tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89109785877872971892023-11-15T10:53:45.692-08:00Travels without GeorgeOur life on the road/water starting in the summer of 2007Marilynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15336711230112675101noreply@blogger.comBlogger813125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-6163379440198825332015-12-13T13:23:00.000-08:002015-12-13T13:33:30.335-08:00Moving on down the internet highwayOK - so I wrote up a short little rant yesterday morning which I am reproducing here for your reading pleasure (or annoyance, depending on your socialist persuasion). But this will be the last post on this location. I have put up with a lot of irritation from this weblog service (Blogspot/Blogger) and I no longer am interested in enduring the irritation.<br />
<br />
That doesn't mean that blogging by Bob will cease but the location will change. More on that later - first the rant which I titled "GREEN SPEAK" ............<br />
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<i>In the category of “No sacrifice is too great for my readers” I provide you with
the following simple chart which will enable you to speak with authority to the
greenest of listeners. As the techno-guff emerges from the so-called Climate
Summit in Paris this weekend you will need to be prepared to discuss it
intelligently with any socialist friends you encounter. I’m sure you will find
this tool sufficient to create enlightening conversations with even the most
dedicated green loon. (you'll have to click on the graphic to get it big enough to read unless your eyes are a hell of a lot better than mine.) </i><br />
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<i> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SYcN9Ba5xA8/Vm3gyj0XQlI/AAAAAAAAJiU/wtMQraie-XQ/s1600/Green%2BSpeak.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="90" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SYcN9Ba5xA8/Vm3gyj0XQlI/AAAAAAAAJiU/wtMQraie-XQ/s400/Green%2BSpeak.jpg" width="400" /></a></i><br />
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<i>Simply select an adjective phrase from the first column, a target noun from
the second column and a mandatory action from the third column. Feel free to
use big words like “and” or “however” to create run on sentences because lefties
believe that the longer and more convoluted the sentence the more likely it is
in fact accurate.</i><br />
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<h4>
Future posts will occur here: <a href="http://www.bobandmarilyn.ca/">www.bobandmarilyn.ca</a></h4>
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Take note that is a "DOT CA" address. Trying to get to us using dot com simply won't work. If you typically access this bit of nonsense via Facebook or Twitter then nothing will change for you. If you have a browser bookmark that you use then you may want to update that bookmark to reflect the new location. Sorry for that inconvenience but its a lot better option for me and I think you will see that it offers a lot more functionality - ie more pictures - for you.<br />
<br />
<h3>
See you at <a href="http://www.bobandmarilyn.ca/" target="_blank">http://www.bobandmarilyn.ca</a></h3>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-29256592647101489192015-12-09T14:50:00.001-08:002015-12-09T14:50:28.127-08:00It looks like shit but it works<p>When I wrote last about how simple it is to change hubs on a Superduty Ford that was the voice of inexperience speaking.  In theory its simple.  In practice there was a gotcha.  That gotcha is a serious snap ring, or more properly a circlip.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OlgnW8hS8EU/VmiwExSdoxI/AAAAAAAAJgY/iIURJqlSkKE/s1600-h/IMG_9283%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9283" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9283" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5SWwPWlwgjA/VmiwFYg86FI/AAAAAAAAJgg/vlcYMTWYiQw/IMG_9283_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> That’s the famous circlip to the left of the two pairs of snap ring pliers.  Or maybe “one pair of snap ring pliers and a homemade abomination”.  That is a very solid snap ring.  Its size belies how difficult it was to remove.  It doesn’t help that its buried deep in the hub.  I raised a couple of blood blisters on my palms trying to get it with my 7” pliers.  There was no hope for 2 screwdrivers.  Monte’s pliers were no better than mine, although in fairness to Monte he couldn’t find his big set.  I finally ordered a 14” set of pliers from Princess Auto online but then I couldn’t sit still so I built Version 1 of my pliers.  They were so fugly they made the truck cap look attractive.  And they didn’t even come close to working.  But I learned enough from building them to try again.  </p> <p>I built Version 2 last night and actually they didn’t work either.  This morning I went to work on Version 2 with the angle grinder and after I got them trimmed down I finally got the passenger side circlip free.  You can see in the photo how long the nose on the “pliers” needs to be to reach in to the recess where the circlip sits.  The problem is that there isn’t much room to expand it – initially the prongs on my pliers were fat enough to prevent them from spreading wide enough.  The challenge was to grind off enough metal to let the pliers work without grinding off so much that they would just bend under the strain.  By some freak I got it right and, once the first circlip was free, I knew it was only a matter of time until the second one had to admit defeat as well.  </p> <p>I was by no means certain that I could put the new ones back on but I had my Princess Auto set (which still haven’t arrived) as a backup plan.  As it turned out getting them back on was much easier than getting them off.  Late this afternoon I got the wheels torqued up and took the truck for a spin around town.  I was pretty sure the 4WD was locking up when I left the alley – I thought I could feel it fighting the steering but just to be sure I went over to the little house and deliberately got stuck in 2WD.  Sure enough the auto hubs locked as soon as I turned the little button in the cab and I walked right out again.  That auto lockup hasn’t worked for at least a year now.  I’ve been running with them manually locked whenever I thought I needed 4WD so my repairs have been a success.  </p> <p>Fixing the 4WD evidently isn’t the end for the Ford repairs.  On my way to the little house I noticed that the battery icon on the dash was lit up.  When I got back to the shop I confirmed that the genuine piece of shit NAPA rebuilt alternator that I put on 2 summers ago in Shaunavon has quit.  Bastards.  The NAPA rebuilders were so ashamed of their work that they didn’t bother to put any identifying marks on the alternator. None. Nothing. Nada. Zip.  I took it off  before I phoned my terrorist friends at Karam Automotive thinking that I could give them a part number but there are no identifying marks of any kind on the alternator I bought from NAPA in Swift Current.  Not even a casting number.</p> <p>Meanwhile back at the ranch, SWMBO has been busy.  Last week she was particularly busy as her art group got ready for their show and sale last weekend.  In between baking things that I wouldn’t get to eat and setting up art that I had never seen she got the tile finished up in the bathroom and started work on the counter by the freezer.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lcQ8gKua2IQ/VmiwGJljASI/AAAAAAAAJgk/L4aYjTl6IAA/s1600-h/IMG_9288%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9288" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9288" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-T-BSxiZ1Trs/VmiwGhIt5rI/AAAAAAAAJgs/hXy_Zdl1mlM/IMG_9288_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JOzT6V9t7eE/VmiwHbk2ahI/AAAAAAAAJgw/Rw9degvMM2A/s1600-h/IMG_9289%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9289" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9289" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TZPhkN2MyBM/VmiwH5jSJ_I/AAAAAAAAJg4/CvXeDJZNd0Q/IMG_9289_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>Marilyn bought that little tile saw at the Re-Store in Regina while she was doing the tile in the bus.  She bought a new blade for it this week because its got a lot of tile cutting ahead of it.  This little project on the bathroom and hallway is just a prelude to a much bigger flooring project next fall.  She intends to lay ceramic tile in the kitchen, part of the dining room and in the bathroom.  The rest of the upstairs will get redone with laminate flooring.  Getting rid of the disgusting carpets can’t happen soon enough as far as we are concerned but we need to work from the ceiling down to the floor.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8XIEFfPnhW4/VmiwIUMiYxI/AAAAAAAAJhE/g8QqerPdUZY/s1600-h/IMG_9291%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9291" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9291" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r_2YpFvwYdQ/VmiwI1vojgI/AAAAAAAAJhI/UKH9gC9M1IM/IMG_9291_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rQKKbioCBxs/VmiwJYVKWvI/AAAAAAAAJhQ/X8EDzZ4Pgyw/s1600-h/IMG_9292%25255B3%25255D.jpg"></a><img title="IMG_9292" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9292" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m8qoicl7Ss8/VmiwJxE2aJI/AAAAAAAAJhc/Xt6qvF5ZgOE/IMG_9292_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--vG8EMA5SIU/VmiwKraMO6I/AAAAAAAAJhg/C__zHl-gVWs/s1600-h/IMG_9281%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9281" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9281" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y1AG9oc16WE/VmiwLKfYewI/AAAAAAAAJhk/MznQ5WfDm0I/IMG_9281_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <strong>I haven’t posted any pictures of the outside of the shop for a while.  I got it wrapped with building paper before it got really cold outside.  I never had any intention of getting the tin on the walls this fall – I need to finish up the electrical before I do that.  I’m still not 100% sure but I think I will tin the outside and inside next fall.  The advantage of tin on the inside is that it is finished but its not cheap.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j2c9X_Uqliw/VmiwL_rh2sI/AAAAAAAAJh0/1u9R5Bzn0xY/s1600-h/IMG_9287%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9287" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9287" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ctCnaPQqlvg/VmiwMkX2H4I/AAAAAAAAJh4/QP2RabDP9m4/IMG_9287_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s what $2200 worth of Ford front end parts looks like – not much to look at is it?  2 hubs and 2 lockers.  I kept them all but – unlike my dear buddy George – I did not repack them in the new boxes and seal them up so that from the outside they look like new parts.  I still occasionally get fooled on the boat by some derelict part that he carefully boxed up in the box that the new part arrived in.</strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-70348699461040572652015-12-06T07:19:00.001-08:002015-12-06T07:19:54.504-08:00Kids and trucks<p>So our most exciting news from yesterday is that Marlan and Jenna got engaged.  In other words, there’s hope for grandkids on the horizon.  Last spring when the kids were all here to pick up the Malibu Jenna made it clear – no rock – no kids.  Meanwhile Marlan’s twin brother says he won a bet with RJ regarding the timing of the announcement so maybe that twin link isn’t a myth.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5fYm6rf0AYo/VmRR-vRquXI/AAAAAAAAJeg/CBK70uyObPw/s1600-h/Engaged%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Engaged" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="Engaged" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QV1vXCnAkyE/VmRR_kCrUiI/AAAAAAAAJeo/_IcqixjWWYI/Engaged_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="384" /></a> </p> <p>I got my not too ugly truck cap out of the shop yesterday morning but I’m sad to say it turned out pretty fugly. It may only ever get used for this one trip so I’m not really concerned.  On the other hand, if it appears that we might use it more than once, I can always sand it down and shoot some more paint on it.  Painting is all about the prep and I simply didn’t do anywhere near enough prep.  My main focus was hitting the weather window for painting and – let’s face it – I’m not the most patient guy so getting it done trumped prep.  It needs a good sanding followed by a couple of coats of high build primer with heavy sanding in between each coat.  Then it might be ready for a repaint.  As it is it will look OK from 100 yards and vehicles approaching from behind likely won’t really notice how ugly it is until they pull out to pass.  By then it won’t matter and we’ll probably never see them again anyway.  There’s also an element of security in having the ugliest truck in the parking lot.  That approach has served us well with our dinghy – having the crappiest dinghy at the dinghy dock eliminates the need for elaborate dinghy security arrangements.  So perhaps having the fugliest truck in the parking lot will offer some security to whatever is covered by the cap.</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YqK88Fu-bY4/VmRSASrMgsI/AAAAAAAAJes/uBR7R2tAX5k/s1600-h/IMG_9270%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9270" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9270" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MjoMPUYZ6rQ/VmRSBIS15kI/AAAAAAAAJe0/WQ-Q4MI_D3s/IMG_9270_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center">From this distance and with this lighting the fugly truck cap looks passable but trust me – up close it looks like shit.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>With the truck cap out of the way and sitting on the truck I was able to finish up the wiring on the trailer and get it moved to the little house for winter storage.  