New Developments

 

From Here

I took a pass on the trip to the fair yesterday. I was planning on going late morning but I read a bunch of upsetting crap on the computer and the main highway south to the fairgrounds recently got a coat of tar and chips - chips as in small pieces of gravel resulting in chips in paint and windshields on vehicles. Anyway, I changed my mind, put in 14 miles on the bicycle, sharpened the mower blades, cut the front and back yards, and did a little more yard work. Not a bad day actually. 

And what was it that pissed me off so much yesterday morning? How 'bout some definitive proof that there is an effective treatment for covid that could have saved many lives and prevented the shut-down of the economy. Here's the lead-in to the story:

Interested in "Following the Science" about Covid? Because here's the science: there is a safe, cheap, effective treatment and preventative that could have prevented millions of Covid deaths and serious infections. Science has known this for over a year but the news has been, and continues to be, suppressed by politicians, "experts," the news media, and social media censors.

We didn't need to shut down (or at least could have re-opened far sooner). We didn't need to be subjected to nonstop panic-stoking from the government and the media. We didn't need to crush the American work ethic, nor did we need to throw election laws to the wind last year because of the "special circumstances." And God knows we don't now need untold trillions of "Covid relief" dollars to come back from this needless (but fully intentional) nightmare.

The truth of this is incontestible. The reason it's happening and who's behind it - still a mystery - is surely one of the most important and urgent issues for which we should all be demanding answers right now.

The rest of the story can be found here. If this is in fact the true story there are a whole lot of people who should be on trial, if not for murder, then manslaughter at least. Maybe tar and feathers for a bunch more.

Thread on Extender

 I picked up my weekly supply of veggies from the CSA yesterday. In addition to the stuff they have inside ready to go, they also had u-pick green beans available. I decided green beans would be a good addition to the summer table so I picked a few. I was only out there about 15 minutes but I started working up a pretty good sweat. The weather the last couple of days have been right around 90 degrees with the humidity about 90 percent. The heat index has been right at 100 or a little above. I've been taking it easier than I needed to but I'm not on the clock any more and I've still been getting out in the shop a couple hours every day. 

Yesterday's time was spent primarily on making the extender for the tie rod. Since nothing is tightened down, I'm not real sure how close I came to getting my length measurement correct. After the hardware order comes in I'll snug everything up and see where I'm at. I'd like to have the minimum amount of thread sticking out on the rod ends. Even if I need to make a longer piece, what I've got now will allow me to mount the steering box and take the next step. The Speedway catalog lists pitman arms of two different lengths. The straight one is 6-5/16" C-C, the offset one is 5-3/4" C-C. After I determine the mounting position of the steering box I can determine which arm I'll need and then be able to get the length dimension on the drag link and order everything I need to complete the steering from the box forward, including shocks and the panhard bar.

The weather is supposed to be much nicer today - temps in the seventies with lower humidity. I'm thinking about running down to the county fairgrounds and checking out the fair. Last years was cancelled, like just damn near everything else I find enjoyable. Our fair is a small event but I like walking around and seeing the animals and the old tractors. I usually break training and get myself a pork burger while I'm there.  Need to  support our local pork producers, plus, they're tasty. 

Maybe mow some grass when I come home, maybe jump back on the Rickati project to finish up the rear brakes. Speaking of which, I haven't heard anything from the USPS about my appeal on the long lost brake shoes. Maybe that's a good sign. 

Up Front

 

I loosely assembled the front end on the jitney yesterday. The kit is complete with everything except the pieces to connect the steering box on the left side of the frame to the steering arm on the right side spindle - pitman arm, drag link and a couple of Heim joints. I need to order some fine thread nuts as well. All the hardware is fine thread grade 8 with lock nuts. Since I'm going to have to put things together and take them apart a couple of times, no since wrestling with the lock nuts, especially since some of them are of the nylon insert type and they're not supposed to be used more than once.

