Thursday Is A Good Day

 

It was cold yesterday morning - about 30 degrees at 10:00. The grandson showed up for another welding lesson but since it was so cold I decided I didn't want to weld outside doing stick welding. While I realize he'll be working in all types of weather if he becomes a pipe fitter, grandpa doesn't need to. I fired up the shop heater and we did some theory work in the house while the shop was warming up and then worked on doing some TIG.

Not real pretty but it's a start. He did manage to do these without sticking the tungsten into the puddle, so that's a good start. He got hired on at a landscaping outfit, so we'll have to work out a new schedule for his welding lessons. Good to see him gainfully employed in a full-time position, however.

When to the Golden Gloves with Jimmy and the young man I took to Detroit later that evening. My guy comes back to the corner after the first round smiling. In fact he was damn near giggling. He was having himself a grand old time in the ring. The other guy was no slouch, but our guy was keeping the pressure on him the whole time. He still had a little trouble breaking free if the guy clinched, but he looked a lot better than he did in Detroit. He'll have to fight at least once more before the final round. We should find out in a day or two if he fights next Thursday. I think we might head to Indy again tomorrow on Saturday for another of the sparring sessions at America's Top Team, where we've gone several times now. Quality sparring is making a big difference in his performance.

Back In The Saddle

 

I swapped a Pennsy whistle marker for a Monon lantern with a guy I worked with at the side hustle when I was there. I've got a few others as well that are hanging from brackets in the corners of the "man cave". This is the first part of the bracket I made yesterday to hang the lantern. The design will match the others that are there already. The grandson is supposed to come down today to do some more welding. If I can get him working on his own, I'll try to get the other part made.

I got the layout on the manifold plate and then drilled the holes for the carb studs and made a relief cut along the edge for the throttle arm. I'm not sure what thread pitch the studs are, so I used a tap drill for fine threads. I can always drill the holes out larger if need be. Next step is to bore the two large holes. These get bored at an angle of 20 degrees to blend in with the original hole in the manifold. Maybe get that done on Friday, get the studs and round the corners off and the manifold project should be close to wrapped up. 

Another trip to Indy tonight. The boxer I took to Detroit is fighting - looking to repeat as state champion. Hope it happens.

It's a Start

My little orchid is doing well. One more bud to open up. Besides being quite pretty, the flowers usually last quite a while as well. I've got a few things outside that are greening up and will be blooming before too much longer, unless a late frost comes along.

I've been busy with the boxing, taxes and other things, but I got out into the shop yesterday and took a skin cut across the top of the manifold adaptor plate. I put some layout dye on it, so I'll see about getting the layout on it today and maybe do some machining. I've got a couple of other little jobs to deal with also. Nothing new there, of course, but it's time to get back in gear on some of the things in the shop.

 

Welding Lessons

The oldest grandson came down Sunday and Monday to start learning how to weld. Sunday we discussed welding safety, work habits, and general things about the trade. I ran a little demo with the TIG process. Monday we set up outside the shop for stick welding. I try to avoid stick welding in the shop because it's pretty tight quarters in there and I can't isolate any sparks that will be coming off the work piece when welding. It was a bit brisk outside with the wind blowing. Not the best conditions for learning to weld but he stuck with it and seemed to be picking it up rather quickly. He'll be coming down at least one more day this week for another lesson. We'll cover some more theory and more welding practice. 

The boy's working his plan - good to see.

Lumberjackin' & Pipe Fittin'

 

Did a bit of lumberjackin' yesterday. Wore my bibs rather than ladies undies, however.

I fired up the new saw and cut some of the old pieces on the rack that were just fine for the old fireplace but too long to use conveniently in the new insert. The short pieces were easy to split that way, which was nice. I brought enough into the house for a couple of nights worth of fires. It's still unseasonably cold at night. It wasn't bad working outside yesterday, though. Temps in the mid-forties, overcast. Just about perfect weather for doing this kind of work. 

