Little Bit O' Progress

 

I should have posted this one on yesterday's post. More fun than a barrel of monkeys.

A project I should have undertaken years ago. The extension cord was a heavy duty 12 gauge three wire that kept shedding the outer insulation. The insulation on the conductors was in good shape - nothing taped up anywhere. However, with the lack of insulation it was way past safe. I stole the female plug from it, bought a new male plug and put them on another cord I had. It too has 12 gauge wires, so I've once again got a heavy duty extension cord.

The crop duster was busy Friday. He woke me up about six in the morning taking care of the field north of me and then he was back late afternoon to do the field west of me. The new smart phone and I haven't exactly come to terms yet when using the camera. There's a lag between pushing the shutter button and when it captures the image. Also, depending on where the sun is, it's sometimes hard to see the image on the screen. On an old film camera, neither of those things are an issue. Of course, it's hard to email the image directly from the camera to my account so I can post the photos on here. Can't have everything I suppose.

 The smart phone camera does take nice photos on still lifes and it's handy not having to carry a phone and a camera for blog posting. So there's that.

I finished up the seat mount. It's not adjustable fore and aft, but if it suits me that's all that's really necessary. Surly's about the same size as I am, so he'll fit as well. It would be easy enough to raise it up in height if needed.

I bolted on the fan, spacer and thermostat housing to see what I need for the upper radiator hose. I have a short right-angle hose now. I think if I get another one just like it and make a short tube to connect them, I should be right where I need to be. Now that the seat is fastened securely in place, I can locate the mounting points for the lap belt and get those tacked on.

I'll hit the auto parts store Monday along with the steel supply to get a thin plate to put under the seat. I don't want the driveshaft whacking me in the ass if the front U-joint breaks. I'll also fab up a loop to keep it from digging into the ground or flopping around tearing things up if the joint breaks.

You Meet The Nicest People

 I received a comment on my last post and Marshall said he wished he had a Honda 90 & a Sport 50. Just to clarify things, here's a little background on what Honda was selling and all the cool kids, like yours truly, were riding back in the mid-sixties - early seventies.

This is the one that really started it all for Honda in the United States, the Cub 50. Three speed automatic shifter and a stamped sheet metal frame. Notice the lack of helmets and the babe in formal dress sitting side-saddle. Definitely a different time.

This is the one I had, the Sport 50. Since I didn't have to worry about getting my tux dirty, I could ride without the splash guards for my legs. This model had a 4 speed manual transmission and for a 15-year-old kid truly was more fun than a barrel of monkeys. A couple of my buddies also had these. I bought mine used from a guy my brother worked with. It was blue also, but the seat had silver and black stripes. It had a 65cc kit also, so I was the fastest of the three of us.

This is a Honda 90 like the buddy I mentioned in the last post had. He had a windshield and saddle bags on his. One of my fondest motorcycling memories is when we rode our bikes to his grandparents' house one chilly fall afternoon. It was probably not much more than 40 degrees when we left for a twenty mile ride on the little Hondas. I was about froze up when we got there but his grandmother was just pulling a grape pie out of the oven when we walked in the back door. She fixed us both a hot drink and when the pie cooled a bit, she served each of us a big piece. Just about the best piece of pie I've ever had in my life. My wife heard me tell the story a few times and she finally decided to bake one herself. Her pie is every bit as good, but the cold bike ride and the warm pie in the old farm house kitchen with good people? Hard to top that.

The guy who lived down the road from me had one of these, a Honda Super 90. He was a year ahead of me in school. He had an older brother that was into all things mechanical and his dad had an airplane that he flew out of the grass strip behind the house. The older brother had a small dirt track he made and all the neighborhood hooligans would gravitate there to race go-carts and motorcycles. If we behaved ourselves, we would get a chance to go up in the airplane once in a while too.

Life was sure enough good for us teenagers back then. Things changed dramatically after graduating from high school, though. Lot of drama back in the late sixties. That reality of being an adult took some adjusting. And in my case at least, quite a few mistakes were made along the way. At least I learned valuable lessons from most of them and was smart enough to not repeat them. 

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I went out for breakfast yesterday with my buddy Kevin, and like a dumbass, we were so busy discussing the state of education and the world in general, I forgot to wish him happy birthday. 

Happy Birthday, Kevin! 