The tie rod is a couple of inches too short but that's no surprise. The kit is designed for a 48' axle and mine's 50". I'm planning on machining an extender that I can screw into the tie rod and screw the rod end into that. I'm also going to get a large nut I'll drill the threads out of, slip it over the tie rod on the end with the left handed rod end and then tack it on. That'll make it easy to adjust the toe-in/toe-out without having to unbolt the rod ends from the steering arms. I'll do the same with the drag link. 

I need to figure out where and how to mount the steering box. I eyeballed it a little yesterday but it would be nice if I could clamp to the frame. Speedway has a couple of different pitman arms. I'd feel better if I could have the steering box clamped solid to give myself more accurate measurements for the pitman arm and the drag link. I can then get those ordered along with a coupler to attach to the steering box to get a start on the steering shaft. 

Books

 

It's rare that I read a book more than once but I decided to tackle this one again. It was a gift from Surly right after it came out in 1997. I read it right after receiving it but it's been on the shelf ever since - long enough I couldn't remember any specifics, only that I recalled it was a good read. The book made a pretty big splash in the motorcycle realm when it came out. I read it while waiting for the Missus during her visits to the doctors of late.

This is my current read. Cuzzin Ricky and I went to the Browning Museum when we took the Amtrak to Salt Lake City two years ago. I knew a bit about Browning before the trip but the museum visit piqued my curiosity and I wanted to know more. Especially since Browning never used blueprints. I'm only a few pages in but it looks like it's going to be a good story.

I got this in the mail the other day - parts and accessories for the Himalayan from Hitchocks. Lots of items to make your Himalayan go faster, look and function better. They've got a big bore kit that adds about 50cc more. With the big bore kit and a gearing change it would make the bike more highway friendly. Of course if you were going to invest in all that, maybe you should have bought a different bike in the first place. I did see a couple of cosmetic items I might be interested in.

I did a little bit on the jitney project yesterday. I loosened up the spring bolts and got it set perpendicular to the frame using a tape measure rather than eyeballing it like it was. I then lined up the radius rods so they're where they should be. I've got the frame brackets clamped on at the right distance from the axle and at the right height to give me the proper caster angle. I started going through the boxes of parts so I can loosely assemble the front end and figure out what goes where. Lots of hardware in the boxes. Going to take me a bit of head scratching. I did try the kingpins in the spindles and I shouldn't have to ream the bushings. Likewise, it looks like the kingpins are going to be a good fit in the axle bosses. The kit has shims to insure a good fit between the axle bosses and the spindles also. I need to get all the parts mounted in the proper location to see where the steering box needs to go and to figure out what I need for a panhard bar.

I've got the hired man coming this morning, so I'll try and get out to the shop in the afternoon. Every day a little something.

Steamboat Ride

 

I went for a steamboat ride yesterday. The only steam powered boat plying the waters of Indiana. The Department of Natural Resources is in charge of all the boats on the waters and they wouldn't allow any wood or coal fired boats, so this one was running on kerosene.

The boat was originally a lifeboat for a ship that worked the Great Lakes. It reminded me of the boat in the movie The African Queen only in much better condition. The ship had a two man crew, the captain and the engineer. The engineer did a real good job of weaving a bit of local history in with the history of the boat and promoting the museum where the boat is stationed for the week. The Missus used to volunteer at the museum many years ago. It's been a long time since I've been there. Nice to see all of the improvements that have happened over the years.

There was a young guy there playing with his traction engine. About the time I was leaving, he had a head of steam up and was driving it around the lot. There was a builder's plate on the front of the boiler. This thing's been around for a while. I really admire the welders and machinists who can put one of these things together. Long ago in a land far away, I started building a small scale locomotive and tender from plans in Live Steam magazine. I had access to a complete machine shop and would stay after work and machine parts. I've still got the plans and a box of parts. I doubt seriously if I ever make any more headway on that project but you never know. It would be a good winter time project for my little workshop down the basement.

