Good morning!!!!

[Thomas]

Poured first cup of coffee. 29° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 44° with some sun. Got Sassy groomed. Shopping was done while she was there. Not much else done rest of the day. Back to shop today to work on meters. Hope to get the finished today. Need to rest up for tomorrow. Temperatures are supposed to be in the mid 50's for a few hours.
Headlines in Local paper yesterday. Garbage contact has been settled with GFL for the next 7 years. Line item on tax bill will go from $154 to $161 per year. They will take anything put out front. Sounds like a good deal to me. Now if they would stop destroying my trash can.
Hairdo/feathers look like my hair after taking my knit stocking cap off.

Thomas, skidder project is giving you days off. Enjoy them, Are you doing PT job still?

Owner understood no more than 20 hours week with couple weeks went to 25 hours,since Thanksgiving 30 hours week,owner said last week if I go full time 40 hours week he would raise pay to $31 an hour yet to give answer but strongly leading to no thank you but thank you for the offer.

In our area there strong market for retirement workers.

 

[Thomas]

20F cloudy mid 30's for high warm up arriving soon,1" snow over night.

Outside chores done E muffin time.
Plans for today...finish plowing and clean up,trip to town for critter food do Mrs. grocery shopping than putter....and date night.

Enjoy your day all.

 

[Thomas]

Help is hard to find nowadays. Even harder to hold on to once you find good help. My wife is finding this out and well, I just keep my mouth shut. It's going to get worse as we get older. The physical labor around here is not conducive to old age.

The old days which lot of us were brought upon..."If you don't work you don't eat" just about gone.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 36 and cloudy.
Got the new ballast bypass lights yesterday and fixed the broken one.
For some reason it's a nice feeling to cut out and remove the ballast.

I now have light over my welding station and don't need the extra drop lights.
Now it needs to get warm enough to paint the light sphere.

Drew - glad the mower is back up, hope you can get the old one back out. Agree with Alien, they may have put something sticky there to stop it from moving/vibrating.
Good luck with Shed shopping

L4N - seems like you are getting enough snow for everyone on the list.

Rip - that's a lot of hay, hope the elevator cooperates.

Fire in the fireplace last night- need to bring up more wood and split some more for later in the season from the pile.

Stay safe and be well,

We have at least 5 bucks hanging out. from yearling to the one I showed yesterday.
This one seems to have broken part of one antler. We also have one with a missing antler.

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning.
It’s 35 with a high of 45 predicted along with rain likely later in the day.

Yesterday’s drug test was not so much fun. I sat in the waiting room of the urgent care clinic for over 3 hours, the frustrating part was that it wasn’t crowded, they were just horribly inefficient.fortunately the majority of the other people waiting were not sick but were there for drug tests as well. The worst part was that I prepared for the test by drinking two large bottles of water and an iced tea on the way there. So I was fearing that they would have to wring there sample out of pants! At any rate I thanked them for giving me the time to sober up before getting tested.

My friend did wait for me for lunch, as I was 45 minutes late. After lunch I putter around, helped the electrician sort some things out down at my son’s project.

Not sure what today will bring, might tinker in the shop for a while, I have to go sign some checks at the airport, might be an excuse to take the little plane out for a neighborhood tour.

The shower head that I posted yesterday was put in a quart.sized Pyrex cup with a few ounces of C-L-R added to the water, I put the cup in the water bath, so the distilled water in the cleaner would remain clean. I ran it for 30 minutes and 130 degrees, and when I removed it, I took the picture. No other scrubbing or cleaning required. But it wasn’t plain water that it was soaked in.

 

[Rich B1]

Good morning! 43 now and going to 53. Possible rain, wind, & T'storms tonight. Tomorrow is supposed to warm with rain, then falling temperatures.

I have a shower head I need to run through the ultrasonic tank. Need to remember to do that. I wish I had gotten one of these tanks some time ago.

My wife is taking a rare day off to go shopping. She never seems to take time off. Good for her.

Hope buppies & Toppop are doing better.

I think you will be a lot happier with a stick built shed Drew. And your issues with your snow blower makes me more determined to keep my old one alive!

And to continue my saga from last year.

I had a mostly sleepless night. I was really down over the turn of events with the attempt to restart my GI tract. I was despising the NG tube again. My mouth was dry, I was miserable. I was also getting weaker since I had no nourishment for 3+ weeks at this point. An IV in the arm keeps you hydrated but not much else. It may have been in my hand by this point. Keeping an IV in my left arm was a problem.

Usual morning, blood draw and a visit from the ****** Youth. The girl who drew my blood most mornings was always cheerful and liked to talk, which helped.

Got a visit from the doctor who had decided that removing the NG tube and trying to eat was a good idea. He had another good idea. He was going to try a suppository. Which happened fairly quickly. It worked to a point, it seemed to empty my large intestine and bowel, but did nothing for the blockage. Got a lot of practice getting cleaned up by the nurses aides. Mikaela was great about it on day shift. B on night shift was nasty about it. My dislike for her continued to grow.

There was also a new patient in the room next to me. He needed a mask for oxygen and kept removing it. This would lead to many calls for nurses and doctors over the next 2 days......

This was the day I would have a new night shift charge nurse, Shawna. She was awesome and would be my night shift nurse for 4 nights. She was like a mother hen, seemed she liked my stuff on my bed & table arranged like I did, so she took the time to arrange things. She cleaned up stuff in the room. And talked my ear off. I learned her life story of the next 4 days. She knew a lot about me when it was over. We talked a lot. Seems she had spent 5 years as head nurse and hospital administrator at a tiny (4 bed) hospital in very rural Montana. When they moved back to the area, she was rehired at the hospital but discovered she hated the politics of the nurses station and spent time with her patients instead. As I was about the only one that could talk, I got A LOT of attention from her. We watched TV together, she sat in the entrance of my room and did work on her computer when I dozed off, etc. I really enjoyed having her as a nurse.

Everyone stay safe out there!

 

[riptides]

....

We have at least 5 bucks hanging out. from yearling to the one I showed yesterday.
This one seems to have broken part of one antler. We also have one with a missing antler.
....

I have some with broken antlers too. Seems a lot more than in years past.

I really like my Brownings. Had an issue with one, their customer service was unbelievably responsive in a very good way. Shockingly good.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 45F @ 4:45AM. Sunny to partly cloudy. High around 55F. Winds light and variable.
Looks like we'll be having much more seasonable weather over the next ten days, and those warm 60s temperatures are now but a fond memory. Rain here, lots of snow in the mountains, as it should be this time of year.

Between the AWD car and the blower battery, it looks like you're all set for snow, Drew.

Money can't buy happiness, Thomas, no matter how much your new boss appreciates your good work. And we all need to make the best of the time we have left.

I've been pretty happy with the SRA ultrasonic cleaner I got from Amazon. They come in several sizes, so figure out what you want to clean and get one big enough that it will be completely submerged in the tank. Allow a half inch or so at the top of the tank for the water to rise when you put the part in.

My back ached just reading your story, Mike. Hope the elevator hangs in there for you.

That kind of hair style is popular these days, Ron. Just not on a blue jay.

Not quite a brick outhouse, David, but it'll probably do. I'd go with through bolts to replace the pinch bolt on the slip sleeves, though.

Looking forward to the next installment of your story, Rich. Kind of like watching a train wreck, or Breaking Bad. But easier 'cause we know your story has a happy ending.

Time to break out the Christmas movies. The Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series come to mind, or the ultimate: Christmas Story...

Made a special trip to the PO yesterday to pick up a package, and neither clerk that looked for it could find it. And the supervisor wasn't there to straighten things out. So after an hour of waiting, I left my phone number and asked for the supervisor to call me. And leave a time I could call back if they got voicemail. Sure enough, I missed the call, and no time was given for me to return the call. Of course when I called back the phone just rang and rang. Heck of a way to run a railroad, and it's no wonder the PO budget is such a mess.

I did get lucky at the motorcycle dealer in that they still had stock on some hose clamps that have been discontinued. I almost bought them all, but instead left some for the next guy.

Got word from my friend that her sister went into hospice yesterday. Her pancreatic cancer had spread, and she doesn't have much time left. Seems like this always happens around the holidays.

Feels a little frosty in here this morning, so got a fire going in the wood stove and the fan just came on signaling that it's up to temperature. Think I'll catch a few more zzzs before I get out of bed, though.

TGIF gang!

 

[ronjhall]

Need to give Rich a Cha Ching for the Ultrasonic Cleaner. I got the 10L one. Mostly because I have a cheap streak at times. It was $129 one day last week. It will do what I want. Did a pair of Channel Locs that were left out in the grass for awhile. It did not take all the rust off. But they do work now.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 71˚F heading to the lo 80s, cloudy. Did not make it to the pool yesterday just too cloudy. I'm semi isolating so I'm not exposed to covid or the flu which would cancel me also if I scrape my knee before surgery it is also off, no broken skin allowed. I'll just enjoy your projects with you for a while.

