Good morning!!!!

[wngsprd]

Turns out they escaped from next door 14 acres away did not know they had any. Still do not know if they found them. Rutted up back yard pretty good before we ran them off

Glad they weren't wild. Well, if they come back, try to catch them and send them to Rick...he hasn't had any pig fun recently.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Good morning. It's 66° and a bit humid this morning. Don & Kyle turned off our nice Northerly breezes so now getting about 2 mph from SSW. The SSE winds are what bring us the high humidity off the GOM.

I started removing the decking boards from my 6' x 12' trailer last evening. They are also secured, to the trailer frame, with 2" self-tapping screws with Torx heads. My Rigid impact driver was able to remove only one of the screws I tried. None of the Torx head stripped out .. the screws just wouldn't move. I may see if Rigid has a more power impact driver that uses the same batteries this morning.

Since the guys doing the blast, prime, paint of the RL .. usually turn things around fairly fast, I'll probably hold of on removing the rest of the decking boards until after retrieving the ladder. But I'll have everything ready to do it efficiently in the heat.

Nothing sore this morning .. so guess I'm not ready for the "Mr. Bird Bubble Suit" .. quite yet. I guess I'm glad .. it didn't decide to give way loading my zero turn? It weighs 1775 lbs. dry plus about 90 lbs. of diesel would be 1865 lbs. plus my dainty self.

Hope everyone enjoys a peaceful weekend.

Prayers to all.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Glad they weren't wild. Well, if they come back, try to catch them and send them to Rick...he hasn't had any pig fun recently.

Mmmmm ... Bacon!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

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!

 

[RedNeckGeek]

I started removing the decking boards from my 6' x 12' trailer last evening. They are also secured, to the trailer frame, with 2" self-tapping screws with Torx heads. My Rigid impact driver was able to remove only one of the screws I tried. None of the Torx head stripped out .. the screws just wouldn't move. I may see if Rigid has a more power impact driver that uses the same batteries this morning.

Last time I tackled a job like that, Rick, the heads in the screws either stripped out or twisted off. They were all rusted solid into the steel rails on the trailer. Ended up having to cut the boards loose with a demo saw, then working the saw blade under what was left of the boards to cut the screws. Ground what was left off with an angle grinder, then had to drill all new holes for the new boards. If I had it to do over again, I'd use anti-seize on the screws. Hope it goes a little smoother for you!

 

[rswyan]

54F and mostly cloudy @ 08:30, high predicted to only reach 62F. There's a band of showers to the south, which look to be moving south and east.

Got the 8' SS pipe that is used to store C-clamps rehung on the ceiling in the shop last night, plus additional cleanup.

Started hearing rumbles of thunder shortly after I went to bed, lightning alert issued at 01:29. We ended up getting a pretty decent rain out of it.

Part of today's projects will be to do some research on water softeners. Our current unit - which I believe is a Pentair Fleck 2500 "Econominder" has a constant tiny leak in the valve body - just a slight trickle - which increases significantly when the unit goes into recharge. Lately, the unit seems to have reduced capacity after recharging - which might be due to the water leakage during recharge (although degraded/wornout resin might be another possibility :confused3

The unit is pretty old (at least 30 years old I believe, possibly even older) ... so I'm not sure if I want to mess around trying to rebuild the valve body, given the age ... even if I can source the parts to rebuild it. So that leaves either a full replacement of entire system, or possibly just a replacement of head/valve body with the newer model (2510) that replaced the 2500 when it was discontinued ... assuming the mounting is compatible.

Beyond that, some clean up down here at the house and feed livestock, then jumping through whatever hoops on the Kidde recall and further work up in the shop.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe Saturday.

 

[rswyan]

Turns out they escaped from next door 14 acres away did not know they had any. Still do not know if they found them. Rutted up back yard pretty good before we ran them off

Sorry to hear they messed up your place Bup ... hope it doesn't happen again ...

 

[rswyan]

Beautiful iris Ron ... thanks for sharing it ... :thumbsup:

I remember when I was very young (<10 years old) discovering that our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Boatwright, were raising them in their backyard.

Thought they were one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

Glad to hear you were able to get your extinguishers replaced. Hope I have similar luck.

 

[txdon]

I feel your pain, Don. How come they never beep at 1:30 in the afternoon? Seems like it's always in the wee hours that the darn things decide they want a new battery!:irked:

Just you watch. Mine have been quiet for too long, and now will start beeping any minute!:laughing:

Got some sleep. The single beep is a request for a new battery, mine was beeping three times and a new battery did not stop the beeps because it's hard wired also. Three beeps (or 5 beeps) is the malfunction code. I have 2 new ones ordered from amazon if the white wire is not the problem. Their life span is about 10 years this one is 2015.
Drew glad you got a break with the Flomax, my Dad took it with little results but he had Parkinson's. Maybe your brain is starting it's rewiring repair. The Heart can also do repair by rerouting vessels around a cholesterol filled artery but it does no good for a BLT pizza (bacon/cheese/mayonnaise). Really?

RS I also got a new Kiddie Fire extinguisher and sent back the old one in the box they sent the new one in. My extinguisher was not too old and it matched one of the recall numbers.

 

[rswyan]

Drew,

Glad to hear things are improving. Should get even better once you have your own exclusive space again.