The old International is from the local ice business that closed down in 1988. I used to buy block ice there. The owner of the ice business also had a tire business and he drove a school bus back when the buses were owner operated rather than corporation owned. He was my bus driver for a couple of years. Coincidentally, his son was at the museum yesterday. I went to high school with him but hadn't seen him in years. He was walking with difficulty like maybe he had had a stroke - not all that unusual at our ages - but he told me he had gotten hit by a car while riding his bicycle three years ago. Seemed to have a damn fine attitude in spite of it. We reminisced a bit about the old days while I was waiting to board the boat. Nice chat on a beautiful day.

I rode the Himalayan to the museum and stopped at the grocery for a few things on the way home - those saddle bags are handy. I put about 60 miles on the bike cruising the backroads. Finally have more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. I really need to get out on that rig more often. 

Did Some Cipherin' - And The Outcome Looks Good

I did use a bit of trigonometry, however.

I put the jack under the axle and took all of the slack out of the shackles to the point I was starting to raise the support legs off the floor. At that point the center of the spindle is only an 1-1/2" lower than the bottom of the frame rail and I've still got 4" of clearance between the frame and the top of the axle. The tires I'm planning on using have a 25" diameter, so when the car is sitting on the ground the bottom of the frame should be 14" off the ground, giving me 7" of clearance on the bellhousing - more than enough. 

If I lift the motor up in front 2" that will give me a 2-1/4 degree angle on the transmission - that's where the trig came in.  Since the bellhousing is about half way between the front of the motor and the trans mount, raising the front of the motor will raise the bellhousing a bit. If I lower the back of the trans mount a bit I can increase the angle of the trans to about 3 degrees downward and still keep my 7" of clearance. Plus, I'm thinking I want the rear of the car to be slightly higher than the front, giving the car a slight nose down rake. 

I'm about to give up on the idea of making this rig Bonneville compliant. I really don't think it would be worth all the extra work and expense for a one time trip. A motorcycle with a sidecar could still be an option, actually, more in my wheelhouse as far as that goes. 

I changed a couple of bicycle tires yesterday and cleaned up one of the bikes that has been hanging on the wall of the barn. I can keep a bike for two of my compadres here at the shack and take them to the trail for us. That'll make the logistics easier since the other two don't have trucks. Maybe next week we'll ride the trail rather than doing our walkies. We did get three miles in yesterday even though it was about 90 degrees and sunny.

I've seen a big spike in the page views lately. Not sure why but welcome one and all.

That's What I'm Talkin' About

 

A BL2 in the flesh, all painted up and ready to go. Cuzzin Ricky and I did breakfast and then short hopped it to the train museum to check things out. We had a nice chat in the restaurant with a retired Amtrak employee and he mentioned taking the Southwest Chief to Albuquerque, NM and some of the things to see there. I came home and did a quick look-see at the Amtrak site to see what the travel restrictions are these days and what it would cost. Without any senior discount one way coach is $122 with the trip taking about 25-1/2 hours. Masks are required the whole time unless you're eating or drinking and you need to be cleared of covid  but no vaccine passport is required. 

I also recieved an e-mail from Cosmos, a company I've travelled with before, with info on traveling in Canada. I saw a trip that the Missus and I might consider taking since we weren't able to do Hawaii. Might be a while until we feel it's safe to travel but it looks like it would be a nice trip.

I welded the support legs onto the jitney frame rails yesterday. Its a little wiggly side-to-side, so I'm going to weld a diagonal brace from the top of one leg to the bottom of the other. I'm going to put a jack under the axle and lift it enough to take the slack out so I can get a measurement as to the where axle will be in relation to the frame and the ground. The bottom of the bell housing sticks down about seven inches below the frame. Since the engine mounts aren't welded down yet, I might raise the engine and tranny up as well as moving things back the 2" I already planned. I wanted to have the rear of the trans pointing down slightly with the differential pointing up at the same angle. Rather than lowering the rear of the trans and losing some more ground clearance, raising the engine might be the only way to go. I need to get the measurement of where the spindle will be once there's weight on the front end.

On The Road To BL2s

 

The lilies are still blooming - it's nice that all the different varieties don't all bloom at the same time. The white flower in the bottom photo is a bush gardenia I bought last year. That's the first blossom and more to come. Pretty flower with a bit of a fragrance. My other gardenia of the traditional tree type is doing OK but it doesn't have any blooms on it. Hopefully it does something this summer. The gladiolas are starting to bloom as well. Everyone should have some flowers in their life.