Then I put the truck on the hoist to get some winter oil in it and that’s when I discovered a disaster waiting to happen.  My front hubs were likely original which means they have roughly 340,000 km on them and they were showing their age.  The seal that initially caught my attention turns out to be a notorious Ford POS that fails within a few thousand miles of installation and really doesn’t matter because its just a dust seal.  But it got me poking around the 4WD stubs and it quickly became obvious that the driver side bearings were really bad and the passenger side wasn’t far behind.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BAq49dvI044/VmRSB8TqBxI/AAAAAAAAJfA/XrSdDe0C3Ww/s1600-h/IMG_9268%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9268" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9268" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8uN5I8K6nbM/VmRSCfWNdyI/AAAAAAAAJfE/f7L0WgWuU_s/IMG_9268_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p>Somewhere I’ve got a set of straight snap ring pliers but the key word is “somewhere” so I wasn’t able to finish pulling the hub.  The pliers I can find have a bent nose so they won’t reach deep into that hub to remove the circlip which is all that is holding the hub on now.  I went through this with my 2001 Superduty but I didn’t do the work myself that time.  Ford front bearings are not replaceable on these trucks – you have to buy the complete hub.  That increases the cost but it makes the bearing swap pretty simple – you pull out the old hub, slide in the new one, tighten four bolts and replace the circlip.  No bearing pre-load to set – Q.E.D. as father liked to say.  I’m going to replace the locking hubs at the same time because the old ones are pretty tired.  That will make the project a fairly expensive one because I am using genuine Motorcraft parts but I shudder to think what it would have cost if one of the hubs had failed on Roger’s Pass or worse on Vancouver Island.  When I went through this on my 2001 I first noticed the bearing failure going through Claresholm on the way to Calgary.  As I recall that was roughly a $3,000 bill by the time I got the truck back from Marlborough Ford and we didn’t replace the lockers that time.  That was over 10 years ago so its not likely that the cost has decreased in the interim.</p> <p>SWMBO has been in a baking frenzy for the last few days.  Mind you, the baking frenzy will in no way benefit the residents of this house – her art group is holding an art and bake sale as a fundraiser.  So I get to smell the baking but if I want to eat any of it I’ll have to buy it back this afternoon.  In between episodes of baking she got the ceramic tile mostly finished up in the bathroom and it looks really good.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WEvyyAuyeIs/VmRSCgUb7pI/AAAAAAAAJfM/ylV4zDW85Dc/s1600-h/IMG_9258%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9258" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9258" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PYVPRjFOs5s/VmRSDM5R1cI/AAAAAAAAJfU/3SZBIAHnYug/IMG_9258_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wFiEM0hZ9Xc/VmRSDj8g-VI/AAAAAAAAJfc/m77RLSHJuDI/s1600-h/IMG_9260%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9260" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9260" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uAA6ogZ5H6U/VmRSEKjT-FI/AAAAAAAAJfk/3fIDgJT9BEE/IMG_9260_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xf8Pw0zQ5ic/VmRSEpSw76I/AAAAAAAAJfs/gUnnYYRsGh4/s1600-h/IMG_9262%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9262" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9262" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bjWz9k6AQhA/VmRSFOsR_JI/AAAAAAAAJf0/WrV06R1dRTw/IMG_9262_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8oZsCe3w-2c/VmRSFvjYynI/AAAAAAAAJf8/ewW8wYKmU4w/s1600-h/IMG_9264%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9264" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9264" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WAaOUjrX8Rk/VmRSGKz5E2I/AAAAAAAAJgE/pkEgrfoZpRc/IMG_9264_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-84749549324533807192015-12-03T17:01:00.001-08:002015-12-03T17:17:09.481-08:00Truck caps that don’t look too ugly<p>I wrote <a href="http://www.travellingwithgeorge.blogspot.ca/2015/11/close-quarters.html">here</a> that I might have to build a truck cap out of 1/2” plywood in order for us to have a cap in time to take it back to the boat.  Then almost immediately I found a very old fibreglass cap about an hour away from here.  So last Sunday I drove to Churchbridge to pick it up, brought it home and promptly cut into it with my Sawzall.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gnFxvbk3U8U/VmDlsOpi2gI/AAAAAAAAJbo/xeMxrU-uH4E/s1600-h/IMG_9225%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9225" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9225" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--cEqUm_OTrs/VmDltJXL5pI/AAAAAAAAJbs/IwGf8hkWi4s/IMG_9225_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JIQgc0A0FLQ/VmDltmzWOnI/AAAAAAAAJb4/C1-1H2TZaNA/s1600-h/IMG_9226%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9226" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9226" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dpAHwsucRT4/VmDluagajAI/AAAAAAAAJb8/LEDM2HwY1nY/IMG_9226_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5tPMoimeGL0/VmDluxKqK1I/AAAAAAAAJcE/VLQOZXWtuaU/s1600-h/IMG_9228%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9228" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9228" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GoacxaKZ3ck/VmDlvcxG2bI/AAAAAAAAJcQ/AJic6BLL54E/IMG_9228_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> I was too busy sawing and gluing to be buggering around taking pictures but you can pretty easily see what I did from these early stage pictures.  The cap is roughly the right width at the back but was about 3 inches too narrow at the front.  Which worked but it looked REALLY goofy.  I may have succeeded in trading “goofy” for “ugly” but its too soon to tell.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Fs-5iAAAqwc/VmDlwNXZLAI/AAAAAAAAJcU/gOyD34FET-4/s1600-h/IMG_9229%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9229" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9229" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gmhGaF0oSgI/VmDlwXnJRjI/AAAAAAAAJcc/CWksLsQUUBU/IMG_9229_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CFxXE7FW258/VmDlwwZrXtI/AAAAAAAAJck/cFyuPHy3K9U/s1600-h/IMG_9230%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9230" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9230" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OR4PMDHs8TY/VmDlxZJb6PI/AAAAAAAAJcs/Slj0QW_ShJU/IMG_9230_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vijrxvk_HWU/VmDlyXVRTmI/AAAAAAAAJc4/Wsp1q8ar3CA/s1600-h/IMG_9233%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9233" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9233" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3aCNCshlqeY/VmDly6dxquI/AAAAAAAAJc8/PcydDr4as7c/IMG_9233_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AXq-W4C8gKs/VmDlzanaFiI/AAAAAAAAJdE/NsPG2qdAy9I/s1600-h/IMG_9242%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9242" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9242" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iwi27NTzeeA/VmDl0P9dmnI/AAAAAAAAJdQ/sBmJT7AJjuE/IMG_9242_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>The little 2x4 bumps on top are the mounting points where I will attach a set of cross bars that we originally bought to put on the Exploder.  They didn’t fit and we never ended up using them but they’ll work just fine for this purpose.  When we come back we want to bring the two Hobie kayaks with us.  They’ll ride on top of the cap on the roof racks.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kOfxGrAYAY4/VmDl0rb2pMI/AAAAAAAAJdU/Q0UeZXi2dUI/s1600-h/IMG_9251%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9251" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9251" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_aCxipN1skQ/VmDl1Bs7TSI/AAAAAAAAJdc/Hs12ZroGUZE/IMG_9251_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t7RDI0RwUI8/VmDl19tq9oI/AAAAAAAAJdo/-aXAd0cnzmE/s1600-h/IMG_9252%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9252" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9252" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_q5eJmqaPEM/VmDl2W2VIjI/AAAAAAAAJds/YCgRGqdKqyU/IMG_9252_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p>Right now it looks pretty ugly (and it may very well end up looking ugly when we finally use it) but a coat of paint hides a host of sins.  I’ve got some gray metallic paint left over from the <a href="http://travellingwithgeorge.blogspot.ca/2012/07/closing-in-on-end.html">bus painting project</a> and the weather forecast is unseasonably warm for tomorrow.  So my plan is to sand the hell out of it in the morning and blow some gray paint in its general direction tomorrow afternoon.  Followed by some clearcoat.  It will be whatever it will be but I think it may end up not looking too fugly and being really useful.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RQrg4mNvFnE/VmDl2_-UF7I/AAAAAAAAJd0/L2cJZ4Bg3m0/s1600-h/IMG_9249%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9249" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9249" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RvU6xinDSAw/VmDl3WrYd3I/AAAAAAAAJd8/JKMVlZLJFpE/IMG_9249_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a>I finally got around to mounting the pushbutton switch for the lift and hooking up the safety switch.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IitKVTVcdOU/VmDl3wr6UiI/AAAAAAAAJeA/q4Z5HfUo8wE/s1600-h/IMG_9250%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><u><font color="#cc8800"></font></u><img title="IMG_9250" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9250" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JP5DhtCEdMU/VmDl4a7j36I/AAAAAAAAJeI/7RAUQ0-BkgI/IMG_9250_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a></p> <p>You can’t actually see the safety switch in this picture – its on the back of the column and is activated by the horizontal bar that is visible under the top frame member.  That octagon box gave me a dose of peril when I was mounting it.  Not too much peril mind you but a bit of peril nonetheless.  My shop floor is smooth trowelled – the contractor and I had a big discussion when we were pouring the floor and he warned me that it would be slippery in the winter.  I wanted it shiny because they’re easier to keep clean but when I stood my extension ladder against the lift upright I didn’t consider the implications of an aluminum ladder on a slippery shop floor.  A few minutes later when I was dangling by one arm from the top cross member looking down at my runaway ladder I was acutely aware of how bad a combination that really was but it all worked out OK.  And the bruising is already mostly going away.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-34673386419008215732015-11-30T15:41:00.001-08:002015-11-30T15:44:46.000-08:00This is awkward<p>As we were bombarded all day with climate crap from the so-called “summit” in Paris I had this strange feeling like I’ve heard all this before somewhere.  Sure enough, a little searching turned up this gem:</p> <p><em>“….then I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on Earth. ………….”</em></p> <p>Does anyone recognize that little bit of hyperbole?  Think back 7 years.  If you puked your way through the big zero’s acceptance speech when he won the Democratic nomination then you may recognize that clip from the closing paragraph.  </p> <p>So to summarize what the chosen one announced today in Paris “my climate policy has been an abject failure for the past 7 years but its all good from now on”.  Mind you, he said it a little different – it was all about how the oceans are relentlessly rising and small countries are submerging on a daily basis but it seems to me that either we turned the tide in 2008 or we didn’t.  And according to the Pres today, we didn’t.   </p> <p>He’s in great company mind you – our nitwit PM, dizzy May, BanKee whatever from the UN – they’re all a bunch of Polly Annas.  Anyone who believes that any of the hot air generated in Paris over the next 10 days will result in actual productive effort is every bit as much a nitwit as the leaders themselves.  </p> <p>If there was a serious commitment to reducing the use of fossil fuels they’d be talking about nuclear power.  Don’t hold your breath waiting for that conversation to start.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-26948594904603316152015-11-28T19:12:00.001-08:002015-11-28T19:12:29.684-08:00Close quarters<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xXnXashBCVA/VlptDw4m7FI/AAAAAAAAJZg/zF6f8ax2lT0/s1600-h/IMG_9222%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9222" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9222" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y_tj0VhtqT8/VlptEVHBE-I/AAAAAAAAJZk/VmFvipGt1pA/IMG_9222_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <p>That’s my trailer mover.  It started out life as a quick attach plate on a pallet along with another one like it at a Ritchie Brothers sale.  It was cheaper to buy the pair of plates than it would have been to buy a single pre-built trailer mover.  A few bits from Princess Auto and an hour or so of welding resulted in a perfectly functional trailer mover.</p> <p>The trailer mover was pretty well essential because my gooseneck trailer is a tight fit.  I think I have close to an inch to spare.  There’s not a chance I could have manoeuvred the trailer accurately enough with the truck.  