I think I've been on Flomax for probably 3+ years ... usually it allows me to sleep all night long without having to get up to take a whizz ... :thumbsup:

 

[lostcreekranch]

Last time I tackled a job like that, Rick, the heads in the screws either stripped out or twisted off. They were all rusted solid into the steel rails on the trailer. Ended up having to cut the boards loose with a demo saw, then working the saw blade under what was left of the boards to cut the screws. Ground what was left off with an angle grinder, then had to drill all new holes for the new boards. If I had it to do over again, I'd use anti-seize on the screws. Hope it goes a little smoother for you!

After the try with my Rigid impact driver, I'm expecting the same RNG. I'm still looking into a more powerful impact driver as it would be handy for many jobs not requiring a pneumatic impact.

I'm expecting a few will break off and I'll just grind them flat on the frame. I'll use Torx head self tapping screws and anti-seize on the new boards.

You asked in a previous post if board that broke was missed in prior replacement? This trailer was bought in 2008, when we bought our original John Deere Z-820A zero turn, so the present decking is original and all pressure treated. I removed the one board, I fell through, and the bottom side looks perfect .. except the area that went bad. That part is black, on the surface, and the wood just falls apart.

 

[rswyan]

Good evening all. 60F for the start, clear, light breeze. Light wind today, sky stayed mostly clear, and high temp was 90F. Humidity is coming up now mid 50's instead of mid 40's still nice and not forecast to go much past 60F for several days. Bike rid this morning, nap then mow, need to take boat in for oil change Monday.

MG,

I gotta think that those those temps are probably unusual (and possibly very welcome) for your neck of the woods this time of year.

Good luck with the oil change.

RS hope day goes well and get fire extinguishers back soon.

RS nice update, hope evening goes well as well.

It did ... although I clearly just don't have the energy I used to have.

Happy to report the Dr. Scholl's insoles are working well ... :thumbsup:

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low of 60, going for a high temp of 88 today. Storms all around again yesterday, but not here. Still dry as a bone! Northern NM is the only spot on the CONUS in severe drought ... not going to be good this summer.

Drew, you are doing wonderful progressing forward. Glad that you have family to help you move. Any return to normalcy is great!

Bruce, the sons projects were completed last weekend. There is a joint sons project, rehabbing another old shed, that they will start in a week or two. They will need me to act as supervisor again, so it will wait until I am done with our hobby shack.

RNG, at least the T&T was easy to fix and you did not have to tear into it and redo. Could you please send some of the rain over here?

All the talk of pizza.... we had to have some last night.... not exotic like the ones here... just Dominos ... (Don, cover your eyes) double bacon and extra provolone cheese. Sure is tasty for store bought.

I was able to finish 98% of the hobby shack porch roof yesterday, just a few pieces of drip edge to be installed and a few screws up on the roof that I could not reach from the scaffold.

Next comes a mundane task of installing the insulation... another job that I really dislike. At least this is a small job... the house just seemed to take forever...

 

[txdon]

Got any heart healthy pizza recipes, Don? I surely love Costco pizzas, but gave 'em up because of all the fat and grease.

I make the pizza dough with my sour dough bread starter, make the sauce with tomatoes and Italian seasoning and make the base hummus from chickpeas and spices, top it off with onions, peppers, garlic, pineapple, olives, sliced tomatoes, steamed kale, and then sprinkle nutritional yeast on the top (for cheese flavor).

 

[lostcreekranch]

Beautiful iris Ron ... thanks for sharing it ... :thumbsup:

I remember when I was very young (<10 years old) discovering that our neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Boatwright, were raising them in their backyard.

Thought they were one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.

Glad to hear you were able to get your extinguishers replaced. Hope I have similar luck.

The Kidde customer service lady, that took my info on the phone, was very pleasant easy to work with. I got new ones with in a few days. I was glad they took back the recalled ones .. I sure had no use for them.

 

[rswyan]

Kyle,

Glad to hear you are having success with the mower. Having equipment that is "operational" is something I can really appreciate ...

Hope the aches and pains subside for you.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

My mother had a whole row / patch of Iris along the side of the garage and along a neighbors fence. They were the pride and joy of the neighborhood, seemed that no one could walk by without saying how beautiful they were!

I am going to jump on the flower picture wagon... here are a couple of wifeys favorites. Know what they are?

 

[rswyan]

Yeah, I'm fine with it. It's unfortunate, but it was the best decision for the dog. Wifey is taking it hard, though. She just sent me a two word text message, "I'm home," followed by a broken heart emoji. She really did go above and beyond trying to help this one, but she's still hurt that it didn't work. Now, my job is to keep her from beating herself up too much over it.

PJ,

The loss of a pet is hard ... hope you have success and she doesn't beat herself up too much - like rip said there is no failing in trying to help.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

The Kidde customer service lady, that took my info on the phone, was very pleasant easy to work with. I got new ones with in a few days. I was glad they took back the recalled ones .. I sure had no use for them.

Do you recall if there is a specific number for the recall? I heard about this over a year ago and still have not submitted.... keep on putting it off... if it is as easy as your experience, maybe I can get it done...

 

[rswyan]

... RS, all those town names are familiar to me. Company I retired from was headquartered in Akron.

One of the rubber companies ?

Thomas, dogs got a treat before picture and after. They know how to maximize every opportunity for a treat.

:thumbsup:

We have that same problem here, more or less ... only with cats ...

:laughing: