Music, Medicare & Motorbikes

I haven't heard any Little Feat in a while. I had some loaded up on my MP3 player but it died a couple of years back. I've got a turntable that I can use to load up the vinyl onto my computer and then load up the MP3 player. I've got several Little Feat albums, along with lots of jazz and blues. Might be time to see about getting another MP3 player I can load up and listen to my kind of music without any commercial interruptions.

The hospital called the other day about doing cardiac rehab. Seems odd that they would wait two months to get a hold of me, but I'm going to see about it this morning. With my Medicare and my supplement policy, I should get enough sessions without cost to take me up to spring.

450 Royal Enfield Cafe bike. That's one fine looking custom. You still don't see many Enfields on the streets, but the company is doing a fine job of promoting their products and capturing market share.

I saw this one at BIKEEXIF - custom framed BSA look alike. The engine is a new production of an updated Gold Star. There are a lot of really talented builders out there these days and that's a good thing.

And that right there is a bike I would have bought back in the day if my dad would have signed for me: 500 Triumph Daytona. After my Sprint got stolen, this is the one I wanted to get to replace it. They had one on the floor of the local Triumph dealer and I wanted it bad. My dad said he'd help me out with a car but no go on the motorcycle. I definitely don't need another motorcycle, but when I saw this one my heart went pitter-pat. Of course, with my cardiac history I should probably be careful with the pitter-pats. 

A Day in the Life

 

Beautiful day yesterday - the sun was out and it was mid to high forties. 

Started the day off with a haircut and ran the truck through the carwash while I was out.

Next up, a late breakfast. then cleaned out the cab of the truck.

The wife's car had a low tire light show up last week. I had aired up that one but yesterday I went around all four and got them up to spec. Put some air in the rear tire of the Himalayan while I was in the neighborhood.

Straightened out a few things in the garage and swept the floor. 

Took the garbage can down and got the mail.

The fourth book of my order from Thriftbooks showed up. It too is a reprint from Lindsay. The title says Modern Machinist but since the original was published in 1895, don't be looking for the latest in CNC methods. However, it's interesting reading from a historical perspective, and if you don't have any truly modern equipment, there's a wealth of knowledge that I might be able to use someday for some oddball job I run across.

After checking out the mail I went out to the woodpile to load up some of the nice splits for the fireplace. While I was out there by the shop, I went in and I could smell raccoon. Sure enough, I had my first catch of the season in the live trap up topside. I still have no idea how they are getting in. I worked on making the building a bit more secure last summer, but apparently there is still someplace that's allowing them entrance. 

After dealing with the coon, I put some fresh straw in the nesting boxes for the chickens and called it quits. After doing my walkies at the rec center today, I'll pick up dog poop now that the snow has melted and see about getting something done in the shop. 

Red Dot on the Can

 

I've mostly given up on Facebook due to a difference of opinion over a post I put up celebrating my anniversary a couple of years back, but I still like looking at some of the "reels" on there. One of the outfits that posts interesting auto repair reels is Royalty Auto Service. The majority of the reels are not anything I'll ever use, simply because the newer vehicles are way too complicated for the average guy to work on. Royalty has all the required tools and equipment, including being able to pull the cabs off pickup trucks in order to be able to service the engines. 

However, on one of the reels the other day the owner, Sherwood, was talking to a distributer of PB Blaster and during the conversation I learned what the little red dot on the top rim was for. That indicates the location of the feed tube inside the can. Depending on the position of the can when spraying, position the dot so the juice will be picked up in the tube, then rotate the nozzle to spray where you want it to go. Rather clever. I'm just surprised it took me 75 years before I learned the secret of the red dot.

I was embarrassed by my buddy Kevin when he showed me his reading list for 2025. Since his life has settled down a bit with work and domestic life, he's reading like he used to. Me on the other hand, only managed to read 10 books last year. However, since most of the magazines I was subscribed to have given up the print versions or just called it quits completely, I'm planning on spending more time reading books again. 

The Swiss Family Robinson one above I bought from Dover several years ago. I started on it at the beginning of the week and finished it this morning. I took it with me to the urgent care and the emergency room visits the other day and knocked out about 100 pages. The book's been around a long time and there was a movie made on the story back in the sixties. I think it was a Disney film that was shown on Sunday nights. I read the book sometime after the movie came out, meaning roughly 60 years ago. The story was a little more believable when I was a young man, but it does show the value of having skills if you ever find yourself marooned on a tropical island. 

The other two books in the photo came from Thriftbooks. The Aircraft Welding book is a Lindsay reprint. I had an original that I inherited at my first teaching gig. The previous instructor taught welders during WWII and the book was his copy. The book came up missing over the years but it's a real good reference, especially if you're planning on welding chrome-moly tubing with a gas torch. I miss Lindsay but I understand him wanting to retire.  

The Indy book likewise is a dandy. It covers the development of Indy cars from the very beginning up to 1980. I've also got a couple of books on machining coming. Shipping cost was very reasonable for the four-book order. The two in the photo came separately, not sure if the other two will come together or individually, but no extra shipping cost regardless. I'm sure I'll be ordering more in the future.  

 

Welding, Leather Work & Medical Care

 

I went to the rec center Monday to do my walkies and the man in charge flagged me down to see if I could do a little welding job for him. He tried it with his MIG but he was running the voltage way too low for fear of burning a hole in the thin round tube. I can understand his concern - the tube is thin. I TIG welded it without too much difficulty, though. Got to keep the pickle-ballers happy!

I had talked to Surly recently about getting a new belt. Either recommending a vendor or making me one. He said he could knock one out for me. I gave him the specs and he sent me the above photo of the tongue of the finished product. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, but he personalized it for me with a welding hood. Not only is that boy a cracker jack machinist, he's turning into quite the accomplished leather worker. This one should keep my britches up for the rest of my life.

