The American Dream

 

The American Dream is a pretty hard sell these days. Going along with that is the following video from the Patriot Nurse:

I watch her posts occasionally and she always has something to say that's worth listening to. This one's about 16 minutes long but she puts some things in perspective that might be helpful.

The farmer showed up on Thursday and ran the disc over the front fields. That's a shot looking west from the mailbox. The grassy strips have gotten narrower since I moved in years ago. The previous owner wanted a wide green space on both sides of the lane. She also didn't want corn on both sides at the same time because it gave her the "willies" or something when it got up high. She and the farmer did shares on the rent, meaning the farmer would have to harvest the soybeans and take it to the elevator, then swap out the bean head for the corn head on the combine and do it again. We agreed to a cash rent and the same crop on both sides of the lane every year doesn't bother me at all. Made his life a lot easier and as long as I don't have to mow it, my life too.

Looking east from the deck yesterday morning. I didn't talk to the farmer, but I'm thinking it's about time for soybeans this year. From what I've been seeing, fertilizer is hard to come by this spring. It would make sense to plant beans, since they're a legume and legumes add nitrogen back into the soil the corn removes.

I planted the garden yesterday and some flowers, along with mowing the back yard. I've still got a little more flower planting to do but it's supposed to rain the next few days. Since those are from seed, I'll try and get them in as soon as I can so the rain will get them to sprout. I've got quite a few tomato plants planted. I might have to get the Missus to give me a few lessons on canning. Food preservation is going to be important in the future, I'm thinking, and going hungry is definitely not part of the American Dream.

Sportster Adventure

 

I got an email from Low Brow Customs about the Sportster off-road adventure ride coming up in June. If you click on the link you'll get the details and see photos from a past run. It looks like a lot of fun but I think my time for that sort of thing has come and gone. However, it'd be a lot of fun building an "Adventure Sportster". There's plenty of old Sportsters on Marketplace - buy one cheap, go through it and then go play in the dirt. I've done a few self-contained long distance bicycle rides, so I know how to pack light and what equipment to bring. Things like changing tires is a lot tougher with a motorcycle than a bicycle, and wrestling a 500 pound bike is a whole bunch harder than with a 25 pounder, especially for an old dude.

Surly needed a replacement pulley for a sander and couldn't find one that was going to be here in a timely fashion, but since he's a machinist, he made his own. Like a lot of things these days, you'd play hell trying to find someone to machine one, and if they had the capability, it would be cost prohibitive. Planned obsolescence might not have been the intention when designing or spec'ing out the original pulley, but there's a whole bunch of stuff out there you just have to toss out if it breaks. And if you're going to throw it out, no need for people with the skills and the equipment to repair it. However, I came across a place than can restore your project, whether that's machine work or making new replacement parts. I'm sure it's not the place I would go to for the old junk I work on, but if you had a high dollar project, they might be just the ticket. 

Hitch in My Get Along

 

I hooked up the pull behind sprayer yesterday to kill some weeds. Things were going quite well until I went to park the mower and sprayer in the barn. I looked back when driving through the door and there was no sprayer behind me. The hitch broke about 50 yards from the barn and that was that. It broke once before when I jackknifed the sprayer when backing up. I didn't do that yesterday, but it broke in the same spot again.

I welded the broken piece back in and then welded a piece of 1/4" steel to reinforce it. I can make the hitch strong enough it'll never break again but I don't want to make it so stout it'll twist the tongue. Hopefully, this will do the trick. 

The forecast called for chilly temps last night so I held off planting anything in the garden. I think I should be safe now to get the veggies and flowers outside. I've been reading a lot about the havoc the Iranian situation is liable to cause this year. In addition to the oil shortage, fertilizer is also going to be in short supply. And even if the ships started sailing through the pinch point today, it'll take quite a while for things to get back to normal - if they ever do. Good time to get your preps in order. No telling how this is all going to shake out.

Let There Be Light.

