Good morning!!!!

   / Good morning!!!! #122,991  
45 and windy now that the rain has ended and sun peeking out. Got 1.63 inches. Looking for 51 today, and the "European" model says snow on Monday. I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

Pop, nice job on your home build. ProPress looks interesting. Two units in one building? Must be big.

Mostly, Coco isn't up for longer hikes yet....I'm hopefully building her stamina up.

Thomas, if you can't get seed at TSC, try Costco, if there's one near you...they sell Audubon brand of mixed seeds...we think it has a much higher percent of sunflower seeds and less millet that seems to get wasted by our birds.

Eric, I don't get it often, but sure like burning apple and cherry...so fragrant. The tree I cut most often is red and white oak, and I like how it burns, too, when dry. No hawthorn here.

Spent some time prepping for the rain yesterday, and went out and inspected early this morning before sunrise as the rain ended...cleaned out the ends of the 3 French drains I installed a couple of years ago, and they had a good flow, also dug a small trench yesterday to divert some flow and it was working, but still have a persistent leak, although smaller, in the roof of the shelter. Ground is really saturated, and the creek is now a whitewater river.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,992  
Good Morning. It’s 40 here and raining. 0.84 inches since it started yesterday.

Drew, 2 days is nothing, let us know after a week!

Geo install went well, but we didn’t get finished. Got it to where both units were running and providing heat, but return duct needs to be finished and things just tidied up in general.
The ProPress and its fittings was awesome. Very fast, and can be used on dripping pipes. They can be used with refrigerant and gas as well as water. They seal with an O ring like a shark bite, but are crimped onto the pipe.
View attachment 678756
View attachment 678757
View attachment 678758
View attachment 678759

While we were doing the ductwork, I made up a cover for my ballast box that’s filled with crushed stone to keep the water out as it’s stored outside. It came out pretty nice for an afterthought.
View attachment 678760

Today I’m planning on finishing up the Geo install, should only be a few hours left to go. Then I can go find some mischief in my shop.

Looked at the press tools for that type of fittings,
guess I'll keep on soldering copper or use the shark bite type fittings.
Have to do a lot of plumbing for a $3-4000 tool then high priced fittings.
If a person is doing plumbing every day it would be nice,
no soldering in crawl spaces and cob webbed cubbies.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,993  
42° and .7” of rain. Rain is past us, so not sure what’s in store. I still haven’t started my pellet stove
Can’t eat grapefruit due to medicines I take, don’t like them anyways.
I used to wear nuwool socks several days in row while backpacking, otherwise all socks washed after 1 wear so I won’t join the contest Eric.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,994  
Kyle hope your order works ok on Ebay, and you get it running. I am puzzled, .006 will give you piston slap, but not hurt compression. Was there something wrong with the old ring?

The ring end gap is supposed to be .006-.008", and it was about .032". Plus, whomever rebuilt it, put a single ring piston in it, and the stock one has 2. Only had 30 psi compression, cold, WOT. Any ideas else why compression could be so low? It would not kick start, could only push start, which IMO is about right for a low compression 2 stroke. Hopefully, the freshened up engine will last for years. You can't buy a correct throttle/autolube cable, so the autolube system is not connected. Premix only.

Friend of mine rushed to Hospital today. Woke up with half vision in one eye. Retina detaching. :eek: Happened to my Dad years ago so I know the long term consequences sadly.

Prayers for your friend's eyesight.

Good morning all. Nice and cosy in the kitchen this morning, the Esse range is still pumping out heat from last nights hawthorn logs. Always a little sad when having to copice really old hawthorn (100 year+), regrowth is no where near as successful when they get to that age, though I am always thankful for the logs, they are my favourite, always eager to give out lots of heat. Do you have a favourite firewood ?

Not at all, discovering how things do/don't work is part of the fascination of "Good Morning".

BTW Popgadget, thanks for starting one of the most unusual guessing games we have had in quite a while - "How many days before someone passes out from sniffing unwashed Alpaca socks". Are you still counting Drew ? :laughing:

LOL. When I see your photos, I still keep looking for Teletubbies to come over the hill.

Good eye. Montessa Cota 348. I still have a trials bike, but I’m done with street bikes. Current (old) one is a Fantic.

I was going to guess Montessa only, but more people know about Bultacos, and they did make some Alpina's or other bikes a bit similar. So I was hedging my bets. :)

Good Morning. It’s 40 here and raining. 0.84 inches since it started yesterday.

