On This Day

 I received an email from "one drive" yesterday that included photos that occurred on that day in my computer history. 

HD Sprint frame I made about 30 years ago. 350cc power from my race bike. Aircraft strut tubing perimeter frame, aluminum tank and seat. You can't tell from the photo but I made the front wheel hub and drum using a Triumph backing plate. Sort of the same thing I'm trying to do with the jitney project - make it all from scratch.

Sportster I put together from boxes of parts. When I finished it I was planning on leaving it until the following spring and then gassing it up and riding. As it worked out, it went back to the previous owner before I even took it for a ride. Fun project. Didn't make any money on it but didn't really lose any either - unless you count my labor. Lost my ass there but no regrets.

And one of my all time favorite cartoons - not only because I have a thing about how much algebra is stressed in school even though most people will never use it, but also there's nothing finer than a smart-ass teacher who would make a comment like this. In my case the statute of limitations has run out on all of the insults I threw out as a shop teacher but we shop teachers were always able to get away with a little more than most classroom teachers. And most of us appreciated the student who could give as well as take.

I got the action plan worked out on the cylinder head repair. I've got the tools and material all laid out. I've got a dentist appointment this morning but plan on getting after it later today. It's supposed to be hot again but I should be OK as long as I keep the fan going.

I got a phone call from the guy with the Ranger I recently repaired. Seems he needs a cast iron manifold repaired on a big bucket loader. I've got a portable welder but it resides on a skid that I can haul around with my tractor. Loading it on my pickup would be a pain in the ass and it runs AC current and my cast iron rods run on DC electrode negative. I can gas weld cast iron but I checked and couldn't find the flux or the rods. I must have left them at the high school when I retired. I gave him a number to call of a local guy who does field work. Hope that takes care of him. I really don't want to start doing a bunch of outside work. I've got plenty of my own.

Head Repair

 

I removed the bushing from the Ducati cylinder head I brought home the other day. You can see a gouge in the threads in the head, obviously where the leak was coming from. 

I put the head on my surface plate after leveling it up, turned an aluminum bar to a snug fit in the hole, tapped it in and measured the angle - looks to be about 45 degrees. I'm not quite sure of the fix yet but I need to make a cover for the bevel gears to keep a bunch of junk from getting in there. If I work it right I can make a pressed in bushing and then weld around the bottom so it won't leak again. That way I shouldn't have to fixture the head and do any machine work on it but if I do, I know the angle to set the head.

Tee Shirt Tuesday # 35

 

Number 35 was at a Christian High School. I don't remember if I ran it or walked it - probably walked it - but I won a pint glass, which I found somewhat ironic. The school's sports teams are called the Knights, so the pint glass has a picture of a knight and info about the run. The shirt's made from a technical fabric so it doesn't get much use. Hot sparks or chips will melt it to your skin. No bueno.

Cuzzin Ricky brought his trailer over to have some D rings installed. I welded eight of them on. Rick ground the paint off, I welded and we both shot some bull. I should have chipped the slag off before taking the photo but the beads with 6011 electrodes are never very pretty. They're just the thing for this kind of work, however. 

After we finished the trailer job, I finished the barrels for the spring shackles. Pretty easy job here. Face them to length, drill, ream, done.

After that one, I put fresh glass bead in the blaster and cleaned up the clamp plates for the rear spring. The threads on the U-bolts are too far gone, so I won't be able to use them. The threaded section on them is 9/16", not a real common size at a hardware store. Since that's what the clamp plates are designed for, rather than U-bolts, I'll probably make something up just using bolts. Maybe not. I'll see what I come up with for a cross member and then take it from there. The important thing is to keep making pieces and progress.

And in news from the garden, we've got some baby watermelons on the vines. I don't remember what variety these are but I'm hoping it's a nice sweet one.

It's Back Home

 

I picked up the Ducati motor for the vintage trials bike project yesterday. It's been fitted with the heavy brass flywheel and converted to 12 volts. He tells me it's a 5 speed also. He didn't fit the cylinder head but I can handle that easy enough when the time comes. He hooked me up with a shifter lever and a rectifier, so I should be set except for a carburetor. He said he might have something that will work, likewise, I might have something that will work. He likes the Amals, 26 mm is the size he recommends.

