Good morning!!!!

[mostly_gas]

good evening all. 39F this morning in TX (got back last night). made it into the low 70's few high clouds and breezy this afternoon but not the 35 mph gust of this past week. Got unpacked, bike ride (first in 4 days). and waited for a roofer who didn't show or call. Nice dinner with wife, and back to stepdaughters house for some security adjustments.

 

[rswyan]

28F and mostly cloudy @ 03:40 ... high today supposed to hit 54F. High on Sunday supposed to hit 66F with a chance of rain late in day/evening. After that the next front comes and temps drop down into the mid-40's for highs for a day or two, and then back up again.

Went to bed early, got up early.

Got a little done yesterday up in the shop ... did some sweeping/clean up, put away some tools, and got the steel for one of the (four) uprights clamped down on the welding table. Probably head up there in a bit and work for awhile ... at least until it warms up outside.

 

[Eric Salop]

Better to have woodpeckers on a tree than your gutter. Course in England you can drink a woodpecker.

You know our strange ways.

Anyone fancy a pint of woodpecker cider ? Many would rate the commercials better than the taste.

Woodpecker Cider - 199's UK Advert - YouTube

Woodpecker Cider - More Taste (1982, UK) - YouTube

Woodpecker Cider - YouTube

 

[rswyan]

A general rule of thumb is 2:1 oxy/acetylene. Keep in mind that acetylene is unstable over 15 psi and can detonate, but likely all you'll need is 10 psi oxy/5 psi acetylene. To to start the torch, turn on the acetylene until you can hear it hiss, then light it. Set the straight part of the flame from the torch tip to where is starts to feather out to about 2" in length. Then add oxy until you get a nice bright blue with feathers in the 1/4" to 1/2" range, depending on the tip. That should get you in the ball park. When you want to shut down, turn off the oxy first, then the acetylene. That avoids that obnoxious bang that wankers seem to love. Just remember two things: the hottest part of the flame is right at the end of the light blue flame ...

RNG,

Thanks.

Talked to the guy at the LWS yesterday and his guess was probably that the oxy was cranked up too high ... said 7 psi max on the acetylene and 12 to 15 psi max on the oxy.

I need to find out exactly what size the acet tank is though, so as not to exceed the 1/7 rule. The oxy tank is pretty big ... at least a 250, if not a 330. From what I can recall, the acetylene tank is also pretty large ... it's fat ... mebbe 12" in diameter and at least 3' tall.

First thing I'm gonna do though, is make sure that that there are flashback arrestors installed somewhere - either inline or integral to the torch.

and never take a piece of metal from a welder if you don't have gloves on. :laughing:

The standard joke from U. B., every time one of us burns ourselves: (deadpan) "... it's hot ..." :laughing:

 

[rswyan]

RS, my friends wife took the cat to the vet. She was helping hold the cat for a shot and got bit so hard on her thumb, she passed out. ...

Not hard to imagine ... they have some pretty long and pointy teeth.

My friend had to take off work and take her to the hospital for cleaning the puncture wounds...

Yeah ... I've heard cat bites aren't anything to screw around with ... the saliva is supposed to be pretty nasty.

Although, at this point, with all the scratchin' and chewin' they've done on me, I may have antibodies ... :laughing:

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning. The wind is starting to howl and rain is on it's way. Outside work was finished early, now I can pick from any number of inside jobs. For an easy life I should order them according to whatever my wife thinks is priority, although that wouldn't be half as much fun ...

 

[rswyan]

... RS, that sounds like the drive from a bad torture movie. Feline gives owner heart attack!

All the yowling was kind of annoying ...

Every time he'd yowl I'd just say something to him like "C'mon, it ain't so bad" ... which would cause an even louder and more distressed yowl, kinda like he wasn't being heard ...

Pretty funny, although not so much if you were him I guess.

Glad Squeak minded her manners. Could it have been a medicine reaction?

As far as the two older cats crapping themselves, no ... it was on the way there, not on the return trip home.

 

[rswyan]

... RS, cat stories are always interesting. ...

Ron,

I find them (the cats) to be very entertaining.

There isn't a day that goes by that they don't somehow brighten my day.

 

[rswyan]

... Wrangling cats... I remember ours, one an angel, the other the **tch from ****. Took two trips to vet to get her rabies blood test before moving here. In Honolulu the TSa agent said had to take her out of the crate. Told her to be my guest as I wasn't about to try. Got her hand about half way in and decided she didn't need to be removed.

David,

Your other one sounds kinda like our older female ... although "Missy" is plenty friendly enough with people, if somewhat shy. But when it comes to the other two cats she has no humor whatsoever ... she's always hissing at them, and if they get too close she'll always tag 'em with a slap of her paw.

Of course, The Squeak just takes all this as a challenge ... pretty funny seeing this little kitten that weighs about 1/3 of her weight, chasing her all over the place.

Mister has actually gotten to the point where he'll play fight with The Squeak ... until he's had enough.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

From what I can recall, the acetylene tank is also pretty large ... it's fat ... mebbe 12" in diameter and at least 3' tall.

Acetylene tanks are filled with a buffer of some sort that is soaked in acetone. The gas actually dissolves in the acetone; that's what keeps it from detonating at the high pressures in the tank. If the tank is tipped over for some reason it has to rest upright for a day or so to give the gas a chance to rise and the acetone to settle.

 

[rswyan]

... RS That was funny. ...

I hoped folks would find it entertaining ...