Mary Astor is one of my favorite actors. I knew there was a big bruhaha over the custody battle of her little girl way back when, so I bought The Purple Diaries to take along on my trip to Detroit. I wasn't sure if it would be worth reading. It was cheap enough that if it turned out to be like the National Inquirer, I'd just pass it along. Turns out it was a pretty good book and I burned right through it, so I bought The Vagabonds while I was at The Henry Ford. It's about the exploits of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. So far it's a pretty good read.

My grandson called me the other day. He's considering pipefitting as a trade and wants to come down and learn a few things about welding. I've done some pipe fitting and taught pipe welding at the college and pipe fitter apprentices at Amoco years ago. It's a good trade and I'm glad to see he's got an interest in getting started on a decent career. I dug out my old Pipe Fitter's Handbook to give him an idea of what's involved in the trade and I'll get him started on some welding lessons when he comes down.

Surly sent me link to a video of Bobby Unser attacking Pike's Peak in the open wheel car I put up in my last post. He was the master of that race. I think he won it seven times in that car. Short video. Watch it.

Detroit, Second Installment

Whenever I travel I always want to go home, but in this case another couple of days in Detroit would have been good, since that would have meant my fighter was still winning. There's another one from the gym going to the Gloves tonight. I don't know much about him. Apparently, he used to come to the gym for awhile, but not while I was around. He's only recently come back, so I don't give him much of a chance. There'll be at least three more going down in the next few weeks, including the one who just fought in Detroit. I'm pinning my hopes on him to repeat as state champion and then a trip to the national event. We've already lined up some help to deal with the clinching issue. As always, time will tell.

Event Credentials To Add To My Collection

A.J Foyt Sprint Car 

George Bignotti, Mechanic

Bobby Unser's Pikes Peak Car

Just a couple of the cars from the collection at The Henry Ford. I'd like to go back there again when Greenfield village is open. I was able to spend a week there a few years back on a summer workshop program given by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I learned a lot and was able to have access to many things the average visitor couldn't enjoy. 

The NEH offers a variety of one-week and three-week programs. Most of them, as you would expect, are on topics in the humanities, but I was able to attend three of the one-week workshops dealing with the Industrial Revolution. I received a stipend to cover my expenses and all three of them were excellent programs. The deadline for applying has just past for this year, but if you are a K-12 teacher or a college instructor, you might want to keep this in mind for next summer.

Detroit Trip

 

I made it home from Detroit much earlier than I wanted to. My fighter lost his first bout Monday to a tough opponent. Unfortunately, just about every time my guy got inside on him, he would clinch or hold his arm. We definitely have to do something about that. He's now fighting at about the highest level of amateur boxing, so he's going to have to be able to deal with any style his opponent faces him with. We've been getting him some quality sparring but we've been focusing on guys who are good boxers, not guys who clinch and wrestle. He'll be fighting in Indy shortly to defend his state title, so we've got work to do.

Downtown Detroit was nice. Clean and presentable. The top photo is GM headquarters, which is almost right across the street from our hotel. Down just a bit is the Maritime cathedral and the tunnel to Canada. When my buddy Kevin and I ran the Detroit Half Marathon, we ran through the tunnel and past the church and I was humming Edmund Fitzgerald to myself the rest of the way after that.

We went to The Henry Ford museum while we were in the area. I've been there a couple of times before but my fighter hadn't. We had an enjoyable morning gawking at all the cool exhibits and when we finished we made a quick sashay through the gift shop. I saw the Sister Pie book on the shelf and decided it would make a nice addition to the Missus' collection of cookbooks, especially since Sister Pie is located in Detroit. We took a swing by there on our way home and got us some pie. Nice little shop not too far out of our way on our way home. Good pie, which is really hard to find anymore.

Nice little "working" vacation. I wish my guy could have won his bout, but he was facing the number two seed in the next round. Probably wouldn't have gotten past him, but it would have been more valuable experience. Next stop Indy.

McNamara's Band

I should have played this one yesterday. It would have been better to finish the post on a happy note rather than bitchin' about the government. There'll be plenty of time for that the rest of the year.