He said when I get ready to fire it up, let him know and he'll either come down or I can take the bike back to him for the initial start-up. He'll get the timing set, the carb adjusted, etc. He knows these things, quite literally, inside and out. I want to stay on the jitney project for a while but the plan is to get the bike all assembled, do a little shake-down ride or two and then take it apart this winter and get it painted or powder coated, put it back together and be ready to go for next spring.

While I was there he gave me a job to work on for him. Someone had stripped out the sparkplug threads and did some half-assed repair by installing a plumbing bushing that had been rethreaded internally for a 14mm plug. It works mostly but leaks compression through the threads on the outside of the bushing. I think the factory plug might have been a 12 mm but I'm not sure. I'll pull the plug out of my head and double check and then decide on the action plan. He's in no hurry but I don't want it laying around here. Get it done, get it gone.

Race Results

 

I did the 5K yesterday - good morning for it. The temperature was cool and the sky was overcast - close to perfect conditions. It was a rather small field of runners and an even smaller field of walkers. However, the guy I used to work with at the high school was there. He beat me last Thanksgiving when Surly and I did the walk. I was able to get my revenge yesterday. Actually, we walked side by side for a while, chatting. I picked up the pace with about a mile left and came in as the first male walker. My running buddy ran/walked with a friend of hers. I came in a couple of steps in front of them but only because they were being kind.

I started on the barrels for the spring shackles later in the day and I got a call from my buddy with my Ducati motor. It's done, so I'm going to pick it up today. Got a welding job for Cuzzin Ricky on tap for tomorrow.

Lily & A 5K

I bought this several years ago - someone was selling them as a fundraiser. Every year it has more blooms on it. This year it seems to be even prettier than in years past. 

I worked on the jitney yesterday but don't really have anything to show for my time spent on it. The round stock I ordered came in so I cut the pieces for the "barrels" to mount the rear spring shackles. I also did a bunch of head scratching on mounting the differential, fuel cell and seat. I'm going to move the back of the cab rearward, set the seat back and down and make new filler plates for joining the back of the cab with the dashhood. That'll give me more room for my big feet and keep my legs out of the steering wheel. I'll have to change the rear sheet metal from the original idea of a boattail to a turtle deck it looks like but this way I can get everything where it needs to be. 

I'm doing a 5K this morning. It's only about 5 minutes away, so no good reason not to. I didn't get a tee shirt with my entry, however. I've got plenty!

 

Green Eggs & Ham

First off, Sam is my wife's nickname. Secondly, the two new chickens I picked up not too long ago lay green eggs. And last, but not least, the missus was cooking herself ham and eggs last evening, so we had green eggs and ham, Sam-I-Am. We don't get too many Dr. Suess moments around here, so we cherish them when they come around.

The magazine I couldn't think of the name of the other day is Traditional Rod & Kulture. I found a stack of them and the back issues of Garage magazine on a shelf in the shop. After looking at the back issues of Traditional Rod & Kulture, it's been quite a few years since I had purchased a copy and now I find out they went belly up in 2019. Since I'm building a car and have a couple more on tap, I'd like to find a magazine that caters to home-built, traditional rods and tasteful old school choppers - daily drivers, not trailer queens. However, as long as I got both stacks of magazines off the shelf, I'll peruse them for a little inspiration on the jitney project and the old coupe I hope to get finished before I die.

I finished up the second set of rod ends for the radius rods. No mistakes this time. They came out looking as good or better than the first two, so I'm happy. I ordered the tube I need to finish them and a piece of bar stock to make the "barrels" for the spring shackle mounts as well. I'm not sure what I'll work on while waiting for the steel to come in, but there's no shortage of things to choose from. 

The annular cutters for the new mag drill came in. I made a frame for my bender and sheet metal shear a while back. I'm thinking I could make a plate to bolt on to it for the base of the mag drill to latch on to, and then I'd have a solid platform when using it. Now that I've got cutters, I'll take a few minutes one of these days to see what it would take to make something up.

The weather was about ten degrees cooler yesterday than the day before, so it was a little more pleasant to be out in the shop. We could use some rain, though. I've been toting water for the plants every evening, keeping them going but the grass is getting kind of crunchy when you step on it.