Going along with that, I bought some African violet seeds recently that I need to get started. According to the instructions, rather than planting them in the dirt, they need sunlight to germinate. I bought some soil formulated for violets and some new pots, so time to get started. Man does not live by wheeled things alone, after all.

I took the Missus for another test yesterday. Non-invasive, so she probably could have driven herself but we stopped for lunch afterwards which was especially nice after all the time spent at home due to the quarantine. The test blew a big hole in the middle of the day, so I didn't even go into the shop. I did some piddly things outside and checked on a couple of bicycles I can keep here for myself and a couple others from the gym. There's a rail trail not too far off we can ride as a change of pace from our Sunday walks. The one guy seems pretty interested in doing some longer rides - might have someone to ride the 62 miler with.

Cuzzin Ricky and I are doing breakfast this morning and then going to check out a pair of BL2s. Uncle Pete's welding shop was originally located next to the Monon Railroad's South Hammond yard and I used to see their BL2s working the yard when I worked for him. 

Photo From Here

Supposed to be hot and sticky for the next week or so. I've still got a bunch of yard work to do but I need to get some more work on the jitney front end, finish the Rickati, I've got some more things on the back burner, of course, and the normal day to day.

Race Cancelled

Mama Cass sure had a beautiful voice. She had a screwed up personal life, however, and died at the age of 32 from a heart attack, not from choking on a ham sandwich as was heard at the time. This one and Louis Armstrong's version are my favorites among the many artists who've recorded it.

I went out for my bike ride yesterday morning. I hadn't ridden in a couple of days since I've been working hard around the shack and I was planning on tapering some prior to the race on Sunday. When I got home I looked up the race website to get the address of the race starting location only to find that the race has been cancelled. There was a contact number for info so I called to confirm - yep, race is cancelled. Since I had already sent them a check, rather than sending me my money back I told the lady to keep my entry fee and put it into the fireworks fund. I'm a bit disappointed but I'm down a few pounds and my cardio is much better. Since that was my main goal, not all that bad of an outcome. Next up is to train for the metric century. 

The hired man seems to be working out OK. We worked Monday and Tuesday mornings - got a lot done. He's going fishing for a week and we'll pick back up when he returns. In the meantime, I'll continue my work as groundskeeper along with trying to keep making some progress in the shop.

Right Side View

I made the support pieces for the jitney so I can pull the sawhorse out of the way of the radius rods. 

Left Side View

Not that a couple of angle iron legs deserve two views but that's one of the nice things about digital photography -  instant feed back. Shoot 'em, use 'em or erase them if you don't like them. I've been wanting to shoot a couple of rolls of black and white. It's been a while since I've done any printing, which means I'll have to mix up fresh chemicals but I enjoy the time in the darkroom.  

100 Per Month

 

The odometer on the touring bike rolled up another 100 miles the other day - just about a month after hitting 500 and a month after hitting 400. Not really a lot of mileage if I was truly training in earnest for a race but not all that bad for an old dude basically starting from scratch.

However, I've put an additional 60 on the race bike, including 9 I put on yesterday morning. I've also been walking 3-4 miles every Sunday, weather permitting. 

Next up is to increase the mileage to work my way up to the metric century Labor Day Weekend. I've been thinking about the old boxer setting that record after my buddy Kevin sent me the info. Even though there's no way I could get that past the Missus and pro fights are no where to be found locally, there's no reason I can't train like I had a fight coming up. Might be fun in fact. Just need to remember not to over load myself - "Middle path, Grasshopper".  

It was Ed Iskenderian's 100th birthday July 10th. That's the "Camfather" in the saddle. I'm diggin' the guy on the bicycle as well. The photo's from here. A spot I need to bookmark. Looks like there might be some valuable info there for a guy building himself a buggy like they used to do. 

