Lovely Weather For Tinkering.

 

Nice day yesterday - sunny and about 45 degrees. Rather windy but a good day to be out in the shop.

I welded and painted the boot scraper, machined a slot in the angle for the combination square bracket and then tackled the cable repair on the TIG welder. It took a little fooling around but I got it working again. I didn't try putting the cover back on the hose and power fitting. Instead, I just wrapped it with electrical tape. Now that I know it's repaired, I'll see if I can get it back on over the clamp I used. 

I checked the Everlast website and priced out the 25 foot torch. - the one I want is $159.00. Not cheap, but probably worth the investment. 

Back in the Saddle

 

The weather warmed up a bit so I spent a little time in the shop over the weekend. When I went out there Saturday morning I noticed a coffee can of fittings had been knocked off the shelf, meaning once again a raccoon was in there. I caught one about two months ago, which was kind of a surprise. In the past, they always showed up late spring. Anyway, I set the trap Saturday and there was a raccoon in it on Sunday. I'll set the trap again today. I still can't figure out how they're getting in, however.

I had a little job I wanted to use my air-acetylene torch for but once again, I couldn't get the bottle turned on. I don't know what they use to tighten the valves at the plant when they refill them, but the last one I tried to open up, the stem broke when I tightened up the vise grips on it. Not wanting to do that again, I drilled a hole in a piece of flat stock and filed it square with a nice snug fit so I wouldn't round it off. It worked, but that valve was tight. 

Once upon a time, in a land far away, I made a couple of pieces that were the start of a boot scraper. They've been gathering dust with my smithing tools for quite a while, but if I'm ever going to get things organized around here, need to get rid of the half-finished projects - either finish them or scrap them. I know someone who could use this, so as soon as I get it welded and painted, down the road it goes.

However, while trying to tack the thing together with the TIG, I once again had trouble with the gas flow on the welder. I decided not to go any further until I finally figured out what the hell the problem is. Come to find out, there's a break in the hose allowing the gas to escape before it makes it to the torch. The power cable has a braided covering over the power cable which runs inside the gas hose. I found the spot where the hose had ruptured but it was hidden by the braided covering. Since it's close to the fitting that goes into the machine, I might be able to shorten the hose up and get it fixed. If not, I'll buy a new torch lead. I should have bought the longer one when I bought the machine anyway.  

Gypsy Jazz With a Side of Fireball

 

Gypsy Jazz is still alive and well, as it should be. Django Reinhardt is the originator of much of this sound. His unique method of playing was a result of having been severely burned and losing the use of two fingers on his left hand. One of these days I'm going to make a CD of Gypsy Jazz. Either that or buy another MP3 player and record a bunch of it.

My new combination square from Fireball Tools showed up yesterday. It wasn't cheap and I don't know how much use I'll get out of it at this point in my life, but I'm sure the grandson will be able to get a lot of use out of it when I move on to the big fab shop in the sky. The square is 2" wide and offers a lot of room to clamp it down during use. It also is tapped along the edges to fasten small plates to hold parts in alignment. I could have used something like this 100s of times over the years. If you're a young guy, stop spending your money on cigarettes and beer and invest in good tools that will last you a lifetime. This would be a good place to start.

I went to Coach Jen's place Wednesday evening to help out. I worked mitts with the boxers - worked on form, footwork, combinations and speed. No chest pain afterwards, just a little arm weary. I really enjoy my time in the gym - good for both my physical and mental health.  

Sandhill Cranes & Cold Weather

 

Sandhill Cranes circling in the cold sunshine. If I could fly, I would head south rather than flying around here when the weather's zero or below. 

Whenever it's this cold my paranoia flares up and I get a little concerned about the furnace quitting, the power going out, or some other issue that's going to have me freezing to death. It used to be the big worry during one of these cold snaps was making sure the vehicle was going to start in the morning. Unless you were able to park in a heated garage, you'd put a light under the hood with a blanket over it to trap the heat, or a dipstick heater, or go out in the cold a couple of times during the night and start it up. I finally bought block heaters for the last couple of my daily drivers. Set the heater controls to defrost and in the morning the windshield would be clear of frost and within about 10 seconds the heater was blowing warm air. And when I got to work I'd run an extension cord outside and plug the vehicle in so it would be warm when it was time to go home. That was a real blessing when I was driving the big Econoline.  

The new fuel injected vehicles start right up, regardless of the temperature. No pumping the accelerator, no setting the choke on the fast idle cam and then tapping the throttle a few minutes later to bring the revs down to a reasonable level. My Hyundai had a remote start and heated seats. Cuzzin Ricky's pickup even has a heated steering wheel. Definitely something to be said for technology.

Footwork & Freezing Temperatures

 

One of the greatest middleweights of all time, matching step for step with one of the greatest dancers of all time. Fast forward to about1:30 for when the fun begins.

Cold, cold day yesterday. It was 1.4 degrees at 2:00 in the afternoon according to my cheapie Chinese thermometer. I spent the majority of the day working on keeping the house warm. The furnace is on a programmable thermostat and I keep it set on 60 degrees at night. It bumps up to 66 daytime, bumps up to 68 about the time the sun goes down, and then goes to 60 again later. Normally, wearing a sweater during the day is comfortable enough. The exceptions are when the wind is blowing hard or the temperature falls down to single digits and negative numbers. The furnace had a hard time pulling the temps up off the nighttime setting with those negative early morning numbers.

When I got up I started a fire in the fireplace right away, put the tea kettle on the stove to generate a little heat and humidity, baked some rolls to get some oven heat, and topped off the water trays I made that sit on top of the fin tubes - having some humidity in the house helps with the comfort level. It took a little bit, but it was nice and warm by the time the Missus got up. It's supposed to warm up the next couple of days - into the twenties at least. I can deal with that easily enough.

Now that Trump is back in office, I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. I don't know how much cooperation he'll get now from the Deep State, but he's already revoked security clearances from 50 of those mopes who signed off on the laptop letter. Got the J6 "insurrectionists" released from jail, and he started getting rid of people who aren't supporters. From my point of view, that's a good start. However, my biggest concern is the budget. He ran up a substantial deficit last time he was in there. That has to stop. 36 trillion in debt along with the unfunded liabilities is going to kill this country. That has to get turned around, and soon. Best of luck, Mr. President.

Study Time

 

I finished my prep book from the ARRL for the General license on Saturday and now I'm working my way through the one above. I bought this one first, but I wasn't totally pleased with the format. There's a lot of new material to absorb and this one, while giving me all the correct answers, didn't seem like it would give me the understanding of the different topics. However, having read the other book, I don't think I'm going to be able to understand much of the material anyway. Now my focus is to just pass the test regardless of how much I understand the material. I'll read this one and then start taking practice tests. The 35 test questions will be drawn from a pool of 432, and I need to get 26 correct to pass. It's going to take some studying but it's too soon to start worrying.

Cold weather's definitely here - high of 11 yesterday and negative numbers last night. Today's going to be about the same. I made a big pot of 3 bean chili yesterday - hit the spot.

The air bubble in my eye disappeared yesterday. The eyesight out of that eye is brighter since the surgery, but the lines that should be straight are still wavy. The doctor told me it'll be a while before it gets completely healed.

Cuzzin Ricky and I are going to pay our respects this morning for one of our cousins that passed away recently. Lovely lady - may she rest in peace. 

We've had a rough start to the new year so far. Hope things go well at the inauguration and in the future.

Stay warm!

Mean Woman's Blues

 

Nice day yesterday - temps up to about 40 and plenty of sunshine. With the subzero temperatures on the way, I filled up the tanks on the car and the truck, picked up a few groceries, put some tools away and hunted up some stock I need for a lathe job in the shop, cut some kindling and hauled in some firewood and checked on the chickens. Nothing too strenuous but it felt good to get out in the sunlight and move around a bit. 

When I got done fartin' around with all that I came in the house and one of Elvis's early movies was on - King Creole. The movie was made in 1958 and Elvis was doin' what Elvis did that made him famous. Looks kind of corny now days but it sure didn't slow down his march to the top.

While I was looking up the Elvis clip Roy Orbison came up. Since he was one of Elvis's contemporaries, I threw him in here as well. Since I'm not going to have any project work to report for a few days, might as well listen to one of the great voices of Rock & Roll.

Eye's Healing

I'm sure that's a lot of them. I would guess most people in the construction trades have what would be described as a risk-taking profile and an office or sales job doesn't give them what they need. It's just a good thing there are people out there willing to do the hard, dirty and dangerous jobs. It would also be nice if they were held in a little higher esteem. 

I went to the eye doctor yesterday and he said things are looking good. I need to go back in a month but I'm still going to take it easy since whenever I look down, I'm looking through the air bubble in the eye but it's shrinking daily. Also, it's going to be real cold in a couple of days. I'll get out today and do a little something before the temperature drops again. 

Be nice to post a little sumpin'-sumpin' from a project again. I've got the itch to make things. 

Two Below Honey

 

I checked the temperature yesterday morning at 7:00 and it was two below, honey. That's serious cold my friends. The Missus and I were nice and warm, though. The new windows seem to have been a good investment, and I bought a couple of little heaters that you plug into a regular outlet. I don't know how efficient they are, but I'll find out when the electric bill shows up. I had to run up town later in the day and it only got up to about 13-14 degrees - it was calm and the sun was shining, so it wasn't too bad out. I'm glad I didn't have to be out working in it all day, however. It's been a while since that was a thing but I remember it just the same.

 I checked the weather for Ashville, NC about 4:00 my time and it was 34 degrees there. Of course it would be even colder in the hills and later in the day. Living in a tent would definitely be no picnic. Cold, snow, freezing rain, no running water, no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no telling when, if ever, things will get back to normal.  California's getting all the press now, but there's still lots to do in North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio, and Hawaii and Slo Joe's still sending money overseas and paying off student loans. Thank goodness his reign of terror is finally over.

This is the reason I had to leave the house and go out into the cold. There's an old envelope I purchased from eBay in there. I was surprised when I got the slip in the mail from the post office saying they couldn't deliver it, not knowing I had to sign for it. The package came from India - those are the stamps on the back side of the mailer. 

Supposed to warm up a bit today and a little warmer again Friday. Temps will nosedive again after that. I see the eye doctor today and then I should be cleared to resume my normal activities. However, my normal activities are riding the recliner when the daytime temperatures fall below about 20 degrees. I am making progress on the ham license prep book. I talked with the club president and I'm on the schedule to take the exam at the February meeting. I'll be setting aside at least two hours a day for study time now. I doubt if I'll do as well as I did on the first license exam, but I do want to pass it on the first go-round. 

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

 

The Raconteur Report normally posts a song every Sunday morning. This week he posted five, all with the common theme of fire. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is one of the five. This one is a different version than the one he put up, but this is the one that was playing back when I was in knee-pants and out of all the artists that have recorded this song, still my favorite. 

I certainly feel sorry for all those folks who have lost their homes and businesses. We lost a barn to fire when I was a young man. It was arson, as perhaps some or all of the LA fires might have been. While the barn was insured, the insurance money didn't cover all the costs of the material things or the livestock. Take a couple of minutes and try to think of everything that's in your garage or basement. Unless you have a photographic memory, you'll never be able to remember everything that was lost. And if you're like most people you're way under insured if you want to replace all those items at today's prices. Of course, some things can't be replaced at any cost. 

Whether you lose your home to fire, hurricane, tornado, or any other disaster, your life will be changed forever going forward. I bought a small safe form Harbor Freight a couple of years ago for some of my valuables. I also bought a fireproof bag that holds some copies of my important papers that stays in the safe. I don't know if the two together will protect what's inside the safe but I've also got copies in other places. There's a new resale shop close to us. If the house burns down and we lose everything, I'll load up the Missus and get us a new wardrobe, some dishes and utensils, and then find us some shelter. It'll be tough but we'll probably be a lot better off than many of the fire victims or the ones out east trying to recover from the hurricane.

I urge all of you to take a few minutes and give your emergency plan some thought and honestly evaluate your situation. Then do something to improve it.   

Replies

 For some reason, Blogger won't allow me to post comments in response to readers comments. So, in response to the comments from Marshall and Rich on Friday's post:

Marshall: The eye looked worse the following day and the "shiner" grew some. Gruesome maybe a better word to describe my appearance.

Rich: Thanks for the positive thoughts. The sight has improved noticeably as I write this.

Bevin: As to the identity of the bike in Saturday's post, I looked up the Royal Enfield site before writing the post and the case cover didn't look like anything in their current product line but the bump-out on the case cover should have been a dead give-away for me. Tricked out Royal Enfield 500 Bullet, indeed. Thanks for the info. 

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The eye is healing up nicely. The air bubble is shrinking and the vision is fairly clear above the "waterline". No pain but I have to put drops in four times a day. Small price to pay if my vision returns close to what it was prior to the membrane growth.

Working on the study guide for the ham license. It looks like this test is going to be a lot tougher than the first one. I'm in Chapter 4 and it's all about electrical components and the math to calculate impedance, inductance, capacitance and a whole bunch more. Fortunately, the test will only have a few questions from each chapter. If I can do well on the rest of the material, I can miss all the questions from this chapter and still pass. I'm going to read the whole book and then start taking practice exams and see how I do. 

 I might sneak out into the shop today. I need to put a few tools away and make sure the wild animals aren't taking over. I caught another raccoon out there a few weeks back. 