Drew, 2 days is nothing, let us know after a week!

Geo install went well, but we didn’t get finished. Got it to where both units were running and providing heat, but return duct needs to be finished and things just tidied up in general.
The ProPress and its fittings was awesome. Very fast, and can be used on dripping pipes. They can be used with refrigerant and gas as well as water. They seal with an O ring like a shark bite, but are crimped onto the pipe.
View attachment 678756
View attachment 678757
View attachment 678758
View attachment 678759

While we were doing the ductwork, I made up a cover for my ballast box that’s filled with crushed stone to keep the water out as it’s stored outside. It came out pretty nice for an afterthought.
View attachment 678760

Today I’m planning on finishing up the Geo install, should only be a few hours left to go. Then I can go find some mischief in my shop.

PopG, like Eric, I like the details.

This thread will really take off when it becomes the #1 place of DIY geothermal information on the www.

45 and windy now that the rain has ended and sun peeking out. Got 1.63 inches. Looking for 51 today, and the "European" model says snow on Monday. I'm not getting my hopes up yet.

Pop, nice job on your home build. ProPress looks interesting. Two units in one building? Must be big.

Mostly, Coco isn't up for longer hikes yet....I'm hopefully building her stamina up.

Hope Coco gets better.

Wifey brought me some really good chocolate coffee. We could use some rain, still have large cracks in the ground.

Wood....all I have is post oak (and a few cedars). When I BBQ, I like to get my hands on some pecan or mesquite, but the top BBQ pit smokers most all use post oak.

I need a walmart run for paper towels and some things. Wifey is planning a supper at a restaurant with her friends this evening....a good mix, 2 from Texas, 1 from Japan, 1 from Wisconsin, 1 from South Africa. All are moms with teenaged children here in our small south Texas town. So plenty to "yak" about. I'm sure my ears will be burning, or palms itchy, whichever it is.

Hope you all have a great day!
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,995  
Good Morning!!!! 51F @5:30AM. Sunny to partly cloudy. High 64F. Winds light and variable.
At last, a rain drop in the 10-day. 25% chance a week from next Monday. :crossfingers: OTOH, PG&E's outage calendar shows a warning starting Monday going into Tuesday, with offshore winds and low humidity leading to elevated fire danger. Good chance I'll be without grid power most of that time, not that it matters much anymore, but it's very unusual for this time of year.

How much water pressure do those crimp fittings see, Paul? And how long are they expected to last? Certainly is quicker than soldering I'd guess, but seems like there's a gotcha in there somewhere...:confused:

Glad to hear you're all weathering the storms well. Seems like it's looking good for a white Christmas for many of you. Except of course for Doug Down Under.:rolleyes:

When a new friend came over to harvest manzanita off my property, I was dubious about burning it in a wood stove. But he really loved it, and I've come to also. Burns very hot, so less is needed, and leaves very little ash. Of all the things I lost in the Camp Fire, ten cords of manzanita is the most missed, Eric.

Glad the socks are working out, Drew, but I wonder how much of a test two days in the winter is vs. even a day in summer?

Instructions that came with the wood stove I have now said to leave a layer of ash in it when cleaning to protect the fire brick. Haven't felt the need for an ash vac as a result. Been using a Minuteman for a few years now and am very happy with it. Ashes get dumped into camp fire ring, and it's deep enough I don't have to worry about emptying that until next summer.

Hope the cleaning lady's OK, Bruce.

One of my favorite routines on very hot afternoons was to stand under the outdoor shower in a pair of running shorts and flip flops, then drink a beer while sitting in the sun. Very refreshing way to cope with the heat, though often times a beer lasted only long enough to dry off when a trip to the fridge for another one without dripping was possible.:laughing:

I have to APs up on poles now, David, and I wonder what sort of pattern they throw. Is it spherical, hemispherical, or are there lobes that go out in different directions? I've tried to find that info on the Ubiquity website, but can't seem to come up with anything. Seeing as how they're commonly mounted on ceilings and walls, mine are set with the back against the pole, held in place with zip ties. They seem to work fine that way, except last night I learned if I sit too close to the side-by-side, it casts a radio free shadow and the Wifi don't work so good.:laughing:

I haven't been very impressed with orders placed at HD either, RS. They send the wrong stuff, or when I go to pick it up the clerks can't find it, or they send it to the wrong store and there's no more on the shelf. I was even less impressed by the "associate" that punched out the rear window of my camper shell with a forklift. Glad you're getting the tile you need, but wish you didn't have to work so hard for it.

