Good morning!!!!

[Eric Salop]

Good morning. Light cloud today, can't see any rain in the forecasts, so I should get on and start mixing some mortar.

Mostly "is the concrete as bad as anticipated" - one of those jobs best just to get on with it and not to think about too much, otherwise I could get all morbid, wondering how long I have left to live. :laughing:

Don is often giving us tips on how to improve life expectancy by diet. I can add another one - do not strap yourself to a jet engine. Thanks to often watching the many exploits of Donald Campbell on the BBC when I was a kid, I have never felt any desire to go fast over water Water Speed Record Crash

Bird, I have never seen the play or the many subsequent films of "The Ice Man Cometh", always thought it too depressing. If there is ever a remake with a more upbeat version featuring Miguel, I will be sure to watch.

 

[ChuckT]

'Morning. Hope everyone has a safe and productive day. We were already ducking for Sally but it went around us, thankfully. Living in Florida I've had more than my share of whirly girls coming by.
I've a cousin in Slidell LA and I need to get on contact with them to see how they fared. Lots of rain, minor inconvenience only I'm hoping.
Today's tasking is unboxing (still) and a trip to recycle to dispose of emptys and "junque". Wood You is supposed to call with a couple pieces (and I want to get a table for the computer room from them).
I don't know what it takes to get a local(er) cell tower but I'll be digging around to see if I can sell the idea.
The repair shop is supposed to call, as well, with our standby generator. It'll probably live outside of wife's barn in it's own doghouse. I don't know what weather is bringing is except ... more rain! (Well duh, he said liquidly).
Stay well.

 

[ChuckT]

Campbell and the Bluebirds! Hah. Remember them in the news also. Completely nuts-so. To each his own, but a death-wish on water.

 

[daugen]

Good morning all. A brisk 61 out now going up to 79. Long pants going on this morning for sure particularly because today is my last chemo day and
hvac so cold in hospital I'm always shivering. Flash flood watch posted for Thursday into Friday, 3 to 5 inches of rain, or more, from this slow moving system.

PBJ made and packed away with an apple, Kindle charged and filled with a couple of new books, though I'm feeling a little tired this morning and maybe will just sleep
a bit today. Between the pillow, blanket and reclining chair, naps are in order. The challenge is after a few hours of constant fluids going in, well....they want to get out, so there is a constant procession of infusion patients to bathroom nearby.

And when I get home this afternoon hope to get call from next older brother who will have inspected my new home this morning and with luck he will give a thumbs up. I trust his judgment, he doesn't hesitate to find problems and has thumbs downed several so far.
Landlord sent me a nice note several days ago after I expressed my concern, after two date pushbacks that I'd have a place to stay:
Do not worry! I will get in touch with your brother as soon as I can and I will make sure everything will be in good shape for you by the time you get here.
Seems like a very nice positive attitude. I haven't been "home" since May 11 and am really looking forward to this.

Mostly, yowsa, that's one fast boat. Have to be very careful and skilled at that speed though most of these really fast boats, stepped hulls or not, have deep v bottoms which keep them stable. Rule of thumb for fuel burn is ten percent of horsepower of one engine, those monster engines must have really big fuel lines...am guessing at top speed that Cigarette is sucking down a bit more fuel than "the rule". At least fuel is cheap now, relatively, though I bet those engines take super premium.
I have to admit I'm perfectly happy at 12-15 knots...time to see and dodge crab pots and logs in water

Hope you all have a nice day.

 

[wngsprd]

52 going to 76 and clear.

Thomas, 3 gallons is a lot of ceiling. You need a rest.

Eric, remember rabbit foot key chains? Maybe you could keep one in your pocket for Max.

Hiked up Hawksbill Mountain yesterday on the AT. Nice 46F degrees at the parking area when I left...skies never did get bluebird clear as forecasted...heard the weatherman on the radio on the way home say it was upper level haze from the west coast wildfires (or maybe Rick's burn pile)...didn't smell smoky, and the weatherman said no breathing risks. Never seen so many people on that trail...some hikes there I've seen none...yesterday I counted 34, all hiking up as I hiked down, since I got there so early. Most people take the shorter direct trail, rather than hiking around "back" of the mountain, then up it. Interesting to watch different people react to an oncoming hiker...some pulled masks on quickly, others stepped aside, or paused as I stepped aside, depending on who had a place to step, others did nothing. Many of the masked hikers were college age, and most of the unmasked were retiree couples.