On my way to Detroit today. We'll find out tomorrow what the schedule will be for the bouts. There are about 30 fighters in his division, so it's going to be a busy week as long as he keeps winning. Coach Jen talked to several of the other Indiana coaches at the Gloves on Thursday night and they all agree he deserves to be in the tournament. If I didn't think so myself, I wouldn't have offered to take him up there. It would have been nice to have Coach Jen along to help out in the corner, but it's not like I can't work it alone. By default, I've ended up being her mentor. I'd like to see her get some more experience, especially at the bigger events. I imagine she's going to be involved in the game for quite a while yet, while I don't know how much longer I'm going to want to travel for a week at a time, unless it's to visit my brothers or another trip overseas. 

Posting will be hit or miss this coming week. I'm not taking my laptop and I haven't figured out how to make a blog post using my phone. In all the years I've been doing this, I've always managed to post at least twice a week. This might break the streak.

 

St. Paddy's Day

 

According to Ancestry I'm only 18% Irish, but often times that's enough to get my dander up. Like when I'm doing my taxes at the same time I hear that the gov is going to bailout the banks that have gone insolvent due to poor decision making - can't have Oprah losing $500 million now can we. So now the stage has been set to bailout every bank that gives away their depositor's money to "woke" causes or makes risky investments, meaning the banking industry has effectively been nationalized.

Happy St. Paddy's Day. Have some corned beef and cabbage, a Guiness and make the best of what's left of the Empire.

Out of Time

 

Coach Jen and I took two guys to the Golden Gloves last night. We should have left earlier - traffic accidents on I-65 backed us up a bit and the first of the two fighters had a blood pressure reading that was a concern when he saw the doctor. The doc had him sit down for a bit and then rechecked him, but by that time it was getting close to the start of the card and he was the fourth bout. I had to hustle to get him dressed and wrap his hands. Jen warmed him up while I was wrapping the second fighter's hands. 

Our guy came out looking pretty good but ended up giving the fight away. It was only his second fight and as the blood pressure indicated, he was a bundle of nerves. Might have done better if we weren't rushed prior to his bout. He's a talented kid, but he definitely needs some more seasoning before he fights in a tournament again. 

The second guy was the one I was concerned about. It was his first fight and you just never know how things are going to turn out. He fought like he was born to it. He did everything right, just not quite enough of it. The one judge stopped us on the way back from the ring and said the scoring was real close and our guy could have won with just a few more punches landing. The kid was real happy with his performance and said he needs better conditioning going forward. I think this guy is going to be one to watch.

Good night out even without a win. Tomorrow I head for Detroit for the Olympic qualifier. I'd love to see him win at least a couple bouts up there. He's really improved since he fought last year in Tulsa in the Nationals, but you never know with the old boxing game.

Little Bit Of Splittin'

Seems there is no end to the surprises that keep coming our way these days. Apparently, what I've been reading about the banking industry has come to pass. I'm not an economist, but if you have your money in the bank and you're getting only .02% interest, and you could pull your money out and earn 4.0%, seems like you would be foolish to keep in the bank, especially if you have millions. If everyone does that, the bank runs out of money real quick, especially since the banks no longer are required to keep any money in reserve. Shouldn't have been too tough to see that coming, but Slow Joe says everything is cool. That's reassuring.

The weather is continuing to be colder than average, so I've been using the fireplace insert most every evening. I haven't fired up the new chainsaw yet, but I have some logs that are short enough, but need to be split. I forgot that my splitting maul needed a handle or I would have looked for one last weekend when we were in Amish country. I do have a splitting maul that has a couple of wedges that fly out upon impact with the log. It works good on smaller diameter logs but not on some of the larger logs, especially some of the stringy elm that I have. I have a couple of wedges for splitting. One of them is a real wood wedge, the other is a fab shop wedge cut from heavy plate. That one needs the top trimmed where it has mushroomed over. I'll take care of that next time I drag the torch out.