Just for grins, I posted most of yesterday's Tractor Supply story into a customer service form on their website. Be interesting to see if anything happens, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

I had one of those Amazon cancellations a few weeks back too, Ken. Ticked me off they waited a week and I only found out by checking status on the order; no notification was emailed. Turned right around and ordered the same thing again without further problems, so I have no idea what caused the hiccup. Just blame it on Covid like everyone's doing with everything else, I guess.

Had the gate open early for the OnTrac delivery yesterday, and was keeping an ear out for tire sounds on the gravel while I worked outside. Mid afternoon a van comes rolling down, and no markings on the outside at all, and stops well away from the house. Guy starts walking up the driveway looking at the package and fiddling with a phone, and almost walks right into me. He jumped about a foot in the air when I said "Hello".:laughing: But it wasn't the oil pan I was expecting, which was dropped up at the package box I don't know when, as the status on OnTrac's website never changed. UPS also dropped off the quick hitch I'd ordered on the TBN Black Friday sale, so it was a good day for deliveries. Even better, that startled delivery guy handed me a nice bottle of Scotch!:licking: The sender is trading it for a motorcycle tire I can't use, but my impression was we were going to meet face-to-face. Not sure how he's planning to get his tire, but I sure hope he's not expecting me to pay for shipping.:confused2:

Got pretty confused when I tried to hook up the new solar panels yesterday, as the first two strings I looked at were wired differently. I was hoping to use one as a pattern for the other, so that didn't work out. Just before dark I got a return call from the contractor and I think I have enough to go on now, but it was a reminder that they still owe me a wiring diagram.

The neighbor that borrowed my hand carts brought 'em back yesterday, and now needs help bringing a second hand steam cleaner back to life. It has some sort of electrical problem, and apparently electricity isn't the guy's strong suit, even though he does a lot of house wiring for his customers. So I'll spend some time with him this afternoon; always a good idea to help someone out, especially when he owns a giant backhoe and a bulldozer.:D

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,996  
Good eye. Montessa Cota 348. I still have a trials bike, but I知 done with street bikes. Current (old) one is a Fantic.

Oh, I got to ride an OSSA Super Pioneer 250 in the mountains above Ruidoso, and I loved it, but it needed more power up in the thin air.

OSSA.JPG
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,997  
I used to ride with a friend that had an Ossa Mick Andrews Plonker. It was a good bike.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #122,998  
Well, chores done...tires safely stashed in an outbuilding. I'll have to pick up rims something before Spring.
Dump run...also done...

I bought a DeWalt battery grease gun....nice unit, probably more then I need, but what what the hey!

I do need to thing out the number of battery chargers..2 for the EGO batteries, one for an old Dewalt drill that the previous owner left (battery and charger differ from what the grease gun uses). One for a Ryobi impact wrench...there's one or two more, but I forget what they're for.
Put the old DeWalt drill on CL for 50 bucks...since I didn't buy it, I'll let it go for whatever is offered.

Rainy, chilly and damp...good day for a hot drink (like a toddy)...sippin' coffee right now...maybe a toddy later...or maybe just spike the coffee. Probably watch a movie that fits this day (B&W Film-noir crime flick would be good..."Kiss Me Deadly", a mid-50's Mike Hammer film is on YouTube...that might fit the bill)
 
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   / Good morning!!!! #122,999  
Amazon Prime offered us a $3 off a movie rental, if we chose the slower option of delivery on a shipment. But the delivery was going to be the 13th, and I want it by the 11th, so No this time.
 
   / Good morning!!!! #123,000  
Morning everyone!
32 with heavy snow coming down. The wife and I went out early to get errands done. Worked out great as the stores were empty of people except us old timers. Being over 60 finally is a good thing!
Weather guessers are telling us to prepare for over a foot of snow with 45 mph winds. I have the tractor and generator waiting to go. Now just have to see what happens.

Fire is on and I'm sitting on the couch. Coffee is hot and I made a batch of cookies yesterday. (Oatmeal/raisin. dairy and gluten free. my favorite)
Life is good!
Hope everyone stays safe and healthy!
cookies12-4-20.jpg
 
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