County Fair

I went to the county fair yesterday afternoon - beautiful day to be out walking around among the unwashed. It doesn't take too long to take it all in. It's rather small as county fairs go and it doesn't usually get rolling until 6:00 and I'm usually long gone about then. However, I ran into several people I knew - former colleagues and students from the high school, along with some current friends, so I was there a bit longer than normal. Time well spent, however. 

Interesting brake setup on this pulling tractor. You have to steer the tractor with the brakes when the front end is off the ground, so decent brakes are a must. The Minneapolis-Molines normally have a drum brake on each side. This one has been fitted with disc brakes, individual master cylinders and Wildwood calipers. 

Cute little homemade tractor but what really caught my eye was the name. I went to high school with a guy name of Leichty - not a real common name. He and I used to ride motorcycles together. He had a Honda 90 and I had a Honda Sport 50. We worked together for a while at a black top outfit. He drove a truck and I worked as a utility man - drove the roller, worked on the paver, shoveled gravel and blacktop. We got together with the wives occasionally as well. He passed away at least 25 years ago, maybe more. I think about him every so often but seeing the name on the tractor brought back a lot of good memories.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #39

 

Front and back view of the Vintage Motorsport magazine tee. I got this one when I subscribed or re-subscribed, I don't remember which. This one came straight out of the tub - never been worn. Should bring a good price at the tee shirt stand at my funeral.

I welded up the cast iron exhaust pipe on the big loader yesterday. Things didn't go quite like I had figured. As the way it was explained to me, I probably couldn't get much weld on it due to the placement in the engine compartment. As it turns out I could get almost all the way around it. I tacked it together and started welding. The one tack broke without me noticing it and the crack on the back side of the pipe opened up. I had to cut the pipe apart and start over after doing some judicious grinding. The new welding rods got the job done but I wouldn't recommend them unless, as in this case, you have to use an AC welding machine. 

I fixed the garage door yesterday after getting home from the portable job. I reset all the limits on the opener and that took care of it. Glad I got that taken care of. The Missus wasn't going to be able to open it if she had to leave and I wasn't around. In fact, I left it open just in case when I left to do the welding job. 

I was talking to my brother from a different mother Sunday at my grandson's graduation open house and the subject of project vehicles came up, of course. He sent me some info on the weight of the Slant Six (475 lbs) and the A904 trans (125). So I'm looking at 600 pounds combined weight for engine and trans. Should bring the finished weight of the car in at someplace between 1500 - 1750, I would guess. He also sent me the transmission ratios. There was a change in '81. I think the trans I ended up with is the later model which has a lower 1st gear, which would be good.  

Streamliner Teaser

 

Woke up yesterday to a big storm - lightning, thunder, power outage, the works. The storms came through in about three waves. In between the first and the second, I backed the wife's car out to go get my veggie ration and the garage door wouldn't close with the remote. I acted like it does if there is something under it blocking the safety eye ball but nothing seemed amiss there. I'm wondering if a lightning strike caused some damage to the electronics. 

I did finally get the truck all loaded up for the welding job later in the day after the rain stopped. I ran a couple of beads with the new rods. The half-way decent looking one in the photo was run at 105 amps. The puddle was "watery" and most of the heat seemed to be concentrated on the rod, rather than on the base metal. It seemed to work best using a back step method. Anyway, I'm all loaded up for next week.

I made another piece for mounting the seat after fooling with the welder. Not much but a little something. Can't do much with it storming and losing power intermittently.

My cousin sent me a few photos of a streamliner under construction. His wife interviewed him for the local paper. He's going to send me a copy of the article when it comes out in a few days. The constructor on this project is 86 years old. Can't wait to get the full story.

Welder's Loaded

The weatherman was calling for a chance of storms last night, today and Sunday, so I decided it would be best to get the welder loaded up while it was dry outside - hot - but dry. The Fast Fix came in yesterday, so the plan is to put some gas in the tank with the Fast Fix to get the carb jets cleaned up, hook the cables up and run a couple of beads with the new rods and make sure everything is a go for Monday.

I loaded the welder with my Harbor Freight floor crane. It comes apart fairly easily, so I did just that, loaded it up in the back of the truck, hauled it over to where the tractor was parked, put it back together, picked up the welder and rolled it over to the truck. Nothing to it. 30 minutes tops. The crane is the 1 ton model, which is enough capacity for most things I want to lift but at max capacity, the boom has to be sucked all the way in - not much stick to work with. I should have bought the 2 ton - would have given me much more versatility with only a bit more cash outlay. 