I split some logs yesterday using the splitting maul with the fly-out wedges and the regular wedges with a sledge. I noticed two things right off the bat. When I was swinging the maul, it came down off to the right of where I was aiming. Not sure why that is. I used to be pretty good at hitting my target with a sledge. Secondly, it didn't take long for me to realize that I'm not in lumberjacking shape. I knew I'd lost some muscle mass over the last couple of years, now I know the extent of it. Now I need to get to work - work being the operative word.

I've about got my tax stuff ready for my meeting with the tax lady. I've been pretty even tempered this year, mostly because it has become painfully obvious that there's not much hope for any of us in the middle class. Definitely need to make sure I'm pretty much self-sufficient going forward. Food, water, shelter, security, along with physical conditioning. Those are the words to live by now.

Anniversary Show

The Missus and I had a great weekend celebrating our anniversary. We got a package deal with a hotel room, buffet dinner, show tickets, and breakfast buffet as well. We stayed at the Blue Gate Inn in Shipshewana, Indiana, with the theater right next store. The theater is a nice venue, good seats everywhere and not so big that you can't see from the back row, which is where we were.

The Missus has mobility issues and we bought a wheelchair cheap a few years back. I cleaned it up and took it along. I reserved a handicap spot when I bought the tickets, so she sat in her wheelchair and I had an aisle seat right next to her, just inside the door. For the premier outing with her wheelchair, it went nice and smooth. 

The show itself with Postmodern Jukebox was a lot of fun. I've seen quite a few of their YouTube videos but didn't recognize any of the musicians except the one singer. However, we certainly weren't disappointed with any of the performance. The guitar player did a solo number of Mr. Sandman, like the Chet Atkins clip above. He also played the banjo. 

Jabu Graybeal tap danced - he's nothing short of great - but the real surprise of the night was Gunhild Carling.

I'd seen some videos of her before, but she's like the old school "one man band". She played the trumpet, slide trombone, harmonica, did a little bit of tap dancing and sang. While she didn't play the bagpipes last night, she did most everything else in the above video, including playing three trumpets at the same time.

They closed the show with this number. Different personnel, but they went out rockin'. 

The Missus and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. While we still haven't made it to Hawaii, it was a great way to celebrate our anniversary and after a couple of wasted years, we're back out among the unwashed. 

 

Fifty-Two

 

Celebrating 52 years of marriage today. We met in English class as sophomores in high school and married five years later. My current goal is to make 60 years together and if we're lucky enough to make that, reset the goal for an additional five. After that, take it a year at a time, or a day at a time, whatever the good Lord blesses us with.

Happy anniversary, Baby. I love you now more than ever.

Soup

 

Watermelon radishes - pretty things when you slice them open.

Soup made from root veggies from the CSA. I'm getting to be pretty good at making soup from the variety of veggies I get. Some of the vegetables are rather bland, others have very distinct flavors. Some of them cook up pretty quick, others take a while to soften up. Seasonings vary, depending on the vegetables. I used a teaspoon of ginger and Old Bay for this batch. Worked out well. I've been putting at least one serving in the freezer out of every batch I make. It takes awhile to defrost in the microwave but it's a good hearty meal with no other prep work involved and only a couple of dishes to clean up later.

I've been keeping busy piddling around with the to-do list. Nothing really any more exciting than making the soup. Just a couple of days of being a domestic. I used to work with a guy who when asked when he was going to get something done would reply, "As soon as I get back from Detroit." Of course, he never went to Detroit, but in my case, it's the truth. I'll be spending a lot of time out in the shop after I get back from Detroit.

I Want Out

I saw the following at Coyote Prime, one of my daily reads. It pretty much sums up my feelings these days, and I would assume, many other people as well.