I didn't get anything done in the shop other than a bit of cleaning yesterday but I did walk 4 miles with the boxing group. I've got a young guy coming over today to give me a hand around the place - Mother Nature is getting the better of me and he can help me out when I need an extra pair of hands on the projects. We'll try a couple of mornings and see if we're compatible. I've developed a pretty strong aversion to high schoolers over the years. 

A Bit O' Progress

 

I heard a bit of the Java Jive on a show the other night. It wasn't the Ink Spots but I couldn't come up with the version I heard on You Tube. Hard to go wrong with this version, though.

I got a little more done on the jitney front end. I welded the spring perches onto the axle and then attached it to the spring. I moved the perches in from the original measurement but I might have gone a little overboard. I thought I was going to be able to bolt on the radius rods by moving the saw horse but it's not going to work. I need to rig up a couple of legs to support the frame and then I'll be able to see if things are going to work as planned. I set the caster angle of the kingpins at 7 degrees and inclined the perches so they are parallel with the eyes on the spring. 

I'll get the frame supported with a couple of stiff legs and then I can see where the radius rods need to be and if I need to move the perches out a bit for some preload. I think things will be OK once I put the bushings in. I wish I new a bit more about this stuff. I don't normally mind learning as I go but I don't want any surprises if I ever get this thing up to speed.

Working 'Em Three At A Time

 

I went to Menards yesterday to pick up supplies, including paint for the side hustle and a couple of 3/4" bolts. They didn't have them individually and a 12" piece of redi-rod was the same price as the package of bolts and would have required more work. So now I've got 4 bolts I'll probably never have any use for but they'll bring 50 cents at the auction.

While waiting for the paint to dry I decided to pull the back wheel on the Rickati and get the brake shoes I pulled out of the front wheel installed. The pivot bolt on the rear backing plate had some sheet metal wrapped around it, apparently to compensate for the excessive wear of the lining on the shoes that are buried along with Jimmy Hoffa somewhere in New Jersey. Anyway, I swapped out the pivot bolt, scuffed up the linings and put the wheel back together. However, the actuating arm from the front brake is oriented in the wrong direction. Looks like I'll need to make a new one.

I also took the the spring apart, cleaned all the rust off of it, took a few leaves out and then put it back on the front of the car. When I pulled up on one end of the spring it flexed about 3/4", when before, it just lifted the car off the horses with only a little bit of deflection. Next up is to get the axle under it.

Unrest Is Coming

 

There's been lots of music written about Ireland's struggles to be free. With the way things are going in this country, might soon be an opportunity for the songwriters here to document our struggles - inflation, homelessness, business closures, riots, crop failures, masks, vaccinations, and vaccine passports, and this one could be huge, election irregularities  - or maybe just dust off some of the old Woody Guthrie tunes. Interesting times and it's only going to get worse before it gets better. I'd like to think I'm fairly well prepared for whatever comes along but I'm not feeling all that comfortable with it. 

Lots of fruit on the trees and berries on the vines. What I need to do is work on preserving more of the harvest. I've never done any canning before and the Missus is no longer able to. We've got all the stuff to do it, however. I can dry some of the apples and make cider or wine out of some of them. Frozen peaches are easy enough and the peach wine I made a few years ago turned out well.

I've got lots of rose hips on the bushes but I've never done anything with them in the past. They offer a variety of health benefits so I'm going to do a little more research on them. They say the best time to pick them is after a light frost, like the persimmons. I keep this up I'll be a real Mr. Natural.

And then again, maybe not.

I finished all the fab work on the parts for the side hustle. I'll run the flap wheel over the welds to remove any scale and then get them painted. If I get them done today I can drop them off and be looking for a paycheck next Friday.

In addition to picking up some paint today, I'll get a couple of bolts for the channel I cleaned up so I can get the perches welded onto the jitney axle. It's looking like rain for a couple of days, so I'll spend some time in the shop getting some more progress done on the car and finishing up the shifter and brake on the Rickati project. I'm thinking my buddy should be ready for the engine one of these days soon.

