Good morning!!!!

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Awesome day shaping up, sunny with partial clouds, low 70s for start, mid 80s for high, chance of thunder showers. We are driving tonight to attend a family reunion on the wife's side of the family on Saturday, back home Sunday. Should be some fun, what with the family dramas always happening. We generally don't go to reunions (either side of family) since we have enough drama in our own lives...

Glad to see folks still getting things done, even with the heat and humidity.

Drive safe, are you in Iowa?

 

[daugen]

Big day for me. Ate my first apple off a tree in the orchard, a green Ana, and it was juicy and sweet inside.
Knew I had to pick it because apples were disappearing off the tree and there were very few to start with due to the late frost.
That apple was simply delicious. It's been a long road to eat this apple. Next year will be my year for a real harvest.
Maybe.

And I can finally act out my avatar's desire...

Thunderstorms booming away. Had some veggie burgers for dinner after sauteing some onions first in the pan and they were darn good.

 

[txdon]

And I can finally act out my avatar's desire...

Thunderstorms booming away. Had some veggie burgers for dinner after sauteing some onions first in the pan and they were darn good.

Is that an apple grabbing grapple on your avatar?

TBN has a virus in it. It changes angus burger into veggie burgers, I'll report it.

 

[300UGUY]

Good Morning! 72F @ 5:30AM. Sun and clouds mixed. High around 100F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Drew, I wonder if using a salt substitute based on potassium chloride would help with the cramps. The taste takes a bit of getting used to (been using it for a while now as I'm on a salt restricted diet) and can't remember having any cramps, but then I didn't before, either.

Beautiful pool, Don! And those awnings sure add a certain zing to the air.

The problem with drugs is the same problem with everything else. Some people can't help abusing them, just as with alcohol, tobacco, cars, motorcycles, children, guns or you name it. I don't think it'll be long at all before there is national legalization of marijuana, and when Archer Daniels Midland develops a super seed, all those Kentucky tobacco farms will go back to work growing it. That'll put the Mexican cartels polluting our National Forests out of business, along with a lot of small growers that are currently eking out a living. Uncle Sam and the states will make a windfall in taxes, but we'll have a new excuse for killing ourselves on the highways. So some good, some bad, but the changes are coming whether we like it or not.

Eric, we have the remains of two Cold War era missile silos within 50 miles or so of here, and there's a restored Titan II silo outside of Tucson, AZ that is open for tours. People seem to forget that the superpowers still have nuclear arsenals pointed at each other, and rogue nations like North Korea and Iran are **** Bent for Leather to join the club. Our gummint seems to be sticking its head in the sand over Iran, what that treaty business, but truth be told there's not a lot to stop 'em when they get help from Russia and China. I hope you set a way point for that little secret fortress, as I don't think we're out of the woods quite yet when it comes to Mutually Assured Destruction. But who need to spend all that money on nukes when you can just steal a semi truck and mow down a hundred in one wack? Surprised it took the terrorists so long to catch on to this one; The Terminator showed the world how to do it years ago.

Sitting here writing this and three little gray foxes are enjoying the view from what remains of the lawn just outside the bedroom sliding glass door. None of them gave the live trap so much as a second glance. Perhaps I should consider a different bait, as chicken scraps seem to hold no particular allure. Any suggestions?

Got an early start yesterday and managed to get primer shot on most of the van interior. Took about three hours, and by the end I had to switch to a slower reducer because the paint was drying before it hit the steel. Big screw up when I stepped up onto the engine bay deck and my foot found nothing but air, as I'd removed the covering hatch. The leg and lower body followed that foot down four feet, but the other leg somehow managed to stay on top. Instant yoga isn't good for much except inducing high levels of pain, most of which fortunately dissipated after a few minutes. The right knee is still sore, and it looks like I'll have a little hitch in my git along for a while. Still have two doors and the floor to prime, and when that's done I'll know how much paint I'll need to order for the the interior. But right now it's looking like the better part of a gallon.

