Good morning!!!!

RedNeckGeek · Nov 7, 2017

Good Morning!!!! 52F @ 9:00AM. 0% Precip. / 0.00 in. Mostly Sunny. High 61F. Winds light and variable.

Hey, just noticed I'm now an Elite Member. Imagine that, Deplorable to Elite in less than a year!:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Up to now, I've been using a piece of brass round stock through the hubs of the motorcycle wheel to position them in the old bicycle wheel truing stand. That was good enough for taking the wheels apart, but for the tensioning and truing part, I needed something that would hold the wheel solidly. Dug around in the junk drawer and came up with a pair of unshielded ball bearings and started making holders for them that have large cones on the ends to engage the wheel hubs. They'll fit over the truing stand screws on the other end. Got the cones turned yesterday, and will work on the bearing holders today.

Spent some time getting the big touring bike ready for a trip down south. There was still a tiny bit of fuel left in the tank from last February, but it was enough to get it started. Didn't run very well after the long nap, but at least the battery seemed strong. Put some fresher fuel in it and dumped a couple bowls of the stale stuff out to flush the jets, and it ran a lot better. It was still rough at higher RPMs so I got out a gauge and checked the balance after it warmed up a bit. It was off quite a lot, so I made some adjustments to bring it back into tune. Aired up the tires and checked the oil, then finished up by rubbing some saddle dressing into the seat and it's ready to load. Headed for the Salton Sea and another Airhead Rendezvous. Figure if I can get out of here early tomorrow morning, I'll miss the rain on the way down. Could be back on Sunday, but if the weather stays bad, I'll stick around down there a day or two more.

Finished up the day with the first campfire of the season. The wood was a little damp from last week's rain, so it took two doses of Diesel fuel to finally catch. The manzanita burns hot and long, though, and the heat felt real nice in the fifty degree temperatures. Very nice sitting next to it, watching the sun go down and the stars come out.

buckeyefarmer · Nov 7, 2017

Havent caught up with everyone yet, but its 39° with light rain. Just a cold miserable day.

txdon · Nov 7, 2017

ronjhall said:
Sometimes AT&T has special deals on iPad痴 for putting a new devise on account. Best to go to a factory store for these deals. You will not find them at franchise dealers. But may find them at Best Buy.

I stopped by the local AT&T and the way to go would be to put her cell on my account (save $10mo) the add a iPad (spend $10mo) and it comes with a gig of data per month - enough for email and text and to look at the local obituaries and ads. That way no additional internet service will be needed for her now. The iPad would cost $400 or $20 for 20 months with a 2 year contract. The keyboard looks big enough especially when the iPad is turned sideways. Now I just need to get her to town to look at it, she is already starting to balk. Now I need to find a "DEAL" on Black Friday or Cyber Monday by AT&T that lowers the $400.

txdon · Nov 7, 2017

RedNeckGeek said:
Either way, if you take her to a store she'll see the prices on the devices, and that is both good and bad. On the one hand, she'll learn it's a significant purchase, and not to be taken lightly, but on the other she may not feel the capabilities are worth the price to her, an easy conclusion since she really doesn't understand what those capabilities are. If she grew up during the Depression, as my parents and mom's boyfriend did, she may also be very careful with her money, and be very hesitant to spend it on something she doesn't understand.

More :2cents:

You are exactly right, that's why it will have to be a gift and she needs to be able to use it to save money (coupons) or get info she wants (obituaries) before the weekly news paper is delivered. She was trying to read some mail to me she did not understand - with a pad she could take a pic and e-mail it to me. I'm also telling her she could text the guy who has cows on her land when the cows get out of the fence or there is a new calf. Since everyone now has a cell phone that they can't answer when driving texting is better.
. . .It's going to be a tough sale . . . .
This could be a good thread in related topics. How I sold my mom on wanting an iPad.