Busy Day

 

Busy day yesterday - bike ride in the morning, take the dog to the groomer, mow the front yard, pick the dog up from the groomer, mow the back yard, clean up the poop in the "poop park", mow the grass in the poop park, clean up a rusty piece of 3" channel and lay it out for a couple of holes to locate the spring perches on the jitney axle, clean up and mark the hole layout on the pieces for the side hustle, and even though you can't see it, I made a sheet with the relative location of all the heights of the front end parts.

I'm planning on finishing the fabricating of the parts for the side hustle today. I need to get some paint before I can deliver them. I'm planning on taking the front spring apart today also. I ran a wire wheel over it the other day to get some of the rust off of it. I get it apart and I'll finish cleaning up the leaves, remove a couple, put it back together and then bolt it back on to the front of the car. When I get the spring perches tacked on the axle I'll see if I can get shackles on the spring and the axle. As long as that works, bolt on the radius rods and see where that takes me. I'd like to start going through the boxes of front end parts and hang them on the front of the car. I'd like to see what the front of the car is going to look like with wheels on it. 

I got a couple of e-mails from my buddy Kevin, former colleague and running buddy. First, and most importantly, he's starting a new job soon. He'll be back in the classroom again. In my opinion, that's where he belongs - he's a great teacher.

He also sent me a link to a story in USA Today about a man from Indiana who got himself listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest professional boxer, who it just so happens was about my age. I'd only have to lose a couple more pounds to be a super middleweight in the pro ranks and with all the cycling I've got a good start on my fitness level. Of course, there's being in shape and there's being in boxing shape. All of this is academic however. No way it's ever going to happen but with some time back in the gym and some sparring, I might have been able to give a respectable performance without suffering any more brain damage. 

 

Floor Exercises

 

I picked up the material for the side hustle yesterday and a short piece of tubing that I'll need to stretch the frame on the jitney. The wheel base is 92" now, I'm going to move the engine and trans back two inches and then see where I'm at. Adding 10 inches should put things right. First, however, I need to make the parts for the side hustle and attend to the front end of the jitney.

I decided to go back to the basics. I swept the floor in the back of the shop and assembled the radius rods with the rod ends and brackets and bolted it to the axle. I didn't put any layout lines on the floor because it was raining and my chalk line is in the woodshop. I'll take care of that today. As it sits in the photo, the caster angle is correct at about 7 degrees. I checked it off the outside of the kingpin boss which is pretty rough. I'll turn a piece that I can stick down in the hole to get a more accurate reading. 

I'll figure out how far apart the spring perches need to be and make an angle or channel with a couple of studs sticking out at the right spacing and I can use that to make sure the perches are parallel with each other and I can then tack them on to the axle at the right height and angle so they are perpendicular to the spring. The spring perch on the frame is 90 degrees to the frame rails, so the perches on the axle need to be square to the spring. 

After I get the layout on the floor I'll sweep off another spot, draw a base line and then draw all the components in an elevation view. If everything looks good I'll spring into action, pun intended.

And as if that isn't enough good news for one day, I got he screen door installed in the shop and the Missus made the gooseberry pie yesterday. Life's good.

This-N-That

 

The mosquitos are terrible around here now, what with all the rain and warm weather we've been having. I trimmed some trees Friday so I could mow under them and to keep the branches from getting into the service drop for the shack. Friday night I was scratching skeeter bites to beat the band but I still had more to do on Saturday so I got out my long sleeve welding shirt with the pearl buttons. I looked like either a cowboy or a pipefitter, at least until I put my hat on, but I don't recall ever hearing a pipefitter tune so I went with cowboy music on the lead-in.

The Missus got a call on Saturday from the doctor with the test results from Thursday's visit. I answered the phone and was a little concerned when it was the doctor himself calling rather than a nurse, especially on a Saturday. However, all was good.

We got the Missus' car fixed on Friday. One of the ignition coils went bad. New coil and plugs and back in business. 