... RS, thanks for sharing your feline adventures. I've had a few over the years.

My pleasure.

... RS, now that was a good cat story! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

It was pretty much a hoot.

Good luck on your project.

Peepers have been singing here for over a month, off and on, we've been hearing bullfrogs from the creek for about 3 weeks, except on real cold nights.

Still too chilly here to be hearing them at night but I did notice a really big frog in the frog pond when I was refilling the suet feeders out on the deck the other day.

Got to go see the orthopedic doctor this morning about my knee.

Hope ya get some good news.

Too many cats? We have three, had 4 until our old boy Scooter had to be put down a couple of weeks ago, he was 17. Train them well, keep a clean box with fresh good quality litter and you won't know they're there.

Yup ... they're pretty unobtrusive for the most part ... :thumbsup:

My cats, all but one have been trained to walk on a leash, I take them out fairly often, one that died in 2012 was a particularly good walker, knew his path and acted like a dog on the leash.

That's something I'd actually like to do ... would be nice to be able to take them outside without having to chase them down to get them back in.

Leaving them out isn't an option, for a variety of reasons.

rswyan,
I would not worry yet about Squeak. Our cat is always lethargic for a day or two after the shots. Never fails.

Yeah ... same thing happened back in December, when she got the first round ... she's back to her old self at this point for the most part (No human feet are safe :laughing

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning! 37F @ 5:45 AM. Cloudy early, becoming mostly sunny this afternoon. High 61F. Winds light and variable.

Spent the morning with the auctioneer inventorying the basement, finding yet more hidden "treasurers". At least I hope they'll be treasures to someone. This guy is really going above and beyond, as he'll also be clearing any unsold remnants from the house in preparation for a final cleaning and sale. That probably involves a few dump and charity runs, things I'm just out of time to do.

In the afternoon I started all of the small engine equipment I found in the garage; a couple of chainsaws, DR mower, landscape blower, and a big lawn tractor. I couldn't get an older string trimmer and a mower going, as both appear to have been left full of what is by now very stale gas. There's still a power washer in the basement to deal with, but it's a huge load off to know most of what the old guy had can be shown running at auction. I also made one good air compressor out of the two found in the garage. One needed an airline fitting which I robbed from the other one that had a leaking flapper valve in the compressor head. It's a cheap fix and Sears still carries the parts, but it'll really kill the action at the auction. But the main thing is just to get the stuff out of the house.

Looks like it's gonna be a good day to move a safe, or at least get it loaded into the truck. Found a really old floor safe in the basement that used to belong to my grandpa in West Virginia. No idea how it got here, but it has is name on the front in gold leaf letters. Small, about a 2' cube, on steel wheels, it'll be easy to get to the walk out door in the basement. From there it's uphill to the driveway, and a come-a-long and the neighbor figure prominently into the plan. :laughing:

There's also a few minor repairs to do, then I've made plans with the helpful neighbors to take them out to dinner as a small thank you gesture for all the help they've been not only to the old man in his last months at the house, but to me as I've tried to get things into shape to sell. A bittersweet feeling to say the least, especially considering the circumstances.

 

[rswyan]

Acetylene tanks are filled with a buffer of some sort that is soaked in acetone. The gas actually dissolves in the acetone; that's what keeps it from detonating at the high pressures in the tank. If the tank is tipped over for some reason it has to rest upright for a day or so to give the gas a chance to rise and the acetone to settle.

Thanks ... yeah, that was my understanding ... although I have seen U. B. haul a tank on its side in his truck and then set it upright and use it immediately ...

Scary ...

 

[rswyan]

Wife's truck warmed up for her, fire started in the stove and fan running up in the shop, dishes loaded in the dishwasher.

Time to head back up to the shop and see what kind of trouble I can get into.

 

[RoyJackson]

2016-03-26, 0737

31 right now...should see about 55 today.
No outside work this weekend...got to let this incision heal first.

 

[Thomas]

31F cloudy day highs mid 50's.
Fingers were cross I could finish small section raking than back pack blower lawn etc.,not going to happen still ice here and there.

Do some puttering maybe little shed hunting.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[wngsprd]

42 going to 63. Feels good outside playing Frisbee and feeding birds.

Got a black cherry cut and split and stacked yesterday...should have waited for today's cooler temps.

Stayed up too late watching Tar Heels basketball last night...sluggish today.

 

[farmer2009]

32 this morning and headed to 70 today. Frost advisory for this morning haven't looked outside yet.

Need to finish decrusting I'm about 85% done. So shouldn't take more than ~3 hours. Then need to clean out a barn stall and get things ready to work cows. Just a quick pregnancy check tomorrow. The deworming and vaccination working will be done after the pregnancy results are back. This way I don't have to mess with any withdrawal periods for open cows.

 

[ronjhall]

Coffee is done brewing. 63° with mostly clear skies this morning. Heading to 83° with mostly sunny skies. Not much planned. Many of my neighbors are leaving the park for their northern homes today and next few days. Sad saying good bye until next winter. We are staying another 2 weeks.
Good Morning All.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 48˚ sunny. Pretty day.

My Dad has a mega project for me. He wants to redo his entrance and make it wider. That means replacing the culvert, cattle guard, and moving corner post. His cows are walking over the rusted/bent cattle guard and the entrance keeps gettting bumped by large hay hauling equipment. 25' is not a wide enough entrance now, it was when the haying equipment was smaller, when he built it 50 years ago.