Good Morning!!!! 54F @ 5:00AM. Showers early, then clearing with ample sunshine by the afternoon. High 77F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Woke up to rain gurgling in the gutters, goodness knows we need it for wildfire suppression but I'd just as soon not encourage the weeds.:confused2:
Beautiful iris, Ron. That's my favorite color for 'em. Had a bumper crop of wild iris here this spring, but they were the palest of lavender, with a tiny bit of yellow at the very center.
My Genie isn't due 'till the middle of next week, Billy. I wonder if Rick gets his kickback when the order is placed, or if he has to wait for delivery?:laughing:
Sounds like a big breakthrough, Drew. And I very much appreciate that sometimes spending what might seem like unreasonable amounts of money can save you from kicking yourself in the butt for years to come. Sorry you won't be hanging on to the RV; I was hoping you could use it to store some of your belongings until you were back on your feet, then make that cross country trip you've been planning for so long.
How come that rotten floorboard even looks different from the rest of 'em, Rick? Did it get replaced before, or maybe get skipped last time the rest of 'em were changed out?:confused3: Glad the only thing hurt was your pride.
After all your hard work, Buppies, I hope those pigs stay away.:grumpy:
Contractor has to make the solar power system work before that line has any credibility, Kyle. It was dry enough and windy enough yesterday I thought sure PG&E would cut the power. And yes, I'm already wondering how to patch my little Honda generator into the system as another layer of belt-and-suspenders.
Got any heart healthy pizza recipes, Don? I surely love Costco pizzas, but gave 'em up because of all the fat and grease.
I do get garbage service here, kinda surprised as I'm so far from any town and we're all spread out so far apart. Then again, it costs about $32 a month!
Over the past year or so, Ron Howard has been making a documentary on the Camp Fire recovery efforts that have been going on in Paradise. Today and tomorrow, there are special online screenings available for viewing by fire survivors at this
link. You'll need to enter ParadiseScreening as a password.

Got a few loose ends taken care of yesterday morning, then tested the new hydraulics on the tractor. I didn't expect it to go smoothly, and I wasn't disappointed. Neither top nor tilt was fully functional, each only going one direction. Then I noticed hydraulic fluid dripping out of one of the quick connects on those same circuits. Tightened those fittings, which seemed to stop the leak, then retraced the hoses and found I'd mixed two of them up. Easy to do as they all look the same: Same connector gender, same hose color, even the same length hose. Thought about color coding them with a blotch of paint, but don't have that many colors to choose from on hand. Amazon sells multi-colored collections of electrical tape, but the reviews say it's not very good tape. Ordered a multi-colored collection of zip ties, so today we'll get to see if one day free Prime shipping is what it used to be.
I'd signed up for a "defensive shotgun" class, so I got cleaned up and headed into town for some instruction, and some fun. The teacher was a retired California Highway Patrol officer, ex-range officer, and had lots of good insights to share. We started by patterning our guns at various distances with bird shot, then 00 buck, then slugs. Then worked through standing, kneeling, sitting, and prone positions. All of this done on an indoor range, and oh my gosh, was it LOUD! I knew it would be, so I was wearing both earplugs and muffs, and it was still LOUD! I was also shooting reloads I'd made up some twenty years ago, and they all worked just fine. That 00Buck really kicked my butt, though, being high base 3" shells. Three were enough, and there's a little purple showing on my shoulder this morning. The slugs I had were Hornady sabots, and they shot pretty much to point of aim, but it was only a 25 yard range so that wasn't too surprising. Two hours well spent, and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable with the shotgun in the closet.
Dropped by the bank on the way home and felt odd about walking into the place with a handgun under my shirt, a mask on my face, and a shotgun out in the truck, but nobody there seemed to mind. I guess what they don't know won't hurt 'em, huh?
Back home, I remounted the fender and instrument pod back on the tractor, and with a lot of rolling and wiggling, got that monster back wheel back on, too. Took most all my strength to torque those nuts to 200 lb. ft., but I got'er done. Noticed I had a few left over parts from the kits I'd installed, so figured out where they went, then tried both a color restore product and 303 on the faded out gray plastic around the display and controls. The Turtle Wax product didn't do much but make a pasty mess. The 303 was better, but it still looks faded and blotchy. Wipe New would have been my choice, but the last two packages of the stuff evaporated through the bottles after sitting for only a month. Guess I'll keep looking for a good plastic restorer.
Looks like today is starting off as an inside day: It's still raining. That new Bosch rotary hammer drill was waiting on me when I got home yesterday, so maybe I'll give that a whirl this morning.
Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!