Bike training's going well. I was able to get out every day last week in spite of the rain. Had to skip yesterday morning but I did walk three miles. I've still got two weeks until the race. That won't be time enough to be in great shape but I'm well on my way to being able to do a distance ride later in the year. They're having one locally the 7th of August - 62.3 miles - just what I'm looking for but it's $65.00. I'm not sure I'll be ready for the distance by then but I'm sure I don't want to pay $65.00. There's a 62 miler about a month later that's not too far from home that has an entry fee that's only $20.00. I'm thinking that might be the one. As soon as I'm done with the bike race, I'll start doing some longer rides.

I'm going to pick up some material for the side hustle job today and try to figure out what I'm going to do with the front end on the jitney project.  

Anarchy?

 

Interesting guy that Abbey. He makes a good case for anarchy. I read his book Desert Solitaire many years ago. I should read it again. 

I had to take the Missus to the hospital for a test yesterday. Last week when we headed up there for a doctor's appointment we had some car trouble, so we came home and got the truck. She has trouble getting into the truck so I borrowed a car from my buddy Kevin since she was going to be sedated and I didn't want to risk dropping her while trying to load her into the truck. I had an appointment to take her car in this morning so I loaded my bicycle in the back and drove the car to the shop last evening to drop it off. And, of course, the car ran fine. On the plus side, however, the Missus and I had a nice brunch after her test and I got a nice 5 mile bike ride home from the car repair shop. On the minus side, that pretty much shot the whole day. 

I got a text from the boss at the side hustle, he needs some parts made so I need to get some material for that and I need to get on a couple of other things for him as well. I took some firewood to Jimmy's dad the other day - he's the owner of the septic tank sucker truck I repaired. I checked out the truck while I was there to make sure all was good. No runs, no drips, no errors. I'm glad of that, I don't want to fiddle with that thing again. But I've got plenty of other things to keep me busy, like always.

Definitely Summertime

 

It's definitely summertime around here, my little tootsie-wootsie. Ninety degrees and humid again yesterday. Nothing like what they were getting out west with temps well over 100, thank goodness. Our hottest temps are usually around the end of July, first week of August. It is supposed to cool down the next few days. I'm good with temps in the low to mid eighties but once it hits ninety, I tend to seek out some shade and wait it out.

It's been good weather for the berries, though. Red raspberries picked fresh for breakfast after finishing my bike ride yesterday.

Some granola from Aldis, a few strawberries to go along with the raspberries, a bit of cinnamon, and some almond milk. Pretty damn tasty and healthy too. The paper had an article about the health benefits of ginseng last week. Seems it can help with heart and brain function as well as other benefits. I think I might need to add that to my daily medicines and supplements. I know the mountain people swear by the stuff. I looked in to growing it years ago. I think my best bet would just be to buy some of the liquid form and give it a try.

Gooseberry pie starter kit. Trimming the beards off the berries is a pain in the ass but I'm willing to do the dirty work for my annual pie. The grape vines are loaded this year, which means there'll be a grape pie in my future as well. 

The rest of my order came in for the jitney project. It's supposed to rain today and then a chance of rain for the next ten with Thursday being the exception. I'm glad I got as much done outside as what I did. I'll get back on the projects when it's raining and work around the yard when it's not.

God Bless The Queen

 Saw this at Bayou Renaissance Man:

BUCKINGHAM PALACE. OFFICIAL.

TODAY HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ISSUED THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT.

On August 24th, 1814 units of the British Army, in conjunction with the Royal Marines, came ashore in the American State of Maryland, and proceeded to capture the American Capital of Washington D.C. Once in possession of the city, as a legitimate reprisal under the laws of war, Our forces proceeded to set afire every public building in the city, including both the White House and the Congressional Chambers; sparing only the Patent Office, in the name of scientific advancement.

Given that the bicentennial of these events has recently passed, I would like to take this opportunity to assure the citizens of the United States that, in light of the deep and permanent ties that have since arisen between our two nations, it would be quite impossible for Our Armed Forces to again burn all of the governmental offices in Washington D.C. and certainly not while they are occupied.

So please stop asking.

Thank you.

