Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

Got it, Thanks! Where do I send the $70 I saved.

You can send it to me, Don. I'll miss the age cutoff date by a mere 6 months...:laughing:

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 74F @ 9:15AM. Plentiful sunshine. High 97F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Supposedly the electrical part of the A/C installation on the van is done, but the wiring looks like an explosion in a spaghetti factory. The installer didn't have the dash back in place because the required screws were missing. I've supplied screw sets twice now and they keep being misplaced. When I mentioned that to the mechanic it led to a very heated argument about how he spends all his time chasing down such issues and it was my fault for not taking care of them myself. :confused2: Then I voiced my concern about the real elephant in the room: he's had five weeks to make good on his promise to finish the work on the engine that he personally has to do, and he's still a long way off. That really flipped him out, and I left the room rather than endure his abuse. Meanwhile, back at the van, the helper that was working on the fuel tank install found that the reason the plastic fitting was broken during the last attempt was because the vent line was improperly routed and a chassis member put too much pressure on the line which broke the barb on the overturn valve. The helper fixed the routing, but still couldn't shoehorn the tank back into place. The mechanic gave it a few tries and also failed, then the helper that had originally removed it came over, and between he and I, we got it in. So once again, things don't happen unless I'm there to advocate, and sometimes I end up playing the bad guy to get things moving. During all this I found four ground wires that had been detached when the engine was pulled. Once reinstalled, the tail lights started working. That was all I had on my punch last for that day, so for once I got out of there at a reasonable time. Today I'll try to scrounge up another set of dash hardware, and we'll do the dance again tomorrow.:banghead:

Happy Hump Day!

 

[PJSprog]

Supposedly the electrical part of the A/C installation on the van is done, but the wiring looks like an explosion in a spaghetti factory. The installer didn't have the dash back in place because the required screws were missing. I've supplied screw sets twice now and they keep being misplaced. When I mentioned that to the mechanic it led to a very heated argument about how he spends all his time chasing down such issues and it was my fault for not taking care of them myself. :confused2: Then I voiced my concern about the real elephant in the room: he's had five weeks to make good on his promise to finish the work on the engine that he personally has to do, and he's still a long way off. That really flipped him out, and I left the room rather than endure his abuse. Meanwhile, back at the van, the helper that was working on the fuel tank install found that the reason the plastic fitting was broken during the last attempt was because the vent line was improperly routed and a chassis member put too much pressure on the line which broke the barb on the overturn valve. The helper fixed the routing, but still couldn't shoehorn the tank back into place. The mechanic gave it a few tries and also failed, then the helper that had originally removed it came over, and between he and I, we got it in. So once again, things don't happen unless I'm there to advocate, and sometimes I end up playing the bad guy to get things moving. During all this I found four ground wires that had been detached when the engine was pulled. Once reinstalled, the tail lights started working. That was all I had on my punch last for that day, so for once I got out of there at a reasonable time. Today I'll try to scrounge up another set of dash hardware, and we'll do the dance again tomorrow.:banghead:

RNG, your patience with those people is nothing short of remarkable.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .17 inches rain.

An anniversary of sorts. 12 years ago today, Aug 9, 2005, Sophie and I arrived here on the Big Island with 2 dogs, 2 cats to start this great journey. The cottage was but an unfinished shed, no water, no plumbing, no electric, but shelter for us and our things. I seriously doubt we had a clue how much work was ahead of us, but at 58 yo it all seemed possible. Looking back, it has indeed been quite the adventure, so happy we did it.

I sorta joke that I won't have to pack for my next move, Sophie can just scatter my ashes in the pet cemetery where I'll be amongst friends. Mentioned that to our Macnut friends the other day and his wife said, Jim just wants her to dump his over the cliff into the ocean at the front of their house. We had been discussing the ash commitment we attended a few weeks ago of common friends, somewhat bewildered the boys dumped them on the opposite side of the island.

So my plans aren't nearly as ambitious these days, but stay busy enough

Be safe
Have a great day.

 

[txdon]

Quick question about the TBN phone app. How do you unsubscribe to a thread on the phone? The unsubscribing on the laptop does not unsubscribe on the iphone and I cannot find how to do it on the iphone.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Don, I decided to go ahead and just get a pass for each of us. Saving double money that way.

You can send me the money you saved, i still have to buy the yearly pass.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Quick question about the TBN phone app. How do you unsubscribe to a thread on the phone? The unsubscribing on the laptop does not unsubscribe on the iphone and I cannot find how to do it on the iphone.

My page has a checkmark at the top, click on it to unsubscribe. However, i usually look at the participated tab instead.

 

[lostcreekranch]

You can send me the money you saved, i still have to buy the yearly pass.

Ok, go stand by your mailbox. It will be there before you know it ....... I promise. $$$$$



And Don's savings $$$$ will arrive one Day after mine.

 

[daugen]

Ok, go stand by your mailbox. It will be there before you know it ....... I promise. $$$$$

View attachment 518091

And Don's savings $$$$ will arrive one Day after mine.

perfect!

actually, when you think about it, if you really travel a lot and are under 62, bless your fortunate heart, 80 bucks isn't a bad deal.
Now I guess this is what being grandfathered in feels like. How any organization can hand out lifetime vouchers for significant services at almost no
cost, gosh, it must be the government!