“Screw The Way Things Are, I Want Out!”

by Paul Rosenberg

“This is a beautiful planet, filled, in the main, with decent, cooperative humans. And yet, I want out. Give me any kind of functional spaceship and any reasonable chance, and I’ll take it. This place is anti-human. It chokes the best that’s in us, aggressively and self-righteously. I was struck not long ago by a comment of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s, in which he expressed the same kind of feeling: “I ought to have become a star in the sky. Instead of which I have remained stuck on earth…”

All of us who’ve had a moment of transcendence - who made some type of contact with what is truly the best inside ourselves - have also sensed that life in the current world is incompatible with it. I think we should stop burying that understanding beneath piles of “that’s the way things are,” “we should be realistic,” and “you can’t fight City Hall.”

Screw the way things are, screw “realistic,” and screw City Hall too. I was made for better things than this, and you were too.

Everywhere I turn, some kind of ruler, sub-ruler, enforcer, regulator, or “right-thinking” quasi-enforcer demands not only my money but also for me to make myself easy to punish, thus showing myself to be a good subservient. That’s not just wrong; it’s a disease. I don’t care whether such people are “following orders,” “just doing their job,” or whatever else they tell themselves to soothe their rightly troubled souls. That mode of living is perverse, and these people are enforcing a disease.

Let me make this part very clear: The desire to control others is disease; it is corruption. Willing controllers are a morally inferior class. And the truly deranged thing is that these people rule the world! Forget about why this is so - we can debate that later - focus rather on the utter insanity of this: A minority of moral defectives, who think extortion is a virtue, rule people who are happy to live and let live, by force.

That’s outright lunacy. And to support the lunacy, we have lies, intimidation, and slogans: “In a democracy, you’re really ruling yourself,” “Only crazy people disagree,” “It’s always been this way,” and so on. To all of which I reply, How stupid do you think we are? You drilled that crap into us when we were children, but we’re not children anymore. And if “our way” isn’t as bad as North Korea, that makes it right? Only to a fool.

And the results of “the way it’s always been”… my God, the results… A study from the 1980s found that since 3600 BC, the world has known only 292 years of peace. During this period there have been 14,531 wars, large and small, in which 3.6 billion people have been killed.

This is what I’m supposed to serve with all my heart and soul? A Bronze Age system that can’t keep itself from slaughter? We’re talking about a 5,600-year track record of mass death, and yet fundamental change is considered unthinkable? Well, screw that too, because I think deep, fundamental change is called for, and was called for a long time ago.

Again, this is a wonderful planet and most of the people on it are decent, but it is ruled by insanity, and I want out. Yes, I know, there’s really nowhere to go. Every place I might go is dominated by the same diseased model, and dissent is punished the same, and in some places worse. That’s one of the reasons space appeals to me; it gives me a chance to escape this madness.

I’ll draw this to a close with a passage from C. Delisle Burns’s wonderful "The First Europe," describing why the Roman Empire collapsed: “Great numbers of men and women were unwilling to make the effort required for the maintenance of the old order, not because they were not good enough to fulfill their civic duties, but because they were too good to be satisfied with a system from which so few derived benefit.”

I, for one, am unwilling to expend any effort to maintain the present order. It is by its nature incompatible with the best that is in us, and always will be. Those of us who want to be more and better cannot support the current order without opposing what’s best in ourselves. Screw that.”

                                                 https://www.freemansperspective.com/

America Needs You, Harry Truman

 

Now more than ever. I'm thinking this is going to be my theme song for the year. Every time I turn around there's more bad news with more on the horizon. And it's tax time, which never helps my disposition. 

On a positive note, the workout with the boxers went well yesterday, and least with those who showed up. Looks like I'll be going to the first night of the Gloves. Jimmy can't make it, so I'll be manning the spit bucket once again. We've got two guys fighting that night. I don't know much about one of them, but we've been working quite a bit with the other and he's shown a lot of improvement. However, this will be only his second fight, so nerves will play a big role.

Fast approaching the 52nd wedding anniversary for the Missus and I. This is from a quote I posted in 2011:

Don't you know that love isn't just going to bed? Love isn't an act, it's a whole life. It's staying with her now because she needs you; it's knowing you and she will still care about each other when sex and daydreams, fights and futures -- when all that's on the shelf and done with. Love -- why, I'll tell you what love is: it's you at seventy-five and her at seventy-one, each of you listening for the other's step in the next room, each afraid that a sudden silence, a sudden cry, could mean a lifetime's talk is over.

