The Band

 

The Last Waltz was on the television the other evening - quite the hootenanny.  A lot of great musicians who appeared to be having the time of their lives. The band The Band goes right along with my studying for the ham test - I've been seeing lots of band questions on the practice exams.

Ice storm Wednesday night - even had a couple of big claps of thunder. I went out yesterday morning and salted the walk and the garage aprons, but every step was an adventure. Even the gravel and the grass were treacherous. Not only was there a thin coating of ice on everything, there were ice pellets all over the ground as well. 

TVI came by and picked up his parts and we discussed some more of his action plan on his HD. I'm going to have to give him some welding lessons, it seems. He can do some stick welding but he's not much on thin gauge with a MIG.

After he left, I welded in the Dutchman for my prototype I'm working on. I machined up a piece to slip inside the tubes to ensure the parts were in alignment when tack welding them. While running the lathe I pretty much convinced myself it's time to retire the old South Bend and get something new. 

I'm going into the college today to administer a make-up exam for the last class I taught. I'm taking my ham radio prep book with me to study while the student is welding. My results on the practice exams are not going as well as I figured they would by this time. I've still have a few days to study but I'm not feeling real confident. I can always bail out and take the test next month, however. 

I still have a couple of little things to do on the vintage trials bike. I think that's going to be the high priority out in the shop next - or it will be until something or someone else comes along. I'll get back on that after I take the ham radio test. Or before, if I decide to bail.