Took the Missus to the eye doctor yesterday after my appointment at the massage parlor. We went out for a late lunch after that and that pretty much shot the day in the ass. After I get the welder squared away today, I'm aiming to get out in the shop. 

 

Sharing My Love For The USPS

 

I ordered a pound of aluminum TIG filler rod. Since the closest welding supply is at least two gallons worth from me, it's pretty much a break-even proposition to order and have it sent to the house. Except this is what you get from the USPS once in a while. Nice job on that one. The filler rods were taped together nicely, so no damage there, but the Postal Service is not my friend since they lost the brake shoes for the trials bike project.

I bought a new battery for the welder. They didn't have the exact replacement, so I ended up with one that's a little better. It's a common size for lawn tractors and didn't surprise me when the price turned out to be $53.00 minus $9.00 core charge. The new battery for the wife's car set me back $160.00 recently. The welder battery is the same size as I use on my camping trailer to power my interior lights. I'm hoping to get it out and go camping this fall. I haven't had it out in over ten years. There's a state park not too far from me that has a gun range and some nice hiking trails. I can go in the middle of the week after the kids go back to school when it's not too crowded, spend an afternoon hiking, shoot a bit at the range the next morning and then head on home.

When I was at the auto parts store Tuesday getting the battery, I looked for some Gumout liquid to clean up the carb on the welder. Nothing there, so I tried Tractor Supply and another auto parts store, no luck there either. I like the Gumout, you can put a shot glass worth in the tank of a small engine and it keeps the jets clean and stabilizes the fuel. It also works as advertised for cleaning carbs if you have to take one apart. Sta-Bil has a product called Fast Fix that's supposed to clean the carb while the engine's running. I ordered a small bottle from Amazon that should be here today. $6.99 and free shipping, hard to beat that. I probably went through that much in gas yesterday hitting the various stores looking for the Gumout. I checked the Gumout website and it looks like they don't offer the liquid stuff anymore. They do have a product called Regane which is probably the same stuff only in an aerosol can.

The weather here, like a lot of places, was hot yesterday and will be for a couple more days. Monday is supposed to be cooler, so I'll try and get the welder loaded up and get the job done then. In the meantime, cut some more grass, do some odd jobs and work on the jitney.

Getting Ready

The cast iron rods I ordered showed up yesterday. They're nickel free rods, which I've never heard of before. Most of the rods I'm familiar with are either 99% Nickel or 55% nickel. The 99% have a machinable deposit but are more inclined to end up with some porosity. The 55% doesn't have the porosity issue but the deposits are non-machinable. The package on the ones I got yesterday say they are good for joining cast iron to steel, also. 309 stainless rods are good for malleable iron to steel and stainless to carbon steel but they are relatively high in nickel as well. Anyway, I'll run a couple of them to get the feel for them and then try and take care of the job I bought them for.

When I went to start the tractor to swap out the grader blade for the welder, the damn thing wouldn't turn over. The battery is relatively new, so that came as a surprise. I put it on the charger and still no go. The battery is contained in a box so you can't see it. I pulled the lid off and put the meter on it. It showed over 13 volts but the positive terminal was pretty corroded so I cleaned that up and that solved the problem. It didn't take much to get the welder on the three-point, now I need to transfer the welder from the skid to the back of the truck. The tailgate height is about 33" from the ground and the welder is about 25". I'll need to get something to act as a ramp, then hook the come-a-long to it and pull it into the bed of the truck. Fortunately, the welder is oriented properly for access to the cables and the amperage switch to make it easy to hook things up. Just need to decide if I'm going to get a new battery first. I also need to give some consideration to building some type of tent or doghouse over the top of the thing when it's not being used. I tarp it but the tarps don't last for any length of time due to the the lifting eye and throttle lever poking a hole in them. Another project that should have been addressed before this.

Tee Shirt #38 With A Side Of Bicycle

 

Surly was at a reunion for his wife's family on Saturday, when the guy in the photo stopped and asked if he could fill up his water bottles. The nice people that they are not only filled up the water bottles but fed him and let him camp there for the night. The cyclist is doing a 20,000 mile ride, planning on ending up at the tip of Argentina. Surly had quite a bit in common with the guy so they chatted quite a bit. The guy was riding a Surly brand of bike, by the way. Fully loaded it weighs about 90 pounds.

