carriage bolts would fit. Did a little bit on fitting up the back of the cab so I can make the fill pieces and get started rolling the bead around the top edge of the sheet metal. I also started figuring out the wiring. I ordered a fuse block the other day as well as a couple of other things to facilitate the wiring.
Doing some walkies this morning and then maybe a little more work in the shop. One of the nice things about being retired is that every day is a holiday. It would have been nice to gather with the family but, again, still plenty to be thankful for. Hope the rest of you have plenty of blessings on this day of thanks as well.
Surly sent this book my way. It's just what the doctor ordered. It's got diagrams for GM, Ford, and, most importantly for me, Chrysler. I haven't given much thought to wiring the jitney up but now that I've got the gauges and switches, it might be a good time to start assembling the necessary goods to wire it up. I'll need a terminal strip or a fuse block, a starter relay, wire and connectors. While I'm welding in whatever I need for the steering, I can weld in something for the fuse block. As it currently stands, I'm not planning on any lights except for the gauges, but I should probably make provisions for that if I change my mind at a later date.
The local meat market has Thanksgiving dinners available, so I'm going to pick up a couple of those for the Missus and I today. We'll celebrate today - plenty to be thankful for. I'm going to meet up with my running buddy tomorrow morning early and get tuned up for the 5K on Saturday. Going out for breakfast on Friday morning with a former colleague from my high school days. Yep, lots to be thankful for.
In 2017 my running buddy and I did the Running Series, which consisted of three 5K events. These all took place during festivals at small towns. If you did all three events they threw in another tee shirt, that being the one in the photo. This was a one and done. They didn't have any of the races the following year - too bad. I'm a fan of small towns and they need some positive exposure as well as the extra money the events bring in.
My running buddy has decided she wants to do a marathon. It's not written in stone yet but she seemed to be pretty sure last I talked to her. I found one in May that's only a couple of hours away. In addition to the marathon, they have a half, a 10K and a 5K. If she commits to the marathon, I'll walk the 10K. I turned her on to the Hal Higdon 18 week training program, meaning she'd have to start first thing next year. I looked up the 10K walking program and it's 8 weeks in length. I don't really need a walking program after all the running and walking I've done over the years but it would be helpful to schedule my training.
I'll be doing the 5K walk in just a few days, I've been training but not hard. Just looking for some exercise, spending time with some friends and contributing to a good cause.
Had a bit of a design change on the bearing support for the steering shaft on the jitney. Took a few minutes to get the hole centered in the four jaw chuck but other than that, nothing to it.
I got my walkies in yesterday as well - another nice afternoon to be out. Except for the guy burning leaves. Since it had rained in the morning I figured it was going to be safe to get outside and get some fresh air. Instead, probably more smoke than usual since the leaves were wet and the breeze was carrying the smoke directly into the park. I had read in the Epoch Times just that morning the advantages of exercising outside. I've always been a big proponent of running and walking outside in the fresh air rather than on a treadmill indoors. Besides the boredom factor, it's easier on the knees and helps with your balance. However, the article dealt more with the mental aspect. I can use all the help I can get in that department these days. In fact, the paper had another article addressing how all this covid monkey-business has been putting the Vise Grips on our mental health. Lots more crap coming our way I'm afraid. 2022 looks like it's going to be a real doozy.
Get prepared, get your mind right and hang on tight.
"I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more, the feeling that I could last forever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort, to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires, and expires, too soon, too soon, before life itself."
- Joseph Conrad, 1857-1924, English writer
Beautiful day yesterday - just above freezing in the morning, got up into the low fifties in the afternoon. My old high school was having a fundraiser for the band by selling mattresses, of all things. It's probably more profitable than selling candy bars. I've been toying with the idea of buying a new mattress for the last five years or so - should have actually bought one fifteen years ago. Took care of that today. It'll be delivered to the high school in two - three weeks. I'm hoping it'll help my back and maybe my chest, which I managed to aggravate again. This old age thing wouldn't be bad if it didn't come with aches and pains. Shouldn't complain, I suppose. Most of the ailments have been the result of self-inflicted injuries. But to add insult to injury, I received a notice that my Medicare supplement will be going up again by about $450 per year. Medicare is good but the required supplement ain't cheap and not all doctors will take Medicare insurance. Definitely something to plan for.
