Welding Jobs, Guerrilla Warfare

 I received an email from McCarthy Search out of Culver City, California with a job posting for a welding instructor at Lincoln Tech in Melrose Park, Illinois. I don't know how they got my contact info, but I did look at the job posting and I definitely meet their requirements. Shortly thereafter, I received another email from the same outfit with several welding job postings. All of these are in Illinois as well. I'm not in the market for a job and all of these are too far away to commute, but if someone is looking for a job, either as an instructor or a welder, you might want to check these out. And don't forget, the submarine builders are looking for welders that can pass a background check and a welding test.

Royal Enfield has a new model: the Guerrilla. It uses the same motor as the new Himalayan model. 452 cc displacement and it's liquid cooled, a first for Enfield. According to the review I read, it's a capable mid-size bike that should be competitively priced here in the US. The price here hasn't been determined but depending on how fancy you go, it will retail for about 5,400 Euros with the Euro and dollar exchange rate close to being even, should be a bargain here.

Fairly busy day yesterday. The septic tank guy was here about 8:00, when he finished up I went to the grocery and bank, haircut after that. 

I sharpened up the spare mower blades later in the afternoon. The 9" grinder makes short work of the sharpening process but it'll give you forearms like Popeye if you use it on a regular basis. 

I managed to get the motor bolted into the vintage trials bike frame. I set the motor on the floor jack and got the top rear mounting bolt in place and then lowered it down into place. Between sharpening the blades and picking the motor up, my chest was a little sore later on that evening. I've been rubbing some Voltaren on the chest when I've aggravated it and that takes care of the soreness. It's been a long time since I tore the muscles, might be as good as it gets. Not going to like it, but I can live with it if I have to.

The Missus brought home something else for me to work on - going to take some rust removal and some work to get the seat shaft to break free so it'll revolve like it should. It would be handy to have casters on it, but I can picture the old girl falling off of it if there are casters underneath it. I'll get some rubber tips for it instead. It should look nice when cleaned up and painted. I'd like to see a padded and upholstered top on it. That'll be up to her, however.

Try a Little Tenderness

 

One of the greatest soul singers of all time. Died way too young at the age of 26 in an airplane crash. 

Did a little walking yesterday morning, picked up my veggies, went to the boxing gym and did a little work on the double end and speed bags, and then went to watch Coach Jen play softball. The tourney was in support of Mission 22, the name stemming from the fact that a veteran commits suicide every 22 minutes. In addition to the Mission 22 people, there were a couple of other groups there who offer help to those considering suicide. Good day for softball, just a shame so many people risk their lives for their country, only to die by their own hand later.

I made the bracket to hold the ham radio antenna when it's in the down position on the truck. Nothing much to it - a couple pieces of scrap aluminum and a bit of machine work and welding. One off the list.

More Bronson

A little short Michael Parks' tune. He did quite a bit of singing, something like four albums to his credit. The above tune has an Arlo Guthrie vibe to it by my ear. Of course, that's the ear with a dead spot in part of the range and tinnitus across all of it. But I've been bit hard by the Bronson bug. Not hard enough to buy the 2 CD set of all the tunes used on the show for $200 on eBay.

 But I did spring $15 for the movie. One of these nights soon, instead of watching Perry Mason reruns, I'll settle in with some popcorn and an adult beverage and watch Bronson. Instead of doing the scooter cannonball next year, maybe a trip on the Sportster, Bronson style. The biggest impediment to traveling any distance is the small gas tank. That only has about a 100-mile range. Nothing that can't be dealt with, however. Reason enough to get it done as far as that goes.

The gas line in the photo is for my whole house generator. The gas guys came out not too long ago and plumbed in a line and checked everything out, however, the line they put in is stiff tubing. With the line I picked up yesterday, it'll be easy to switch out the line between the two extra tanks I've got if the big tank out back runs dry. The big computer glitch the other day once again pointed out the need to be ready for who knows what. Now if the grid goes down, I'll be able to stay in the shack and watch my Bronson movie.

Coach Jen sent me some info for a 5K at the end of August. It's relatively close, and there's a walking class, so I started training yesterday with a bit of race walking. My cardio is terrible, as is my form, but I'm shooting for a 40 minute 5K as long as I train diligently. Not even close to my time when I was a contender, but that's OK. Now I'll be working on strength training and cardio, which is what I should be doing on a regular basis. Actually, all of us should be.   

