Good morning!!!!

[wngsprd]

31 and stars, going to 64.

Irv, hope you're doing better, and BEF, best wishes for an easy surgery.

Drew, in Virginia, they want to grow hemp strictly for the fiber/rope value, not for drugs...a different variety of the plant...not sure about NC.

Yesterday my wife and I drove down to Virginia Beach and picked up my mom and sister to take out to the small town where she grew up in rural SE Virginia. Took her around the farm, ate lunch in a small restaurant, visited the cemetery where my dad and many other relatives are buried. Then we went to a local peanut and gift shop where the 3 ladies shopped for an hour while I caught up on emails and news on the radio...I don't care much for shops where the perfume smell of candles is so strong. My mom said later that it was the best trip she'd had in a long, long time. We all had a good time, but a long day for my wife and I at 440 total miles.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 42F @ 4:30AM. Sunny. High 56F. Winds light and variable.

We're pullin' for ya, Buckeye. Best part of a successful surgery is waking up from the anesthesia and not feelin' any pain. At least until it wears off.

What an up and down day yesterday. Got a bunch of paperwork sorted out in the morning, then saw a Facebook post about a Cyber Monday sale at a Vanagon supplier south of here. They were offering 10% off all purchases, and their web site said they had the awning I'd been looking for. The importer for the brand I want, Fiamma, had a shooting earlier this year that killed the principal actor and several key employees, and has been shut down ever since, making the model I'm after difficult to find. Called the Vanagon guys up, confirmed the deal, and they're holding it for me until I can get down there next week. I'll combine that run with the brake job on the old bike and a good meal with an old friend, so it'll be a bit of a mini vacation.:licking:

Then I got word that yet another used parts supplier thinks their stuff is gold (way overpriced), so I made an offer on an ebay part and "won". It should be here by the end of the week and I can reassemble the old bike's transmission.:thumbsup: But my experience with ebay is very hit and miss, so I'm not gettin' my hopes up that it'll be as advertised.

About that time I checked status on the o-ring order for the Ford, and was informed that they'd been delivered. Big relief. Everything was in the envelope, so I pulled the fuel bowl and got them all installed. Yay!

But when I was slipping the new Viton sleeves over the fuel line compression fittings, I noticed a shiny steel stud with threads on it below the fuel bowl. On it was something that looked like a coil with a pair of wires coming out of it. Nothing except the wires kept the coil in place, and that just didn't seem right. Yikes!

A post to a Diesel forum told me that it was an IPR, which more digging revealed to be an Injection Pressure Regulator. It's part of the HPOP (High Pressure Oil Pump) and I was able to find a Motorcraft part number for it. Prices ranged all over the place, up to $300. Ugh!

Found one for half that on Amazon (yeah!), but when I tried to check out, it said it couldn't ship to my address. WTF? Tried a few different suppliers, ending up with an aftermarket version from a company I'd never heard of, so I'm waiting for more feedback from the Diesel site to see if that's a safe path.:confused2: I'll also call the Ford dealer in town this morning to see what kind of ransom they want, just for entertainment purposes. O'Reilly Auto Parts has a Borg Warner version for a good price, so at least there's a backup plan. Since the oil change and carb work on the touring bike a couple days ago, I've got a pleasant way to get there. And we're supposed to have sunny but brisk weather for the rest of the week, so not everything's all gloom'n'doom.

After breakfast and with the sun up, I'll see about getting the old IPR out. Some folks have had luck with a deep well socket, but others say they had to make a special tool. Guess we'll see what comes out of that box of chocolates again. I did finally lay out a couple of old bath towels on top of the radiator so my knees would quit complaining, and for once my headlamp had a good charge in it, so at least I've got that goin' for me...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Wngsprd, sounds like a nice trip.

Thanks for all the prayers, heading to the hospital..

 

[txdon]

Ron, according to research I'm suppose to be forgetting to turn on the coffee. "Winter Wakes Up Your Mind--and Warm Weather Makes it Harder to Think Straight"
Do you find it easier to think in Michigan than in Texas, or Arizona?

Good morning! 51˚ heading to 76˚ clear skies, light south wind. Today I help Mom switch a few things over to her name only. Just when we think we have everything changed over another thing comes with his name on it. Looks like this will be a project till the end of the year.

I installed the battery solar charger on the roof of her tractor shed hopefully the battery will stay charged and be ready for very occasional use. The people on the Ford/New Holland thread are helping me locate where the fluids go in Mom's tractor. She tried to show me yesterday and then was not sure, I tried to ask Dad when he was in the hospital but I could see he was struggling to remember and I told him I'll figure it out - (Ask TBN) I found the owners manual, but he had the loader added, and things don't look the same as the pictures show. On the Ford structure bolts look the same as fill caps and dip sticks are just another bolt you take out and wait for overflow. I'm spoiled with the Kubota.