Took the dog for a walk later on yesterday and then made it out to the shop for a bit. I got the mower serviced - oil change, air filter, lube. I should probably invest in a couple of spark plugs as well. Depending on the weather later today, might do my walkies with the group and pick up a couple of plugs while I'm out or I might try and figure out why the center blade on the mower deck didn't want to tighten up last time I changed blades. Or do a little something on the jitney or some combination of them all.
The tintype kit showed up but I haven't opened it up yet. I'll check it out in the next couple of days and see what I've got or need to do to get the plates to fit in one of my film holders for the field camera or the old box camera.
Took the Missus to the dentist yesterday. She had a tooth that fell out a few days ago and another that was loose - loose enough the dentist pulled it out with his fingers. She's facing some extensive dental work in the very near future. That chemo did a number on her teeth. So far I've resisted the urge to call her snaggle tooth - she feels bad enough as it is.
Did a few outside chores after getting home from the dentist. Cleaned the chicken coop, trimmed the grapevines, oiled the hinges and the locks on all the out buildings, and worked on tidying up the basement workshop. Now that it's dark at 5:00, time to spend some productive time down there in the evenings along with doing some darkroom work.
I went to the advisory committee meeting at the college last evening. While coming home I heard this one on the radio. I'm not a huge fan of country music but I do enjoy some of the older stuff. Also it was 33 degrees while driving home and it was 52 degrees in Luckenbach when I looked it up after getting home. That's a temperature more to my liking. The older I get the more I understand people retiring and moving south.
I was spinning the dial on the radio while driving home to see what else I could find to my liking and unfortunately, FM radio, like television, has become a vast wasteland as far as I'm concerned. The two public radio stations I used to listen to played jazz and blues music in the evenings - now it's all talk. There are Christian stations, "urban" stations, Spanish stations, Country stations, Classical stations, and, of course, Classic Rock. You would think there would be room on the dial for a little jazz music.
The advisory committee meeting was informative. The format is to have the general meeting and then break-out sessions for the individual programs. This was the first in-person meeting since the cooties hit and there have been some changes in the personnel. The general session went quicker than many of the ones I attended in the past, so that's a good thing. The light meal that was served had vegetarian options - another good thing. The break-out session for the welding program was very informative.
One of the members is an adjunct there as well as being involved in the training program for the Boilermakers Union. He related how if his students at the college could pass the welding test he could get them out on permit working 7 - 12s starting at $38.50 per hour - 40 hours at straight time, 32 hours at time and a half, and 12 hours of double time per week. He couldn't find anyone willing to do that after the students figured out that equated to an 84 hour work week. That was just going to be too much for them. I told the guy I'd be willing to go back to work for that kind of money. He asked me how old I was and told me they have a program for guys 75 or older. I'm not interested in going back to work but I would like to know more about the program. I'll have to go back up there and talk to the guy one of these days.
One of the other committee members is a salesman for Lincoln Electric and mentioned their Hyper-Fill welding process. It's a MIG gun that feeds two wires at the same time, essentially doubling the deposition rate. Pretty clever how it works.
Taking the Missus back to the dentist today. Depending on how that works out, have to see what else I get done.
Interesting day yesterday. First thing in the morning I got a call from my boss at the side hustle. I was taking the garbage can down and had the motor running, so I went over to the shop to discuss the job with him he wants done. While I was pulling in to his place I got a call from my buddy who's rebuilding the motor for the vintage trials bike.
He's gone through the gear selector and it's a 5 speed model. However, that doesn't mean the gearbox is a 5 speed. Apparently you can use a 5 speed selector with a 4 speed box also. Fortunately, when you go to shift into 5th, it just won't shift rather than getting a neutral. Next up, he's going to tackle the lower end so I'll know whether or not it's a 5 speed. I should have the motor back by Christmas, meaning I'll have a vintage trials bike for next summer.