County Fair

I went to the health club again yesterday, took it easy, and if I keep working at it I might have respectable looking biceps by Christmas. It definitely won't be tomorrow or the next day, however. After the health club visit I had lunch with Coach Jen and a mutual friend of ours. He's in law enforcement and offered some insights on the Trump assassination attempt - interesting. As always, I really enjoy when the three of us get together for lunch. 

After lunch it was off to the fair. Allis-Chalmers was well represented this year. This is a WD 45 - basically the same as my Allis only with some more horsepower. However, I'd like to have one of these bucket set-ups for mine. Be nice for keeping the lane in good shape, moving snow in the winter and picking up heavy things. There are a lot of these old Allis-Chalmers for sale. I've been considering looking for one with a bucket, buying it and then selling mine. 

Same tractor only with diesel power. My brother had one of these back in the sixties. He bought older tractors and equipment and then traded up as he picked up more acreage and made some money. I think he still has either a WD or a WD45, probably just for sentimental reasons. 

Case traction engine. I'd like to see this thing run. I've seen many of them in operation over the years but I never get tired of watching anything steam powered run. If I never bring anything else home to work on in the next few years, finish about 20 projects, I'd like to build a small-scale steam powered train.

As I was heading for the truck I ran across a blacksmith. There's a blacksmith shop on the grounds but there hasn't been anyone working there since I quit doing it in 2011. The smith is Bryce Vernon from Adamsville, Ohio. He had a few minutes to talk shop with me and explained he travels from fair to fair in the summer months. I don't know how lucrative this is, but he's a young guy practicing his craft and keeping the trade alive. 

According to his business card, he specializes in hand forged knives and art smithing. Looking at the items on display on the table, he does nice work. Unfortunately, I neglected to ask him where he was heading to next, but if you see him at your local fair, tell him Shop Teacher Bob sent you. And then show your support for a young craftsman with the purchase of a hand-made item. 

Ship Building

 

I started the blog in May of 2018, and I believe this is the first time I've posted a Johnny Winter song. If I was planning on driving a long trip, I'd put together a collection of Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher and Roy Buchanan to keep my eyes wide open for the late-night drive. Hard driving blues and some amazing guitar work.

On a totally different subject from hard driving blues, but going right along with the current topic of government incompetence, there's an article in the current Epoch Times about the sorry state of affairs of ship building and maintenance: 

"the Navy estimates that there is a 20-year backlog of maintenance and repair work that has left much of our fleet undeployable."

"And a 2023 Navy report revealed that we are more than 400 months (33 years) behind in building the Virginia class attack subs that will be replacing our near-end-of-life Los Angeles class attack subs that have been so critical to maintaining our national security"

If they're 33 years behind schedule, will they be obsolete when they finally get built? I mentioned in a post not too long ago of a car on the NASCAR circuit sponsored by buildsubmarines.com. So, it at least looks like the gov is trying to get a handle on it, but they need people and shipyards both according to the article. I don't know what it the hell the government has been spending all of their ginormous military budget on, but somebody needs a first-class ass kicking to have allowed this sorry state of affairs to happen.

On a related subject, I stopped by the college today and the boss man was getting ready to go into a meeting to help determine what the situation will be with the shop being off limits to us for a few weeks. It looks like we might be able to use a high school shop one night a week and the college class room the other night. The high school is a pretty good jaunt from my house, but I'm thinking that would be a good trade off to get the students actual welding practice. How are you going to build submarines if you don't have qualified welders?

Muscles

 Since the chest has been healing up, I decided it was time to start exercising again. I walked four miles Sunday morning with Coach Jen and then hit the health club. I took it nice and easy doing some "strength" training and then a couple of easy rounds on the heavy bag. During our walk we discussed what would be the best plan for me, since other than the bicycling, I'm starting from scratch. One of the things she suggested was looking into functional exercises. I'd never heard of these before, but from what she told me and what I came up with after an internet search, definitely looks like something I should look into a little more.

Coincidentally, the latest Epoch Times has an article on the importance of muscle mass to longevity and overall health for an old fart like me. As a runner, cyclist and boxing coach, I've kept myself in fairly good shape over the years and I know what works for me. Now though, since I still don't know what my chest is going to allow going forward and the old body ain't what it used to be, I need to get a decent plan of action. Also, at my age what is a decent fitness level? I don't need "show" muscles but I do want to be able to do the regular chores that are required around the old homestead and be able to deal with something unexpected like the tree that came down the other day. And, if I get back into some sort of decent condition, maybe find some event to train for.