And in closing, I got a statement from Social Security last week. As always, it lists my "voluntary" deduction of federal taxes. However, when they were taking the taxes out of my check when I was working, my employer was kicking in the same amount. Now that I'm getting money back, I'm paying taxes on what I paid in and what my employer paid in as well. I know that isn't exactly how it works, but I'd be a lot happier if I didn't have to pay any tax on money my employer and I had to pay as a tax to begin with.

“The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.” - Margaret Thatcher

  

Saturday Comments

 

I saw this on The Daily Timewaster as part of his weekly Friday feature. I wanted to read what the decal said on the tank, so this is enlarged from the original. I still don't know what kind of bike this is, but I really like the look of this thing. The seat looks like what's on my old Ducati Sport and it's got the same vibe as the old 450 Scramblers. I really like the looks of this thing - the high pipes, assuming it's a twin, especially. However, a trip to the car wash after riding on the beach is going to be a necessity. That salty sand will play hell on all the aluminum bits.

A couple of things about the fires out in California. I've been wondering how the fires started but haven't really seen much on that. However, looks like it might have been the result of humans, either accidently or deliberately. I read that Oregon was sending 60 fire trucks to help out but they had to stop and go through a DOT check before they could continue on. Also, one of the two planes that scoop up ocean water for firefighting had a collision with a drone some chucklehead was flying even though the FAA had declared a no-fly zone over the area. 

And one last thing. Once again, it's been proven that we can't rely on the government to be there for us in our time of need. In California's case, not only not much help during the crisis but at least partly responsible for it happening. Definite shortage of real leadership in this country.

Check your preps, my friends. Review your emergency plans, one for leaving, one for staying, and a Plan B for both. 

Staying cold around here and we got several inches of snow yesterday. I was afraid of that happening since I know the Missus doesn't want me shoveling with the recent eye surgery. I think I could easily push the shovel rather than actually shoveling the sidewalk, but other than getting the mail and checking on the chickens, I'm going to be riding the recliner for a few more days.

Eye Ball

 

I'm not sure but I think this is the version I heard on the Waterford jazz station the other night. It was about 1:30 in the morning and I was in that twilight moment just before falling asleep and this one seems like it was designed for that. Rather long at seven plus minutes, but it's worth the listen. And it's not the kind that will give you an earworm. For me this is the type of background I like when I'm studying and I'm about to embark on that journey again.

The follow-up appointment with the eye doctor went well. He said everything looks good - I'll have to take his word for it because I can't see anything except a blur and that bobs up and down. He said there's an air bubble in there that will slowly go away and my vision will improve greatly after that. I asked him about restrictions and since I had my USA Boxing hat and my eye looked like it had taken a hard shot, he told me no boxing and then he clarified what I'm actually to do. Basically, I'm supposed to just be lazy until I come back to see him in a week. So that's the plan.

Eye Surgery

 

I had my eye surgery yesterday. According to the doctor it went well. The only hitch was I came out of the anesthesia before he was finished. The last few minutes were rather painful but the nurse had told me while getting me ready that if I needed anything I was to say stop. I can normally handle that sort of stuff without crying, however. In fact, I usually get my fillings done at the dentist without getting numbed up. I also had a root canal done that way once. I don't know that I'd recommend that, but my pain tolerance is pretty high if I have a few seconds to get my mind right.

The cool thing about being awake was I was able to see what was going on in my eye in real time. I saw him peel the membrane off the retina using tweezers and then clean up inside the eye with a vacuum - lots to be said for modern medicine, at least as far surgical advancements go. 

Everyone I came into contact with at the out-patient surgery center were nothing but nice and professional. That always helps. I'll find out today what I need to do going forward after the check-up. 

Difficult Choices

 

I came across an article on the old internet of things that Kentuckians are now going to have to choose between a medical marijuana card or their firearms. A new law went into effect January 1st, but since smoking pot is against federal law, if you register for a medical marijuana card you aren't able to fill out honestly the 4473 firearm paperwork when purchasing a firearm. And if you've previously bought a weapon or ammo, it looks like you'll have to give it up. So, if you want to own guns and smoke reefer, it looks like you'll have to decide which law you want to break. Cash sales from private individuals would seem to be an option - like people have been doing for years, regardless of the legalities.

I went to the opening of Coach Jen's Jen-nasiun Monday evening. I helped her out with her first group of boxers - small group but a good way for her to start out. I've got my eye surgery today, so I won't be able to help any for a couple of weeks, I imagine. I'll find out more when I see the doctor tomorrow for the follow up. 