My new coat and the shocks for the jitney project showed up. The coat fits well but the Missus says Carhartt is now running a sale for 25% off. That would have been nice. I'll get started on the shock mounting brackets right after I make a print for the side hustle job, get the boss to sign off on it and service the mower. The boss has a couple other things for me as well. One is easy-peasy, the other is something I really want no part of but will probably relent and tackle some time in the future.
If you look closely at the box the shocks came in you can see the cancer warning. While cancer is certainly nothing to joke about, I'm thinking there's not much risk of me getting cancer from installing a pair of shock absorbers. On the other hand, the county I grew up in was at one time ranked in the top ten of the most polluted counties in the United States and who knows how much welding smoke I've sucked up over the years. So yeah, shock absorbers don't scare me.
The propane guy showed up later in the day to fill up the tank. We always prepay for the winter so our price is locked in. Looks like that was an especially wise decision this year from what I've been reading about energy prices escalating. Regardless of how high the price goes, I'm going to keep heating the shop this winter so I can get my projects done. I'll just spend some of that Social Security money I used to spend on travel.
My old boss at the college called about the advisory committee meeting - good thing too because I was just about ready to head out when he told me the meeting was today, rather than yesterday. I'm going to take a piece of sheet aluminum with me and use the shear in the shop to cut the pieces I need to fill in the blanks, now that I moved the cab back a few inches. I could cut it at the house but my bench shear wrinkles the edges a bit. I'll get a free meal and the use of the shear - almost worth driving up there.
The farmer showed up yesterday to run the disc over the field. Good day for it but the ground was still a bit damp. He left some ruts when he drove from one field to the other that bounced me around when I was mowing, but that's part of the deal. After mowing and chopping up the leaves I parked the mower in the shop so I can service it. The shocks for the jitney should be here today. I'll hold off on those until I get the mower out of the shop, however.
I've got an advisory committee meeting this afternoon at the college and as long as I'm heading that way I'm planning on making a couple of other stops - might get out to the shop in the morning. I clamped the steering shaft bracket to the frame rail yesterday - looks like it'll do fine. Need to do a little figuring on the rest of the steering hook-up.
Interesting open letter to Congress by T.L. Davis can be found here. Gives you a sense of what the "deplorables" are thinking now and what might be coming. I'd suggest taking a few minutes and reading it. You might consider passing it along to your own representatives.
A little fighting song to start the day. It's going to be real interesting to see what will happen if the bottom drops out in this country. Gun sales have been booming again this year. I've seen several different figures as to the number that are in the hands of the population but on the low end that number is 400 million. I would guess the number is much higher than that. I don't know how far back there are records of gun purchases but given anything like decent care, it's not unusual for a shotgun or rifle to be handed down through several generations. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of guns out there.
I admire the Irish for their fighting nature - even more so after touring there a couple of years ago and learning more of their history. Also, I'm part Irish as verified by my DNA results. I could say my ability to get into the boxing ring comes from my Irish roots but the reality is that it probably came from my dad, who fought as an amateur and had a couple of pro fights.
Souvenir from taking Bazooka Joe to the Golden Gloves Nationals
Boxing was much more popular with his generation than it is now. Most of the big fights when I was young were on the radio and the Gillette Cavalcade of Sports was presenting boxing matches on television every Friday night - and as a side note, this is the same Gillette that had the commercial on television not too long ago about "toxic masculinity" that went over like a lead balloon. ABC sports used to cover a lot of the big fights before they all went Pay-For-View, so I had the opportunity in the late sixties and into the seventies to see some of the great fights on television. Some of the increased interest came about from the controversy that swirled around Ali, of course, but also Big George waving the American flag after his Olympic win.
Circling back to the opening paragraphs, when things come to a boil, it'll be interesting to see who comes out of the house to defend their freedom and rights. Surly sent me a link to a speech by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the other day. It's a little tough to listen to due to RFK's voice but it's well worth investing 45 minutes of your time, especially when he closes by saying he's willing to die with his boots on.
Time to toughen up and be ready to put up your dukes, both literally and figuratively because the troubles are now upon us.