I'll keep researching functional exercises and start trying to regain some of my lost muscle. Seems the benefits of having some muscles go way beyond being able to lift heavy things - longevity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and more. So, when you're watching cartoons and eating Fruit Loops on Saturday mornings, you might want to do a few sit-ups and push-ups when the commercials come on. 

Crappy Day

 Actually, it was a beautiful day. It's just that I started off the day cleaning the cat's litter box, then shoveled out the hen house and finished with the dog's "poop" park. 

I'm down to only four chickens now. The last Rhode Island Red died the other day. I don't know how old she actually was, but had to be close to 100 in chicken years. I got her and three others from a student at the college in 2016. I don't know how old they were at that time, but she made it at least ten years.

 

The muffler, such as it is, for the jitney project arrived a few days ago. It's a loose fit in the 3" tube with no obvious way of keeping it in the tube. I need to make something I can weld on to it that will hold it snug, so it doesn't rattle, and won't restrict the flow either. Maybe something as simple as welding a couple of nuts onto the spiral blades and drilling holes in the outer tube to bolt it in.

In addition to the muffler, I bought the rear brakes and Speedway sent along a '55 Chevy sticker set, a Speedway bumper sticker and a set of Speedway playing cards celebrating their 70th anniversary. Nice of them to send that along, because if it's one thing I need more of, it's ephemera.

I repaired the flat tire on the bicycle the other day with a new tube. The old tube had been patched twice already. Put in 5 miles each of the last two days - going walking this morning with Coach Jen. She's a personal trainer and I want to get her opinion on a couple of fitness things. I'm going to be 74 in a couple of months. I'm not in as good of shape as I want to be, but how good of shape should a guy my age actually be? By what metric is that determined? Going to cautiously start a bit of strength training this week. She should be able to shed a little light on all of this.

Life is good, other than the big storm, the weather has been ideal by my reckoning. Getting caught up on the yard work and a few other odd jobs. Not so sure what to think about the assassination attempt. Looks like the truth of what actually occurred will be like the Kennedy assassination - we'll never know. I don't like to discuss politics here, but I have to say, Trump is a tough old bird. They've done everything they can to destroy the man, including shooting him, but he's like a Timex: "Takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'." 

 

Bronson

 

Famous opening of Then Came Bronson

Michael Parks was in an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger I saw the other morning. Every time I see him in something I always think of him in his role as Bronson. The movie and the later television series featured him riding around the country on his Sportster, unless the going got rough and then his Sportster changed into a Sprint. I bought my Sprint about the time the show came on, but I really wanted a Sportster. I graduated from high school in '68, and was all about motorcycles back then, so the TV series was right in my wheelhouse. 

ESPN played the movie a few years ago, but I wasn't able to find it on YouTube. However, the movie's available on DVD but no-one has brought out the tv series that I'm aware of. If it's out there, I'd buy a copy. There was a Then Came Bronson paperback that came out back then capitalizing on the popularity of the show. Brother Johnny bought a copy and I remember reading it.

This gives you the run-down on all the bikes in the series. Three different models of Harley Davidsons - Sportster, Sprint and Rapido. Just so happens I've got at least one of all of those. I didn't realize one of the bikes was a CZ, or that Harley sold Bronson Red paint as a factory color. The clip's about nine minutes long. If you're a fan of the show or it was before your time but you're a motorcyclist, check it out.  

Storm Damage

 

We've had some interesting weather as of late. Storm over the weekend but the real bell ringer came in on Monday night. Big line of storms that was moving through at about 70-80 mph and spun up quite a few tornadoes. Fortunately, we didn't get hit too badly. We never lost power, which I found surprising. Losing power is not the concern it once was, since we got the generator installed, but like all things mechanical, you just never know.

The sirens were going off, so we got our shoes on and made ready to head to the basement. We lost the TV feed, so I turned on the national weather service on the radio. I recommend everyone having a battery-operated radio with weather channels for these storm events.

I got up yesterday morning and took a walk around the house to check for damage and I didn't notice anything other than the persimmon tree had a big branch breaking off the top. However, I went out later to take some mail down to the mailbox and found the driveway blocked by one of the Hawthorne trees that had blown down. I fired up the chainsaw and got the drive opened up. Lots of sweat with all the humidity. Plus, I'm just not used to working hard since my chest has been bothering me. Surprisingly enough though, with the sawing and pulling and tugging, my chest didn't bother me afterwards. 

Once I got the drive opened up I called the tree trimmer, who stopped by later. He's swamped right now due to the storm, but he said he should be able to make it out next week. I'm going to have him cut down the other Hawthorne tree while he's here, trim up a couple of other trees and grind the stumps. 