Made it into town for errands, stopping by the mechanic's where we discussed the head machining I did. Last time 'round he used a wood router bit and template in a drill press to carve out a complicated shape on the side of the combustion chamber, which he'd somehow forgotten to mention. So I'll try to emulate what he did on the mill. At least we know where the thin spots are, as I'd sectioned a scrap head and had that along to show him. There is a water passage just under the location of this new butchery, so I'm gonna have to plan the work carefully.

View attachment 474614

TGIF!

I know that when we made aluminum heads, minimum wall thickness was 3 mm. Anything less was subject to leaks and cracks. When they make these castings, a spray is shot into the mold, just before the metal is poured or injected. When the hot metal hits the liquid, it gases up, creating a aluminum foam. The bubbles are very small, but it helps fill out the mold, and stiffens up the metal. To the naked eye, it looks like solid metal, but there are lots of small bubbles in there. One downside, it frequently requires a sealant to keep it from letting coolant thru. We used a Locktite product.

 

[Eric Salop]

Just time to say good morning before we go off to an almost six party for our grandson. All his other parties have been at our house, now it's time for him to have them at home where it is easier to invite his new friends.

With having visitors ourselves, it is always worth checking out the fridge in the hope of finding something different for a pre-breakfast snack. Unfortunately most of the contents seem to have been made especially for the party. They are really tempting, however the chances of getting caught must be close to 100%, so probably best I stick to cereals or it could turn into a painful car journey.

 

[wngsprd]

Drew, congrats on your first apple. You worked hard to get to this point.

69 going to 90. Looks like a little mowing is in my immediate future. Also take Coco and Charlotte for a hike/swim. If there's enough dew outside when it gets light, might wash my truck.

Eric, good decision to go the cereal route.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good morning all, 64 here going to 88 with a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Got none of my planed activities done yesterday. Instead we went up on Sky Line Drive. It was just beautiful as always. Wild flowers line the road, the views of the valley below and we saw a she bear with two cubs. She was grazing beside the road and turning over rocks to look for (I guess) bugs. It was a peaceful time and mush enjoyed.
today I plan to go to a yard sale a Augusta Expo, the largest yard sale in the county, to look for woodworking hand tools, hope to find some deals. I also need to get over to the storage unit and dig out my wife's rug loom she wants to do some work on-with it and it will make her happy. Saturday my blacksmith guild is having its annual picnic and project day. We are making a quilt rack of forged iron and a few other things. I am hoping and praying that the heat and humidity drops a bit before then.

Eric You are showing wisdom, I remember a few times i did not.

Don DON'T report it, I like it that way!! I have to get some of them, haven't had any in a while.

Drew :thumbsup::apple:: How many years did it take?

Have a great day and be cool. Ed

 

[ronjhall]

Coffee has been poured. 61° with cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 76° with possibility of some sun. Not much planned for today. Well I had planned to watch sailboats heading up St Clair River for start of Port Huron to Mackinaw race. But I am trapped in the middle of Interstate Highways being shut down in all directions. Making a 1 1/4 hour trip over 2 1/2 hours. :smiley_aafz:
Drew, congrats on first apple.
Eric, cereal will be the best choice.
Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

slept in a bit and now about ready to head out food shopping.
Then off to a Little League game this afternoon that is sure to be rained out, not until I get there per the forecast. A friend's grandson named Drew like me is in some championship series and I volunteered to go a week ago if he got this far. Well, he did... I admit that part of me wants to sit in this chair in the a/c and watch the entire game by live cam behind the batter, which shows the whole field really well. But I promised to go, so I will, in triple digit heat indexes, and hopefully it will rain like crazy.
Sorry kid, I want you to win but...

I have some boneless ribs to cook tonight, (to ruin all that good veggie burger progress Don...), and not sure whether to bake them or put them on the grill.
Maybe both, finish them off on the grill.

