Out of Gas

I went over to the steel supplier yesterday morning to swap out my argon bottle only to find a note on the door they will be closed all week. Apparently, they went on spring break.

However, Surly and one of the grandsons came down with a welding job and some stuff to clutter up my place rather than theirs. The grandson is taking care of the welding job. The kid's going to make a good craftsman one of these days.

Big vise Surly picked up at an estate sale. You can spin the jaws around and it becomes a pipe vise. He got it for a steal. He didn't need it but the price was right and it'll go in the grandson's hope chest.

I did a little work on the trials bike, even though I couldn't do any welding. I got the piece made for the back mount of the skid plate. As soon as I get the argon I'll get it tacked on.

Repurposed street sign for the skid plate. When I moved in here there was quite the collection of signs that I believe were liberated by the young man who lived here prior to my arrival. Interesting that a former student was involved in an accident at an intersection that was missing the stop sign, and there was one of those in the collection that was in the soon to be shop. When I was leveling the sand floor in the building prior to pouring concrete, I also dug up a cardboard box that had a brassiere and a few other things in it. Too bad I didn't come across a "pirates' chest" with some gold doubloons or something of real value.

I ordered some fork seals yesterday. I'll get the fork seals installed and the legs polished up while I'm waiting on the argon. It'll all be together fairly soon.

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Looks like the Department of Education is done for and the power will return to the states, as it and most everything else should be as per the 10th amendment. There's been a steady downward trend in our rankings compared to other countries ever since it became a stand-alone cabinet in 1980. I'm not sure how well the states will do if you look at the condition of many of them, however. I've only got 14 days left in the system now. After that, I won't have to worry if college students can tell time or work with fractions. I'll just stay home and work on my projects.

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I came across something very interesting on a couple of spots I browse. On last Thursday's post at The LoneStar Parson, he reports on what has been found underneath the pyramids of Egypt. It's wild what they found and only adds to the mystery of why they were built and by whom. And I'll bet you a dollar to a donut, those guys could do some serious math.