It's going to be a bit of expense, but we've had worse. And we made it through in a lot better shape than many folks from what the tree trimmer related. Once again, a good time to count our blessings.  

Lever, Oil & Battery

 

Started making the actual shifter lever. I was going to bend up the lever and tack it together but it was 90 degrees with a heat index of about 100 degrees yesterday. That plus my chest is feeling better but I don't want to screw things up again by pulling on the handle of the bender. The lever itself is only 1/2" in diameter but it needs a "U" shaped bend after it leaves the part that slips over the transfer shaft to clear the foot peg shaft. For the right-angle bend where my toes will go, I'll heat that up to make it easy to bend so I don't screw up the machined end for the rubber piece. 

The oil for the Sportster showed up a couple of days ago. I'm thinking I shouldn't have to buy much of anything else now. I just need to drag it out and finish it up. I might need a little professional help to answer a couple of questions, but it'll get done.

The replacement battery for the cordless drill came yesterday. Actually, it was a two pack. I don't have any idea how well the new ones will do but if they're junk, I won't be out much. I looked at the DeWalt site and they didn't have an 18 volt listed. Instead, they have a 20 volt and an adaptor. I didn't want to invest too much in the battery, since the drill is probably 10 years old and if I spend a bunch the switch will go next. In fact, I thought about just getting a new drill, but I've got a driver tool that came in a set when I bought the drill. If I bought a new drill, I'd still need a battery for the driver tool. So I'll charge up the new batteries and see if they're worth anything. 

There's hardly a day goes by that I don't use the drill. As far as I'm concerned, the guy who invented the cordless drill should have received the Nobel Prize. These things rank right up there with the invention of moveable type and indoor plumbing in my book.

Big Sandwich and Mower Repair

 

Take home part of the tenderloin from the other day - should've put something in there besides the tater tots for scale. Big sandwich, trust me. 

I was finishing up mowing the backyard Thursday evening when the blades quit turning and smoke from burning rubber started coming out from the mower deck. I took a peek and could see a couple of pieces of a branch that had lodged in the pulleys. I pulled them out and engaged the deck again but no go, so yesterday I pulled it into the garage and took a good look. The belt had come off one of the pulleys, of which there are many, so I took the covers off the two outside ones to improve access and rounded up a couple of tools. 

Remembering the quote from Archimedes, I got a pry bar and a pair of vise grips for my lever and fulcrum, used those to compress the spring on the idler pulley, used to my ass to keep pressure on the bar and reached in and put the belt back on the pulley. 

After putting the tools away and sweeping up, I took the Himalayan out for a short spin. It hadn't been started since October, but it's been on the battery tender and the gas had been treated with Sta-Bil. It fired right up and down the road I went. It was on the center stand for storage, but I just put it on the side stand when I got home. I aggravated the chest last week and I didn't want to make things any worse by trying to rock the bike back on the center stand. I worked on a part for the trials bike on the mill later on and the chest was a little sore after cranking on the handle to move the table.  

The quick-change I need for the Jitney project, remember the Jitney?, is still backordered at Speedway, but I ordered a brake kit and a muffler just the same. The brake kit will fit on a 9" Ford rear if I get tired of waiting for the quick-change, which time is fast approaching. The muffler I ordered looks like a grain auger that fits inside the 3" exhaust pipe - should quiet it down enough to be a good neighbor. I also ordered some oil for the Sportster. Might have to postpone any work on that one for a while longer to give the chest a chance to heal --- again.

Two Stops For Gas

 

Cuzzin Ricky and I traveled in the drizzling rain to the welding supply yesterday morning. We got a fair amount of rain by us but there was a lot of standing water when we got about 30 miles from home. There were a couple of spots where the water was across the road but nothing to be alarmed about. Picked up the fresh tank and then stopped at One Eyed Jack's for lunch.

Tenderloins come with a choice of fries or tater tots - Rick and I both opted for the tater tots. Pretty heavy on the breading and the meat wasn't pounded real thin but it's a big ole sandwich. I just ate around the edges and some of the tater tots and brought the complete sandwich home. Rick said he's on a tenderloin Facebook group, so he's going to pick out a couple other places for us to try. We also talked about a couple of trips. He'd like to go to the Grand Canyon, as would I, and we still need to get to Hawaii. A trip to Hawaii would probably be a better idea than riding the Scooter Cannonball.