No doubt about it - it's winter time. Woke up to some snow on the ground yesterday. The sun came out for a little bit and burned the snow off but then it turned gray, cold and blustery. It was cold enough I fired up the heater in the shop when I went out to work. It was only 36 degrees in there but it's a small area to heat and since it hasn't been real cold lately it warmed up the big chunks of cast iron on the lathe and mill quickly and got to a comfortable working temperature. It's supposed to be back into the fifties tomorrow, so I'll mow for the last time this year. I'm planning on cleaning up the shop today and making room for the mower so I can change oil and check the one spindle where the blade didn't want to tighten up.
The beginning of the steering shaft bracket. The top part of the photo shows the mounting plate with the slot milled in it. Between the slot and the threads on the Heim, I'll be able to adjust the shaft both up and down and in and out. I made the plate just wide enough to get a socket on the adjusting nut, plus a little clearance. The bottom part of the photo shows the layout for the side plates.
Finished bracket. I plug welded the side plates on and the extra top plate welded on will add some more weld area but it's mostly to give me a place to fasten a clamp so I can position it as needed while I'm figuring out the rest of the steering.
I ordered some shocks for both the front and rear - they should be in later this week. I also ordered the tintype kit - looking forward to playing with that.
I've been confused, perplexed, agitated, and stressed for the last 19 months over the CCP flu as well as the fallout from the politics coming out of Washington. The vax mandate for medical workers being the latest reason. These wonderful folks have spent the last year & a half taking care of all of us, often working extra shifts and without the benefit of the proper PPE. Now they're being told they need to choose between taking a shot, a shot that is proving each and every day not to be an actual vaccine, but rather, may be an actual threat to their health, or lose their job. Common sense would tell you that's a pretty stupid idea, especially when the muckity-mucks in Washington have declared themselves exempt from the shots. After giving this and the rest of the state of affairs considerable thought, I've finally come up with a clue as to what the big plan is.
No, the commies in Washington are not totally oblivious to the unintended consequences to creating havoc with the medical establishment. That's the whole idea. Screw things up bad enough and the uninformed among us will be screaming for the government to step in and save us. Voila, they'll finally be able to dust off Hillary's national health care program and it'll become law.
They've just about got the middle class corralled now. It won't be long and the foreclosures will be accelerating, forcing many people out of their homes. I heard on one of the local radio stations the other day that 85,000 were behind on their rent in the area. They get thrown out and they too will be looking to the government for a fix, even though the standard government policy is to cause more trouble than cure. And of course, the inflation rate is roughly 12% and rising. Like most of the politicians voting on the infrastructure bill, which I haven't read either, maybe we'll be surprised to find they're planning on putting some apartments under the bridges they're going to rebuild so us little people don't have to live in cardboard boxes.
Having digested all that's been going on, I've become painfully aware that all of this is part of a larger, more nefarious plan. Whether this is part of the NWO or just a way for those calling the shots to increase their wealth and power, I don't know, but now my philosophy is basically IDGAF. I've decided the best thing I can do for myself is to become a stoic warrior. If you're not familiar with Stoicism, check this out. In a nutshell, it's take care of what I can and let the rest go. The warrior parts a bit different.
When I was a young man I was in good shape. I was hitting the boxing gym a couple of nights per week, doing my calisthenics and road work on the off nights. Not Army Ranger or Navy Seal tough, neither mentally or physically, but in better than average shape and not afraid to climb in the ring. Now while I still figure I'm in better than average shape for my age, I suppose the warrior definition needs a revision. I'm not looking to overthrow the government or become an MMA fighter, I just want to improve my odds of having a better and longer retirement and take good care of the Missus, no matter what that calls for.
I've lost 5 or 6 pounds this year and did a couple of "serious" bike rides, so I've got a good base to build upon. Lose another 5 or 6 pounds next year, increase the aerobic exercise but mostly work on my mental game. It won't take much, mostly just an increase in dedication - can't let all this wear me down.