Ed, I'll let you know the progress and any mistakes I make along the way.

daugen · Nov 7, 2017

That rain is finally working it's way here, spritzing outside just as I finished. Planted a lot of hosta today, painted the ROPs to the little Massey, which I had taken off, as the tractor
is now at the dealership to adjust the hydro to find true neutral and not creep in reverse. Spent a lot of time talking with the service mgr there, a deacon at his church and they are really upset over what happened in Texas. He has a carry permit and carries not one but two guns, one on his ankle. I didn't ask but he may have been a LEO. He knew my persuasion and engaged me to get more perspective. Good conversation, sad a church member has to come armed to church, but I guess from now on they will appoint someone as Security.

have an awful throbbing tooth, afraid I'm headed for a root canal. Dentist will see me on Thursday and likely refer me out. A root canal seems to be the default action for toothache, though I wonder if there are alternatives. I waited it out on the other side a year ago, and it still isn't right. This one they looked at two weeks ago and I have been patient. Afraid it's time to get it done. I've had one root canal and the dentist smiled and said I had a bonus root, four roots instead of three.
I guess I should plant lots of carrots...

toppop52 · Nov 7, 2017

Moderate rain and around 45 this afternoon. Fall is here.

buckeyefarmer · Nov 7, 2017

Randy, Thanks for the low temp forecast, guess i better get camper winterized.

daugen · Nov 7, 2017

Mechanical Transplanter Model 1 - YouTube
Am considering this for the Spring. Getting ahead a bit...

would work for a variety of veggies I want to grow early next year from seed.
No desire to do this by hand; would need some helpers that day but for only an acre or two shouldn't take that long.
I would go for two consecutive crops if I had an easy way like this to manage it. Growing season here is long enough.
Seems laying the seedlings out properly on that tray is important.
I've looked for a used one, nothing for single row locally.
Ones in Craigslist look like my neighbors, left outside to rust.
I considered the Holland transplanter because my neighbor has no less than five of them, all too big, none of them work.
But this one looked easier to run. 50 gallon water drum included which injects water in there somewhere. I need to look into irrigation too.

And of course this would do my neighbor's collards, as he could have quadrupled his field crop if he had used one of these instead of having one laborer do everything by hand.
He has zillions of small collard plants in the one greenhouse that remains standing. A big coldframe actually, none of the heaters or fans work any more, can't imagine all those plants living through the winter.
He grows a lot for seeds also.
Things to ponder over the winter.

RedNeckGeek · Nov 7, 2017

txdon said:
You are exactly right, that's why it will have to be a gift and she needs to be able to use it to save money (coupons) or get info she wants (obituaries) before the weekly news paper is delivered. She was trying to read some mail to me she did not understand - with a pad she could take a pic and e-mail it to me. I'm also telling her she could text the guy who has cows on her land when the cows get out of the fence or there is a new calf. Since everyone now has a cell phone that they can't answer when driving texting is better.
. . .It's going to be a tough sale . . . .

Other things to point out:

Weather forecasts with radar maps
News anytime she wants it (CNN, Fox, Reuters, etc.) The local paper may even have a website with articles she could read for free so she could cancel her subscription. If she wants to print coupons, you'll also need to buy her an inexpensive printer with a wireless interface. Be sure that whatever cellular router you end up also has the ability to set up a home WiFi network so the iPad can communicate with the printer.
Many doctors are now using a web portal to communicate with patients, make appointments, and let them look at their medical records. If you had her login credentials, you could help her manage her medical affairs more easily.
Facebook and other social media to keep up with friends and family
Google Maps for looking up businesses and driving directions
Streaming video from Netflix and other sites
Shopping on Amazon and a world of other sites

It would be very easy to sign her up to a web portal like iG Portal and set up a list of favorite bookmarks for her easy access. Configure the web portal as the Safari home page and it'll be the first thing she sees when she launches Safari.

If she gets a google email address, she can use the web to read email, too, and that link could be added to the list of bookmarks on the web portal page.

If she's using an iPhone, Facetime can be setup so that she could answer the phone and make calls using the iPad and the contacts app. And as David mentioned, she could see video of whoever she was talking to.

If she likes to listen to music, you could set up some youtube searches as bookmarks, or just load music files on the iPad and let her use the music app to listen to them.

This list doesn't even begin to scratch the surface, but should be more than enough to sell her on the idea. Heck, if you like the portal idea, you could even set it up before the store visit and show it to her right on the iPad there in the store.