And that's about the truth of it, especially with some of the medical issues we've dealt with and the cooties scare of the last couple of years. Things are going pretty well currently, however. Have to expect a few bumps in the road during 52 years together. We're both looking forward to our upcoming get away. It won't be Hawaii, but should be fun.

Sparring

 

Coach Jen and I took our fighter to American Top Team in Indy yesterday for some sparring work - good day for him. He sparred ten rounds with five different fighters, including two pros. He's looking better every time he gets in the ring. I'm hoping he can do well in Detroit, but you never know how things will go. He could draw the toughest fighter in the tournament and be out the first round. However, with a little bit of luck he could make it through three or four rounds. Making it to the final round might be a little unrealistic, but the kid belongs there, just the same.

We've got another workout scheduled this morning. Golden Gloves starts on the 16th. We'll find out then how much our hard work will pay off. My biggest question is their conditioning. Most of these guys won't run even if you put a gun to their head.

Snow Day

 

Snowy day yesterday. Started off with rain early and then switched to a wet snow. One of those snowfalls with the big flakes that built up pretty quick once the temperature dropped a bit. We had a total snow fall of about 5 inches. I stayed in the shack all day except when I went out to get the mail, check on the birds and bring some more firewood in. I had about a 1/2" of snow build-up on my coat by the time I finished the chores. 

My running buddy/fellow boxing coach and I took our fighter to the Hammond Boxing Club Thursday evening for some sparring. He went six rounds with two of their boxers, and looked real good in the process. His sparring partners were no slouches, either. All the work we've been doing with him seems to be paying off. There's still some fine tuning to be done, but hopefully, he'll look good in Detroit.

Depending on the road conditions this morning, we're supposed to head down to Indy again for some more sparring. I don't care to venture out on the roads any more when they're icy and snowing, however. I might have to sit this one out.

Windows

The window guys showed up yesterday. Three guys on the crew, knew what they were doing and kept their feet moving. Real happy with the results. Should help quite a bit with the energy costs, on top of looking a lot better. In the small world department, one of the installers had taken classes at the community college where I used to work. He was in the CNC class with me where we made the Kawasaki exhaust flanges I conned the instructor into making as a student project.

Surly sent me a short clip about the "Iron Grandpa". Right up my alley. Remember the Satchel Paige quote: "If someone asked you how old you were and you didn't know your age, how old would you think you were?

Looking Back & The Present

 

The One Drive on my computer shows me images that are "this day in history". This one is from my trip to Ireland four years ago. That's the Blarney Stone up there where the two people are. Before going to Ireland I just assumed the Blarney Stone was just some big rock somewhere. Instead, it's a stone inlaid into the wall of the Blarney castle. Yours truly took the opportunity to kiss the stone, just the same. I received an e-mail recently from one of the sister companies, either Cosmos or Globus, that included a trip to both Northern Ireland and The Free Republic of Ireland. I sure wouldn't mind going back there.

I ran my errands yesterday that I had to postpone from Monday due to the storm. I bought myself a chainsaw while I was out and I met with my insurance agent. I also checked out a new bank. It's a community bank, which I know very little about. The lady at the bank didn't enlighten me much on what community banks are and how they compare to other banks, so I'm still pretty much in the dark. I've been reading some concerning things about the banking industry and a community bank might be the answer. This is going to require some more investigation.

I unboxed the carb for the jitney yesterday, mostly just to see how it was going to look on the manifold. That's as far as it went, though. We got the call that our new windows were coming today, so I had to move some furniture and a few other things. Even though it's late winter, we should get enough cold weather yet to get an idea as to their efficiency. With the new windows and the fireplace insert, the heating bill should be drastically reduced in the future. If not, I'm going to be mighty disappointed.