Cinquecento

The odometer rang up 500 miles on my ride yesterday. I started the year with 384 on the clock. I'd probably be close to 600 by now if it hadn't been for all the rain we got this spring and catching the cooties. However, I went to the doc yesterday and everything is looking good except the A1-C. I need to work on that, but no surprise there. I went to the gym Monday night for a workout - first time in over two years. I didn't actually work out much while there. I talked to Jimmy and his dad quite a bit but I didn't plan on doing a whole lot on my first night back.

I found a better photo of the ladder bar type radius rods I'm planning on running on the jitney. Makes things a little more clear. I started on the rod ends for smaller top tube, figuring I could knock them out before my doctor visit. I would have too if I hadn't screwed one of them up. That's a rarity for me - not that I'm a cracker-jack machinist - it's just that I'm old, the machinery's old so I try to plan the job well and then take my time to get things right. But nobody's perfect. I should be able to finish them up today.

Hot like a firecracker yesterday. 99 degrees without the heat index. It wasn't too bad in the shop with a fan blowing on me. I'm planning on getting out early today for my bike ride before it gets too hot again. This is the dangerous kind of heat. Stay cool and hydrated. Don't over do it. 

Tee Shirt Tuesday #34

 

You're getting both the front and the back this week. Since most of my tee shirts are from a running, walking or bicycling event, the backs are usually sporting sponsors' names. Not all that interesting but certainly appreciated.

If memory serves, I bought this one from Garage magazine or something associated with it. Cool design and like a lot of young men, I had a hankerin' to go there back in the late sixties - early seventies when the shirt would have been current. Never made it then but did a couple years ago. No need to go back there.

I had a subscription to Garage magazine but like Invention and Technology magazine, it was here one day and gone the next. No warning, no explanation. It was a product of Jesse James and was put together well with a lot of interesting car and bike stuff. I might still have a pile of them somewhere along with another car mag, the name of which escapes me right now. It probably folded up as well, since I didn't see it on the rack when I went to Barnes and Noble the other day.

I finished up the rod ends for the larger size tube on the ladder bars. It took me a little longer than I anticipated but if I was a real machinist, I could have foreseen the problem and not run into it. I have to make two more of a smaller diameter and then make some pieces for the spring shackles. I need to order some stock for those as well as some tube before I can finish the ladder bars, but I'm getting there. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do about the quick change, especially since I'll have all the parts to hang it under the car. 

The lilies are starting to bloom. The one in the photo I planted last year. Pretty looking thing. I've got a row of them along the fence for the chicken coop. That's a grape vine running diagonally across the photo I need to trim back. There are plenty of grapes on the vines this year. There are several blossoms on the watermelon vines and the cantaloupe is growing nicely, even though it got a late start. As long as I keep everything watered in this hot weather, should be enjoying some tasty veggies before much longer.

Weekend Update

 

Photo by Cuzzin Ricky

Shop Teacher Bob doing a little repair work on the big barn. There are six fiberglass sky light panels on the roof. I replaced a couple of them even before I owned the property. They were pretty bad and I didn't want the trusses or purlins to go bad if I ended up owning the building later on. The farmer who was renting the property paid me back for my material cost, nice guy that he was. One of the ones I didn't replace back then broke in half and was flapping in the breeze, definitely time to replace that one. I decided to replace all of them so I got three new panels to do one side yesterday. The Missus didn't want me out there on my own, so Cuzzin Ricky answered the call as my safety man/ground man. 

The job went smoothly and Cuzzin Rick didn't have to call 911. He's a good ground man, just the same - saved me several trips up and down the ladder. I need to clear some brush on the other side and then I'll see about us replacing the other three. The new panels made a huge difference in the light inside the barn. Replacing the others will make it even better.

Friday I was going to finish up the pieces for the jitney ladder bars but I had a break down on the mower. The bearing on the idler pulley gave it up, so I made a run to the dealer. It's about twenty minutes away but they had a new improved version and it didn't break the bank. The original pulley was made from plastic and this is the second time this has happened. The new one is metal and the bearing is a made in America item. The guy at the dealer said they had trouble with the bearings, hence the new and improved version. The mower is a zero turn Bad Boy and this is the only trouble I've had with it. It's a well made machine with the deck made from welded plate as opposed to a stamping. Anyway, the mower is fixed, the grass is cut, the barn roof's fixed, so back to the shop.