I might have got it in the door but getting it in the right spot so that I could close the door would have been out of the question. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4ThTvox7plE/VlptExcXlUI/AAAAAAAAJZo/uOzZZTSvkKg/s1600-h/IMG_9221%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9221" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9221" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8su32LF5eaQ/VlptFSJPaKI/AAAAAAAAJZs/aUcSE0hJPpU/IMG_9221_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a></p> <p><img title="IMG_9218" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9218" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mVkqbOn_1hk/VlptGF_cqcI/AAAAAAAAJZw/xbgm6t96B8U/IMG_9218_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></p> <p>The trailer won’t quite fit between the uprights on my lift.  Its close – so close that I thought it might squeeze between them - but there’s enough brackets and hinges protruding at the back end to just barely prevent it from passing between the uprights.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m86iECsYKiQ/VlptGlyq-AI/AAAAAAAAJZ0/IWBJp0Bcid8/s1600-h/IMG_9220%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9220" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9220" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W4HSCG5FLw0/VlptHL0jLLI/AAAAAAAAJZ4/2Zvf2oezLvI/IMG_9220_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a></p> <p>I’ve been having intermittent electrical gremlins on the trailer so I want to figure out what is causing them before I put it away for the winter.   Then I’ve got some service to do on the hoe and I think I’m going to have to build a cap for the truck.  We’ve got a lot of stuff to bring home with us in the spring and we want to bring the kayaks back too.  That pretty well means we need a cap for the truck and I just haven’t had any luck finding a used one that will fit.  A couple sheets of plywood, some screws and some white paint should yield something ugly but utilitarian.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-42835301632219749132015-11-28T04:00:00.001-08:002015-11-29T10:58:44.976-08:00Peak disruption<p>You’ve likely heard of peak oil.  In the fertilizer industry there is talk of peak phosphate.  Two days ago I think we reached peak disruption in our home renovations.  We may approach the level of disturbance we experienced this week when we get to the flooring but its hard to believe we could be any worse than we were this week.  </p> <p>I like to ease into my day with a couple of hours of news and coffee every morning but that was flat out of the question for the last two mornings.  Just navigating around the displaced furniture and boxes was a challenge – the living room was completely out of control and the TV was in the laundry.  Last night we beat the living room back into submission and cleared a path through the rubble that occupied the balance of the house.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uapSRVsGP6Y/VlmXb1oebcI/AAAAAAAAJY4/-btSR16W7gA/s1600-h/IMG_9217%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9217" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9217" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QoNbbkP9o_4/VlmXcPpcwMI/AAAAAAAAJY8/RiaUU-EGSXQ/IMG_9217_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s a little better shot of the marbled ceiling effect we have been achieving as well as one of the light fixtures that have caused us serious counting challenges.</strong></p> <p align="left">I’ve always been reasonably good at math but clearly my counting skills are impaired.  I was unaware of that impairment until this week but I can see no other explanation.  </p> <p align="left">Our reno plan has been to start at the top and work down.  The whole house needs a refresh from the dated paint to the disastrous flooring so our plan is to start by painting the ceilings, move to painting the walls and finish by replacing all the flooring.  That way the paint that drips from the ceiling to the walls and eventually to the carpet is not an issue.  Marilyn has spent the last year getting the surfaces prepped – filling a multitude of holes and patching drywall disasters.  We were finally ready to start spreading paint about a week ago and the entire main floor ceiling is now painted with our marble effect.  Yesterday we started painting top coat on the living room and hallway walls.  Once the ceiling was painted we replaced all the light fixtures with matching low profile fixtures – like the one in the image above.  And that’s where the counting issue surfaced.</p> <p align="left">First we counted all the existing fixtures and came up with 5.  Then we decided that we would use matching fixtures for 4 of them and use a fluorescent fixture in the hallway.  So we came home from Saskatoon last weekend with 4 matching fixtures from Rona plus a fluorescent.  But when I started putting the fixtures up we discovered that we needed not 4 but 6.  That was disconcerting – that our count could be out by 150% seemed impossible but it was what it was and I was going to Agribition this week anyway.  So while I was in Regina I braved another trip to Rona – I detest that store in general and the Regina store is their second worst store in Canada.  The one in Duncan was worse but it has now closed so I suppose technically the Regina store is now their worst store in Canada.  But I digress.</p> <p align="left">I braved the mental midgets in the Regina store and actually talked with the idiots long enough to purchase an additional three fixtures.  I had checked their online inventory ahead of time and knew they were supposed to have 21 of our style but of course they had them well hidden once I got to the store from hell.  We only needed two fixtures but we thought with 6 matching units we should have one for a spare and they were only $23 per each so it seemed prudent to get an three rather than the two we actually needed.  As it turned out it was more prescient than prudent because, once again, when I started putting up the new fixtures we discovered that we had again miscounted.  Its hard to explain how we could have initially counted 7 fixtures and arrived at a total of 4.  Too much paint fumes I guess.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UoPOf5KPSMk/VlmXcmW2boI/AAAAAAAAJZE/n0WohLWkPPU/s1600-h/IMG_9214%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9214" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_9214" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RM7BF2c50u4/VlmXc6G5QgI/AAAAAAAAJZI/oLWbjWan9D8/IMG_9214_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>The previous owners had a complete disaster in this area.  SWMBO says she may have pictures but I don’t.  The “cabinets” that used to live here survived about a week after we moved in and we purchased these replacements shortly after but they have remained unassembled until this week.  The master plan calls for a deeper counter top over the lower cabinets with mosaic tiles laid on the counter and a broom closet to the left of the cabinets.</strong></p> <p>(edit)</p> <p>SWMBO came up with a few before pictures.  Ignore the goof who is tearing the old crap out.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-__QWykxo1dA/VltK1dDpiPI/AAAAAAAAJag/w8SolFAA9Ss/s1600-h/IMG_5021%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5021" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5021" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IPqFn7Hpp5w/VltK2B-Hp-I/AAAAAAAAJak/O3RrRDClMiA/IMG_5021_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="275" height="404" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sVQ0ILc4IpA/VltK2VxA-cI/AAAAAAAAJao/QQ2RwP6GiqE/s1600-h/IMG_5044%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5044" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5044" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zBLNk5RTcuM/VltK3JOBD1I/AAAAAAAAJa4/rtMa34ic-1c/IMG_5044_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="274" height="405" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U-fXuxlb4g4/VltK3ZYcEeI/AAAAAAAAJbA/c2bu4u9oJEY/s1600-h/IMG_5048%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5048" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5048" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nqj49c81NBU/VltK3xq3pxI/AAAAAAAAJbE/EtUMfCLYYLQ/IMG_5048_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vf2U19Bx7pE/VltK4bs7JZI/AAAAAAAAJbI/GZw3nqU3zgk/s1600-h/IMG_5049%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_5049" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_5049" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-79awU6OSbmE/VltK4_ANRnI/AAAAAAAAJbQ/Qg1c3nytGik/IMG_5049_thumb%25255B7%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="370" height="298" /></a></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-39328167175266660332015-11-25T18:57:00.001-08:002015-11-25T19:05:03.900-08:00I made that<p>Earlier this week the mayor and I were disassembling the “turn control valve” off his grader.  That’s a very simple hydraulic valve that performs a very complex function on the grader.  The circle – the part the blade attaches to – needs to turn so you can angle the blade.  That is accomplished with two hydraulic cylinders each working a bell crank that drives a gear that in turn drives the circle.  The cylinders are timed such that one is fully extended while the other is halfway extended but in order to turn the bell crank they each need to cycle repeatedly in and out in perfect synchronicity.  The valve that accomplishes that duet has been leaking and the mayor has struggled valiantly for the last year to get the leak stopped.  </p> <p>In the course of disassembling the control valve I recall saying to myself “Self, I should have a brass hammer.”  Since I had no such hammer we resorted to the old “hold a block of wood against it and whack it with a ball peen hammer” trick.  Which worked but wasn’t elegant.  So yesterday when I was in Yorkton I looked at brass hammers but at $45++ they were too rich for my blood.  Particularly so when I remembered that I have a couple of bars of 1.25” brass stock.  So tonight I sacrificed a cheap 3/8 swing handle, made a pile of shavings and ended up with this perfectly functional little brass hammer.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CIRQjQLe-C4/VlZ1I5KDUTI/AAAAAAAAJYQ/_rMGJGeIsW0/s1600-h/20151125_201725%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151125_201725" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151125_201725" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GT7H3WQ35RA/VlZ1JWZPQEI/AAAAAAAAJYU/u-gl6TuGemI/20151125_201725_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p>We spent last weekend in Saskatoon being proud parents.  Marlan is finishing up his second year in the College of Agriculture (actually the proper name now has something to do with Ag and Bioresources but its still the College of Agriculture as far as I am concerned).  He’s a very smart kid and a hard worker which we knew already but which was further confirmed by his receipt of a scholarship.  I didn’t recall that the Bean Feed supper was the occasion where scholarships are presented but I think that was because when I was in the college there just weren’t that many scholarships (and I didn’t get any).  Friday night we joined Marlan and Jenna along with a few hundred others for the Bean Feed in the Centennial Auditorium (which is called something else too now).  We got all fed up and then watched a never-ending parade of kids getting scholarships.  There must have been over 60 kids and 100 awards (some of them got several).  We were pretty proud parents and it was a fun evening.  </p> <p>And no, we didn’t just eat beans and wieners, despite the fact that the Bean Feed did in fact start out with those two items as the only thing on the menu.  There’s a lot of things have changed around the College since I was there, not just the name of the College or the menu at the Bean Feed.  The most obvious change is the gender of the protagonists – the Dean of the College, the President of the Ag Students’ Association and a majority of the students are now women.  We used to have to import nurses and home ec girls in order to have someone to dance with but clearly that is no longer the case.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-asQeHugT72w/VlZ1J3gr1EI/AAAAAAAAJYY/OIltVgM4wNQ/s1600-h/20151120_204400%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151120_204400" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151120_204400" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ROrLf3uGC1A/VlZ1KUuQaVI/AAAAAAAAJYg/kHWT3SXPoAw/20151120_204400_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> <strong>I very stupidly failed to take a camera with me so was forced to use my cell phone.  My apologies to everyone concerned, particularly Marlan.</strong></p> <p>We used Saturday and Sunday to do some power visiting around Saskatoon including a supper with some of my agro classmates.  The group of us that has been getting together the 3rd weekend in July ever since grad got together for a supper Saturday night.  Then we did some power shopping and came home with the Lincoln loaded to the roof with paint, lights and Costco food.  Its a good thing that car has air ride because it would have been seriously dragging its ass without the air levelling.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-26550868921749347212015-11-17T14:31:00.001-08:002015-11-17T18:00:31.260-08:00Putting stuff away for winter<p>Yesterday I finally hauled the little hoe home from the drainage project I’ve been poking away at for about a month now.  I’d been dreaming that we might get some dry weather but finally gave up and just barely got it out ahead of some forecasted seriously cold weather.  </p> <p>The poor little thing wasn’t very happy about climbing back onto the trailer.  