H.M. Elizabeth II

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Even if the Queen won't do it, there seems to be plenty of people who would. Lots of drum beating around the internet. There was another "disturbance" in downtown Chicago Sunday night as well as eighty-some people shot. I don't know what the three day total will be for the long weekend. And it's not just Chicago that's seeing an increase in crime. I don't know what's going to happen in the future but I'm thinking it won't be long and things will hit the fan.

 

And now for something completely different - pod on my big leaf magnolia. It's about three inches in length. Rather exotic tree to be found on an old farmstead. 

I got out on my racing bike yesterday morning. It's lighter than my touring bike due to a smaller frame, lighter weight components and the lack of the saddle bag with the tools I normally carry with me. I put in six miles at a fairly decent clip - still not where I would like to be but I'll keep training. Wouldn't hurt to lose a few more pounds either.

The weather was hot and humid again. After the bike ride yesterday I had my breakfast and then went outside for some yardwork. Came in a little before noon and showered up. Stayed in the house until about 4:30 then mowed the backyard and did some more horticultural type things - planting, weeding and watering. Today is supposed to be about the same weather wise. I've got a bit more to do outside and then I need to get back in the shop.

Applying Some Pressure

 

I was planning on mating the jitney spring to the axle on Saturday but I couldn't get the ends of the spring close enough to insert the shackles. I figured I could straighten the spring out by putting a chain around the ends of the spring and using a jack to load the spring. That would take some of the arch out of the spring and I should be able to slip the shackles into place. 

In order to keep the chain in place on the jack I machined up a piece of pipe to fit over the end of the jack with a notched plate welded to it. I had one of these I made years ago along with a 1/4" chain but I might have left it at the high school. Since that's been years ago now, it's obvious that it's not something I use often but it's a real handy item to have when you do need it. This one's for 5/16" chain. A little more cumbersome but since I don't know what happened to the smaller chain, it'll do.

The operation worked like I had planned but even with gaining the extra length with the jack, the shackles still wouldn't go. When I took the spring off the axle it came off easy enough without going boing! or anything. The perches are in the exact same location as original so I'm not sure what's going on here. I measured the center to center distance of the holes in the spring, added the extra 3 inches for the shackles and it came out 1-3/4" shorter than the distance of the perches on the axle. It would be easy enough to move the perches inwards, I'm just not sure why that should be necessary.

Fed-Ex brought some of my order on Saturday. There should be a couple more boxes show up on Tuesday - I'm assuming there'll be no delivery today. It won't matter if I can't figure out how to get the spring bolted back onto the axle, though.

Every Day A Little Something

 

I got the cotter keys drilled out on the shock mounts/radius rod bolts, put some primer on them and cleaned up a bit. I also ordered the front end kit, ran some errands and talked to a buddy who has a steering wheel for the project. I've got some yard work to do today but I'm going to try and get out in the shop after my bike ride. Maybe some car, maybe some motorcycle, maybe some more much needed clean-up. 

Every day a little something.

Busy

 

Busy day yesterday. I had to take the Missus to the doctor for the second day in a row - 80 mile round trip, had to be there by 7:30, the doctor was already running behind but made it home in time for my weekly veggie pickup. Wednesday we had car trouble a few miles from home, so I came back home and got the truck. The Missus called Onstar and they ran a diagnostic check and it came back clean. I checked with my neighbor the mechanic and he said if nothing showed up on the scan, he wasn't sure he'd want to mess with the car, so I'm going to check with another place today. I got the back yard mowed while the weather was nice and I sandblasted the shock mounts for the front axle on the jitney project.

I went to the Sppedway site to see about ordering the front end parts kit. Looks like I waited too long to avoid the price increase. Big jump but I'm in it now. I'll get them ordered and see about ordering in some of the parts for the rear end before there's another price increase.

I filed my appeal with the Post Office concerning my lost brake shoes. They give you a little box online the allows you to enter 255 characters to state your case. That gives you maybe three short sentences. You can attach documents but I figure if they don't want to read more than 255 characters, attaching a Word document won't help.

I've got more mowing and running around to do today but I'm going to try and get the cotter keys drilled out of the shock mounts and clean up the shop.