Good morning!!!!

[riptides]

I was supposed to have heard back from a satellite internet repair person by now, so I called HughesNet again to find out what went wrong. Their records showed they'd never set up the appointment. The last tech wouldn't pass on the contact info for the local contractor that would actually do the work, but this one did, and it turns out to be the original installer. He's a good guy, but had one of his techs do the actual install and something has now gone wrong. I called him and left voice mail, so hopefully I hear back today and can set the visit up for tomorrow. I'm tellin' ya fellows, if you have any other choice for Internet other than satellite, TAKE IT!

Sounds EXACTLY like what happened to me with DirecTV the other day. Then when I called, I could NOT get past the person on the phone to get status as they insisted my account name did not match the account. We got disconnected shortly thereafter, I call back, get a different person, verify the account and get right through to the appointment center. Very frustrating.

 

[PJSprog]

I was supposed to have heard back from a satellite internet repair person by now, so I called HughesNet again to find out what went wrong. Their records showed they'd never set up the appointment. The last tech wouldn't pass on the contact info for the local contractor that would actually do the work, but this one did, and it turns out to be the original installer. He's a good guy, but had one of his techs do the actual install and something has now gone wrong. I called him and left voice mail, so hopefully I hear back today and can set the visit up for tomorrow. I'm tellin' ya fellows, if you have any other choice for Internet other than satellite, TAKE IT!

We have our internet through HughesNet as well. Other than dial-up, it's our only option where we live. The only problem I have with it is how slooooowwwww it is. I'd like to complain about the fact that is doesn't work at all when there is heavy weather between us and the satellite, but I've had issues in the past with DSL going out during rough weather, too. Kind of the nature of the beast, I guess.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I had hughesnet for yrs, then switched to exede. Dumped it when the $20 mobley worked.

 

[rswyan]

29F with partly cloudy skies and temperature dropping @ 12:00. Winds out of the west @ 7 mph. Low tonight predicted yo be 22F.

Didn't leave the shop until after midnight, didn't get to bed until almost 03:00 and woke up at 08:45 - which is really not enough sleep for me - so I've been dragging as far as getting going.

Ran out of three different fish foods yesterday, so I might run out and pick some up later. Or maybe just use the home brew stuff which I haven't been feeding, but have plenty of. Need to draw water for water changes and replenishment, so I will probably go ahead and do that, since it's overdue.

But will likely run up to the shop and get a fire going so it can be warming up in the meantime.

Also need to do laundry for my work clothes ... for some reason the woman seems to avoid doing those when she does wash ... They usually are pretty funky and very dirty so I really can't blame her ...

If I can manage to get up to the shop to work after that, I'll probably cut another piece of 1/4 plate for the other side plate on the LPGS and work on getting some more gussets and other steel cut. Also need to grind off the inside of the side plate I fabbed up yesterday so it's smooth.

 

[ronjhall]

Buckeye, like RNG mentioned. Antibiotics and pain can cause all kinds of digestion problems. I cannot take Vicodin, Ibuprofen and Norco. All 3 cause stomach problems. Get well soon.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Sounds EXACTLY like what happened to me with DirecTV the other day. Then when I called, I could NOT get past the person on the phone to get status as they insisted my account name did not match the account. We got disconnected shortly thereafter, I call back, get a different person, verify the account and get right through to the appointment center. Very frustrating.

This is the third or fourth time I've had to call HughesNet for problems with the system (usually on THEIR end) and EVERY TIME the automated answering system fails to verify the phone number they have on file for me. EVERY TIME I ask the tech to update their records, and EVERY TIME they say they do it. This happened twice yesterday alone (I had to call back because the call dropped unexpectedly in mid call the first time around, and two more times before it got to a real human tech). But don't get me started on the failings of HughesNet, Rip, we'd be here ALL DAY!:mur:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Only took 2 tylenol yesterday for pain. Surgery related pain has not been a problem. Yesterday wasnt as bad as the day before.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

31°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 48° today.

Having a cruddy day at work so far today. I've had one guy trying to justify that we cannot seem to drill a round hole, but it's OK, even after the customer had just complained about the holes not being round (how on earth do you drill a triangular hole with a round drill bit in a drill press?!). Another guy is telling me that the parts our customer just rejected are fine. A machine operator is trying to convince me that our best welder should just "make do" with the cruddy parts he made for him. What the ...?!?!?! What are these people smoking today?!

Gaaaah!!! Need to make a fresh cup of hot green tea, close my office door, and listen to some nice, relaxing classical music.

Irregular shaped holes in thin parts are frustrating. Some call it bell mouthing. Seems in every piece of metal, there is a lurking force called chatter, that is begging to show it's ugly head if you don't have the right tooling. Drills walking around trying to find their sweet spot is one case. Try ordering a set of screw machine (stub drills). Split point is usually better for starting with no punch or centerdrilled spot, but can not be resharpened unless you have a major high dollar grinder to do it super accurately. Mfgs offer 118° - 135° drills. this can have an effect. I find that the best drill for thin sheet metals are the stepped drills that can drill from about 1/8 up to 1/2" incrementally. They actually chamfer the hole too if you are careful with the depth.

DEWALT DWA179IR 3-Piece IMPACT READY Step Drill Bit Set - Screwdriver Bit Sets - Amazon.com

Ed, you are a very good man. I hope your boy has a great birthday.

BEF, more prayers to "git" over what's ailing you.

PJS, sorry about your week of losing people you know.

I'm an old rocker, and not a huge fan of the classical stuff. I used to have a co-worker who would play it quietly in the background while we programmed for the CNC machines. Different strokes for different folks. I do love hearing Diane Bish rock the halls of old stone churches in Europe.
Diane Bish - Toccata & Fugue in d minor - YouTube

It is cold and raining here. Miserable. Don, I might just have to ante up and build a fire today too. My wife and I took our daughter to the doc to draw blood today. They are going to somehow check for possible food allergies. I think it it more horror-mones as she is 10 now.

RNG, I don't miss traffic jams for 1 second. Hope you keep making progress on your restoration.

I love to look at the newatlas.com website for innovative stuff. They cover a wide array of interesting subjects. Lots of good "click bait". The other day, they had a 50hp yanmar turbo diesel Outboard engine (made by Steyr motor group in Austria). It was really neat with twin counter rotating crankshafts for only a twin cylinder engine to put it into perfect primary balance. You have to see the video for yourself Picture is worth 10,000 words, video is a couple orders of magnitude more.

Game-changing Yanmar 5 hp turbo diesel outboard motor begins production

 

[txdon]

Don, have you ever used these frost blankets or similar?

Yes I have. Mixed results with the wind and bad forecast. It does keep the frost off but much below freezing most plants will die anyway.

 

[txdon]

Not yet. He's been living in San Marcos for about a year (his girlfriend is going to school there), but has talked about applying in San Antonio. He's always had strong leadership skills, so I'm confident he'll do well wherever he lands.

A San Antonio Rriverwalk bicycle cop - dream job.