 

Not the best photo but the bright sunlight outside the window made getting a decent exposure difficult. The phone might have a way to adjust the exposure but I'm more of a point and shoot guy with a cell phone. I did turn on the flash which filled in the shadows a bit, but it would never make National Geographic. Regardless, the point of the photo is the fact I painted the windows on the north end of the shop and washed them. They would look better with a second coat, but this was the first time they've been repainted since I installed them years ago. Definitely brightened up the place.

In the top left of the photo you can see a hole in the ceiling. I cut the insulating board yesterday to replace a 4' square that has suffered some racoon damage. I'm planning on making a scuttle where the existing hole is so I can set traps for both coons and squirrels. Unfortunately, that's going to require a road trip since the lumber yard in town closed down.

The corollary to that of course is if all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. 

The school where I started my teaching career is having a 50-year class reunion around my birthday - meet and greet the first day, reunion the second, and on the third day a picnic at the city park that is only a few blocks from where the high school was. I might go to the picnic just for the heck of it. It was a good job during some interesting times. If you've ever watched the movie Cooley High that'll give you a pretty good idea of what my school was like. Very fortunate to have worked there for my first four years. 
 

The Passing of a Great One

 

Mert Lawill passed away a couple of days ago. He was the AMA Grand National Champion in 1969 and part of the Harley Davidson "Wrecking Crew" back then. He was very successful with bicycles, designing mountain bike suspensions. He was also featured prominently in the movie On Any Sunday. And in my case, one of my personal heroes of the motorcycling fraternity.

Fortunately, I don't have to go back to work ever again. Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of my second, or third, but definitely my last retirement. I'll keep piddling around doing some work for friends and family, but that's because there aren't any welding shops around anymore or they don't do general repair work. Mostly, however, I do them just to keep my hand in. I spent a long time learning the trade and I want to keep my skills sharp, especially since I have so many projects of my own. If you don't use it, you lose it.

VW & a Rabbet, Not a Rabbit

 

I saw this yesterday while I was out. It's a Volkswagen ID-Buzz. According to the VW website it starts at $59,999. That's a lot of money but nothing comes cheap these days. It's a cute thing but I'm not in the market for a van, especially an electric one. If I was still working at the high school, I could recharge it by running an extension cord out back like I did for the block heater with the old Ford van. Of course, someone would complain so the order would come down from on high there would be no charging of vehicles on the company's dime. 

First cut with the new router setup. The angle is a little too steep, but I cut the rabbet pretty shallow to get a look at how it was going to work. Once I got the feel for it, it was easy enough to move along and get a nice cut. I'm going to shim the fixture some to change the angle. When it looks right, I'll machine it to the proper angle. Looks like about a 3-degree change of angle will do it.

Rain and cool temps lately - big storm came through Monday night and a little more rain yesterday. The grass is growing like crazy, so I'll be mowing the next couple of days along with some project time. I did finish the windmills. The pieces had been galvanized and vinyl coated, and the broken cups the bearings fit in were paper thin. Not the easiest things to weld, but just like the Mounties, I always get my man.

Router Fixture

 

Good day yesterday - chilly but productive. I left the house about 7:30 to pick up the flowers for "The Dead Relatives Tour" and it was just a little above freezing. The sun was out and it warmed up rather quickly. I had to pick the flowers up at the fairgrounds, which are only a short hop, skip, and a jump from Coach Jen's house, so we did breakfast. She's got a lot going on these days, so we got caught up on a couple of things, but it doesn't look like her and I will be involved with any boxing training together any time soon.

After I came home, I went to work on some yard work, walked the dog, put the finishing touches on the router fixture and then watched the Kentucky Derby - good race. Surly and I stopped at Churchill Downs when we took the sidecar trip to Eastern Kentucky about 40 years ago. Looking back, I've been really lucky to have done all the things I've done and traveled to all the places I've been to, both home and abroad. I've got a couple of places I'd like to visit this summer, including a Buc-ee's. I'm thinking my life just won't be complete unless I see one of those before I die.

The grandson is scheduled to come down today to help me with some chores. He's a big strong lad - just what I need since I'm not anymore. A couple of days should really help me whittle down the to-do list.