When I take the highway east of town, there are oodles of prime farm ground that has been converted to solar farms. I'm not all in on the idea, myself, but there must be a lot of money changing hands to convince all those farmers to give up their crop land. Someone across the street from One Eyed Jack's agrees with me. 

 

The building on the left in the top photo shows Mammoth Solar on the corner, but right next store is the Pulaski County Against Solar office. I was amused. Sign in the window said the number of acres recorded with solar companies as of July 1st is 26,000. That I don't find amusing. Has to be a better way. 

Good day on the road, though. Beautiful weather on the return trip.

People Get Ready

 

There's lots of prepper talk out there these days covering all the basic topics - food, water, security, finance, physical fitness - but not much talk about getting right with God. I'm not comfortable discussing religion on the blog or in person, because I feel that's something that's between you and your maker. However, I've been reading some things about the role religion has been playing in what's occurring in our society these days and it's not necessarily good news. Might want to think about what role religion plays in your own life.

I did a bit of work on the vintage trials bike, aka the Rickati, Monday. I reamed out the tubing for the bushings for the shifter linkage, shown in the lower part of the photo. After getting the frame welded up I'll have to do it again to correct for shrinkage/distortion. I also drilled the swingarm nut and the frame for safety wire. The nut's drilled in two places. I wired it up just for the photo. If I take this thing to an AHRMA event, I don't know what if anything needs to be safety wired. When I entered the road racer, most anything with oil behind it had to be wired. I had damn near every nut on the bike wired. The shock studs are too short to get a lock washer or nut on them, so I'll drill those for wire, and, of course, the axle nuts need to be pinned or safety wired.

I was planning on drilling the nut with the cordless drill, but seems it no longer holds a charge for any length of time. The drill is a DeWalt, so a replacement battery is available. I'll get one ordered in the next day or so.

The ham radio club is having a "Ham Fest" August 11th. As I understand it, for a small town this is a pretty big event with some big-name vendors to be on hand. If you're interested in ham radio and you're close to NW Indiana, mark your calendars. I'll be posting details later.

Cuzzin Ricky and I are road tripping today in search of an acetylene tank and pork tenderloin sandwiches. The acetylene tank is a small "MC" that I can't get filled locally. I use this for my air-acetylene outfit that I use for soldering. As long as I remember to turn the tank off when I'm done, this one should be good for my lifetime.

I got an email from my boss at the college the other day. Seems the construction on the new exhaust system is not going to be finished in time for classes to begin. Looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in the classroom rather than out in the shop for a few weeks. If I had known that I wouldn't have been so eager to sign on for another tour. I think I've got a copy of all the material I used at the high school and what I used when I taught the class at the college. Time to dig all that stuff out and put together a plan. Either that or dig out the tap shoes and start working on a routine.

Shape of Things to Come

 

I don't know if there even is a President's Council on Physical Fitness anymore, but if so, they aren't having much effect. And with the upcoming election, maybe there should be a Council on the President's Mental Fitness.

Since my chest injury, I've gained some weight. Riding the recliner rather than the bicycle that should have been a foreseeable outcome. Especially since I've never met a cookie I didn't like. I was going to start heading back to the gym this week, but I aggravated the chest injury the other day. Not a serious setback but a reminder I really need to think before acting. I'll take it easy for a couple more days and then start on the program. However, I'm going to have eye surgery one of these days and that'll set me back again. Because of that, rather than thinking what's the use of hitting the gym now, I need to think about building muscle like making deposits in the bank - build up an emergency fund now while I'm able. 

I walked three miles Saturday morning and rode the bike five miles yesterday morning. I don't know how much effort I want to put into training for 5k events anymore, but I do need to stay healthy and the only way to accomplish that is to exercise on a regular basis. Don't have any specific plan at the moment, but definitely need to do some strength training and some cardio both. 

Making progress on my groundskeeper duties - lot more to do yet but getting there. Got some work done in the shop Sunday - repaired the ceiling from the raccoon damage and washed the windows as long as I had the ladder out. The windows could use a coat of paint on the inside, so that went on the list. Hoping to make some serious progress on the vintage trials bike this week, just no heavy lifting. Planning on getting the Himalayan out this week as well. It's July and haven't been on it all year - no bueno.

Things are definitely screwed up in this country now, but other than some aches and pains, things on the home front are good. I just need to pause once in a while and count my blessings.  