I would have liked to have talked to the guy myself. I've done several long distance rides - nothing like what he's doing - but rather than carrying everything on the bike, I pulled a trailer for the majority of my gear along with panniers on the front wheel and a saddle bag. My gear weighed a lot less than 90 pounds but I wasn't planning on living with what I was carrying for months at a time. My trip from Portland, Oregon to Missoula, Montana took us about three weeks total but that included some sight-seeing on the front end and we didn't have to worry about finding a spot to resupply along the way. My days of long distance cycling are probably over. I would like to take a trip on the Himalayan, however. I've never really done any motorcycle touring or camping other than a couple of overnight trips years ago. The Missus would be quite pleased if I no longer rode at all, so probably won't be one of those in my future, either.   

The cyclist above has a Facebook page where you can follow along on his Pan-America Trip.

After hearing what that guy's doing, I felt like a piker yesterday when I rode only 10 miles. The mileage is adding up, though. I also made it to the gym twice last week. Starting to feel a bit stronger and my weight is down to the point I'm a light-heavy again - and that's using the new weight break of 176. It wouldn't hurt to drop another six. Do-able as long as I quit eating junk in the evenings.

It's hard to see in the photo, this one's from the Thanksgiving run in 2011. This has become a big event, so I normally do another smaller event, either on Thanksgiving or the Saturday after. The last couple of years it was hard to find any competitive runs. There were several "virtual" runs, but I didn't need to pay for an event where I was the only competitor, and I didn't need another tee shirt.

Did some work on the three-point hitch on the tractor. I need to remove the grader blade and hook up the skid with the welder on it. Hopefully the three-point will lift it high enough to get it in the back of the truck without too much trouble. I also got a small piece made for the jitney. Definitely need to stay on that job.

Welder Repair

 Not much to report on the project front. I did get the new fuel line and air cleaner installed. The air cleaner was easy enough - one wing nut is all it takes. The fuel line wasn't near as easy. The line runs from the tank on one side of the engine to the carb on the other. To get there it passes behind the flywheel. Not the easiest to thread it through. It would be a piece of cake if I had pulled the flywheel off, but that was going to be the last resort. I finally got it through enough that I could grab the end of it with my long reach needle nose pliers. I bought the pliers a few years ago from Harbor Freight. I've only used them a couple of times, but when you need them, they're worth their weight in gold.

After I got things put back together, I hit the starter button and the battery was dead. I knew it was too good to be true. However, it also has a recoil starter on the engine. While I was hesitant to tug on it due to the chest problem, I said the hell with it and gave it a go. It started on the second pull so no real strain on the chest. The carb main jet is a little plugged but I don't know if I want to fiddle with it or just run the thing with the choke on a little. Maybe get some carb cleaner I can throw in the tank to help it clean itself up while it runs. The nice thing about the carbs on these engines is the main jet is governed by an adjustable needle jet that's easily accessible with no tools required to adjust it.

I'll get some cables hooked up to it and when the cast iron rods show up, try them out. If all looks good, I'll see about getting the welder loaded up in the back of the truck.

There was a plug in the current Welding Journal for their YouTube channel on how roller coasters are made. It's about 15 minutes long but very entertaining. I had no idea the round tubes the tracks are made from are filled with gravel. You need a bit of welding background for a couple of terms. NDT = Non-Destructive Testing. Flux Cored welding with dual shield wire is a continuous wire feed process utilizing a hollow wire that is filled with flux - like a regular welding rod turned inside out - and it has a gas shield surrounding the arc as well. Good for high deposition rates and x-ray quality welds. 

Ural motorcycles is in the process of relocating - another bit of fallout from the war in Ukraine. Their blog has an update on the timeline of when they should be up and running again and when bikes and sidecars will be available again. Check it out here.

Ultrasound

That's pretty much the realization I've come to. I'm still struggling some with what if anything I can do, or should do, about the situation, when every day things seem to get worse. Just going to have to roll with it I guess.

I had an ultrasound on my chest yesterday. The results didn't seem to explain some of my symptoms, nor did it explain why nothing showed up on the x-ray. Not exactly back to square one, but nothing's changed as far as what I can do without causing myself grief.

I got my portable welder uncovered yesterday. The battery seems to be holding a charge but I need to replace the fuel line. I changed oil and I'll get a new air filter for it when I pick up the fuel line. The cast iron rods I ordered should be in soon. It'll be a bit of a pain in the ass to get the welder loaded into the back of my truck, especially for a job that shouldn't take more than about 30 minutes. I needed to get the welder running, though.