When I was out Thursday I went by a high school on the way to the work clothes store. They had a few signs posted along the road looking to hire for various positions. On one of the signs was a posting for substitute teachers. I was going along at the legal clip and trying to watch the traffic but I thought I saw $70.00 per day. School days are usually about 7-1/2 hours per day, so you could put up with the little monsters for less than $10.00 per hour. I checked their website when I got home and someone with a teaching certificate would make $75.00. So now you're up to an actual $10.00 per hour, before taxes of course. Top rate of $85.00 goes to teachers that are retired from that corporation. You'd really have to have a love of the game to work for those wages when you could make $15.00 per hour at most any fast food joint, some of which are paying a decent sign-on bonus if you work there for a year, and have a lot less aggravation.
There's no kind of money that would get me to substitute, especially now with all the covid protocols. $10.00 per hour for someone with a Bachelor's degree? That's downright insulting. You'd be lucky to take home $50.00 per day after taxes. If you can't get people to work for $15.00, how are you going to get them to work for ten when they have to pass a background check and go through a training session. It be a lot easier dumping the bag of potatoes into the fryer. Sometimes you have to wonder what goes through the minds of supposedly educated people.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, I've been getting the legs limbered up a bit for the race walk coming up in a couple of weeks. Still not feeling real loose, like a long necked goose but better. While out Thursday I also got the second dose of the pneumonia vaccine. The arm was sore as hell later in the day and a bit still when I got up Friday morning. I walked a mile and worked the double end bag and that seemed to help. I don't know what kind of pace I'll be able to hold on race day, but I'm feeling good. Now I need to find something after that to keep me on pace with my fitness plan.
Yesterday was the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I was remiss in not posting Veterans Day as well as this. I have nothing but respect for all who have served in the Armed Forces but the soldiers who guard the Tomb are in a class by themselves. Rain, shine, hot or cold, they are out there. There are some weather conditions where they can be excused from their posts but it's super rare that one of them would bow out. They also have a code they must live by for the rest of their lives after leaving their duty.
The Missus and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit years ago. While sitting on the risers we were watching the precision of the guard's steps and his demeanor while some little shit was running around being totally disrespectful and his parents made no effort to rein him in. The Missus and I were getting more and more pissed by the minute and then the little demon ran head first into the bronze railing you can see in the photo above. It sounded like someone rang a bell, the kid opened his mouth and for a couple of seconds nothing came out but then he let out a blood curdling scream about the time the knot started popping up on his forehead. The Missus and I enjoyed the karma payback, the kid's parents scurried him off and the guard never changed his expression or his cadence. Well done sir and God bless each and every one of you soldiers.
Kind of a crappy day yesterday. I got out of the house pretty early to get a bit of walking in before it rained but I was about 10 minutes too late. It started sprinkling about the time I went outside, so I aborted the mission and jumped in the truck to start my trek north.
First stop was the work clothes store to see if I could find a new work coat like I want. I had checked the Key, Dickies and Carhartt sites and found something close to what I wanted at Carhartt. Key had a couple they called chore coats but they weren't like a traditional one. Dickies did have a couple of traditional styles but not with the blanket lining like they used to have. They did have something in their "1922 Collection". A hickory striped traditional style for $250.00 and some other reimagined coats for hipsters, as if those cats could Heli-Arc two beer cans together.
The nice lady at the store looked up the product number for the Carhartt and said my size wasn't available but I could order directly from Carhartt. She also said she hasn't received but about half of what she ordered for the store even though it's been on order for months. Kind of like computer chips. Maybe you should make your product in the US of A like you used to.
I did buy myself a new fitter's cap while I was there - made locally and made well, I might add. If you look close you can see the cap is made from a fabric with Purdue logos. While I'm not a boilermaker by trade, I've done a bit of that work and I'm a Purdue grad. My buddy Kevin will be impressed. He's all about Purdue - or at least he was before he left there to take his new gig.
I picked up the groovy sunglasses at a race in Terre Haute, if I remember correctly. The Speedway had a spin and win thing set up promoting some race at the big track. I won a pair of sunglasses and Cuzzin Ricky won something of value but I don't recall now what it was. Before I had the cataract surgery I didn't have any use for the glasses with my poor eyesight but now my distance vision is damn near perfect so I can actually use them. I've been wearing a pair I got at the high mileage contest out in California. Not the kind of thing I normally would wear but I usually only wear them on the bicycle or when walking with the boxing group on Sundays. The checkered flag motif is a slight improvement.