Ron, get that bird a comb.
Popgadget, the results of the shower head had me looking at amazon. I just don't think I have enough stuff to clean.
Rip, are you still handling square bales? In my dads elderly years he only dealt with round bales, and his tractor did all the work.
Figured out how a 1099 NEC was used yesterday for my moms tax deduction when paying someone to redo a fence, IRS stuff is always fun, not.

 

[Rich B1]

@RedNeckGeek said:

"Time to break out the Christmas movies. The Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series come to mind, or the ultimate: Christmas Story..."

You left out: Bad Santa, Scrooged, and Christmas Vacation. I have already watched a couple of them.

"Looking forward to the next installment of your story, Rich. Kind of like watching a train wreck, or Breaking Bad. But easier 'cause we know your story has a happy ending."

It is odd, since I related what happened with the first "lead physician" a week ago today, I am just not all that enthused about relating the saga. Except for what will happen starting next Thursday through Monday. That still sticks in my mind and amazes me. It is interesting. Going to have to post 2 days on Monday, I am supposed to deliver likely that last underground machine in my career next Tuesday, so will post Tuesday saga likely late Monday.

The ultrasonic cleaners are getting popular with this bunch!

 

[daugen]

amazon resending three items they said got delivered, but never were. One was my new pen knife.
Someone is apparently having fun with it.
I gave up with the online customer service since it doesn't handle no shows well. That I find is promptly handled
by calling their CS number. At at 9am in the morning I had one minute wait time and a total of 7 minutes on the phone until resolution.
Now that's competent service. Amazon must have hired a gazillion people to handle the holiday rush.

 

[kenmbz]

Drew - I used shedsunlimited.net for my pool house.
They are out towards Lancaster and had more options and were priced better than anything I found in this area.

Rich- your saga is amazing, I am so glad you had the stamina to get beyond the issues and survive this ordeal.

 

[riptides]

....
Rip, are you still handling square bales? In my dads elderly years he only dealt with round bales, and his tractor did all the work.
....

Yep. We normally have 400-500 on hand for winter stock. Maybe 100-200 during the summer.

And yep, with the woman, she can handle a square bale.

The horses just don't do rounds. They mostly rot in the fields when we tried them. The most finicky animal on Gods Earth - The Horse.

 

[Boss 302]

Nice clear morning 40*, looks like it's going to be a pretty day for some seat time.

 

[RoyJackson]

@RedNeckGeek said:

"Time to break out the Christmas movies. The Lethal Weapon and Die Hard series come to mind, or the ultimate: Christmas Story..."

You left out: Bad Santa, Scrooged, and Christmas Vacation. I have already watched a couple of them.

I'm a bit more sentimental...or dramatic
"It's a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Carol" (1951, with Alastair Sim) are my perennial favorites

 

[Eric Salop]

Good afternoon. We escaped frost by a smidgen last night, thought I would warm up by cutting brambles with my ancient, yet still very useful, billhook.

The porridge powered hand tools of years gone by still appeal to me on a cold winter's day. Ironic really as yesterday I was sucking petrol (gas) out of the brush cutter, water pump and generator. They don't use that much fuel and at times can be unused for months, so decided to pay a bit more and run them in future on Alkylate. The dregs of old fuel will be used up in my Husky chainsaw, then once that has gone it too can look forward to drinking Aspen 2 stroke next year.

Wng, our Christmas tree options are also limited this year. I half heartedly suggested one to my wife that had no branches on one side. She surprised me by saying it is perfect, fits flat against the bookcases and leave plenty of room to walk past.

 

[pennwalk]

Today is looking up. The sun has come out. Yesterday I ran up to the farm to check it out. Most of the leaves are down except the copper beeches. I noticed the wheat is starting to come up. There was quite a few sticks down in the yard.

I picked up groceries this morning. It was the the middle of the morning so there were a lot of us gray hairs. I was kind of surprised how few were wearing masks. The covid is on the up swing here. Hospitalizations are just shy of last winters peak. People are still dying. The odd thing is that somewhere around 65% of adults are vaccinated.

Take care

Chris

 

[sodamo]

66°F and .23 inches rain.

A different stroke this morning. Going with a friend to pickup a water tote he has plans to incorporate into his hydro electric. I’m getting one (for free) than the plastic container is damaged but frame is usable. My plan is to convert into manlift platform that mounts on my pallet forks as some others have done on TBN.

Then start installing my EMT cross bracing on greenhouse.

Hand & Foot later.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Something else I noticed yesterday.

The premium for Medicare Part B went up almost 15%.

Anybody else notice that?