My trailer is really too high to be hauling equipment on – the deck is entirely above the wheels and those are on 16 inch rims so the deck is seriously up there.  On dry days the hoe will just barely climb the ramps but when its even a little wet it spins out about the time it gets 1/4 of the track sticking over the top of the ramps.  Then it can get exciting depending how straight back it wants to slide.  My usual solution is to put the deck up part way which lowers the back of the trailer and makes the ramp angle less steep.  Yesterday even that was barely enough.  Several times I got partway up the ramps before sliding sideways off the ramps or all the way back to the mud.  Pushing with the hoe always helps but yesterday I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to dig some trenches to lower the trailer.  The problem with that plan is that there is no guarantee the truck will pull the trailer out of the hole when I’m all done.  As it was I got the hoe loaded and then had to unload and do it all over when the truck wouldn’t climb the first little muddy incline. </p> <p>When I got home I spent two hours washing.  The hoe still isn’t clean but its a hell of a lot closer than it was when we first arrived in town.  I left it on the trailer because it will just get slimed if I unload it now.  We really haven’t had any seriously cold weather yet so the ground is just barely frozen on the surface.  This week is supposed to change all that but so far its stayed pretty warm.  Not that I’m complaining about the warmth but the mud is a serious PITA. It never warms up enough to dry anything out – just enough to turn the surface to snot.  In that sense it will be a relief when it finally does turn cold enough to freeze the ground.</p> <p>Today I put most of the little Case tractors away for the winter.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MM1gWnuTd8o/VkuqyDdPKII/AAAAAAAAJXA/xfx1XyBWXkw/s1600-h/20151117_152456%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151117_152456" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151117_152456" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_kOFm4p3nwM/Vkuqy0UjfuI/AAAAAAAAJXE/FuwfICk-Qvc/20151117_152456_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s the 444 that I use to pull the estate sprayer, the 155 that will eventually be a restoration project and “Marilyn’s” 118 which we’ll use to mow grass at 515 (the new place)</strong></p> <p align="left">The little 118 is the last tractor to follow me home.  I bought it from some people south of Saskatoon who really didn’t appear to have a clue which alarmed me a bit because I only had their word that the tractor ran.  It wouldn’t even turn over the day I went to pick it up because the battery was dead.  That turned out to be because it had been boiled dry and because the engine doesn’t appear to be putting out any charge.  I got the engine running with no issues but then the tractor still wouldn’t move because it was missing a drive belt.  That wasn’t a surprise either – the previous owners claimed they had been mowing the lawn when it swallowed the belt and never moved again.  That wasn’t hard to believe when I was picked bits of belt out from around the engine shaft for about an hour this morning.  I’m a little doubtful that they did much mowing with the tractor though because the idler pulley on the main belt was not quite square but certainly closer to square than round.  The new idler arrived in the mail this morning – I already had a replacement belt.  After I got done digging the old belt out and put everything back together the tractor ran just fine and even moved under its own power over to the little house.  So I think I probably did OK on that one.  The deck needs bearings but that’s no big deal.</p> <p align="left">I should point out that I resisted the urge to phone someone in Rosetown over the weekend.  On Saturday night there were two little Cases newly listed on Kijiji.  He was asking a total of $100 for the pair and he claimed one of them was running.  Even if they were both scrap iron, $100 is a serious bargain but I just didn’t want to drive to Rosetown to get them.  It was hard to tell from his picture but one looked like a 224 or 244 with really faded paint and the other was either a 155 or 195.  I spotted them Sunday morning and they were gone yesterday but at $100 that’s no surprise either.</p> <p align="left"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7my80XquE4o/Vkuqzd074UI/AAAAAAAAJXM/hL8AukSwoYU/s1600-h/20151117_152638%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151117_152638" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151117_152638" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dO5ncwN-d4E/Vkuqz8ZUwEI/AAAAAAAAJXU/gtDiMfRYcbo/20151117_152638_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s the spare Case parts pile which is in itself another very good reason not to buy any more of the little guys for at least another 6 months.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RjpPg2X9BTE/Vkuq0XSXbwI/AAAAAAAAJXc/1v5Yxrgme3M/s1600-h/Footing%252520Trainers%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="Footing Trainers" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Footing Trainers" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w5OwoD-6gJk/Vkuq08EuqvI/AAAAAAAAJXk/YbbwV_xiWHQ/Footing%252520Trainers_thumb%25255B6%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="290" /></a> <strong>I was rooting through “stuff” at the little house a few days ago when I stumbled onto these.  They are barefoot training shoes which I bought years ago.  They will figure prominently in our activities next September long weekend.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y4yKaHUEDjY/Vkvbu7__CXI/AAAAAAAAJX4/4Lcasbzdfuo/s1600-h/20151117_164039%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151117_164039" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151117_164039" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WGCfH6Phk1I/Vkvbvd5N2ZI/AAAAAAAAJX8/KfNJAq_4MgY/20151117_164039_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>This was an unexpected bonus.  I wasn’t sure how heavy the little Skat was and I wasn’t sure where it would balance but it all worked out.  Right now I’ve got the wheels off and the drive chains opened up because there’s a bit of chain noise that I don’t like.  </strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-414758108137240372015-11-12T16:27:00.001-08:002015-11-12T16:27:51.835-08:00Going up<p>I got a little tiny package in the mail today and when I opened it up this little guy was inside.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3w1OQrPjaTU/VkUugDd8B6I/AAAAAAAAJWY/3rI8Qb2aZ9g/s1600-h/20151112_163113%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151112_163113" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151112_163113" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o-PuxKdCvpk/VkUugqGVuAI/AAAAAAAAJWc/YL6e3sMeJkM/20151112_163113_thumb%25255B8%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="252" height="332" /></a> </p> <p>That’s the relief valve for my shop hoist so I immediately pulled the old one out and stuffed the new one in.  I couldn’t test it on the truck because it was tied to the front of the gooseneck trailer but later this afternoon I couldn’t resist even though it meant unhooking.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--3ibNYguDMo/VkUuhDVanAI/AAAAAAAAJWk/V2HUjWIVzRs/s1600-h/20151112_162844%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151112_162844" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151112_162844" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mw8TArFVI1o/VkUuhi8rkvI/AAAAAAAAJWs/MPSfiADKgfg/20151112_162844_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p>It went up lickety split and this time I even managed to keep it more or less level.  The front end on these Fords is so heavy and the frame doesn’t have any specified lift points so they’re a little challenging to lift.  I ended up with the front lift arms under the lower control arms and the rear arms on the frame just in front of where the frame sweeps up to clear the rear axle.  Lifting on the control arms meant that I didn’t need blocks on the front and helped level the lift.  I’m still waiting for the push button switches to operate the lift and to install the overhead safety bar but otherwise it is now fully functional.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-85464840642271290672015-11-11T10:43:00.001-08:002015-11-11T12:19:26.637-08:00Graders, little tractors, snow & wet paint<p>It may not be here to stay but then again it may be.  We woke up to about 8 inches of white crap on the ground this morning and its still there at dark.  The roads have sort of burned off but there were some bad accidents on the roads today including a woman killed about 20 miles from here.  If we really didn’t want to live in a winter climate nobody is holding a gun to our heads but its a jolt every fall nonetheless.</p> <p>I finally got the little 444 that I use to pull the estate sprayer put away this afternoon.  Its got a soft front tire that never goes completely flat but always needs air and this afternoon was no different.  With all the wet snow and a soft tire I had a hell of a time getting it to even move.  The soft tire refused to turn but the snow was slimy enough that I finally got it skidding and went round the block that way.  By the time I got it to the garage door it was turning intermittently and it worked just fine once it was aired up.  Its tucked away in the barn behind the little house now.  </p> <p>I also got the blade mounted on the 446 and used it to clear the sidewalk in front of our place and Keith’s.  Some Catholic doozer had already been around to shovel God’s sidewalk so I didn’t need to do it.</p> <p>The mayor has had me working on the grader again so that took up some time yesterday and today.  One of the big cylinders that raises the circle was leaking.  He thought we could put a seal kit in it but I was sceptical.  It turned out that we were both more or less right.  I was arguing for removing the cylinder and taking it to Ram Industries in Yorkton.  That’s the business founded by Ray Malinowski that built hydraulic cylinders, initially for his brother Leon who built front end loaders but eventually both brothers branched out further.  I’m not sure what all they are building now but they still do cylinder repairs.  Gary thought we could pull the piston and shaft, leave the barrel on the grader and do the repair ourselves.  </p> <p>The advantage of that plan was that the shaft and piston can be (just barely) handled by one person while removing the entire cylinder would have involved heavy lift equipment.  The problem with any repairs on our part was that we would have to remove the big nut holding the piston to the shaft.  We got the shaft assembly out of the barrel without much drama and mounted it in the vise at the town shop.  Then I put my 4 foot 3/4 swing handle on the nut and pulled the vise clear off the workbench.  </p> <p>At that point I suggested that maybe it was time to take the shaft and piston to Yorkton and the mayor agreed.  We made one more attempt with my 3/4 air impact but when that failed to budge the nut Gary loaded the assembly up and took it to Yorkton.  They rebuilt it pretty much immediately and this afternoon we stuck it back together.  I don’t think we spent a total of 2 hours on disassembly and re-assembly combined so it was a lot less onerous than our grader adventures last fall.  </p> <p>This morning we finally got started painting our ceilings.  Marilyn has been prepping the walls and ceiling for over a year now.  We’re starting at the ceiling and working down.  Unless they turn gravity off, the paint will drip down first on the walls and then on the floor so we’ll get the ceilings done, then paint the walls and finally replace the floor covering.  Our goal is to have the ceiling and walls finished before we leave for the boat.  </p> <p>Our ceiling treatment dates back to our house on the first acreage in Nipawin.  I can’t remember the local guy’s name who did the marble effect on our ceiling but he was locally famous and we loved that ceiling.  The marble effect comes from a high gloss white paint that has smoke from a coal oil lantern absorbed into the wet paint.  When its finished it has a high gloss marble appearance that cleans up easily and doesn’t show dirt.  We were in Pinkney’s house this summer which is the ceiling we originally copied 20 some years ago and it still looks great.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aanVN5Krlfw/VkOMU0fkrFI/AAAAAAAAJVI/7ykluJBLOhs/s1600-h/20151111_111109%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151111_111109" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151111_111109" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dIHUUVPQbts/VkOMVRSK_yI/AAAAAAAAJVM/QHl3iIH7JFE/20151111_111109_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a>  <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UBDaiWLajpo/VkOMV8_2cVI/AAAAAAAAJVQ/OBZ4yuiwB5M/s1600-h/20151111_111117%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151111_111117" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151111_111117" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0l9XqItxhWo/VkOMWZT4cwI/AAAAAAAAJVU/SaxtT9f2b5Y/20151111_111117_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>The kind of dirty looking smudges on the ceiling are the aftereffects of smoke from the lantern below.</strong><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Jm3bfaEGaG4/VkOMW5nZzqI/AAAAAAAAJVc/fArm4QTgFNw/s1600-h/20151111_111126%25255B3%25255D.jpg"></a><img title="20151111_111126" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151111_111126" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DQRM95Tap_4/VkOMXIHfngI/AAAAAAAAJVg/qUUfJ3q9cRc/20151111_111126_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Boj-V7fglcY/VkOiy_Euj7I/AAAAAAAAJWA/AlHTjpIAyZg/s1600-h/20151111_141502%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151111_141502" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="20151111_141502" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IEdsyp1_iog/VkOizQ9hHxI/AAAAAAAAJWE/H3d_C_4LznI/20151111_141502_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>My phone doesn’t do justice to how good it really looks.</strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-73294126873994285242015-11-05T05:09:00.001-08:002015-11-05T18:37:14.869-08:00Racism of the left<p>If someone is disqualified for any particular task based only on their ethnicity, race, sex or physical handicaps we clearly identify that as racism or sexism or illegal discrimination.  </p> <p>This morning the Canadian media is fawning over the new federal cabinet, several of whose members are apparently only qualified to hold ministerial appointments by virtue of their ovaries, headgear or skin colour.  That is the ultimate form of discrimination and its the more insidious because we don’t identify it for what it is.  </p> <ul> <li>Its racist to appoint an Indian – whether born in Canada or born abroad – simply because he/she/it is an Indian </li> <li>Its sexist to appoint a woman simply because she has ovaries </li> <li>Its discriminatory to appoint anyone simply because they are physically handicapped </li> </ul> <p>I actually feel sorry for those persons appointed by #lesserof2trudeaus simply to fill some equal opportunity quota because they may very well be qualified in their own right but we will never know that.  That’s what happens when we tolerate discrimination – good people get marginalized.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-24368480942399665452015-11-03T06:26:00.001-08:002015-11-03T17:12:10.242-08:00It works<p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BxcJ93MBQWI/VjjEDoZkcfI/AAAAAAAAJTo/-ElRLjyNSd8/s1600-h/20151102_103403%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151102_103403" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151102_103403" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jJhCm7kVYIA/VjjEEQDCoaI/AAAAAAAAJTs/_MNdDGPW_kA/20151102_103403_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p>There’s been a couple of problems along the way but by Sunday night I had a functioning car lift.  I had about 24 hours where it would go up to beat hell but coming back down was a challenge, which was about as convenient as hip pockets in long underwear.  It turned out my assembly skills were not 100%.  There’s a brake on the slave side (right side in the photo above) that is designed to stop the lift from falling if the lift chain goes slack.  In order for that to work it turns out that the chain needs to be routed so that it holds the brake off while the chain is taut.  When I initially installed the chain it worked just fine and the lift would come partway down but the last 4 feet required frequent interventions on my part.  Eventually a combination of 1-800-MICHAEL calls and RTFM on my part arrived at the right solution.</p> <p>I’ve still got some finishing up to do.  Right now the lift switch is a light switch.  I’ve got a couple of push buttons ordered from Taiwan to solve that.  There’s also a cross bar that sits immediately underneath the overhead beam.  Its purpose is to prevent me from ramming the top of my vehicle into that cross member, which seems like a desirable feature.  The switch that came with the lift had suffered an injury during removal or transport but less than $10 on AliExpress had 4 replacements on their way from somewhere in the orient.  The switches I ordered are SPDT so I can use one to activate the lift and another as the safety switch – I’ll just have to wait about a month for them to arrive.</p> <p>In the interim I got the car up on the lift and greased the front end.  The Panther platform which our Lincoln is built on has a well known front end noise which sounds incredibly alarming but actually is relatively benign.  I should have taken a picture yesterday but I just shamelessly stole this one off the web:</p> <p> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r19sqqjHsbQ/VjjEFN-yspI/AAAAAAAAJT4/y2DLPXdogsA/s1600-h/steeringstop_zps14871821%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="steeringstop_zps14871821" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="steeringstop_zps14871821" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U2hqOgXFe8Y/VjjEFyDC0XI/AAAAAAAAJT8/To_UuUpG5L8/steeringstop_zps14871821_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p>There’s a little cast ball on the spindle assembly and a corresponding steel pocket on the axle.  When the wheel is hard over in either direction one of those balls is engaged in the socket and they make a hell of a grinding noise which can be extremely alarming.  The solution is to grease the socket which is dead simple when the car is on a lift and not so easy to do while lying in the mud.  Its also one of those jobs that’s pretty easy to put off because, aside from the alarming noise, its not really mission critical.  So yesterday I squirted some grease at the front suspension parts and filled that socket with NeverSeize.  </p> <p>Once I got the chain re-routed and the car back on the ground I thought I should try lifting the Exploder but that turned out to not be possible.  The running boards on the truck mean that I need extensions on the lift arms and they didn’t come with the lift.  I briefly had visions of some elaborate build involving 4 x 4 steel tubing, hacksaws, 1/4” plate and welders.  Eventually I rejected that process and ripped some 3/4” plywood.  A little epoxy, some plywood, a bit of rubber and tonight I should have perfectly adequate lift blocks.  I also tried to find blocks on AliExpress but so far I haven’t landed on the right search terms.  I’m sure they’re out there but my plywood blocks should get me going and maybe they’ll turn out to be all I ever need.  The Superduty is still hooked to the gooseneck trailer so I can’t try lifting it but I’ll need the lift blocks for that as well.  That truck weighs roughly 1000# more than the lift is rated for but this lift is so massively overbuilt I’m not concerned.  I expect it will just lift the truck without any further action required but I know where the hydraulic relief valve is located so it most certainly WILL lift the truck, it just may take a little intervention before completing the lift.  </p> <p>Update – Tuesday evening</p> <p>Well the relief valve was a bit more sophisticated than I had expected.  I was looking for a cap that I could remove and then tighten a spring down a bit.  Instead I found a cap that I could remove with a preset cartridge underneath it.  So I had to order a higher setpoint cartridge.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kGj9VGltVr0/VjlaiGiLnMI/AAAAAAAAJUQ/2xQB4fFO9qU/s1600-h/20151103_161440%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151103_161440" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151103_161440" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-347pYYSSlT0/VjlaivRHLMI/AAAAAAAAJUU/2W0AxCxsYhc/20151103_161440_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>Initially I got the big Ford clear off the ground and raised it about 2 feet but the relief was squealing the whole time.  When the oil warmed up this is as close to lifting as I could get – 3 wheels clear of the ground with the rear passenger wheel still touching.</strong></p> <p align="center"><strong><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-awxLF2IL9u8/VjlajGM-35I/AAAAAAAAJUc/rpL9n3ShWzM/s1600-h/20151103_165649%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151103_165649" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151103_165649" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5d9DwzNPAaU/VjlajguwPgI/AAAAAAAAJUo/BR9-AMDV4_g/20151103_165649_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </strong></p> <p align="center"><strong>The little gray micro-truck was a breeze to lift.  I had to pay close attention to how high I lifted it because I don’t have the switch hooked up on the overheight bar.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LdDAADynNo0/VjlakcvhjRI/AAAAAAAAJUs/ZivtwcDKjQ0/s1600-h/20151103_171446%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20151103_171446" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20151103_171446" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vInsge_U-Xk/VjlalIrKnHI/AAAAAAAAJU0/t_RuOrpn_Cs/20151103_171446_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>I built 4 extension blocks last night.  They are 8 pieces of 3/4” plywood stacked and epoxied for a total lift of 6 inches.  I think I need some longer ones for the big truck but these worked great on the micro-truck and they will suffice for the big truck as well.  Evidently the Superduties are a notorious PITA to lift and I will likely need at a minimum 2 different heights of blocks and possibly 3 different heights if I want to lift it close to level.</strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-25378336200169526722015-11-01T09:58:00.001-08:002015-11-01T09:58:43.112-08:00Back to the shop<p>The big project for the past couple of days has been getting the car lift moved from its storage spot at the little house and then standing it up in the shop.  Its super heavy and I was working alone so it has been a very slow project.  I’m also feeling more lethargic than usual – maybe its after effects of the flu shot on Monday 0r maybe its just normal S.A.D.  We’re seeing the sun so rarely its starting to feel like we’re already in B.C.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1XTCsepQnPU/VjZSqAOFllI/AAAAAAAAJRw/UFV3zJ2qu_A/s1600-h/IMG_66943.jpg"><img title="IMG_6694" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6694" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NbalZ7MYQyA/VjZSq6vTvmI/AAAAAAAAJR0/H0W0XP-E3nI/IMG_6694_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>Moving the first post from the trailer to the shop.  As you can see it barely fits under the 13 foot door clearance.  That’s also the “heavy” side post – the one with the lift cylinder.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kvTzQDgzFXk/VjZSrvpfBFI/AAAAAAAAJSA/77nJjzzP1jA/s1600-h/20151030_1646243.jpg"><img title="20151030_164624" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151030_164624" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VTxTLTmGGiU/VjZSsDVvOzI/AAAAAAAAJSE/7WPODSuEdS0/20151030_164624_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="218" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>My plan was to set a post on each side of the Genie lift, strap them to the lift so they wouldn`t fall over and then attach the top beam.  My hope was that once the top beam was in place I would be able to run the lift up against the top beam, lift the entire car hoist and walk it into place with the Genie.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l6QMiynZM1Q/VjZStWqTrXI/AAAAAAAAJSQ/0bucdVp2VMY/s1600-h/IMG_6697%25255B1%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6697" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6697" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F-yyWaBaqGc/VjZSuKvjxxI/AAAAAAAAJSU/82ja6baJ-jA/IMG_6697_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a></p> <p align="center"><strong>At this point both posts are leaning against the Genie, ready for the top crossmember.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LOagza3NN8k/VjZSvlNFsPI/AAAAAAAAJSg/QOrh4MqHsNE/s1600-h/IMG_6699%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6699" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6699" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rikxuFfDh1M/VjZSwWyvHII/AAAAAAAAJSk/nsZgVEv5amI/IMG_6699_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="384" /></a> <strong>I didn’t take any pictures while I was carrying the lift on the Genie.  It would in fact barely raise the lift.  If you look closely at the before and after pictures you can see the yellow lift arms attached in the first picture and removed in the second image.  Those arms are REALLY heavy so I removed them and that made all the difference in how the Genie was able to handle the lift.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AElxBWY0eco/VjZSw-SIpOI/AAAAAAAAJSw/DiSD20mLzRE/s1600-h/IMG_6702%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6702" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6702" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V2M5G5WG4uU/VjZSxWY4n2I/AAAAAAAAJS4/Hm8yPKxexEo/IMG_6702_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>There’s some major drilling involved to fasten it down.  That’s a 7/8” bit and I’m using 8” Redhead anchors (wedge bolts).  I found a bit that claims to be able to cut rebar as well as concrete.  Its carbide tipped and so far it has been working well but I’m only 1/3 of the way through the holes.  Four of the holes are under the lift arms so they will have to wait until I get the power hooked up and the lift working.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-okGJlaUJslU/VjZSyXuhwoI/AAAAAAAAJTA/sr8nnlypZdY/s1600-h/IMG_6703%25255B5%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6703" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6703" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p2ohuaxoYxs/VjZSyyKDrQI/AAAAAAAAJTE/bKGeNRpYwPo/IMG_6703_thumb%25255B3%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s the power pack that does the lifting.  Its a 230 volt motor and I haven’t completely figured out how it works.  Its clear that you push the lever and it pushes the cylinder out to go up but going down is still a big mystery.  1-800-Michael has worked before – I expect I will need to call again.</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5JC1fRYFu04/VjZSzoyu6kI/AAAAAAAAJTQ/BIR7cxInSfs/s1600-h/IMG_6704%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6704" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6704" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PNTZpk06Y-U/VjZS0XKoshI/AAAAAAAAJTU/kXkrpDQm3B4/IMG_6704_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="289" height="384" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>That big roller chain needs to be led through the top cross member and down the far side.  The cylinder lifts the wall side and the chain lifts the opposite arm.  There’s a kind of ratchet/cog affair that keeps the arms up which has to be manually released in order to go down but like I said, getting it to go back down is still 3/4 of a mystery.</strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-16098619460844802482015-10-30T11:36:00.001-07:002015-10-31T05:54:28.978-07:00Ditch digger<p>I’ve got a little project on the go.  A local farmer has a slough that’s maybe 3 acres in extent which he wants drained.  This area is so flat its really hard to get rid of excess water.  I ran some levels for the guy and he’s maybe got 3 feet to work with.  So if the slough started out more than three feet deep it isn’t going to drain completely.  But he wanted to tackle it so I’ve had the little Kubota hoe out there since Wednesday.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I28kx4eCIIE/VjO4hq-ToPI/AAAAAAAAJQI/uzcokgFfeBc/s1600-h/IMG_6683%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6683" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6683" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e-UFYIVdx0M/VjO4iVpApaI/AAAAAAAAJQM/Fd74R2_wwiM/IMG_6683_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QCf_tscE7ww/VjO4jM9YXOI/AAAAAAAAJQY/vUCWIg2vvcE/s1600-h/IMG_6686%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6686" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6686" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mSDxeN30pHo/VjO4jzt9PJI/AAAAAAAAJQg/_bTSYXwwaQ0/IMG_6686_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p align="center"><strong>A couple of shots of the little Kubota and the ditch.</strong></p> <p> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IIhTUaf37KI/VjO4kqf2GOI/AAAAAAAAJQo/NNuDMnyOnxY/s1600-h/IMG_6685%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6685" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6685" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-79u5AKoQpq4/VjO4lUdMh9I/AAAAAAAAJQs/hwssLejObMM/IMG_6685_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a></p> <p align="center"><strong>That’s the slough that we’re trying to get rid of. It was pretty wet when we started.  The track in the foreground is one I made when my big Ford didn’t quite get stuck.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bExSgYv8EJs/VjO4mH9KRsI/AAAAAAAAJQ4/mM2_m9dyF6o/s1600-h/IMG_6687%25255B6%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6687" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6687" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c2lJ9OytP14/VjO4mkgs-JI/AAAAAAAAJRA/KBh7XanJsPE/IMG_6687_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong>And this is the ditch that is supposed to drain the water once I get it across the height of land that is currently separating the slough from the ditch.  There’s not much slope to work with in the main ditch so right now the water is mostly just filling the ditch and sitting there.  We’ll know in a couple of days whether the main ditch is actually lower than the bottom of the slough.  That’s important.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SRsDn-MFRDo/VjO4nqgGnTI/AAAAAAAAJRI/9P-pnOcQmkM/s1600-h/IMG_6689%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6689" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6689" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RM7TrJLOmNc/VjO4oA0cK1I/AAAAAAAAJRM/5Wf8dDMKrEE/IMG_6689_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k3nJaRGwKdw/VjO4pBHz0MI/AAAAAAAAJRY/3DjMNn3qfcQ/s1600-h/IMG_6688%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6688" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="IMG_6688" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PYYh0fjoB1E/VjO4pvoWEBI/AAAAAAAAJRc/yKFO3GlS3CM/IMG_6688_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p align="center"><strong>Delmar had to bring his 4WD because I got stuck trying to straddle the ditch.  The Buchanan clay is pretty stable but the higher ground between the slough and the drainage ditch is sand and gravel.  It caves in regularly if I get too close to the edge which is what happened while I was straddling the ditch.  Normally I can hop over a single bucket width ditch by putting the hoe across the ditch and letting it carry the nose of the machine across and then turning around and holding the back up as it crosses.  I almost buried myself a second time this morning when the edge caved away while I was trying to hop the ditch. I won’t be trying that manoeuvre again.</strong></p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-56693182966282224302015-10-27T20:02:00.001-07:002015-10-27T20:02:32.707-07:00Tofino whale watching tragedy<p>Its a perverse contradiction of yacht design that passenger comfort or initial stability and ultimate vessel stability are fundamentally at odds with each other.  In the simplest analysis the most comfortable boat is arguably also the most dangerous boat to be onboard when the shit hits the fan.</p> <p>Its been hard for us not to obsess about the tragedy off Tofino.  The image of the Leviathan bow sticking out of the water is sad and frightening to anyone who spends as much time on the ocean as we do.  The fact that the vessel went down so rapidly that the crew couldn’t even get off a Mayday call let alone launch any liferafts or suit the passengers in lifevests is also frightening.  We always assume that in the awful event of Gray Hawk sinking we would have at least a few minutes to get ready to disembark.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Be88skrHySk/VjA6unMwfrI/AAAAAAAAJPQ/yiBI17aY-CM/s1600-h/Leviathan%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="Leviathan" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="Leviathan" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-mMKSj7DojnY/VjA6vJalF5I/AAAAAAAAJPU/a_YbtSvXpKw/Leviathan_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p>Initially I thought that the boat must have struck a reef hard enough to open a huge hole in the hull but even in that circumstance it was hard to explain how rapidly it must have gone under.  One of the native rescuers mentioned hearing a passenger comment about how the boat seemed to suddenly turn over and that got me thinking about hull form and stability.  The initial reports of the sea state were 3 to 4 meter waves which isn’t huge for the west coast of the Island but its still a serious swell.</p> <p>The pictures of the submerged hull and prior pictures of the vessel suggest a fairly flat bottom hull, similar to these Bayliner images.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ey6YESbucZk/VjA6v5GsGRI/AAAAAAAAJPg/dBUzzHhpqsU/s1600-h/three-bayliners3-613x321%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="three-bayliners3-613x321" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="three-bayliners3-613x321" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-PDSRT--jIe8/VjA6wZZq5JI/AAAAAAAAJPk/FSMV28rJc7Y/three-bayliners3-613x321_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="204" /></a> </p> <p>As you can easily see, these hulls have a relatively flat bottom with a sharp turn at the bilge (where the bottom part turns into the sides).  This hull form tries to remain parallel to the surface of the water it is floating on.  If you imagine pushing down on one side of one of these boats you can see that the displaced water will increase rapidly which results in buoyancy that tends to return the vessel to sitting parallel to the surface.  Note that the vessel tends to remain parallel to the surface of the water which is not necessarily the same as level with the horizon.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AgHrugxrG-E/VjA6xBqr05I/AAAAAAAAJPw/Ls-gjsBQKvw/s1600-h/IMG_3792%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_3792" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_3792" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Cg2hcCYKuzk/VjA6xieWe_I/AAAAAAAAJP0/-PyIKa8zQPk/IMG_3792_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p>Contrast the Bayliner hulls with this shot of Gray Hawk in the slings.  What you can’t see is that aft of the maximum beam at midship the turn of the bilge almost completely disappears.  When you push down on one side of Gray Hawk her displacement doesn’t change appreciably – she’s not completely round like a wine bottle but not a whole lot different either.  On an average day on the water Gray Hawk bobs and rolls like a cork.  Which occasionally results in SWMBO getting seasick (and routinely resulted in Jorgito the Idiot Cat shatting himself).  </p> <p>What keeps rounded hulls like Gray Hawk’s upright is massive amounts of weight deep in the hull.  We have lead in the keel and our engines, fuel tanks, water tanks and generator are all below the water line.  The hull may roll easily initially but as that weight moves and starts to lift in the water it naturally tries to pull the hull back to vertical.  Note that this effect is independent of the surface state of the water – Gray Hawk’s hull will always try to be vertical, regardless of what the waves are doing.  On an average day either hull form can give an acceptable ride.  The Bayliner hull form is better suited to going faster and it is pretty common on vessels that look superficially similar to Gray Hawk.  Grand Banks, Nordic Tugs, Bayliner/Meridian – probably over 3/4 of the recreational trawlers have this hull form.  </p> <p>On a non average day however it all changes.  The Bayliner hull form still tries to remain parallel to the surface of the water, even when the surface of the water goes all out of whack with big waves rising and falling.  But its worse than that.  When any boat is on the side of a wave it will try to slide down the wave. Gravity doesn’t shut off just because the waves get up.  The problem with a sharp turn of bilge is that it can dig into the water and effectively “trip” the boat.  That appears to be exactly what happened to Leviathan.  The initial TSB report says that the passengers were all on the port side (presumably looking at whales) when a large wave approached from the starboard quarter. The combination of extra weight pushing the port side deeper in the water and raising the centre of gravity (because they were all on the top deck) put together with the flat bottom hull caused the boat to trip and capsize suddenly.  </p> <p>The theory with a more rounded hull form is that in those extreme conditions the vessel is more likely to slide down the face of the wave.  I hope we never find out that it doesn’t work that way.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-35055261331874708252015-10-25T06:37:00.001-07:002015-10-25T06:37:23.475-07:00Uggghhh<p>I suppose it was inevitable.  I’m glad I got the roof sheets all up yesterday.  There’s no ridge cap yet and it will have to wait until the sun burns the water off the roof.  The frozen water that is.  Fortunately I can do most of what is left to be done from the Genie lift.  I’ll still have to walk on the sheets to install the ridge cap but the gable trim should all be accessible from the Genie.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RDJwGeIrYvM/VizbA1mzv-I/AAAAAAAAJOY/GqOLC13c5xg/s1600-h/IMG_9206%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9206" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_9206" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3e1a7dH0QD8/VizbBhatgSI/AAAAAAAAJOc/YTIT6e0NA9k/IMG_9206_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="257" height="384" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EaGHc39Nu3M/VizbCRUtOsI/AAAAAAAAJOo/-1vMEpvIfNg/s1600-h/IMG_9208%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9208" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9208" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KD0p0cVZf54/VizbDKgW_UI/AAAAAAAAJOw/K_zYCdhnDvI/IMG_9208_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YOHig5qq6hM/VizbD32z_WI/AAAAAAAAJO4/5JhCTUqAgiU/s1600-h/IMG_9211%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9211" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9211" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LpYj3so1hbs/VizbEfdx7LI/AAAAAAAAJO8/hm6irurFBEU/IMG_9211_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>It won’t last but it is a cold harbinger of what is to come.  I spent a while this morning looking at transfer switches and power cords.  The electrician hasn’t showed up to install a transfer switch and I refuse to beg anyone to take my money.  One of these days we’ll have a power outage and based on past experience, when the power goes out in Buchanan it stays out for a long time.  The generator has lived at the little house all summer but I need to get it moved back over here so that we are ready.  We can make coffee by running extension cords through the window but it would be nice to be able to run the furnace and the TV.  I’ve got those circuits all set up on a sub panel but I need to get the transfer switch and power cord installed so that I can feed the sub panel from the genset.</p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-43774450659183216982015-10-23T17:34:00.001-07:002015-10-23T17:34:18.168-07:00Roofing<p>It turns out its not that hard.  My standard line for some time now with reference to putting metal roofing on my new shop has been “how hard can it be?”.  I’ve seen some incredible idiots doing carpentry – it seemed to me that I could certainly do anything that some of them were capable of.  </p> <p>Last week I finally got around to ordering the metal and ran smack into the first gotcha.  They would have happily cut my sheets to length out of stock but it would have been a significant premium ($350 on a $1900 order).  So I opted to wait a week in order to allow them to order cut to length sheets from their supplier.  My big worry was that it would snow in the interim but – so far anyway – it hasn’t.  This morning I left for Melfort later than I would have preferred but early enough to get back here for a late lunch.  I don’t think I was in Mel-View’s yard for a total of 20 minutes – they were really efficient.   I rationalized my later departure as a safety measure – less chance of nailing a moose if I wasn’t travelling at daybreak.</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gcsgeCTna88/VirR8DOy7CI/AAAAAAAAJNg/RsnYfaR7rw0/s1600-h/IMG_9201%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9201" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9201" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2EOFM-NO7h8/VirR9T2o7lI/AAAAAAAAJNo/Xocf1GlI9BU/IMG_9201_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><strong>The roof sheets just barely fit inside the trailer but they did fit.  I’ll have to come up with a new plan when I bring the wall sheets home but that problem won’t arise until at least next fall.</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>Now I’m about half done putting the tin on the south side of the roof.  It goes relatively quickly but its hard work.  Standing on the roof always make my knees hurt and standing on the metal is even harder.  Its no big challenge to stand on but when I need to sit in order to get close to the eave its too slippery so I have to twist my feet under me to keep from sliding off.  My building isn’t even close to square which makes it challenging to end up with a finished job that looks good.  The sheets are heavier than I expected – I was worried about walking on them and that clearly isn’t a problem but handling them gets tiresome.</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fzVHQZqnzG4/VirR-f_YhRI/AAAAAAAAJNw/nV5f9M1uprI/s1600-h/IMG_9203%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9203" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9203" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bCCuOSRviGQ/VirR_c5dqxI/AAAAAAAAJN4/Zf9VXVhS7fE/IMG_9203_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><strong>The farther away you get the better it looks. Or as neighbour Louie said “It looks good from far but its far from good.”</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>We’ve been watching hurricane Patricia closely because we know that area of Mexico really well.  Right now it looks like the hurricane will make landfall just north of Manzanillo in the Barra de Navidad or Boca Beach neighbourhood.  We haven’t been there for several years but we have spent several winters in that area.  If I had to pick a stretch of Pacific coast where a hurricane could hit without doing massive damage that would definitely be the spot.  North of Puerto Vallarta is heavily built up and Manzanillo is built up but the stretch between P.V. and Manzanillo is relatively unpopulated jungle.  There’s a few little coastal fishing villages but nothing like what there is between P.V. and Mazatlan.  We’ve also been in touch with Karla.  She’s pretty cute – she has been referring to herself as our reporter in Guadalajara.  </p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zPzuYbFcHmQ/VirSATz5tmI/AAAAAAAAJOA/8HnYpSvNynQ/s1600-h/139-3937_IMG%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img title="139-3937_IMG" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="139-3937_IMG" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r1YRNegGlpE/VirSBfHXt6I/AAAAAAAAJOI/6MZJGJzF9SI/139-3937_IMG_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><strong>That’s the beach at La Manzanilla about 12 years ago now.  Right now it looks like this will be about where the centre of hurricane Patricia hits the coast.</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-91492017424263840862015-10-15T09:41:00.001-07:002015-10-15T09:41:24.566-07:00Carpentering again<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ts3LQDXAELU/Vh_XJdjxoUI/AAAAAAAAJM4/A_hOCGNqmpg/s1600-h/20151014_1609303.jpg"><img title="20151014_160930" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151014_160930" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jGloaw-bevw/Vh_XKHNBokI/AAAAAAAAJNA/G1-_4eZbgWk/20151014_160930_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> <a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-w6_E_h8QkFQ/Vh_XLn5ameI/AAAAAAAAJNI/ObeMfAGacQc/s1600-h/20151014_1609333.jpg"><img title="20151014_160933" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px" border="0" alt="20151014_160933" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AET6AsF3fdQ/Vh_XMoP0CMI/AAAAAAAAJNQ/QXs4-M6U8Nk/20151014_160933_thumb1.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="218" /></a> </p> <p></p> <p>I spent most of Wednesday hauling gravel and then levelling it.  Thursday morning I ordered the metal for the roof and now I need to strap the roof before I can put the tin on.  The old garage had a fir tongue and groove floor laid over the concrete that I have been told originally came out of the Lutheran church to the north of us.  I’m going to use that material to strap the roof.  Before I started this adventure I pulled up the fir and then couldn’t bring myself to haul it to the dump because it is still in remarkably good condition.  I left the shingles on the original building and I should probably take them off but if I strap over top of them the tin will blend the old and new sections smoothly and I won’t have to strip and dispose of the shingles.  The metal won’t be in Melfort until a week from Friday so I’ve got a few days to get the strapping on – I hope I have that much weather left.  The alternative was paying them roughly a 15% premium in order to have them cut the sheets out of longer stock so I opted for the cheaper route.  </p> <p>Marilyn cooked us a Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday.  I was already tired from arriving home very late Tuesday night and plunging back into yard work  so the turkey dinner nearly put me to sleep.  Snopes says that’s BS but whether its science or myth, a big turkey dinner always puts me to sleep.</p> <p>The other big activity is harvesting the last of Keith’s garden.  He’s gone until the end of the month but he told us to take whatever we want from the remains of his summer’s work.  I guess it wasn’t entirely his work – we helped him plant the potatoes.  Other than that though the garden was a solo effort on his part.  He’s got his place advertised now – I doubt whoever buys it will ever be half as generous with the garden as Keith has.   We are hoping that he is unsuccessful in selling the place.  Houses don’t sell very quickly in Buchanan and he has priced his fairly aggressively so perhaps we will be lucky.  On the other hand, if he does sell for anywhere near his asking price that is positive for the value of our own place.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-1241987714310218912015-10-04T11:47:00.001-07:002015-10-04T11:47:29.225-07:00New (to me) camera<p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v3tHa8maST4/VhF0M6uEwBI/AAAAAAAAJMA/xJrj5U4ku2w/s1600-h/IMG_7365%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_7365" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_7365" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A8J6iGW5lzA/VhF0NfHlzoI/AAAAAAAAJMI/dGj27sQz_2w/IMG_7365_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p>That’s one of the little back swimming otters that entertained us in Glacier Bay last spring.  If you zoom in and look closely, or maybe not even all that closely, you will see little squiggly lines in the image that kind of look like tiny worms wriggling around on the water.  My trusty Canon Digital Rebel that is likely now 20+ years old evidently didn’t survive the years that it has spent on the boat.  I hardly ever use it anymore so it has been staying on the boat and apparently the damp environment has done some damage to the CCD which is the image sensor that serves the function of film in a digital world.  Of course I didn’t know that until we were in Alaska taking telephoto images of wildlife and by then it was too late to do anything about it.  Well, now I’ve done something about it.</p> <p>I figured I could salvage some value out of all the Canon accessories and software that I have invested in my existing Digital Rebel by simply buying a newer version of the same camera.  I found a 40D EOS on eBay that included a 55-250 stabilized Canon lens as well as a battery pack and was able to buy it for under $250.  Considering that would be well over $1000 worth of camera if bought new I thought I did very well.  Yesterday we ran up to Regina in the rain and picked it up from the terrorist that runs our UPS Store.  Earlier this week Marlan picked up another Canon Digital Rebel body only for which I paid the whopping sum of $20.  So I think we are now well equipped for next spring’s return engagement with Alaska.  </p> <p>All my old lenses will work equally well with either of the new bodies but I don’t think any of them were stabilized so that’s a major improvement with the new camera.  Of course I don’t actually have any of that equipment with me because I didn’t know that this project was even in the offing when we left Buchanan close to 2 months ago now.  My old batteries and chargers are also compatible with the new cameras.  Its been pissing rain down here for 3 days now so I don’t have great conditions to try the new camera out but I did take this soggy image earlier today.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sqXU8Bdj3og/VhF0N8Lb02I/AAAAAAAAJMQ/0vKHwnB4K14/s1600-h/IMG_9167%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_9167" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_9167" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yQaeICV3kkc/VhF0OvYqgiI/AAAAAAAAJMY/cwIsMY-F1rE/IMG_9167_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="257" /></a> </p> <p>This next one is from an evening last week, taken with my little digital Elph.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sLrJFxJoPfw/VhF0PdFMuzI/AAAAAAAAJMg/rco89UxRa8E/s1600-h/IMG_6650%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6650" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6650" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-9JqP1ktXb3k/VhF0P3DbesI/AAAAAAAAJMo/9xbAOqIzs-E/IMG_6650_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p>I bought a couple of digital Elphs several years ago now and they take such good images and are so easy to keep by my side that I just stopped using the digital Rebel but most days in Alaska I found that I missed the Rebel at least once during the day.</p> <p>I didn’t actually <em>PLAN</em> to buy 2 digital Elphs.  I bought the first one before going up to Grande Prairie to do a project for Neufeld Petroleum.  One of the first days we were up there I put some laundry into the washer in the camp laundromat.  When I came back 20 or 30 minutes later one of the roughnecks who was there doing his laundry asked me if “that” was my washer.  When I responded that it was he told me that my little camera had turned its flash on when the machine filled up with water and kept it on through the early stages of the wash cycle.  He said it was actually pretty impressive how long it stayed alive.  They were some modern kind of washer that locks the door during the cycle so, despite their best efforts to save the camera, none of the guys there had been able to prevent the death of my (brand new) Elph.  I immediately replaced that camera with an identical one which gave me redundant batteries and chargers. A few years later I bought the exact same model off eBay so that I could keep one with me all the time and another one on the boat.</p> <p>The two big Case quadtracks were sitting on some neighbouring land near where I was watching the harvest for my client.  I continue to be astonished at how quickly farmers are regressing to high tillage.  Degelman has something they call a “pro-till” which is simply a tandem disk with a fancy name.  They must have been giving the damn things away in Corn Flakes boxes judging by the number of them I’m seeing in the field and on the road this fall.  How quick we forget what it means to farm in the Palliser Triangle.  A few wet years are just that, a few wet years.  The fundamentals of dryland farming have not changed just because the last few years have been wet.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-91830855931314433132015-09-29T20:13:00.001-07:002015-09-29T20:13:14.724-07:00What a ridiculous animal<p>So --- we’re still somewhere.  And there’s a lot of moose around here.  Its a bizarre place for a moose but then the moose is kind of the ultimate bizarre animal.  If I was disposed to believe in intelligent creation then the moose would be clearly an afterthought, assembled from whatever bits and pieces were left after every other animal was created.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fULCemJdp-I/VgtTOzHswMI/AAAAAAAAJLI/p9Hu9DGNlhU/s1600-h/IMG_6652%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6652" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6652" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KO6SovwxJfk/VgtTPZnEjrI/AAAAAAAAJLQ/vrSpiQj5h4E/IMG_6652_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a>Tonight I was just driving along, minding my business, looking for a couple of errant combines and a missing super B with dusk rapidly falling.  When I first saw these two I thought someone’s steers were off on an adventure but it quickly became apparent that they were mooses.  </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-511qJiwboj8/VgtTQLH21qI/AAAAAAAAJLY/28krEDJEt_g/s1600-h/IMG_6656%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6656" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6656" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DLqKzKU_rwE/VgtTQ6oWlBI/AAAAAAAAJLg/KDDT3CsRKow/IMG_6656_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p>Then this guy wandered out of the weeds and up onto the road.  They were relatively unconcerned about me.  I just had my little Elph so I couldn’t get any really good pictures.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n5wOABXUxjA/VgtTRlbPCUI/AAAAAAAAJLo/0pjS6Yfj0Tg/s1600-h/IMG_6658%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6658" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="IMG_6658" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CxawT-ccHWE/VgtTSJ2GKYI/AAAAAAAAJLw/n-2pDpVhVKU/IMG_6658_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="289" /></a> </p> <p>Somebody told me they like munching canola but there’s not much of that left and what there is left is getting pretty dry so I’m not sure what they were eating before I disturbed them. </p> <p>My project is ongoing but may be coming to a close.  I think we’re both ready to go home.  Tonight the geese were flocking overhead.  That’s always a sure sign that our days of summer are numbered.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-25581561040237080272015-09-23T16:13:00.001-07:002015-09-23T16:15:11.641-07:00Ceremonies and traditions<p>The Canadian media has been braying loudly about some woman who wants to wear a face covering while she takes her citizenship oath.  The Harper government says she needs to uncover; so far the courts have disagreed.  The media is trying to make the story about personal freedom of choice.</p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BTWl0_p1Y4w/VgMx-VEnfuI/AAAAAAAAJKw/zyC3ADCY1Iw/s1600-h/CanadianFlag%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="CanadianFlag" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="CanadianFlag" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jQwLWUWg8FE/VgMx_ZgHeWI/AAAAAAAAJK0/jpREj5U1Pek/CanadianFlag_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="384" height="256" /></a> </p> <p>Its an old story – why should the state be allowed to deprive this woman of her individual freedom to appear as she claims her religion requires?  The same argument is presented to justify RCMP wearing turbans and to support Indians being subject to prayer circles rather than the court system.  Its her culture, so goes the argument, therefore we have no right to infringe but its a load of hooey.</p> <p>I don’t have any innate right to attend a Catholic communion service dressed in a clown suit and signing “Roll Out The Barrel”.  Nor can I join the Shriners dressed as a banana.  Citizenship ceremonies should be held to at least as high a standard of tradition as religious or fraternal rituals.  After all, if the traditions and ceremonies are NOT what is important, then why bother with them at all?  If that element of tradition is so irrelevant then why not program a computer to send an email to the new citizen informing them of their acceptance into the Canadian family?  That would surely be a “greener” option and would absolutely resolve the head covering issue.</p> <p>There are very few standards left which define what it means to be a Canadian citizen.  Multiculturalism and pluralism have served us well but at some level there must surely be some line behind which we will not retreat.  </p> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-35953446417506577032015-09-21T18:53:00.001-07:002015-09-21T18:53:25.232-07:00Grass mowed; sprayer winterized<p>It seems increasingly likely that we will be right where we are until we get snowed in.  So we slipped home late Saturday night and returned yesterday afternoon.  It was a long trip with not much time at home but we made good use of the little time we had.  First we raided neighbour Keith’s garden, returning with new potatoes, corn, tomatoes, carrots, squashes and who knows what all else – I wasn’t directly involved in the raid.  I was busy using the time to spray various village lawns.</p> <p>I had intended to spray our own lawns but it didn’t work out exactly according to plan.  First I carefully mixed some Curtail M according to my usual protocol.  I put “some” water in my spray tank – I’m not sure how big it really is but I filled it roughly 3/4 full.  Then since I didn’t know how much water I was dealing with I didn’t concern myself with how much Curtail concentrate I added.  I put in a couple of glugs, thought that didn’t seem like enough so added a couple more and called that good.  Then I started spraying but that’s pretty random too because I mainly just try to avoid driving in the same wheel marks twice and I don’t really know how much spray solution I am applying.  I’m sure I’m applying something because the tank eventually goes empty and it must be roughly the right amount because what I did this spring killed a lot of weeds.</p> <p>So I started spraying on neighbour Keith’s property but there were a lot of weeds so I sprayed a lot more there than we had originally intended.  Then I moved down to neighbour Michael’s place and sprayed north of his shop.  I sprayed that area this spring and killed some of the dandelions but I wasn’t happy with the control so I wanted to go back.  Unfortunately when I finally got to our place my tank was pretty near empty so I didn’t get much covered there.  I did get a remarkably good kill this spring and I got over a few bad spots yesterday so it wasn’t a complete failure but clearly I should have started spraying on our own property.  That was neighbour Keith’s advice when I was complaining to him after the fact.</p> <p>The most important part of the whole trip was getting some anti freeze into the sprayer and I definitely got that done so – even if my weed spraying turns out to be spotty – I should still be able to use the sprayer next year.  My big fear until I got that done was that some morning I would wake up to frost on the windshield and a busted sprayer pump waiting for me at home.</p> <p>Neighbour Keith also told me that we have a furry trespasser living in my new shop.  I’ve never understood why squirrels get a pass.  They’re just rats with fuzzy tails.  Just because they have good PR doesn’t make them any less a rat.  Years ago we had one scoping out the Savanna 5th wheel as a possible winter home.  I attempted to trap him with a gopher trap but he was able to lick peanut butter off the trip pan without setting that trap off.  His undoing came when I set a mouse trap under the gopher trap.  Marilyn saw the whole gory incident from the kitchen table.  He attempted to steal the peanut butter, setting off the mouse trap in the process.  That startled him and he leaped straight up coming down hard on the gopher trip pan.  And that was all it took.  I have some plans for Keith’s little rat but they’ll have to wait until we get back home.  I have to keep his ultimate fate a secret because more than one of my neighbours evidently thinks he is cute.  I just don’t get it.</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7YMZbVOw_0I/VgC0i5bP1yI/AAAAAAAAJKY/v-foZM7kqCw/s1600-h/20141115_151200%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="20141115_151200" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="20141115_151200" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6y3fhtxcTHs/VgC0klFq2xI/AAAAAAAAJKg/uUe5k8bjQII/20141115_151200_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="364" height="206" /></a> </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center">I’ve been looking for a blower for this little guy and I actually found one in Yorkton but waited too long to go get it so I’m back to looking.  Winter approaches.  There’s a complete tractor in Winterpeg with a blower and home made cab on it but its a long way to go and the guy is a little too proud of it for my liking.  Something closer will likely turn up and I got by just fine with the blade last winter so its not really urgent.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-63586018357368961972015-09-15T15:33:00.001-07:002015-09-15T18:33:52.159-07:00Still on the down low<p>Things got exciting for a few hours last week but have reverted to boredom.  We continue to sit here and I continue to watch while not much happens.  </p> <p>Fortunately Marilyn has a project to keep her busy and I have a few loose ends to clean up from other projects.  Mostly though my days consist of making a few phone calls, driving around a bit and generally not doing very much.  Idleness is not all its cracked up to be.  </p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IM4pA3HnpxA/Vficr-imGrI/AAAAAAAAJJw/4WwDocT-r4Y/s1600-h/IMG_6611%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6611" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6611" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4rlbBenbSw/VfictbYpjTI/AAAAAAAAJJ4/_oYmUGyJG80/IMG_6611_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="259" /></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><strong>Lots of combine – going nowhere.</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p>It is increasingly unlikely that I will get tin on the roof of my garage upgrade.  I’d really like to get that done before winter but I have no interest in doing it with frozen fingers and it looks like this project might drag on until the snow flies.  We’re waiting for a couple of different crops to be ready to harvest and that may easily not happen until it freezes hard. </p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NE2pfZQ3fdA/Vficvld6lNI/AAAAAAAAJKA/uVHnx_CIQXQ/s1600-h/IMG_6614%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="IMG_6614" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; display: block; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="IMG_6614" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eY6PsvUl46Y/VficxGqSUrI/AAAAAAAAJKI/c_PyJASKr4I/IMG_6614_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="259" /></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><strong>While it may not be immediately apparent, that is supposed to be canola.</strong></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910978587787297189.post-46446867420630593952015-09-10T19:06:00.001-07:002015-09-10T19:06:17.125-07:00Mission incognito<p>I can’t say what I am doing and I can’t say where we are but we’re sure having an exciting week since we left Airdrie.  My client has a client who owes them a lot of money and has suddenly become reluctant to pay that money back.  My client got himself thrown out of his client’s yard and then sent me in to see how I would fare.  Up until about an hour ago I wasn’t doing much better but things may have taken a turn for the better.  Its all very exciting and – as long as nobody gets shot – will no doubt make a good story someday.</p> <p><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tzAedOyb9B0/VfI3BqS1hAI/AAAAAAAAJJI/1lJM7KyX9w4/s1600-h/pink-panther%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="pink-panther" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-left: 0px; display: block; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="pink-panther" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-meghiIy0dXk/VfI3C_8KD8I/AAAAAAAAJJQ/DQinGx9cd5k/pink-panther_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="324" height="175" /></a> </p> <p>Our Airdrie weekend was the usual blowout of eating too much, drinking too much and sitting up late arguing politics.  After we left Airdrie we stopped in Medicine Hat for an early supper with RJ and Michael.  They regaled us with Malibu stories which served to make us very happy that we no longer own that boat.  It was just sad watching it sit in our yard growing mold.  Knowing that it is getting used and used hard makes us both feel really good.  </p> <p>I made good use of Camiel’s ripping fast wifi connection to let Dropbox get fully updated.  I already wrote about how Mozy thoroughly pissed me off last winter with their “we know better than our idiot customers” attitude.  Now that Dropbox has fully updated I have anytime anywhere access to all my files with none of the idiot “customer protection” lunacy that Mozy imposed.  And at roughly 1/3 the price of Mozy. </p> <p>Our little R2D2 satellite finder had to sit on top of the air conditioner box in order to see the satellite at Al & Camiel’s place.  That was a bit of a pain but it worked just fine up there and only briefly flaked out in the middle of the worst of the snowfall.  Where we are now it locked on in its normal 2 stage process.  That means that I let it search while I’m setting up and it fails to find the satellite.  Then I unplug it, wait a few seconds, plug it in again and it subsequently finds the satellite in roughly a minute.  I don’t understand what is different about being not plugged in while we are travelling and being not plugged in sitting on the ground but evidently the little bugger can detect the difference because it almost never connects the first time out and always connects after the brief power interruption.</p> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" width="400" border="5"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SerPnzg-260/VfI3ER1lacI/AAAAAAAAJJY/5mM6SmKINeM/s1600-h/winegardcarryout%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img title="winegardcarryout" style="border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline" border="0" alt="winegardcarryout" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lK4u_P560zk/VfI3FpXWqfI/AAAAAAAAJJg/xEzwwmKYfLs/winegardcarryout_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" height="276" /></a> </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="400"> <p align="center">We prefer to call it R2D2 but officially it is a Winegard carryout.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0