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddy-Os out there.

An Excellent Article That's A Must Read

 

I came across a link to a very good article at Knuckledraggin My Life Away. The article addresses the issue of how important a mastery of the skilled trades is for a free people. The article is a little on the long side but it's definitely worth 5 - 10 minutes of your time. It can be found here. Read it and take it to heart.

I started on the pieces for the ladder bars for the jitney - spent a little time on the design of the end pieces of the radius rods that will bolt to the rear end and then did the preliminary lathe work. Next stop is the mill and then back in the lathe to finish them up. I'm hoping to get them finished today but I need to replace a couple panels of the sky light sheets on the big barn roof. The weather tomorrow looks to be about ideal for getting up on top of a sheet metal roof, so off to Menards today to pick up supplies. 

Garden & Ladder Bars

 

My little landscape garden is beginning to produce - cherry tomatoes, a green pepper and a banana pepper. The melon patch is about 75%. I bought a potted watermelon plant, so it got a good start. I planted a hill of cantaloupes from old seed, but at least one of them sprouted and looks good, even if it was kind of a late start. I've got a couple of other tomatoes planted and they're looking a little peaked. Hopefully, they'll get a growth spurt with all this hot weather and start getting with the program.

I got my bike ride in yesterday but nothing really in the shop. I did scratch my head and spit a little out there and it seemed to be productive. I've had a couple of ideas on what I wanted to do to mount the rear end under the car, both of which included using a radius rod to sort of match the front suspension. Depending on how you slice it, a radius rod set-up needs something to prevent side to side movement - Watts linkage, panhard bar, track locator, or an additional two bars tied to the rear differential and the frame at an angle.

However, the way I'm planning on is a set of ladder bars, the bottom tube of which, will take the place of the traditional radius rod. Rather than the assembled ladder bar being installed plumb, they'll be installed with the top tube leaned over inward at about a 45 degree angle. The ends that fasten to the differential will be solid, rather than a Heim. The end that fastens to the frame will use a tie rod end like I've got on the front suspension.  The two small photos on the right side of the scan will hopefully explain it better. The scan is from the February 2009 Street Rodder magazine, by the way. 

Now that I've decided, I can start making parts even though it's still hot. I'll hang the fan up by the lathe and get going.

$5.19 @ The Pump

 

I filled up the truck and a 5 gallon can last evening and then I took the wife's car down and filled it up as well. Her car hit me for $53.40 on top of the $105.48 in the photo. Neither one of us drive much, so the high prices aren't going to hurt us much directly, but since everything gets shipped or delivered using gasoline or diesel fuel, it'll take a chunk out of our hide. 

I put in my six miles on the bicycle early yesterday morning before it got too hot. A good thing I did, too. It got up to 97 in the afternoon but the humidity wasn't as bad as Monday. Hot is hot, however. It was still 92 at 7:00 PM. Today's supposed to be a repeat. I got a few little things done but nothing on the jitney. It was just too damn hot. It always takes me about two weeks to get myself accustomed to the heat - likewise when the cold weather comes around. I'll try and get out there a little earlier today and do a little something, even if it is wrong.

While out on the bike ride yesterday, I thought about the race I've done a few times in the past. I looked it up when I got home and it's back on after a two year absence. I sent a message to my running/biking buddy to see if she's interested. The answer back was she's going to check out the details and get back to me. Even if the answer is no, I think I'll sign up. Be good motivation to get busy and train. It 'll also get me in shape to run most of my errands on the bicycle to keep me away from the gas pumps.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #33 With A Side Of Politics

 

I went out for a bike ride yesterday morning - it was already getting hot by 9:00. I got my six miles in just the same. When I came home I turned on the TV for some background noise while eating a late breakfast to find the second installment of the inquisition was on. Apparently there is no end to the bile coming out of the Capitol towards Donald Trump. Now there's talk of filing charges against the former president. They must really be afraid of that guy, or maybe they're just sending the message to any other would-be pretenders to the throne. 

