Weeding & Wiring

 

Did some more yardwork yesterday - pulling more weeds and cutting more brush. Plenty more brush to cut back but I'm making some progress. We got some rain in the afternoon, so everything will continue to grow at a good clip.

The wire, fuse holders and microphone extension cord came yesterday, so I drug out all the wiring stuff and put the power cord together. 

I soldered the fuse holders onto the power cord wires. I covered the solder joints with heat-shrink tubing but I'm going to wrap the joints with some electrical tape as well. On the other ends of the fuse holders are female spade terminals. I put a little heat shrink tubing on them as well to help insulate them if they were to happen to touch each other in the junction block. Now I can feed the wire through to the battery, cut the wire to length, install the required terminal and I'll have power. 

I still need to cut the antenna cord to length and install the fitting on it. I was waiting on that until I drug the soldering stuff out.

Won't be long now.

Busy Day

 

The financial guy didn't mention investing in precious metals during the meeting yesterday - you know, gold, silver, lead. He did pass along some valuable information for all of us retirees in attendance, though. 

Since the meeting was held at the local library, I looked through the new books and found a Joe Pickett novel by C.J. Box and a collection of stories by James Lee Burke, both authors I've read and enjoyed.

I did quite a bit of yard work after getting home since it was an absolutely ideal day, 75 and sunny with a light breeze. I pulled some weeds and sprayed some others, trimmed some trees, and policed the poop park. No problem with the chest at all - definitely need to shape up some, though. Doing nothing for several months is not the way to stay at peak fitness. Coach Jen sent me a text about a 5K tomorrow. I might put on the girdle and give it a go.

I did a bit more thinking about the scooter cannonball. The youngest grandson will be getting his driver's license soon. We could drive the 2,200 miles to Oregon - take 3 or 4 days. I could ride the cannonball with the grandson following along with luggage, tools, etc. When we get to Texas, load up and head home, or sooner if I would have to "abandon" the tour, like they say in the bicycle racing world. When we get home, I could hand the scooter over to him as payment for helping me out on the trip.

The other grandson made the Dean's List at the college. Like so many of my former students, when they find something they like and can get started on a decent career, they flourish. Really proud of him. He has the potential to become a real good craftsman.

Wire, fuse holders and microphone extension cord for the truck radio should be here today. The antenna folds down when I park the truck in the garage. However, it's not very stable. I think I should make some sort of saddle to support it when it's in the folded position. Doesn't seem worthwhile to put the antenna up just to take the garbage can down and then take it down again to park the truck back in the garage. Something else to think about. 

Update

 Info meeting this morning with the financial guy. He hosts coffee and donut meetings once a month during the summer to keep clients informed about what's going on in the financial world. It'll be interesting to hear his take on the present situation.

The scan on my eye indicated it has gotten a little worse. He gave me the option of deciding if we should schedule the surgery or put it off for a while. Since I've been on light duty for several months, I really would like to get some more done around the shack before I have to go back on the injured reserve list. Next appointment is in December, so I'll get it scheduled after that.

I started installing the new radio in the truck. I need some wire and fuse holders for the power cord to complete the installation, but otherwise, it's pretty much there. I need to see if I can get an extension for the microphone cord. I'll look on Amazon and see if I can find something. If not, I'll call the club president and see what he recommends.

Presidential debate this evening. I plan on watching a bit of it just to see how the two interact, but I'm not too interested in their position on things. That's already been determined by their time in office. 

On the Road

 

Not quite so hot fun yesterday - actually pretty nice day. Temps made it up to 86 around 3:00 in the afternoon, sunshine and low humidity. Spent most of the day on the road starting with dropping the dog off at the vet. Stopped off at Surly's to pick up a couple of things. Next stop the airport to pick up the tanks for the helicopter - still one small leak in both tanks, and then stopped by the college - looks like I'm working again this fall. I'll be teaching stick welding I & II two nights a week. Stopped at Menards to pick up some stainless screws to mount the antenna bracket in the truck bed, Aldi for some groceries, and then back to the vet to pick up the dog. Busy day, but nice to be out.

Eye doctor appointment this morning. I'll be finding out if it's time for surgery or if I need to wait a while longer. Not looking forward to surgery, especially since I've been on light duty for quite a while now. 