The other side job I'm supposed to do is on hold for a few days. The ramrod on the job is in covid quarantine and can't leave the house. About the time he's ready to get the job rolling, it'll probably be hotter than hell. From what he tells me, though, all I need to do is weld. Drink plenty of fluids and take a break when I need to.

 

Roller, Transformer & Seat Belts

 

One more from the show on Sunday - Pierce roller. Once upon a time I worked for a black topping outfit and ran the roller. It was bigger than this one but near as cute.

It was a perfect day yesterday for a motorcycle ride, so I took the long way over to the library to take some books back. As I was crossing the tracks on the north end of town I saw this big transformer on one heavy-duty trailer. 

The trailer was spotted next to the tracks with the car that will be taking the transformer to the generating station. The generating station is scheduled to close so I don't know if this one is going into service or is a spare. I don't know how they are going to load the transformer onto the train car. Maybe a big crane shows up, make the pick and then take the crane to the power plant to unload it. If you look close you can see that the train car has quite a bit of camber built into it, for whatever that's worth.

I started on making mounts for the seat. I need to get it fastened down so I can sit in it and check the location in relation to the pedals and the steering wheel. The angle held in place with the magnets is the first step. I also need a driveshaft loop and a steel plate under the seat in case the driveshaft or u-joint decides to come apart - need to protect the naughty bits. I'm also planning on getting a blanket for the tranny.

I also made a couple little angles for fastening the lap belts to. The belt doesn't have the anti-submarine/crotch belt straps, so I don't have to worry about that. 

I might be closing in on the answer to what's been causing my chest problem - I'm scheduled for an ultrasound. Be nice to get to the bottom of this.

I've got a couple of outside jobs in the works. Not too eager to take them on but the one job will pay for me to get a new battery for my portable welder. The problem will be loading it into the back of my truck. Surly has a small trailer - might be easier to load it on the trailer. 

I've got an escort job today, so won't get much else done, but that's OK.

Tee Shirt Tuesday #37

 

Here's another one from the car show on Sunday. While I personally don't care for the looks of a new design tire and wheel combo on these old classics, I like the looks of the old T'Birds. I'm not sure what year this one is - they used the same body style 58 -60. My dad had one of these. I think his was a '60. He was always driving used cars or trucks, never a new one that I can recall. When he started selling real estate, he did buy himself a new Chrysler, but that was after most of us had left home. 

Besides the Chrysler and the Thunderbird, I remember there being quite a variety of cars and trucks at the house when I was a kid. I don't remember the exact years of all of them but there was a '54 Chevy station wagon, a big Buick, a Rambler, a 50-53 Chevy pickup, 58? Ford pickup, Ford Ranchero, '59 Chevy, '62 Chevy, a '62 Corvair, the "Brown Bomber" - a 60 Dodge - and probably a couple more I can't remember right now. My older brother had a '57 Chevy, a Studebaker Lark and a Corvair. My younger brother had a '67 Dodge Charger and a Kaw 900 while he was at home. I had a '48 Chevy as my first car and a '62 Chevy while living at home, plus a couple of motorcycles. We were quite the internal combustion engine powered family.

I ordered a piece of 9/16" cold rolled for making "U" bolts for the rear spring on the jitney and while I was at it, I added a sample pack of various sizes of the same to the order. It's much cheaper to buy the sample pack than ordering the various sizes individually, plus I'm sure I'll need some of this sooner or later on a project and we all know it won't be cheaper later. 

This is what I've been using to sharpen the drill bits. It does a dandy job, just takes a while. This is one of the first models they came out with. Their web site shows the newer models - the top of the line will sharpen up to 3/4" bits and the angle can be adjusted. Mine only goes to 1/2" and is fixed at 118 degrees. They have a hobbyist model for less than $50.00 which would be a good investment for a guy doing some metal work at home. There are very few people who can properly sharpen a small twist bit on a grinder accurately and if you're going to sharpen more than a dozen bits, the Drill Doctor will be cheaper than buying replacement bits.

Lastly, what you've all been waiting for, tee shirt #37!