These babies here are the cat's pajamas, though. You can't really tell from the photo but these are wire-framed safety glasses with side shields and the curly ear pieces that wrap around your ears. I've had these things for years - don't remember where I got them. One screw was missing holding the ear piece on and, again, since I couldn't see with them, they've just been a display piece on my desk in my upstairs room. However, I stopped at the eye doctor's office while out and they found a screw that fit the hole. It didn't tighten up well but they clipped it off and there's a little stub there. I'm going to peen the end over and turn the screw into a rivet so it won't fall out. These are going to be just the ticket for riding the Himalayan next summer.
I went out to the shop later and made a spacer plate for the steering shaft support bearing on the jitney project. This will go on the backside of the beautiful walnut dash (thanks again Brother!). I ground a bit of a slot in it as well as a bevel on the backside to add some clearance in case I need to angle the shaft a bit - should be set on that now. I also started on the bracket to support the end of the steering shaft opposite the steering box. When I get that made and tacked to the frame, I'll have to bite the bullet and see what I can do to make the two ends come together.
That's a sweetheart right there. Must have been involved in an accident judging from the lack of paint on the rear sheet metal. That has to be the worst possible outcome from a fabricator's point of view, other than something happening to the driver that is. You work and slave long hours to make a beautiful sheet metal skin on what will become a classic auto and all your hard work gets torn up and then you need to do it all over again. And in a hurry.
Finally got around to getting back in the shop - been pretty busy of late. Fights on Saturday was an all day event. Sunday I was shoveling and raking stone in the lane and hiking later in the day. Monday, more shoveling and household chores. Tuesday, took the Missus to the eye doctor and then some project work.
I finished up the alternator mounting bracket. I still need to make the slotted bracket for the top but I'm going to wait on that until I get the headers figured out since the first tube will have to come down and out fairly close to the alternator.
I also cut the tubes for the rear radius rods and welded in the bungs. Not sure yet what I'm going to work on next but I'll get back out in the shop today again. I still need to finish up the shoveling and raking on the lane and I'm taking the truck in today to get it serviced.
I took the old Kodak Vollenda with me to the fights on Saturday and shot a couple of frames on a walk around the gym neighborhood and finished the roll off on Sunday during the hike in the park. Weather was beautiful for B&W photography and I wanted to get a couple of shots of my hiking companions. I developed the roll after getting home only to find the old folding camera has a light leak in the bellows. I would have had a couple of nice negatives to print if it wasn't for the damage due to the light leak.
I dug out the old box camera that was designed for glass negatives. I think I might get lucky and the tintype plates in the kit I'm going to buy might fit right in the film holders for that camera. I'm going to have to do a bit of figuring to get the exposure correct and at what distance the subject should be from the camera to get a sharp focus. Probably best to experiment with some film first so I don't scrap the tintypes.
And one last item. A Bald Eagle flew across the road in front of us while we were heading for the doctor's office. Very impressive.
I signed up for a 5K race walk the day after Thanksgiving and started training a bit. My wind isn't what it should be which I found a little surprising, what with all the cycling I've done this year. However, when I really think about it, most of the miles since they cancelled the bike race early in the summer have been at a fairly leisurely pace. Also the race walking movement is much different than pedaling a bicycle, so I've got to get the hips and ankles limbered up as well.
Here's the shirt from 2019. It's a long sleeve tee made from some zippy technical fabric - meaning it's not going to get much wear from a guy who's a welder. It's cotton or wool for this guy as far as fabrics are concerned. I've got several of this type and they are nice for the summer time to keep the sun and the bugs off.
I came in second male walker in 2019 - never even saw who came in ahead of me. I came in first male walker in 2017. I think I skipped 2018 because I did a 5K on Thanksgiving Day instead. I'm sure I won't be competitive this year at all. That's OK, though. It's all about keeping the weight and heart rate down, getting some fresh air and just getting out of the house. My running buddy is signing up as well. I don't know if she's planning on running or pacing me. I think she won her age division in 2017 as a runner.