When Duct Tape Won't Do

 

Break out the safety wire. I had a blowout on the gizmo on the strap on my bib overalls. It should have a little clip on the end of it that allows it to spring open a bit to slip over the stud and then closes up around it. The little clip went somewhere so I got out the safety wire and pliers put the gizmo on the stud and then wired it closed. I normally leave the other side fastened all the time and take off the repaired side when taking the bibs off, now I'll have switch sides but that's not much off an issue. 

Electronics Plus

 

I would guess that applies to the smart phones and computers as well. I don't do much with my phone other than talking to a few people, but I do use it to text. I have it set up so it rings only if the number is in my directory. I had to do that after receiving calls about Medicare insurance and other silliness. I do spend quite a bit of time on the computer - usually an hour or so in the morning feeding my paranoia, then a little time during the middle of the day checking my e-mail, and then another hour or so in the evening working on my blog and checking a few others. 

When I was out running around the other day, I bought another 10mm combination wrench. I needed one when I was installing the radio and couldn't find mine. I have one with an open end on one end and a ratcheting box on the other end, but I don't know what I did with the regular combination wrench. I don't remember when the last time I used it. I could have misplaced it when I was sorting all the tools I received from my sister-in-law not too long ago. It's rare that I lose tools but if you're going to work on most anything these days, a 10mm wrench is essential.

The 10-32 machine screws are just to have in stock. When I first moved here about 25 years ago, neither of the hardware stores locally carried anything fine thread. One of the stores has since closed up and the other one has changed their inventory to include some fine thread stuff, but I like to keep a good supply of hardware here at the shack. Gas is almost $4.00/gallon again, so a trip to the hardware store for a couple of machine screws costs close to $4.00. Both of the packages in the photo were less than that, so might as keep a little inventory, not to mention the time involved. 

Going walking this morning - weather should be nice and I need to start training for a race walk in about six weeks.  

Independence Day

 

Independence Day today - might be time for version two. The first time around was due to a 2% tax on tea. The founders, if they were to come back around, would surely wonder why they bothered putting their lives and the lives of their families at risk for what we have allowed to happen.

I don't have any plans for the day - no shake, rattle or rollin' for me. Might get into the kitchen and rattle the pots and pans, though. No plans for barbecuing anything on the grill or even watching fireworks. 

Spent the better part of yesterday on the road. Grocery shopping at two different locations, Menards for some concrete blocks and a couple 16"x16" patio blocks to set the extra propane tanks on for the generator. The guys from the gas company got me set up with a copper tube to connect to a tank, but I think some type of flexible line would be a good addition. That way I wouldn't have to move the tanks around when the first one runs dry. I would guess if I need the extra tanks, the power will have been out for a few days and there won't be any place open to refill them. Rather than trying to move them around in the snow or rain, it'll be a lot easier to just move the hose. 

I also dropped off the helicopter tanks yesterday. He's got another welding job for me in the future. There's a tubular driveshaft that powers the tail rotor that needs another short tube slid inside it, then welded around the end and a couple of plug welds. He has a TIG welder there, so it would be an easy job. He had the tail structure clamped in place when I was there, so I could see what it will look like when completed. Looks like it will be fun.

Enjoy the 4th and stay safe.

Installation Complete

 

I had the radio on in the shop yesterday and this song came on. It was the Led Zepplin version, one of my favorite tunes by them, but I prefer the Willie Dixon version. In fact, I'm of the opinion there should be at least one Willie Dixon tune on the radio every day.

One of the reasons I was in the shop was to repair the sprayer I broke when I turned too sharply with the mower. Fortunately, I'm usually able to repair my screw-ups without involving anyone else. When I mentioned I needed to weld it, the Missus asked if I knew any good welders - everyone's a comedian. It did get me to thinking, though. I'm a good welder and a fair machinist, but now with the grandson learning the welding trade and Surly being a Cracker Jack machinist, when the time comes I can't do that sort of work, I've got a couple of craftsmen I'll be able to call on.

In addition to spraying the front yard, I finished the radio installation in the truck. The club president programmed it for me but I don't really know what all that means. I did hear some Morse code on it after I turned on, so I know it works, but I've got a big learning curve ahead of me to figure out all the features. 

Between the club president getting me set up with the radio and accessories, and everything I had at the shop, I only had to make one trip to the hardware store. I bought some self-adhesive clips to route the power wire along the firewall to the battery. Everything worked out for a real neat installation, even if I do say so myself.

The weather Saturday was hot and very humid. I had sweat dripping off my nose while I was hooking up the wires to the radio. Yesterday it was about 20 degrees cooler with a big drop in the humidity. Today is supposed to be cool again, so more yard work and shop clean-up.