 

[RoyJackson]

2016-07-16, 0646

59 right now...heading to 82 today.
Plans are:
a) Bank to dispute the last charge on my hacked debit/credit card (about $26)
b) Haircut, while I'm up in Randolph
c) chip the last of the branches from that tree that fell in my field a couple, three weeks ago
d) mow and trim
e) drink beer
Not necessarily in that order, except the beer will be the last thing on the agenda

 

[daugen]

TBN has a virus in it. It changes angus burger into veggie burgers, I'll report it.

I have made a formal complaint to the CDC that you have singlehandedly infected the minds of
thousands of brontosaurus burger eaters.

Good job Don.

 

[Buppies]

67 high of 86 with storms the heat is on next week mid 90s ugh. Long day yesterday got off road at 10:00PM but no rain. Up later than usual and very sore tripped over twine in dark fell on warm asphalt both arms bloodied up and very sore knee. Need to take my own advise and watch where I'm going

 

[Thomas]

63F clear sky mid 80's for high.
This week flew by like geese heading south for the winter :shocked: hope the weekend will be in slow motion.

Dump run than Craftsman rider get some TLC,Mrs. mention something about late afternoon/evening fishing...putter time.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[Buppies]

Thomas weekends at least mine always seem to fly by

 

[toppop52]

I know that when we made aluminum heads, minimum wall thickness was 3 mm. Anything less was subject to leaks and cracks. When they make these castings, a spray is shot into the mold, just before the metal is poured or injected. When the hot metal hits the liquid, it gases up, creating a aluminum foam. The bubbles are very small, but it helps fill out the mold, and stiffens up the metal. To the naked eye, it looks like solid metal, but there are lots of small bubbles in there. One downside, it frequently requires a sealant to keep it from letting coolant thru. We used a Locktite product.

That's interesting, my late brother worked for a large gasket and seal company, he designed, built and setup a lot of the machinery, he use to fly to Germany for weeks at a time to diagnose and repair old equipment and set up new machinery. I've heard him speak of what it took to seal various metals in different applications.

Another hot and humid day!

 

[toppop52]

Good morning all, 64 here going to 88 with a 30% chance of thunderstorms. Got none of my planed activities done yesterday. Instead we went up on Sky Line Drive. It was just beautiful as always. Wild flowers line the road, the views of the valley below and we saw a she bear with two cubs. She was grazing beside the road and turning over rocks to look for (I guess) bugs. It was a peaceful time and mush enjoyed.
today I plan to go to a yard sale a Augusta Expo, the largest yard sale in the county, to look for woodworking hand tools, hope to find some deals. I also need to get over to the storage unit and dig out my wife's rug loom she wants to do some work on-with it and it will make her happy. Saturday my blacksmith guild is having its annual picnic and project day. We are making a quilt rack of forged iron and a few other things. I am hoping and praying that the heat and humidity drops a bit before then.

Eric You are showing wisdom, I remember a few times i did not.

Don DON'T report it, I like it that way!! I have to get some of them, haven't had any in a while.

Drew :thumbsup::apple:: How many years did it take?

Have a great day and be cool. Ed

My son lives at the north end of The Skyline Drive, in Front Royal, very pretty drive anytime.

Drew, my mom got us an apple tree in 2012, the first year in the new house, got our first blooms last year, along with one apple, this year we have about 6 apples, 3 probably edible.

 

[wngsprd]

Buppies....sorry to hear of your fall. I guess warm asphalt isn't much better to fall on than cold...maybe it gives a bit...but hurts just the same.

Finished washing the truck...quite a battle with the gnats and the boxer that still acts like a puppy...she had to put her face into the water stream every time I used it...then would grab the nozzle and fight with it until it turned on. I rinsed the sponge and placed it to dry...she took it when I wasn't looking...so I ended up picking up 21 pieces.

Now enjoying a mug of coffee I roasted - a blend of beans from Nicaragua and Rwanda...soooo good.

 

[farmer2009]

72 this morning and headed to 88 today. Had over an inch of rain yesterday when we got a popup thunderstorm.