I read an interesting editorial in last week's The Epoch Times by Victor Davis Hanson in which he states:

The disaster that is the Biden administration has been a godsend for Trump. Had President Joe Biden simply plagiarized the successful Trump agenda, no energy crises, no hyperinflation, and no disastrous flight from Afghanistan.

 

Had Biden followed through on his "unity" rhetoric, he could have lorded over Trump's successful record as his own, while contrasting his Uncle Joe ecumenicalism with supposed Trump's polarization.

So if someone would have told Slo-Joe to just sit there and don't touch the dials, we'd be A-OK. But like in a cheap sci-fi movie, he grabs the controls and starts twisting the dials. It could have been so easy, and most people wouldn't have cared much if they cheated on the election at that point. What a bunch of bozos.

Drug the fuel cell out of storage yesterday. I've decided to put a little thought to the placement of the parts on the rear end even though I haven't got a rear end for it. 

I screwed together some wooden vee blocks and attached them to a saw horse. The centerline of the pipe resting in them is at the same height as the front spindles are with the frame sitting level. The radius of the rear tires is two inches taller than the front tires. With that difference, plus the extra weight on the front end, I should end up with a little nose down attitude when it's sitting on the floor. 

The pipe stand the radius rod is sitting on is the base for my one shop seat. It normally has an old motorcycle saddle bolted on to it, but my other pipe stands are too tall, so I made a new pipe with a piece of angle welded on top.

The plan here is to construct one side of the rear end of the car as it should be using the pipe laying on the saw horse. It's smaller in diameter than what the actual differential will be but it's a simple matter to open up the brackets to accommodate whatever the diameter needs to be on the real deal. I wanted to get a little more done yesterday but it was about 90 with the humidity about the same. The mats on the floor and quite a few of the big chunks of iron were sweating just about the same as I was, so I headed for the showers. 

There's not much I can say about this one. I don't remember how I ended up with it, some promotional thing I would guess. It's been around at least ten years, since I was working at the high school when I got it. I do remember that much. I don't have a Solid Works CAD program, or any CAD program now. I learned Auto Sketch years ago to facilitate my making motorcycle parts on the CNC mill when I worked at the career center. However, I no longer have easy access to a CNC, so I don't really need a CAD program. I'd like to have a small CNC in house, but I'd have to make customer parts to justify the expense and I don't want to go down that road.  

Hoping to squeeze in another bicycle ride today, maybe a motorbike ride to make a delivery and then some more work on the jitney. 

Filler Job

 

As is my usual Sunday routine, I watched the Noir Alley movie on TCM in the morning, read the paper, surfed the 'net a bit and then went for walkies. In between the movie and walkies, I usually try to find some small job that needs to be done. The Missus was cleaning out some drawers and came across the blue flashlight in the photo. I don't know how long since it had last seen daylight but the batteries were dead and they had swollen up to the point they wouldn't come out. I drilled a hole in the first one and screwed in the hook seen in the photo and then pulled it out. On the second one, I drilled the hole with an extra long drill bit and then made a little extraction tool out of a piece of TIG filler rod. That one came out hard but just like the Mounties, I always get my man. After going through all of that, I think the best is to just junk the thing and buy another one like the black one in the photo. I bought a couple of these before I had my cataract surgery since things had become pretty dark. Even though I've had the surgery, I still find myself reaching for it on a regular basis. It's a Coast G20 Inspection light.  

The walkies went well. I'm guessing about three miles at the arboretum again. Beautiful day to be out in nature. I shot up a roll of film while there. I used my Mamiya twin lens - 120 B&W film, so only 12 exposures on the roll. I'll see about developing the film one of these days soon and if I've got a couple of decent shots, print them. I think my chemicals for printing should still be good. I'll need to make up a fresh batch of developer for the film. Now that the weather's decent, I'll see about setting up the 4x5 for taking the tin types from the kit I bought a while back.

Hot weather this week but I want to get back out on the bicycle and back on the jitney. There's a couple of things on the calendar for the week but nothing that should keep me sidelined from the projects.