However, as the proverbial retired person on a much reduced income, if I can afford to even get to these places, well kinda nice to just drive on in and just wave.
Many of you remember my aborted RV trip 3 years ago. Not sure I'm going to try that again.
And not like you can fly into Yellowstone Park (before it blows and takes out three states, which is sadly no joke at all)
unless you have a small plane. So I think most of us drive to these places.

Now that my sister has moved to California, I'm trying to figure out how to get there.
Would really like to take a nice train ride, I think that one from Chicago. Getting to Chicago by train is no treat I've read, kinda boring scenery at least where the train tracks are.
But from Chicago West it's supposed to be a real adventure. And a comfortable one. In a sleeper with my own bathroom. I'd sure rather do that than get on a plane.
The cost of a business class air ticket from Raleigh to San Francisco is cardiac inducing. Train is much cheaper and I'm in no rush.
This country could sure use a good rail pass system like Europe.
With a high speed line to Yellowstone and all the parks in Utah. They already have a train to the Grand Canyon. Sort of.
Unfortunately trains tend to bring commerce and development along with them and you sure don't want that mucking up the Western parks.

I've had friends who took the train all the way across Canada. With wifi and a Kindle seems like an attractive option.
Tractors, as seen from a train...

 

[daugen]

dance again tomorrow.

RNG, wasn't this supposed to be fun?
Assuming it rolls, I'd consider towing it out of there and sic'ing an attorney on them for damages.
They clearly have repeatedly made promises to you they can't or won't keep.
May be in so many pieces getting out of there would be impossible.
sealing your fate to them
The Patience of Job
might have to look that up...
At least you have control over what you personally are doing.
And the blue is sure nice...

I worked on chainsaws for an hour or so and then mowed with the cab tractor for an hour.
Going to make a nice chicken chef salad for dinner. My lunch with fast food coupon was far less healthy.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Ok, go stand by your mailbox. It will be there before you know it ....... I promise. $$$$$

View attachment 518091

And Don's savings $$$$ will arrive one Day after mine.

You must be that nigerian prince that was going to send me money.

 

[lostcreekranch]

You must be that nigerian prince that was going to send me money.

Wait! ............. you didn't receive it?

Send me your bank account info and I'll try again.

 

[ronjhall]

List of places to walk in and purchase a pass.
https://store.usgs.gov/sites/default/files/PassIssuanceList.pdf
Closest to me is 80 miles. We have had our pass for 14 years. Got our money back and then some.

 

[txdon]

My page has a checkmark at the top, click on it to unsubscribe. However, i usually look at the participated tab instead.

I click on the circled check but there seem to be nothing done. The threads are still there in subscribed and in participated.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I clicked, took thread out of subscribed tab, it was still in participated tab.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

new canner in action. She likes it.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

dance again tomorrow.

RNG, wasn't this supposed to be fun?
Assuming it rolls, I'd consider towing it out of there and sic'ing an attorney on them for damages.
They clearly have repeatedly made promises to you they can't or won't keep.
May be in so many pieces getting out of there would be impossible.
sealing your fate to them
The Patience of Job
might have to look that up...
At least you have control over what you personally are doing.
And the blue is sure nice...

I wouldn't have any trouble at all picking everything up and hauling it out of there. At this point all it needs is a drive train, and it would be easy to roll it on to a neighbor's car trailer dragging it home. It would only take one trip and there would be no resistance.

But I have a few reasons for staying the course:

First, the mechanic is an excellent mechanic and is basically honest. Lousy business man, and that's the real problem.

Second, even after the rebuild, it's still a 30 year old vehicle and finding someone local that knows what they're doing would be next to impossible. So I don't really want to burn the bridge; I want to have someone to keep it going until I'm well into my 80s.:laughing:

Third, the motor we're building is a hybrid Subaru, and it's doubtful a Subaru dealer would touch it.

Forth, and this is the real gotcha, the mechanic is responsible for getting the van to pass SMOG, and that also requires specialized knowledge to meet the regs while maintaining increased performance. Pulling the plug now would mean he'd be eating the cost of all the motor parts, most of which are new, and for him that's a tremendous motivator to get it done.

Fifth, if it did go to court, the only ones to win would be the lawyers. I'd end up with my non-running van back and some money, and the job of either finishing it myself or finding someone, probably hundreds of miles away, that could finish it for me. But at $300/hour, and more during court time, it wouldn't be hard at all to go through a great deal of money getting satisfaction. That's a motivating factor for both of us to somehow find a way forward. He's been in this position before and eventually made good, and he knows I have the means to endure a trial. But at the end of the day we both have better ways to spend our time and money.

:2cents:

BTW, yesterday the mechanic's day started with another customer chewing him a new one because he'd had her '70 something bus for more than THREE YEARS!:shocked: I thought he'd finished it months ago and was wondering why it was still there, but apparently there are issues still. I don't understand them and I don't want to, but it was pretty clear he didn't come out well during the exchange and it left him upset for the rest of the day...

 

[txdon]

Ok this is weird. I found this slithering on the floor. It's about a foot long and appears to have no head. What the is it?

 

[Redneck in training]

Ok this is weird. I found this slithering on the floor. It's about a foot long and appears to have no head. What the is it?View attachment 518148

Looks like large night crawler. They come out of ground when it is too wet.

 

[RoyJackson]

2017-08-10, 0315

60 right now...I haven't been outside, but it feels a bit humid. 83 for the high today...