 

[ronjhall]

Drinking first cup of hot coffee. 47° with clear skies this morning. Heading to 80° with lots of sun with a 20 mph winds. Got garage doors prepped for painting today. I will be rolling paint on. So wind should not bother it. Need to get furnace and humidifier filters changed out today. Weather forecast calls for highs in 60's and lows into 30's starting tomorrow. Put out a couple of Terro Fruit Fly Traps yesterday. They are working. Still get burning eyes if I spend much time outside. Got to be west coast smoke.
Turkeys seem to be all over the place. The deer are out also. But did not get any usable pictures of them. Haven't spotted any bear.

Drew, hope treatment goes good today.

Wngsprd, retires not wearing mask. I see the opposite here. Local park is packed here on weekends. I drive thru there as short cut to places to the west. As a retiree I would not go there on weekends to get out exercise.

Bird, good fridge got repaired.

Mostly, there where a couple of those fast boats at marina I stayed at in Canada. It was 60 miles across Lake Eire. Easy ride for them to states on a calm day.

PJ, Sassy never comes to the door when I get home. But if the motion detector ring goes off she is at back door. Typical Shih Tzu. New people are the best.

RNG, hope the fires stay away from you. Good news on valves.

Mostly, maybe mope mode is what Sassy does when I have to leave her at home. Muffin would be at door when I returned after leaving her at home.

Everyone stay safe and healthy.

Good Morning All.

 

[Thomas]

Phil.
"21 Thomas' days to go."
----------------
Now your at phase 2 your going to like phase 3 a lot.

 

[Thomas]

BEF.
"Do you cover everything in tarps?"
---------------
Drop cloth floor everything else cover with large painter plastic so much easier and quicker.

 

[Thomas]

47F clear sky mid 70's for high.

Outside chores done E muffin time. :licking:
Plans for today...Shorty start cleaning attic do half today other half tomorrow,Mrs. already did some sorting but going to try and talk her into more throwing away.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[Bird]

One more comment about my refrigerator repair. The lights in the refrigerator have always worked and the bulbs had never been replaced. But Miguel told me those lights produce a lot of heat; ought to replace them with LEDs. OK, two Walmarts and Lowe's did not have the right bulbs, but The Home Depot did. And when I went to change them, one of the existing bulbs was too hot for me to take out with my bare hand. I had no idea those lights got that hot. But it's LEDs in there now.

 

[kenmbz]

Good morning , 54 going up to 76-chill in the air and hazy (West coast smoke has made it here, so far all my friends/relatives and coworkers have been safe.)

Drew - last chemo day - woo hoo, bet you won't miss those ! Hope the new place is good.
Baby buck, mom, other mom and her fawn have all been hanging out trying to eat the last of my garden.
Ron - I hear the turkeys around here, but rarely see them. One year they did come up our front steps, made a mess then left
Bird - glad fridge is fixed-still did not fix leak on mine, maybe this weekend.
Roy - how are you feeling?
Phil- Seems like you might get an early freeze?

Coworker in Arkansas got hit pretty hard from Sally and still without electricity- Water up and over piers and retaining walls.

Stay safe and be well.

 

[PJSprog]

54°F and clear-ish skies, going up to 84° today. We've had some high haze here over the last few days as well.

NWS forecast map shows Sally won't be coming anywhere near us now. We really could use some rain. My grass seed really could use some rain. May have to drag the hoses this weekend, just to get something going.

I've never bought any firearms from our Rural King, Ron. I've looked at stuff there, and the counter guy seemed nice enough. I know their dedicated website seems to have some pretty decent prices. Sorry you had a bad experience. Too bad they lost your business. Some people don't seem to care about that, and that manager sounds like one of them.

Glad you got a decent tech, Bird. You should definitely hold onto Miguel's card.

I always loved Styx, BEF ... well, at least until that Mr. Roboto thing. My first live concert was Styx's Paradise Theater Tour at The Checkerdome in St. Louis in 1981.

Congrats on the last treatment, Drew. I'm sure you won't miss that at all.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 69F @ 5:30AM. Mostly sunny. Expect widespread areas of smoke and haze, reducing visibility at times. High around 90F. Winds light and variable.
AQI this morning is 290 outside, 115 inside. Weatherman sez it'll be variable for the foreseeable future, then improve with another front passing through next week. Visibility was good enough to let aircraft return to the fire fight yesterday morning, but by 4PM they were all grounded again. Containment continues to improve in this area, and evacuation orders were reduced to warnings in a large area between here and Oroville. A homeowner monitoring security cameras on his property notified the sheriff's department, who were able to arrest eight people that had come into an evacuated area to care for illegal pot grows. This kind of activity speaks volumes about the failure of legal marijuana cultivation and distribution to meet demand. As long as there is financial incentive for the drug, people will risk life and limb, not only their own, but those around them, to meet it.