Well tub is installed. Talk about an adventure. We only set it and took it back out 4 times. But we got the mortar under it and kept it level. Have a little more plumbing to finish then the drain will all be hooked up.

Today's plans are to take care of birds and cows. Then get my ears lowered. Then head to my grandparents and help my uncle build a ramp for the back deck.

Buppies. Get better.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning! 65F @ 5:00AM. Sunny. High around 95F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.

Good to hear you're enjoying the fruits of your labor, Drew:thumbsup:

3mm, or 1/8", is a pretty comfortable allowance for what needs to come out of the heads, Irv. Thanks for the "inside" info!

Kyle, the heads are from the mid '90s, and the changes are mandated by the California Air Resources Board. They've approved only two Subaru engines for this swap, and anything else has to go through a rather arbitrary approval process. I'm not willing to go to all this work and expense only to have some bureaucrat refuse to approve it, even though it meets and exceeds all applicable emissions standards. The 2.2 l heads will work with the larger of the two approved engine management systems; the short block is from the next size up (a 2.5 l). So the idea is to hog out enough material from the 2.2 l heads to drop the compression ratio from 12:1 to a more friendly and stock 9.5:1. We're gaming the system a bit, but from the standpoint of the OBD II, it'll look like a 2.2 motor, and visually, the 2.2 and 2.5 are nearly indistinguishable. So as long as the emissions are good, and with oxygen sensors in the loop there's no reason to think it wouldn't be, SMOG shouldn't be a problem, either.

Don, I'm putting cat food on the grocery list. I was hoping that the foxes would earn their keep by keeping the voles in check, but I'm seeing more mounds this year than ever. So with their nasty pooping habits, the foxes have got to go. I've already got a spot picked out to let them go, nice open country with some woods and easy access to the river, so I'm hoping they won't find their way back anytime soon.

Hope you're feeling better this morning, Buppies. We sure don't heal as fast as we used to.

All this talk about cards being hacked, and I learned late yesterday afternoon that the charge card had gotten hit, again. Just went through this back in January, and three more times over the last four years. And this card has one of the new chips in it, but it didn't even slow these guys down. The bank even approved the first $400 charge, but not the second one. Really bad timing for me. Ordered more paint yesterday morning, but they fooled around with the order and didn't get it filled. Now it'll have to wait until I get the new card, supposedly on Tuesday.

In spite of this excitement I managed to get the last two doors primed yesterday morning, but by noon it was just too hot to work out in the garage any longer. Came inside with the carved up head, and after staring at it for a while decided that the contours involved are more appropriate to a die grinder than a milling machine. I have some coarse sanding rolls that I'm hoping will give me a controllable cut. I've got carbide burrs as well, but I'm afraid they might take material out more quickly than I can keep track of. So that's what I'll start on after breakfast. Then before it gets too hot I'll test fit the new wheels on the van and make a little modification on the rear stub axle to accommodate the upgraded brake rotors. That should bet me to siesta time; not sure what the day holds after that.

Have a nice weekend, guys!

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 77˚ heading up up up around 100˚ again today.

You asked for it and here it is. The summer slaw to replace what you sweat out ( along with water), so far no leg cramps and it's delicious. I just made my third batch in two days.

Margot Freitag, Taiga Whole Health
August 29, 2015 ｷ
Taiga Whole Health Newsletter Recipes!
Kale Slaw with Red Cabbage and Carrots
"Mom, this is amazing! I'd have this every day" ~Mitchell, age 13

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon tahini
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Coarse salt and pepper
3 cups mixed shredded kale and red cabbage (I use 1.5c kale and 1.5c red cabbage)
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
2 tablespoons diced red onion
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, whisk dijon mustard, rice vinegar, tahini, maple syrup and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
In another bowl, combine kale, cabbage, carrot, parsley, and red onion with sunflower, pumpkin, and hemp seeds.
Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with dressing, and toss to coat.