I think I did this route twice, once as a runner and once as a walker. It's a 5K as most races these days are. In fact, I went to the gym Saturday wearing a shirt from a 10 K (6.2 miles) I did back in the day. Bazooka Joe commented that was his first race and wished there were more of them around instead of all the 5K events, sort of hinting the 5K races were for sissies. I bragged that my first event was a 10.5 miler, when men were men before he was even born. Joe got a chuckle out of that, since Joe truly is a tough guy - a little bit of that toxic masculinity stuff thrown around between an old duffer and a professional boxer. Joe fights for the Mid-America Super Middleweight title August 6th by the way. It's in Cedar Rapids, Iowa about a week before I'm supposed to head out to Oklahoma for the Golden Gloves Nationals or I'd see about going out there. Now that I've had the cooties, I'm not too concerned about getting back out again.

Show Time

 

Cuzzin Ricky and I went to a car and machinery show yesterday. Top photo is of an Olds that's similar to the one I bought new in '71. Mine wasn't a 442, just a regular 2 dr hardtop, 350 with a 2 bbl carb. Kept it for about 25 years.

Bottom photo is a '62 Chevy Impala. I had one of those as well. Not a convertible but an SS model with a 327 and a 4 speed. I got rid of it when I bought the Cutlass right after I got married. The one in the photo above had 350 emblems on the front fender, so I imagine the owner swapped in a new motor with the fuel injection and all the trimmings so it'll have some more horsepower and run on the new ethanol diluted fuel.

John Deere "G". My older brother had one of these when I was in high school. He started farming when he was in high school, buying used equipment as he could afford it and kept improving until he went to college and got into the academic end of agriculture. He retired a couple years ago and is farming again. He's got a nice spread out in Kansas. Cuzzin Ricky and I were out there for a visit a few years ago - had a great time on that trip. We stopped at Brownells in Iowa and the Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Caught a race while we were there. My sister-in-law was a terrific hostess. Depending on what happens with buying the quick change for the jitney, might make it out that way again fairly soon.

I woke up to some sad news yesterday morning. One of my former students died. This is the third one in only a couple of months. They were all about the same age - been out of school for quite a while, families and jobs. One of them boxed for me as well - took him to the Golden Gloves a couple of times. The other two ended up welding, one as an iron worker. He did some blacksmithing as well. I hadn't seen any of them in a couple of years but were all talented young men. I don't know the details on the cause of death of two of them, but I suspect drugs or alcohol might have played a part. Damn shame.   

Lots Of Little Stuff

 

I guess you'd have to be of a certain age to appreciate this one, but if you're my age and you grew up with Mad magazine, you definitely can appreciate the humor.

The lilies are blooming now. I picked my first sweet pepper from the kitchen garden yesterday - fried it up with some other peppers, onion, potatoes and garlic for supper. Tasty and healthy. Mowed the front yard yesterday as well. First time in a couple of weeks since it's been so dry. Should be getting more rain now, though. I noticed lots of peaches and apples on the trees while I was out there - more pie & cobbler in the future.

Nothing much else to report. I started sorting and sharpening the box of drill bits. It's extremely time consuming but there's progress. Pulled some weeds and mixed up a batch of film developer. However, the one chemical looks like it may have oxidized, so I'm hesitant to use it. I've got a roll of film that should have some nice shots on it - I'd hate to scrap it due to bad chemistry.

Still not sure what I'm going to do with the rear end in the jitney. I need to make a decision pretty soon and get that in motion. I really want to have a roller by Labor Day. I'm planning on getting out in the shop today - maybe do a few more drill bits and get started again on the jitney.

Matchbox Holding My Clothes, Toolbox Holding My Drill Bits

 

The only thing wrong with the old Rockabilly songs - they're just not long enough.

I ended up with this toolbox full of drill bits after my sister-in-law's husband passed away a few years back. I've been meaning to get around to sorting them and resupplying my drill index but I haven't needed any bits. However, the index is getting low on a few sizes so it was time to start sorting things prior to buying any that are probably in the box. Some of the bits are like new, others need sharpening. Most of them are fractional sizes but I've found a couple letter and number drills in the mix so far. This is going to take a while.

Quiet day around the shack yesterday. 10 mile bike ride in the morning, washed a load of clothes and hung them on the line since it was hot and breezy and to encourage Mother Nature to bring us some rain. It worked, too. I had to run outside and get everything off the line when the rain came. We're supposed to get some more over the next few days - we definitely need it.