Dipstick

I was little sore Friday after crawling around under the little truck, so I didn't do much. Saturday was a little more productive. I cleaned up the shop, got all the tools put away and then started thinking of where to resume on the jitney. While I was thinking about my next move, I pulled the dipstick tube and bent the bracket so it would line up with the bolt hole in the block. The bracket looks like it has three projection welds holding it to the tube. Of course, two of the three broke loose so I'll have to braze the bracket back on. I'd like to shorten the tube by about three inches. That's easy enough but shortening the dipstick will require a bit of thinking.

And speaking of doing some thinking, I dug out my old bike repair manual from 1972 to get a formula from the shop math section in the back. I bought this book brand new, so I've had it fifty years now. Much of the material is outdated since it's a '72 manual, but other than the Himalayan and the everyday vehicles we drive, all my stuff with wheels is '74 or older. However, the section on lacing wheels or tuning your engine using an oscilloscope, is still valid. Anyway, here's what I was looking for:

MPH = rpm x effective rear wheel radius / overall drive ratio x 168

MPH = 5500 x 15 / 3.78 x 168

MPH = 129

The quick change comes with a 3.78 ring and pinion. With one to one change gears, that's what I'd be looking at. There's a lot of ratios available for the change gears. One of the options gives a 4.11 overall. Flip the gears around and I'd have a nice street gear with more mph. With the tall rear tires, might want to go a bit lower if I take the car to the dragstrip. The change gears are relatively cheap and easy to swap, that being the main advantage of a quick change rear. That, and they just look real cool under a traditional hot rod or boy racer.

I just pulled the 5500 rpm number out of my ass. I'm not sure if that's the number to use for an old long stroke engine with very little modification. I'll look into it a bit more - it's easy enough to swap the numbers around once you've got the formula. 

Made it out on the Himalayan on Friday - fired right up after its long winter nap. I put in about 40 miles on a beautiful sunny morning. Felt good to be out on the motor bike. Put in six miles on the pedal bike on Saturday. That felt good too. Just not as good. Going hiking today, weather permitting. Hot weather on tap for this coming week. Not looking forward to that, but that's how it is around these parts - you never know what's on tap, one day to the next.

 

Elder Abuse

 

I patched up the frame on the Ranger yesterday. While I was underneath it the radio announced that it was International Elder Abuse Day or something. Seems like I picked a good day to work on the little rust-bucket truck. When he dropped it off, for some reason we looked at the other side that I had patched previously and found another spot where the frame had broken. So I ended up fixing both sides, with the usual headaches working underneath a vehicle with flaky rust everywhere. Elder abuse, for sure.

They changed the weight categories for amateur boxing. Light heavy used to top out at 178, heavyweight 201, super heavy 201 +. Now light heavy tops out at 176, and they added another class up to 189, cruiser weight. Right now I'm at 180, so I'm a cruiser weight, which sounds a lot better than a heavy weight, but to get down to light heavy I now need to lose 4 pounds, minimum. Be nice to see 170 again but that's going to require some serious dedication. Not sure if I've got that in me any more.

I called Speedway Motors yesterday morning. The quick change rear I wanted for the jitney was discontinued and they have no more in stock. The other one I was looking at is cheaper but truck freight will cost $450. I was thinking of Cuzzin Ricky and I driving out and picking it up and then continue on to visit my brother out in Kansas. I'm going to dig a little deeper and see what I can come up with before making the arrangements.  

Tee Shirt Tuesday #32

 

This one's from the Appleseed Project Surly and I attended in 2010. If you type in Appleseed in the search box upper left, it'll take you to the write-up I did at the time. We both had a good time, improved our marksmanship and learned some American History. I looked up the schedule and there's one on the calendar later this year not too far from me. I might sign up for it if it's not already filled. 

I went to the arboretum Sunday to do my walkies. Went solo, since the rest of the group was otherwise occupied. The garden railroad was running so I did a slow walk around to check it out and then hit the Bluebird Trail. They've got several trails crisscrossing the park. It was looking like rain so I only put in a couple of miles but it's a very nice place to hike around. 

Didn't get much done yesterday. TVI showed up in the morning to pick up his bushing. We had a cup of coffee and talked politics in the house, talked motorcycles, cars and "squish band" out in the shop. I hadn't talked to him in a while. Good to get the chance to catch up. Took the wife for a medical thing later in the day - nothing to be concerned about - regular check up type of thing. I did put in a little "think time", however. 

