Good morning!!!!

[wngsprd]

Eric, hard to believe your cherries are blooming. Won't the next freeze kill them?

We should get out first crocus blooms open in about a week, but that's all.

Got about an hour's seat time this morning moving some firewood pallets...trying to beat the thaw after having about 7 hours below freezing last night/this morning. Ground was getting a bit soft by the time I finished. Figured with temps warming up this week, it was now or never (or at least until next week).

 

[PJSprog]

33°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 49° today. More snow melt, albeit slower due to some clouds moving in.

Gathered the trash and walked the can back down to the road last night. With no pickup last week, the lid won't close now. Sure hope they pick up today. Weather certainly isn't an excuse.

Anyone who rides long enough will eventually drop a bike. Big, heavy bikes like Goldwings are just as easy to pick back up as long as you know how. I dropped my BMW once back in the '90s, and ended up using this method to pick it up through trial and error. The only time I ever dropped my Goldwing was to purposely try this lift technique. Works great. I even got my tiny Wife to do it.

 

[Alien]

good morning all
nice day today, sunny and going up to 50, should be very nice.

Bill, getting paid in relish sounds good.

Doug, how old is that fan? Plastic shouldn't fall apart like that...long term heat exposure?
Do you have giant bugs there?

Check, isn't it nice when it all works the first time and without delays?
We have sure had a lot of delays in the last few years.

I'm off to heart specialist this morning to get scrip to get this implantable monitor out of my chest.
It means no more work for this doc, hope he doesn't hem and haw... Monitor never ever showed any problem at all.
Next week I get my port out, then this gizmo out and I will be accessory free.

they told me I could leave the heart monitor in. Really? with a lithium battery in it? I don't think so.
Hope you all have a satisfying and fun day.

Original fan. I bought the tractor new in 2006. It has always been in a barn. It is just fatigue. The plastic is rotten and crumbles in your hands. I'm surprised it didn't go through the radiator actually.
I have an older friend who was involved in developing ABS for fans many years ago and he said sheepishly that he may have been partially responsible for that particular material. He laughingly apologized.
Anyway, it's all fixed and working well. I took it out and mowed the pasture for 1/2 an hour to check it out. This is the new fan. I think it will outlast me now.

 

[daugen]

that's surprising Doug. Lot of that early plastic didn't do well in the sun, but your fan was always covered.
Someone screwed up in the chemical lab.

But then, let's see how many of my parts have simply fallen apart so far...

good visit to cardiologist, said my EKG was perfect, BP a little high, pledged to cut down on coffee and walk more.
Most importantly he agreed to take the gizmo out of my chest. Not hooked up to anything so should be simple to get out.
He said my cholesterol was ok for someone who hasn't had a stroke/heart attack. Which he agrees was unlikely for me.
But threatened higher statins if I didn't stay where I was. A very nice guy, fully supportive of me being an ex patient though
I'm sure I'll go back and see him once a year. Having an EKG is a good routine test. Of course they get paid so little by Medicare
for the office visit they have to throw in a few tests too.... such is the way of medicine.

Nice day out. Waiting for it to warm up just a little more then will go out and put my new snow pusher together. I think I want to pull the car out of the garage
and get all the junk off the floor. Very little clearance between tire and wheel opening, snow gets packed up in there and slops down later in garage.
Just need an excuse to stay outside, tired of being indoors.

 

[sodamo]

63°F and .81 inches rain.

Off to Konaside this morning. Costco and Lowes.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low was only 22°, going up to 45° and sunny. A good portion of the snow melted off yesterday, at least in the driveway. Surprised that there is still some snow on the roofs.

PJ, you beat me to posting that video.... yes, it actually works as easily as that. Only thing to be careful about is lifting it too far.... then it just goes over to the other side with you laying on top of it!

I'm glad that I don't have a bike anymore. I know for sure that I wouldn't be able pick one up. I actually don't think I would be able to just keep one vertical at a stop......