I did some reading yesterday on the new instrumentation that's on its way for the solar power system. It's called a TriMetric, and consists of a current shunt at the battery bank that will track current flow into and out of the bank. It also measures voltage at the battery, and it tracks power flow over time such that State of Charge (SOC) can be correlated with battery voltage. The solar controller makes changes to the system based on battery voltage in order to maintain desired SOC levels, and having these readings will allow the changes to be made based on actual measurements instead of assumptions.

I also put together a package that better documents what was done on the van's engine swap in case the smog testers have questions. No word yet on when that might be, but I did supply some info to my friend so he can make sure that whoever's going to do the test knows in advance some of the history.

My supply of N95 masks is such that I'd like to purchase more, and they are now available. The bad news is that the ten 3M masks that used to cost fifteen dollars are now selling for sixty-five. And a full face respirator is going for a similarly inflated price, too.

Not sure what I'll get into today. It mostly depends on the air quality outside.

 

[toppop52]

Mostly, Drew-is probably right, about 55 gallons an hour on the Cigarette at speed with those motors, probably more at top speed, but then why have it if you ain’t gonna use it?!
Mine averaged about 30 gph at speed, the 502 had dynoed @ 522 hp before installing. It doesn’t take twice the fuel for twins as a rule.

47° going to 78° later, I may work in the bigger garage today and finish some rearranging and tool cleanup and storage.

Grandson had three hits including a double to the fence to lead off the game, scored three runs and made several plays at third. Game was called after 4 with his team leading 19-4 I think. The league only allows 5 runs per inning except the final inning. The talent level of some of those 8-9 year olds is amazing.

It’s gotten really dry here, no good rain for at least two weeks.
Wife’s Edge would glitch some electronics after starting since the incident a couple weeks ago when the battery was dead. We thought we’d left the hatch on safety latch. So yesterday I load tested the battery, I’m amazed it worked at all, wouldn’t hold a load at all drained like bath water from the tub. So I drove it up and got it replaced.

Enough rambling, have a good day and God bless.

 

[rswyan]

53F and fair @ 09:00, 79F predicted for the high. Big cool down after today, with highs only in the 60's for the next 5 days before warming back up to the 70's.

Yesterday did not start out well: As I was taking some cardboard outside to stick in the recycle bin, I cut things a little too close going around the back of the tractor and slammed my left shin into the receiver hitch on the back of the box blade and took a spill, falling first on right rear corner of the blade, and then hitting my head on the asphalt. So I'm a little bruised up, stiff, and sore this morning ... but apparently otherwise ok (thankfully)

Did some work leveling and prepping an area up in the compost/wood yard to do soil screening, rounded up previously screened soil with the box blade that had weeds growing it so that it can be screened again. Uncovered the rest of that yellow jacket nest while doing that and they were swarming so I left that alone as far as doing anything further. Need to see how it looks today. Fortunately no stings ... :thumbsup: Also used FEL to scrape some of the weeds that have sprouted on the compost pile off and buried those.

Got another rhododendron transplanted yesterday:

While I was working on that, my Supervisor checked the ones we had planted in the southeast planting bed and reported that they all appeared to be happy and doing well. Also noticed that some of the hosta we planted there were sending up new shoots ... :thumbsup: Biggest thing will probably be making sure all of them stay moist for the next month or so and not letting them dry out ...

She bought a couple of "Hawaiian Punch" hibiscus plants the other day ... turns out these are not the hardy ones so they will have to be planted in containers and overwintered inside. She also got some "Queen Of The Night" tulip bulbs that need to be planted, along with the daffodil bulbs she was given.

Was a short day due to doctor's appointment, which went well generally speaking: BP was 103/64, pulse/ox was 97.5, glucose was 98, total cholesterol was the only thing that was not too good @ 217 (need to get back on the statins ... )

Going to be nice today so I might see about prepping a couple more planting holes and getting another rhododendron transplanted. Still need to finish up hosta plantings in west and northwest planting beds.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day ... :thumbsup:

 

[RoyJackson]

PJ, I can relate to that. No matter how short the absence, Max will always make a big fuss over my wife on her return.

I can be out all day with scarcely a tail wag when I get back, unless I happen to smell of sheep, other dogs, or best of all, wabbits.

Bella gets excited when my stepdaughter comes home, but not so much with my wife...
Now, when I come home, it's like I've been gone for years! Tail (stubby as it is) waggin'...she just doesn't know which end she wants petted first...lots of licking! For a senior dog, she sure acts like a puppy!

 

[Buppies]

Hope you feel better soon rswyan nasty fall

 

[sodamo]

67°F and .01 inches rain.

Plan to finish my flail mowing today.

Fires and hurricanes, sure hope everyone does well.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[sodamo]

Drew, exciting day for sure. Good luck

 

[sodamo]

Ron, every time I read about your painting, my mind fast forward to next year whe I intend to start repating our place.