Good morning!!!!

[toppop52]

Gee Roy, that looks a lot like snow!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Just got in from shredding about 8-10 acres. I was going to try and shred in our bottom land below the tank, but I went through there and almost ran over a mother hen wild turkey sitting on her nest. She flushed out just as the front tire was going past her. 2 feet over and I would have ran over the whole nest and man, would I have felt bad. Anyway, I was startled. I've seen a turkey here maybe 12 years ago, but never seen them nest. I will let that area remain wild to hopefully get a small flock going. I recently saw a flock of them about 3-4 miles from here.

For some reason I really get a kick out of wild turkeys (no, not THAT kind!:laughing, maybe because it doesn't seem like something that big and ugly should be able to fly. I'd be really excited about having a brood of chicks strutting and pecking around the property; hopefully you can shoot some pics to share with us?

RNG, I don't know exactly what to tell you about the mechanic situation, but I will say this with just .02 cents. With your skills and tools, are there things about this build that you wouldn't feel comfortable tackling? I'm worried that they won't do things to your expectations, and that it will only go down hill further. You know the old saying, If you want something done right, you don't let your brother in law do it...unless he does it for free.

My biggest fear is that the place will go under before the van's done, and it'll somehow get hung up in the bankruptcy or whatever financial disaster is impending. I am gradually picking off pieces of the work he's scheduled to do; that's part of what we talked about and it looks like I'll start with installing the engine wiring harness when it gets to that stage. The engine itself is the other major concern. The bottom end is all stock Subaru, and new, but the cylinders are used, and we're mixing in a set of custom heads made to his specification. I could probably cobble the thing back together, but if anything goes wrong I'd be on my own to diagnose and fix it, not to mention having to cover the additional cost. Same with that wiring harness I referred to above: It's a hybrid mix of VW and Subaru parts because its main job is to adapt the Subaru ECU to the Volkswagon electrics. He's done enough of them that he has a schematic of which I'm supposed to get a copy, but what I really need is a list of what components came from what year and make of vehicle. That's also supposedly already documented, but the three ring notebook that's supposed to be burgeoning with all the paperwork at this point is empty. I've already started inspecting the work in progress, questioning things like loose suspension components when I find them. So far I've received good answers as to why the way things are, and I think my increasing presence at the shop will help in that regard. I know he has the technical capability to to make a really kick butt van, but he's so bad at managing people and scheduling jobs that he'd not getting the time to show it. Words were said about refusing new work, bringing on a trained, pro level mechanic, and hiring some help to do some major housekeeping, so he has ideas for getting straightened. But actions speak louder than words, and for the forseeable future I'll remain in "show me" mode, and be ready to jet down there and drag the van home if needs be.

 

[Buppies]

Toppop ours is a 2005 toro probably replaced all spindles at least once 60 inch deck 27HP fuel injected motor mows 4 acres with ease. This will probably be the only z turn we ever buy not enough hours to justify a new one. This one does all we want and then some. Two sets of blades changed once a month during mowing season. We have two other mowers both toro 21 in and 30in new to us but slightly used.

Great you have lost so much weight

 

[lennyzx11]

Roy, those look like Christmas card pictures. Glad you have a cab!

Just got in from shredding about 8-10 acres. I was going to try and shred in our bottom land below the tank, but I went through there and almost ran over a mother hen wild turkey sitting on her nest. She flushed out just as the front tire was going past her. 2 feet over and I would have ran over the whole nest and man, would I have felt bad. Anyway, I was startled. I've seen a turkey here maybe 12 years ago, but never seen them nest. I will let that area remain wild to hopefully get a small flock going. I recently saw a flock of them about 3-4 miles from here.

Took the kids fishing. They caught some crappie and bass. It was all good. We have storms coming tonight.

RNG, I don't know exactly what to tell you about the mechanic situation, but I will say this with just .02 cents. With your skills and tools, are there things about this build that you wouldn't feel comfortable tackling? I'm worried that they won't do things to your expectations, and that it will only go down hill further. You know the old saying, If you want something done right, you don't let your brother in law do it...unless he does it for free.

I have to agree. I think you may be better off cutting your losses and moving to another mechanic if you still can't do it at your home or a rented shop like a storage building. And then bring in a mechanic to help you on your terms. You have obviously made this as a labor of love and this shop is going to half *** it every time you let your guard down.
You have caught them lying. The partner rehired one fired. It's time to walk away.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 59F this morning clear and calm wind. wind increased to 15-25, temp increased to 79F, and intermittent showers started 7:30 PM. Forecast is for about 1.3-1.5 in rain overnight with thunderstorms. Bike ride this morning, lunch,nap, new mattress delivery and watch basketball tonight.

 

[mostly_gas]

RNG I really wish you well on your van project. It started with such promise, and has degenerated to a cat herding proposition. It does not sound like just any mechanic can fill in, with so little documentation available to you!

Since Roy so graciously uploaded his snow pics, I will include one pic taken during an equipment adjustment

 

[300UGUY]

Busy day today, helped out the wife, then went to a neighbors with my Kubota. His boat was stuck in his backyard, he had tried to get it out, and his neighbor had tried with a 4x4 ford. They succeeded in tearing up the yard, but not much else. I was able to hook up to it, and pull it out easily. I think the Kubota really impressed them.

 

[hawkeye08]

Hawkeye, sounds like your wife had a nasty cut. Hope it doesn't throb too much now the painkillers have worn off and she responds to all the pampering you no doubt will be treating her to.

Thx, she was doing great until we found the main bathroom flooded and septic backed up. I turned off water to toilets, She used wet vacuum to get water up while I checked into what the backup was caused by. 3 chamber tank needs pumped, first chamber crust plugged inlet (wife and daughter helped dig out top of tank and pull cover on first chamber). Cleaned enough to get things working again, will call pumper truck Monday.. bathroom flooding caused by tank valve in toilet not shutting off completely... Will work on that tomorrow. Wife is taking hydrocodone, had to loosen bandage. Long day.

 

[hawkeye08]

I started a moderate diet, basically stopped eating ice cream and most snack foods, replaced with fruit, popcorn, etc... More salads, less burgers, nothing radical. I started when I got out of the hospital with the flu on February 17. I hadn't been on the scales since until a couple of days back, I'd lost 23 lbs, I'm very happy. I'm wearing shorts I couldn't put on last fall. I'd line to lose about 25-30 more.

Awesome, great job. I started also, been working on it a few days, down 7lbs. Need to loose at least 100 more.

 

[Looking4new]

I have to agree. I think you may be better off cutting your losses and moving to another mechanic if you still can't do it at your home or a rented shop like a storage building. And then bring in a mechanic to help you on your terms. You have obviously made this as a labor of love and this shop is going to half *** it every time you let your guard down.
You have caught them lying. The partner rehired one fired. It's time to walk away.

Walk? Run away, before your van ends up in a bankruptcy mess or worse bankruptcy fire!

Good Morning. 27 and going to a high of 45 Wind NNE 7 mph. 30% chance of either flurries or rain.
I haven't lit the wood stove yet.

I finally got the PC working again, sort of. I lost all my bookmarks, but at least I can recover most of the C drive. Boy, is this thing fast now! The new i7 Asus mo-board and a Zotac nVidia 1060 card are a good combination so far.
List of new stuff within the HAF 932 case; New board, new Zotac video card, new 2 TB hard drive, new SSD for the C drive. I also got a new Hewlett - Packard printer. That I am not too impressed with. Fast printing, good colours, but a PITA to set up.