The television was on yesterday afternoon while I was waiting on the phone call from scheduling to get my arrival time for surgery. When Carter arrived in Washington and the band started playing, I told the wife they should be playing Salt Peanuts. Since they didn't, I did.

Music & Fabrication

 

The Missus found the movie Hell or High Water on the "smart" TV while I was fixing supper Friday night. Not a bad flick - decent story line and enough action to keep me interested. Also had a good soundtrack. This one was the first cut that I heard. I rarely hear any Townes van Zandt, since he's not much of a presence on the stations I listen to, those being the ones I can pull in due to the limited reception out in the shop. In reality, he probably doesn't get too much airplay anywhere.

Likewise with Guy Clark. If I had my own radio station, both of these guys would get played on a regular basis along with quite a few other artists that I like that aren't exactly a great commercial success. When I was at the high school my buddy Kevin and I looked into starting a low wattage station. The idea didn't meet with great success from the man in charge, so we dropped the idea. Now there are other ways to select what you want to hear on your own playlist, I just don't partake of any of them. I did have SiriusXM radio in the truck when I was working at the college my first time around. I enjoyed many of the programs during my commute and I was traveling more then, so it was worth the money. Now, most of my driving is local so I'm lucky to hear three songs in a row.

I figured out a work-a-round on importing photos from the phone. Not the most convenient way of doing business, but until I take the time to look into it a little deeper, at least I'm able to post some project photos - now I just need more progress on the projects. But the sled is done.

Cold weather is here and will be for a while - morning temps are in the teens, so I'm going to work on a few inside projects until my eye surgery later this week. I started another book and when I finish that one, I'll start studying for my General license and watch my Then Came Bronson movie I've been saving.  

Winter Weather

 

Looking like winter now. It's been pretty mild so far but it was mid-twenties yesterday morning when I went out, it warmed up a bit later and started snowing in the late afternoon. Nice pretty snow with big flakes. The photo is from the files since I still haven't figured out how to get my pictures downloaded from either the email account or directly from the phone. I had a reader who was gracious enough to recommend a way to download the pics directly to the hard drive but I haven't mastered that yet. I followed the online directions, the screen message said the transfer was successful, but I wasn't able to locate them on the computer. Otherwise, there would have been a finished photo of the sled and an egg.

I'm down to only three chickens these days and the egg yesterday was the first one I've seen from them in a couple of months. Seems like a strange time to start laying with the cold and the short daylight, but at least I'm getting a small return on my investment. I need to decide if I'm going to stay in the chicken business or not. The coop yard needs some work and a half dozen chickens are not really economical anyway. But I do like keeping chickens.

Since the sled job is done, going to spend a little time on some more cleaning and organizing and then try to get back to finishing a couple of things. I had a meeting with the finance guy yesterday morning and started working on getting a room set up for the ham radio. As it stands now, I've got a power supply, my new radio and my old Heathkit receiver I put together years ago to accommodate. I've got a good FM receiver and mediocre speakers in there already. I need to throw, give, or donate some things away - like out in the shop and the barn, too much stuff. At least things are moving in the right direction.

State of the Union

 

That pretty much describes me these days. Maybe not too much ruder, but older and definitely more intolerant. If St. Don can drive the snakes out of Washington like St. Patrick did in Ireland, my mood may improve some - but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

I think most everyone will agree that the Covid -19 was a gigantic scam-o-rama right from the start and it's done irreparable harm to people's health, finances and education. Knowing that, I just read where some pork producers are injecting the hogs with a mRNA vaccine, for what purpose I don't know, but according to what I've read there hasn't been any safety testing done at all. What could possibly go wrong with that?

I also read that New Jersey started the new year dropping the requirement for new teachers to pass a basic education test prior to getting their teaching license. If they can't read, write or do math, seems like there shouldn't be a place in a classroom for them. According to the article I read, classroom teachers can earn $80K per year. That's substantially more than I ever made, and I had two Batchelor degrees, a Master's and a skilled trade. I would think someone needs to look into why people are no longer willing to go into the teaching profession if $80 large won't entice them. 

And one of my pet peeves: trucks that can't haul anything. Fortunately, it's still possible to buy a 2-door pickup with an 8' bed for around $40K, which isn't all that bad as long as you can live with a vehicle that's very much utilitarian - which is precisely what I think a truck should be. But as always, to each their own.

I'd buy one of these bad boys for $10K or maybe the Hilux if they were available in the US. Between the Chicken Tax and regulations, however, that's not likely to happen.

Anyway, here's hoping for a better 2025 than what we've seen the last few years. "Hope springs eternal in the human breast", and all that.

Best wishes for peace, prosperity and good health to you all this year.