I've been doing quite a bit of thinking about the Scooter Cannonball. I still need to do more research before making a commitment, but I'm definitely intrigued by the idea. 

Scooter Cannonball & Field Day

 I stumbled upon something pretty interesting while perusing the internet of things the other day - the Scooter Cannonball. Seems they do a "Cannonball Run" every couple of years on motor scooters. 300cc limit, step-through frames and small diameter tires. Next year they ride from Oregon to Texas. I checked out a Kymco scooter at Speed City Cycle, where I bought my Royal Enfield. They've got a new 2022, 150cc scooter that lists for $2495.00. I'm sure Mike would give me a decent break on the price.

I don't know what the best way to get myself and the scooter to Oregon would be, or how to get home from Texas. Have to look into that before I put any serious thought into signing up. The rest would be a matter of cost estimation and taking a long hard look at the logistics. I think my experience doing long distance bicycle trips would be helpful. Pulling a trailer would allow me to carry all my gear without making the scooter work too hard. 

The trip would be similar to the Giro my buddy Bob did over in Italy. It's not a race but a rally - check points along the way. Need to be able to read a map and a GPS. Sounds like just the thing for a last great adventure. Sign-ups start today.

I went to help with the set-up for Field Day yesterday. For the HF radios, the antennas are long wires that are anchored in the trees. They've got an air gun made from PVC pipe with a fishing reel on it. They charge it up with air from a SCUBA tank, drop a heavy sinker down the barrel and then shoot a line over the top of the tree. They tie the fishing line to a heavier line and use that to pull the antenna wire up into the tree. If you look closely at the photo, you can see both the line hanging down and the air gun. 

Pretty interesting but hot out there. And it's going to be hot today again. There's a couple more antennas and some other set-up required which they're planning on doing at 8:00 AM again. I'd like to help, but if they don't start operating until noon, I'm not so sure I want to hang around in the 90 degree heat for 4 hours waiting to get on a radio. I might help with the set-up, go home and then come back later in the day.  

I picked up my new radio and the rest of the gear needed to outfit my truck while I was there yesterday. I'm going to try and contact Rich from Kentucky when I get on the air. He's been a regular reader of the blog for quite some time and quite the ham himself.

Heat Wave

It's been unseasonably hot lately- record setter on Monday, about 10 degrees cooler on Tuesday (only 87), back up in the nineties for the rest of the week. Monday was the dentist to get my crowns installed, and then delivering the tanks for the helicopter. The customer was quite pleased. Tuesday mowed the lawn and did a bit of reading. Wednesday a little yard work, bicycle ride and back in the shop for a bit - had to run into town first to get a new primer bulb for the trimmer, though.

Today, some more shop time and yard work. Tomorrow, help setting up the Field Day for the ham radio club in the morning. Saturday, 5K or 1 mile walk in the AM depending on the heat and how the chest feels, Field Day later.

Next week's looking like more of the same. Dog to the vet, eye doctor, meeting with the financial guy, maybe a few bike rides, maybe a trip to the fights. I don't know the details on that yet, but they need someone to help work the corner and wrap hands - hard to find a qualified spit bucket man!

The chest is feeling better but nothing on the agenda involves any pulling or heavy lifting. I still need to take it easy on some of the yard work but things have been growing like hell wouldn't have it. The grandson got a real job, so I don't know how often he'll be able to come down and help now. It's good that he's willing to work, however. 

Keepin' Busy

 

The sorghum's doing nicely after all the rain we received. 

Box O' Parts

I got the brush cutter assembled. The manual is a pain in the ass to work with. It's got several pages of drawings to help with assembly due to the fact that the actual instructions are in several different languages. You have to leaf back and forth between the illustrations and the written instructions and the book won't stay open to the page you want. I was impressed with the rod used to keep the shaft from turning while tightening up the nut holding the blade on. Imbedded in the casting is a little magnet to keep the rod from falling out while tightening the nut. 

I started fiddling with the helicopter tanks yesterday. Some of the marks indicating a leak were hard to see, so I marked them darker. I also made a blank-off plate for where the fuel sending unit goes. Since the holes for the sending unit are not spaced evenly, the arrow points to the hole matching a corresponding mark on the blank-off plate. The guy says he's in no hurry, but I want them out of here, so I'll get them welded up in the next couple of days.