Buckeye - good luck with your operation, sending prayers to you and the surgeons.

 

[300UGUY]

Thanks for the good thoughts, guys. I feel much better this am, slept good, going to take advantage of of great day here, the sun is coming up, and it might get to 60 today! I also have a scheduled lunch with a retirees group, I gotta make that!

Drew, I’ve been watching the MJ situation for years. Right now our neighbor, Canada, is in the process of full legalization. I don’t use any, but it is a powerful social issue in both countries.

 

[PJSprog]

45°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 70° again today.

Hope things go well for you today, BEF.

Wife spent much of the day yesterday cleaning out the garage. With help from the boy, she went from stuff all the way up to the door to about half of the floor open now. One load of donations to a resale facility in Fairview Heights IL, some antique furniture to storage, and a pile of stuff into the dumpster. More progress.

The boy even went out afterwards and put in a couple of job applications. :thumbsup:

We've been talking for awhile about pouring a concrete floor in the barn next Spring. Yesterday, The Wife mentioned the idea of just razing it and building a new one. Hmmm. Going to have to look at costs on that. The theory is that we could build in a storage room (as opposed to buying a separate storage building), and eliminate the cost of off-site storage. I like the idea, but I'm not sure I'm going to like the price. Something to think about over the Winter.

Ed, I certainly do like my job. Yeah, it's in a crappy neighborhood, but the pay is excellent and there are new challenges here almost daily. One semi-bright side is that my boss was talking yesterday about getting a CCW license and carrying in the building. I, of course, encouraged him to look into it. Maybe now I won't have to leave mine locked up in my car anymore. I really dislike doing that.
Today is, in fact, my one year anniversary here.

 

[daugen]

RNG's Vanagon supplier getting all shot up, PJ's looking for places to duck,
truly what is this world coming to....
and I get a flier from some sporting goods stores hawking handguns for 150 bucks for Christmas.
Gosh I wish we had mandatory gun training for new users....
I'm all for CC but particularly with spray and pray most bullets don't hit what they are shot at,
and some training is sure needed to consider what is in the line of fire.

All the more reason to have effective non lethal alternatives.

Finally warmed up enough, off to water trees and keep working away on the brush pile.

 

[CWB Wyo]

The low so far this morning is 19*, yesterday's high was 45*. We got about two inches of snow yesterday afternoon. It's going to be in the mid 40' and sunny with a lite wind today.

Buckeyefarmer.. Hope everything goes well for you today.

Not much going on today. I'll see how it goes.

Hope everyone has a nice day.
CWB

 

[RedNeckGeek]

and I get a flier from some sporting goods stores hawking handguns for 150 bucks for Christmas.
Gosh I wish we had mandatory gun training for new users....
I'm all for CC but particularly with spray and pray most bullets don't hit what they are shot at,
and some training is sure needed to consider what is in the line of fire.

Not sure what CCW licensing requirements are there in NC, Drew, but out here there's a mandatory class and practical demonstration of your skills on target. Nationwide, CCW holders are vastly underrepresented in crime statistics. I'd feel a LOT safer if more people carried when I'm out and about downtown, as there never seems to be a cop around when you need one.

 

[PJSprog]

Gosh I wish we had mandatory gun training for new users....
I'm all for CC but particularly with spray and pray most bullets don't hit what they are shot at,
and some training is sure needed to consider what is in the line of fire.

All the more reason to have effective non lethal alternatives.

In Illinois, we're required to have 16 hours of training before being issued a license to carry, and eight hours again at renewal every three years. Twelve of it was classroom, and the other four was safety, range practice time, and qualification. About 75% of that classroom time was legal stuff; essentially, should you have to pull your weapon and squeeze the trigger, this is what you can expect. It's not a pretty scenario for the defensive shooter. Sadly, there is not much in the way of physical training, beyond demonstrating your ability to hit a stationary target at three predefined distances while under no pressure at all. I don't think most people realize that there is a huge difference between non-pressure range shooting and immense pressure defensive combat shooting. Even police officers and trained military frequently miss their human targets. It's definitely more of a challenge to hit a target that's both moving and shooting back at you, especially while you're moving, too.

You asked what the world is coming to. One of the guys here at work is an admitted former gang banger (actually, many of them are). He was telling me last week that even he is shocked at the level of violence lately, and the callous disregard for innocent lives. As he put it, even amongst bangers, there was always an understood rule that you don't hurt children or old people. These guys nowadays don't seem to care about that anymore, and just shoot indiscriminately.

As for mandatory training, most of these guys doing the "spray and pray" aren't buying their guns legally anyway, so there's not much chance they'll be taking any training, mandatory or otherwise.