RNG, I heard through the grapevine that you can't resist going to Death Valley.... come on.... you know you NEED to go....

Drew, good Dr's report. Hopefully not too inconvenient to get the monitor out..... you don't need a repeat of the snowblower battery..... I think they can find it easier.....

I think that I found out where the shop power is getting cut off.... A few years back, when we were subdividing the property, I had to run a new waterline. When I was digging the trench, I had caught the power line and 'nicked' the outer covering. I just used a roll of electric tape to reseal it. My guess is moisture still got in there and corroded the wire.

I'm just going to replace the whole power feed line. I just need the snow to finish melting and for the ground to dry out a bit more. If really, really needed, I could run an extension cord out there for 110v. The compressor and most of the stationary tools are 220v, so no go with that. I have a good excuse, temporarily, for not taking on any woodworking projects

I might try to take in a nap today.... didn't have a good nights rest.

Everyone have a great day!

 

[rswyan]

42F and cloudy @ 12:30, calling for a high of 45F ... so more melt action today ... Calling for snow/rain Thu, Fri, Sat.

Refilled hopper, the two sunflower tube, and two suet feeders yesterday. Also the deer feeder.

Couple deer out this morning trimming the low branches of the arborvitaes. Tried to get a picture but didn't notice at the time the screen was still in that window which threw off the focus.

Gave the local Kubota dealer a call yesterday just for grins and giggles and got a basic rough guesstimate to split and reassemble + estimate to pick up and return tractor, which wouldn't include replacing anything inside which is broken or the cost of the parts. He figured $300 for transportation and around $4,000 for the split ...

Two sunflower tube feeders already empty again, hopper feeder half empty. So those will need to be refilled by day's end.

Trip out Menards here in a little bit to pick up orders, will haul up recycles on the way out. Probably pick cat treats while we're out ...

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable, productive, and safe Wednesday ...

 

[PJSprog]

Next week is our motorcycle club's annual campout in Death Valley, and this beautiful weather has me thinking about going. Might also be too soon for another trip, too.

RNG, I heard through the grapevine that you can't resist going to Death Valley.... come on.... you know you NEED to go....

I keep a couple of places saved on my phone's weather app "for reference only."
One is International Falls MN, so when we get down to -5°F here in the winter, I can look at them at -35° and know that it could be worse.
The other is Death Valley CA, so when it gets up to 100°F here in the summer, I can look at them at 120° and know that it could be worse.

 

[toppop52]

Original fan. I bought the tractor new in 2006. It has always been in a barn. It is just fatigue. The plastic is rotten and crumbles in your hands. I'm surprised it didn't go through the radiator actually.
I have an older friend who was involved in developing ABS for fans many years ago and he said sheepishly that he may have been partially responsible for that particular material. He laughingly apologized.
Anyway, it's all fixed and working well. I took it out and mowed the pasture for 1/2 an hour to check it out. This is the new fan. I think it will outlast me now.



View attachment 732846View attachment 732847

Repeated heat cycles will also make certain plastics brittle.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I've made many trips to Death Valley in the past, so here are a few photos from those trips...

This is Hole In The Rock on the Echo Canyon road.

This was taken at the top of Emigrant Pass on the Wildrose Canyon road.

Here's the Race Track.

This was taken at the Father Crowley Overlook above Panamint Springs.

Here's a shot from Teakettle Junction.

These are the Trona Pinnacles taken on the way into Death Valley.

Dante's View.

An unusually wet winter that year led to a superbloom along CA190.

Burros on the way to Saline Valley.

Goldfish at China Garden.

I've ridden across Death Valley in July, but wouldn't choose to do it again. It was like having a heat gun blasting in my face for a couple hours, and that was at six in the morning.

One of my favorite things to do there is having a sundowner drink on the patio of the Furnace Creek Inn where the Badwater road meets CA190.