I've got another chore to tend to this morning but planning on getting out in the shop later. 

Nothing Really

 

That's just about the size of it. I got all of the plants in the ground or potted up but the Missus decided we needed some rose bushes, so I still have to do something with those. We took a bit of a road trip Friday and picked up some strawberries and the rose bushes. The strawberries came from a farm out in the country a ways. A couple of young girls were manning the stand - gonna be a couple of heart-breakers in a few years. On the way back to the highway there were four more riding two up on a couple of horses. Nice being out in big-farm country.

I got out on the bicycle yesterday for the first time since the cooties struck. I put in six miles without any real difficulty. My breathing is kind of sketchy still. Seems like I can work pretty hard without a problem but then I'll be short of breath just getting up off my knees like when I was planting flowers. I checked my resting pulse rate yesterday morning right after waking up - 55 bpm. Couldn't hardly believe it was that low since I haven't been doing any cardio for a while. Now that I can get back out on the bike, I'm going to start building up the mileage base once again and lose a few pounds. I've got an appointment with the cardiologist in about a month. Be good to drop five pounds before I see him and then shed another five after that. 

Going to get back on the jitney project this week. It's been at least a month since I've done anything on it. Time to turn up the wick. 

Beautiful Weather

 

Productive day yesterday, even though there's not much to post on here. Started the day off at the "massage parlor", continued on to a pair of grocery stores, machined up the bushing for TVI, and then policed up the shop. Beautiful weather as well. Today's going to be also.

Yesterday was the debut for the phone wallet. I usually wear bib overalls which have a nice big chest pocket that will accommodate my new smart phone. However, when I wear regular pants, I need to stick the phone in my back pocket. I was thinking a phone wallet like a trucker's wallet would work well for me. Surly made this up for me and I think it's going to do the job. It'll keep me from losing the phone, when I get in the truck I can take it out of my pocket and lay it in the seat next to me so it's not uncomfortable to sit on but still handy, and it will keep the phone protected. 

I've still got some more flowers to plant and it's time to get the weed whacker out. I'll keep my eye on the weather and try to schedule a day to fix the rusty Ranger next week. Not looking forward to that one but they can't all be sunshine and roses.

All The News That's Fit To Print

 

Looks like I'm going to have plenty of apples this year - make some cider, maybe some wine, run a couple of batches through the dehydrator.

While mowing the other day, I noticed a few blossoms on the cherry "bush". It started out as one of two cherry trees but the deer have been munching on it long enough it's more like a bonsai tree. I planted it quite a few years back and this is the first time it's blossomed. It seems like it had a growth spurt, going from about 3 feet tall to almost six. I'm hoping to see a couple of cherries this year.

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Forty-seven people shot, nine fatalities in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend. I worked part time for a contractor in Chicago roughly 30 years ago and the neighborhood where I was working was a rough one. If memory serves, Chicago had about 900 homicides on the year back then. Looks like the city is heading back that way again.

The Epoch Times is reporting on a teacher shortage for the upcoming school year. The past two years has created some real issues. The online teaching, masking, social distancing, and all the rest has taken it's toll. Additionally, after staying home for a year or two, the little darlings don't want to behave now that they're back in the classroom. And now that there's been another school shooting, you know that's going to weigh heavily on their minds while deciding if they want to return in the fall. I've been mulling over returning to the college to teach a class or two and the risk of a shooting, even though the odds of that happening are quite low, is something to think about. There are enough hazards in a welding shop as it is - don't want to have to worry about some whack-a-doodle coming in and shooting the place up.

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I got most of the immediate concerns with the garden taken care of. I've still got some flowers to plant - I shouldn't have let the Missus go to the greenhouse on her own. In addition to what we needed for the cemeteries, she bought a couple of flats of stuff to plant around the shack. Having the cooties put me behind schedule right at spring planting. I've been hitting it pretty hard the last few days and I think I've got most of my strength back. I think most of what ails me now is old age and lack of doing anything much for a while. It's supposed to be nice weather the next week or so - temps in the seventies, rather than the nineties like it was the last few days. Looking forward to that.