I'll post my results, but regardless of the outcome, we'll both have a new tee shirt for our trouble.
I had more than a few students during my career who fell into the last category. You couldn't tell them a thing because they already knew all the answers.
I went to Terre Haute yesterday with my running buddy, who's also a boxing coach at the gym. We had two fighters on the card but another fighter rode down there with us and ended up fighting. As it turns out he was the only one to get a win. The other fighters both fought good fights against quality opponents - nothing to be ashamed of. We stopped at the Grand Traverse Pie Company on the way out of town. This has to be my favorite restaurant bar none. I had their Strawberry Fields salad and a piece of pecan pie. The Missus actually makes a better pecan pie but I don't foresee one of those in my immediate future so when in Rome and all that.
Going to do some walkies today, maybe a bike ride as well. It's going to be another beautiful day - and warm as well. Need to get out and enjoy the weather before winter sets in.
Nice day again yesterday - still a bit chillier than normal but a good day for being outside. I picked up my veggies from the CSA, stopped at the Ford dealership to set up an appointment for service, ran the truck through the car wash, picked up a couple of things from the grocery store, and then stopped at the blacktopping place to see about them delivering a load of stone.
I made a pot of soup with some of the new veggies and while that was simmering I pulled up the tomato stakes and the old plants, checked all the fluids in the old Allis and put it on the battery charger. I ran into a snag when I went to top off the oil, however. I had a full gallon in my locker and somehow or another, it got a hole poked in it. I didn't notice any leakage around the bottom of the locker but it went somewhere. So I need to get some oil and I should stock up on anti-freeze and hydraulic oil as well.
I dug out the old Vollenda folding camera to see about shooting a roll through it to do some portrait work, both candid and "formal". That being the case, I need a roll of film and a tripod.
The camera was designed for 620 film which is no longer available. I made this arbor years ago to modify 120 film rolls so they'll work in 620 cameras. The ends of the spool the film is wound on needs to be thinned and reduced in diameter. The old spools were metal, the new ones are plastic, so they machine easily.
The camera has two tripod mounts - one on the fold-out front, the other on the side, depending on which way you want to orient the camera. The negative size is 2-1/4 x 2-3/4, so it's like printing something portrait or landscape. The tripod mounts are 3/8-16 thread and most modern mounts use 1/4-20 threads. After I finished my outside chores and it started cooling off, I modified the roll of film and then made an adaptor to mount the camera on a tripod.
The camera has a plug to fill the tripod hole when not in use - that's it with the screwdriver slot. The adaptor is the hex nut that I welded to a piece of reddi-rod, drilled and tapped it in the lathe and then parted it off to length. Didn't take long and looks OK. A little industrial in appearance, perhaps, but it'll get the job done. The veggie soup turned out well also. Pretty good day.
I saw these big old fungi when mowing the other day. Probably can't see it in the photo but something has nibbled a bit on the one in the foreground. Do animals instinctively know which mushrooms are safe to eat or do they just avoid them completely? There's been plenty of mushrooms of various types around here of late.
The farmer was here yesterday to finish chopping the stalks now that things have dried out. He said we got nine inches of rain in October - that would explain the abundance of mushrooms, toadstools, etc. You can see in the photo where the tractor was spinning the wheels a bit. The soil is pretty sandy here and dries out pretty quickly after a rain. He also told me the solar farm I rode by on the 50 miler a few weeks ago was going to take up 5,000 acres. That's a lot of good farm ground to take out of service. There's another big one going to be going in east of me as well. I asked him if he had any idea of why Bill Gates was buying up all that farmland out west. He didn't have a definitive answer but he suspected some kind of non-agricultural use. Between the solar farms and the subdivisions, there's not going to be much cropland available for feeding all of us before too much longer.
Beautiful day again yesterday. A bit chillier than normal for this time of year but a nice day as you can tell from the clouds in the above photo. I did a little walk, followed by a couple of rounds on the double end bag in the morning. Ran some errands, did a little yard work and did a thorough cleaning on the inside of the truck in the afternoon. I was supposed to take the Missus to the dentist to get a tooth pulled today but the dentist office called and there's no water on their side of the street. I've got a couple more things to take care of outside before winter but I should have those done today or tomorrow, maybe take the truck through the car wash - might as well get the outside looking good as long as the inside's clean.