This one's brought to you by our sponsor, Mutual of Omaha, with our host, Marlin Perkins. I just happened to look out the kitchen window when a ground hog was passing through. Something trimmed off the leaves on one of the Hosta plants under the tree a few days ago. I figured it was a rabbit but might have been this guy. This Wild Kingdom stuff does make life interesting around here.

And lest we forget:

Tee Shirt Tuesday #36. This one was from a 5K run or a one-mile dog walk. I did the dog walk with my dog Larry along with my running buddy and her dog Pongo. The boys had a play date along with quite a few other dogs. Surprisingly enough, most all of the dogs got along very well.

Check-up with the cardiologist today. Not expecting any bad news. I don't know if he does open heart surgery in addition to the stents, but I'm going to ask him to check out my chest while I'm there. Maybe he can shed some light on the problem or refer me to a chest surgeon. This has gone beyond an inconvenience to a pain in the ass. Seems like it's easier to aggravate lately and never totally goes away.  

Head Repair

 

Finished the Ducati cylinder head repair. The plug hole had been drilled oversize and had been threaded 3/4 fine. The brass bushing was a different thread but that didn't stop them from installing it. I ran a tap through the hole and cleaned up the hole then made a new bushing. Instead of a short reach plug as original, it's now set up for a long reach. 

After threading the new bushing in I welded around the perimeter. Only issue with the whole job was when the torch cap bumped the tube for the bevel drive, I wiggled, and the arc wandered over to the valve seat on the exhaust side. It looks worse than it is in the photo. When he cleans up the rest of the weld he can touch that up as well. There's one in the finish column and on the bench for less than a week.

When I went back to the gym a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to hit the speed bag but the two platforms that I liked using in the past both had bags hanging from them that were blown out. Apparently, Jimmy bought a couple of cheap vinyl bags and hung those up. I had a decent one at the house that needed a new bladder, so I installed a new bladder and laced it up. The only problem was I came up short with the lace - didn't have enough to get the last two holes. I tied a piece of string across the top two and that should hold it for a while. Can't run a boxing gym without a decent speed bag.

I went hiking yesterday and put in about five miles. On the way home I heard Brother Ray singing this one. In spite of all that's transpired the last few years, I'm still rooting for the home team. There's going to be some tough times ahead but what we've got is worth fighting for. 

Enjoy the holiday and watch your fingers!

Hard Times

 

Just a couple of things as we start the weekend. Surly and I had a little conversation about Edward Abbey recently. Might be time for me to read Desert Solitaire again. 

I did get this one read - interesting story by a man who survived WWII in German concentration camps. I finished it up when I took the wife's car in for an oil change yesterday. After about a half hour the service writer said the valve cover gasket was leaking, which I knew, but it wasn't leaking enough to worry about low oil level, just an occasional odor. However, she said the repair was under warranty, so if I wanted to wait a bit longer they could have it fixed right away. Under warranty on a 2014? Pleasant surprise for sure. 

While waiting I took a stroll around the showroom to look at all the new cars - just kidding - there weren't any new cars. Also, when I went to check out the card reader wasn't working. Fortunately, I had enough cash to square up but it took everything I had. In addition to my folding money, I had to dig an extra dollar in silver out of the other pocket. This is not the first time I've encountered the malfunctioning card reader. I always carry a bit of cash for small purchases and for just such a time when I can't pay by card. I need to check my bug out bag in the truck and see if I've got any cash in it. I don't think that I do but with the way things are going might not be a bad idea to keep a bit of "mad" money in it.

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Here's a couple of facts gleaned from Coyote Prime 2: 60% of the people here in the US are living paycheck to paycheck, In fact, if you have $10 and no debt, you're richer than 15% of the people. 71% of the men and 62% of the women are overweight or obese. 

No money but overweight. Those things used to be covered in Family and Consumer Science. Everyone should know how balance their budget and how to plan healthy meals. Even with that knowledge, you still have to have some will power, though.

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I was headed out to do the chores Thursday evening and noticed water on the floor of the basement. Seems the water line to the ice maker on the fridge was leaking. It's a new line that was just put in when the water filtration system was installed. I pulled the fridge out and got the leak stopped but aggravated my chest when moving things. So I cancelled working in the shop, but I did get some goose berries picked. There's a pie in my future and lots of red raspberries on the bushes. Growing your own food is becoming more and more important. However, depending on where you live it might be too late for planting a garden. It's not too late to add to your pantry supplies. It's crazy how quickly things have turned around in this country. Hard times are here, my friends.