Yesterday was a day spent with medical people. I had an appointment in the morning for a medical screening. This was with an outfit that does non-invasive testing to make sure the blood's flowing like it should. After my recent cardiac event, it was mostly to just satisfy my own curiosity. If they see something life threatening, they send you to the emergency room. If not, they mail you the results in 10 to 14 days. Must not have found anything too bad since they let me walk out of there.

Later I took the missus to urgent care for her back issue. After spending a couple hours there, they recommended going to the hospital emergency room. So off we went and spent a few more hours there. We left the house about noon and finally got home about 7:00 PM. Long day but she finally got a bit of relief. Long term isn't looking so good, though. I think both of us are just wearing out.

I got the bill for my recent hospital visit the other day - just a tick over $100 K. However, my part after the Medicare and supplement insurance is next to nothing. I'm always bitching about the Feds wasting my tax dollars, but I do appreciate Medicare. Before I qualified for Medicare, I was paying $1,800 per month healthcare insurance premiums. That'll blow a big hole in your beer budget. 

Movie Day

 The weather's still too cold for me to venture out to the shop, so I've been feeding logs to the fireplace and ridin' the recliner. Yesterday the day started with Noir Alley on TCM and then it was cowboy movies (photo above is the Duke and Charlene Holt from Eldorado) until I switched back to TCM when Cooley High came on.

Cooley High came out in 1975 and I started at ECW in 1976. Lots of similarity between Cooley High and Washington High. Cooley High takes place in Chicago, Washington High was in East Chicago. Both inner-city schools. Student population not much different. 

I'd never taught before and my first day was after the students had three weeks of substitutes because the school hadn't been able to hire a full-time instructor. I didn't have a degree yet, nor had I had any student teaching. Back then you could get your teaching license based on your work experience, but you had to take some "clock hour" classes. I had one the evening of my first day - left the house at 6:00 and got home after 11:00. I was fortunate in that I'd had college classes with most of the other instructors in my department, so I had some help getting settled in. It was a great place to learn the ropes. Excellent faculty and in spite of the setting, there was a whole lot of learning that went on. Lots of good memories from that job.

 It looks like there might be a couple of warm days in the not-too-distant future. I'll see about bundling up and get out to the shop when it does. 

Pickin' & Grinnin'

 

Cold day again yesterday. I checked my little Chinese thermometer about 7:30 in the morning and there was not a single degree to be found anywhere. However, since I've lived most all my life here in northwest Indiana, I can deal with it. I try to get out every day to get a little sunshine and to get my body acclimated to the cold while dressed in layers. Warm hat, gloves and boots, and now a balaclava for sure. Since I had my cataract surgery a couple of years ago, I don't need my glasses for distance vision so I can cover my nose with the balaclava or a scarf and I can see without fogging up my glasses. That came in plenty handy when I was running old Allis down the lane the other day. She started right up, but it took a bit of warming up before I could get her moving, but move we did.

I saw this one at The Daily Timewaster the other day. The guy with the FFA jacket looks a lot like my older brother when he was a young man. I don't remember him with a cowboy hat but he would have fit right in with the rest of the cowboys. 

He and I were both in FFA back when it was Future Farmers of America. They dropped the Future Farmers from the name in 1988 and it became The National FFA Organization. When I was working at the high school I judged a few contests for them. When I was in high school I participated in several contests - I was the number one chicken judge in the whole county. I never had an opportunity to put that on a resume, but I'll be able to include it in my obituary. I still have my FFA jacket, by the way. No way I could squeeze into it now. I'd outgrown it before I graduated.

This one came from The Daily Timewaster also. Looks to be a '48. I had one of these babies way back when. I learned a few things about wrenching from ownership. I did my first engine swap on mine. I learned about torque-tube driveshafts, knee action shock absorbers and vacuum assist shifters. I also managed it get it up on two wheels on a regular basis. The only vehicle I've ever done that with. Cuzzin Ricky might disagree with that if you were to ask him about our turning into the welding supply a couple of years ago.

Cold temps still in the forecast for a few more days along with some more snow on the horizon. I'm getting the itch to get back in the shop but with daytime temps in the teens I'll just wait it out.

Winter for Real

 

House rocker for a snow day! I had this album as an 8-track tape way, way back when. Every cut's a dandy. As a side note, Jesus might actually have left Chicago from what I see on the Chicago news. Pretty rough there these days - not as bad as Minneapolis, mind you, but not good. I worked up there as a millwright a couple of summers. It was a pretty rough neighborhood back then, even at 5:45 in the morning when I rolled into the plant. The money was good, though. It helped out quite a bit while I was working my way up the pay schedule at the high school.

Shot taken looking south about 4:30 in the afternoon yesterday. If you look closely, you can see a few snowflakes in the air. It was snowing most of the day - maybe 4-5 inches of light fluffy snow. There's still daylight, so the days are getting longer. That always is a mood booster for me. 

Surly showed up about 6:00 with one of the grandsons to check on the Missus and I, bring some firewood in and shovel a path from the front and back door out to the garage. He had sent me a message earlier in the day checking on us but I think he was concerned more than usual due to my recent heart attack, bless his heart.

I got a message from my brother in Ohio and my brother's widow in southern Indiana and both of them had gotten around 8 inches of snow by mid-day. 

It's supposed to be cold again today, but I'd like to get the tractor out and run it up and down the lane. The real cold weather seems to make it hard for me to breathe since the grabber. I need to keep my face covered when I'm out and take it real easy on the snow shovel until I get a better idea of what's going on.

As for the rest of you out there, take care. I hope you were prepared for the cold, snow, ice and power outages.