I received a call from a lady I know from the gym. She's got a crane that needs some work. I'm not sure I'm the guy for the job but I agreed to take a look at it. It's getting cold and I'm not a fan of working outside in the cold, or inside in the cold, or working at all for others anymore when you come right down to it. I'll see what's going on but I don't really want to get sidetracked on my stuff.
Since the weather wasn't too bad on Monday and there wasn't much hope for it getting any warmer this week, I took the Himalayan to the gas station, added some Sta-Bil to the tank, topped it off with premium and then took it for a little ride to make sure the additive had a chance to work its way through the system.
While out I rode by a side road that's a dead end. I've never been down it, so I don't know what's down there but there must be something to draw trucks in. There's a sign post with a dead end sign and a standard no trucks sign. Apparently that wasn't enough so they put up two of them in Spanish, one on each side of the road, complete with an arrow to show the truck drivers which way to go.
Premium at the gas station was $4.09 by the way. Someone had put up an "I Did That" sticker on the pump. Someone had scraped part of the sticker off, maybe the station or maybe some Democrat passing through town. There aren't very many of them around these parts and the ones there are have been pretty quite. Can't say as I blame them. I'd be embarrassed to say I voted for Biden regardless of how much I disliked Trump.
I didn't vote for either of them and I doubt I'll even bother voting again in the future. First of all, I'll never be convinced the last election was on the up and up. Second of all, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans care about cutting spending or telling the Fed to stop printing money. They're going to see to it that the middle class will be eaten up by taxes and inflation while those in Washington and Wall Street continue to profit by the policies they make. The little guy doesn't stand a chance.
This is the first of what I hope to make a regular feature - Tee Shirt Tuesday. Have to see how it works out.
I'm starting out with a big one - not the shirt, that's only an XL - but as a welder/fabricator, you have to have some Vise Grips. The tee shirt came as a promotion with a set I bought a couple of years ago.
Here's part of the collection that's in the welding booth. In addition to these, seven more are currently being used on the jitney project.
There's a half dozen more hanging in the back of the shop along with my C clamps.
These all came out of various tool boxes. I normally buy only the actual Vise Grip brand but I do have some other brands in the collection. The extended reach needle nose on the right side are from Harbor Freight, as are two pair on the top right. They came in a tool set I bought while at the high school when I was teaching the construction class. I was always needing some tool or another and about all there was in the shop were hammers and saws.
Just below those, the pair on the right I keep in my truck - pliers, knife and screwdriver all in one. To the left of those a small pair I keep in the saddle bags on the Himalayan. The ones with the cushioned handles - one pair in the tool box from my part-time gig, the other upstairs in the woodshop. I've also got another pair of those in the house hanging on the basement tool board. The others are from a drawer in my roll around box in the shop to be used as needed.
These all came out of the tool box I bought a few years back to have a set of tools in the garage for miscellaneous maintenance on bicycles, lawn mowers and the VW when I had it parked in there. I wouldn't have bought the five piece kit but it was a close-out at the Ace Hardware uptown and the price was dirt cheap. As you can tell, these don't get much use.
For the record, Harbor Freight now sells a decent brand of locking pliers. The Pittsburgh ones are junk in my estimation but the Bremen ones are just about on par with the actual Vise Grip brand. I don't know if I'll ever need to buy any more but I'd consider buying the Bremen brand since Vise Grips are no longer made by Peterson. However, since I've got 55 pairs of locking pliers now, I'm probably set for life. You on the other hand may wish to consider buying some tools at this time.
Tools seem to be a lousy investment if you wish to flip them at a later time to turn a buck. Old hand tools at an auction will sometimes bring only a dime on the dollar. But since inflation is going to be eating up your buying power, investing in tools now to make yourself more self-sufficient or to perform work for others to boost your income, might not be a bad idea. Just don't buy the cheap knock-off Vise Grips.
