Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 53F @ 6:15AM. Rain showers this morning with overcast skies during the afternoon hours. High 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Hmff. Yesterday's forecast was for sun and warmth today, now we're back to rain and clouds. Good thing I knocked off early yesterday and enjoyed a campfire, the first since the fire season ended, and watched the sun set with a few fingers of moonshine.:drink: But I was gonna tarp over the bead blaster today, and now it looks like I'll have to wait until it dries out again.



I read yesterday that the fuel injection system Subaru uses in the van's engine needs at least 10.4 volts to work when the engine is being cranked. At best, the van only runs once a week, and sits the rest of the time, so it's easy for the battery to get low. Add to that all the time it spent neglected at the ex-mechanic's shop, and I had good reason to run a little test yesterday that shed some interesting light on the cold start problem. Fired up the diagnostic app on the iPhone after turning the key on, but before cranking, and got exactly 12 volts. But as soon as I turned the key to start, the voltage fell to 9.4, and all it did was crank and refused to start. Again. So I put it on a trickle charger, coming back to check it in a few hours and the Battery Saver's "Full" LED was lit. I repeated the test, finding the resting voltage at 13.5, with 12.0 volts when starting, and start it did, after only a couple seconds of cranking. And it started right up after I shut it off, too. If I get a repeat performance this morning, after having sat with the charger attached all night, I'm going to put a charging lead on the battery and probably buy another Battery Saver to keep more or less permanently attached to it when it sits. Fingers crossed...

Also spent some time on the phone yesterday with AudioVox tech support, quizzing them about the new car alarm system. No long waits on hold, knowledgeable people, and the only issue I learned about is that glass break, shock, and tilt sensors all attach to the same input on the controller, so there's no way to tell which one triggered the alarm. But trigger it will, and the remote will get a signal up to 2500 feet away. And if it's in cellular range, so will the iPhone, and the charge for that service is only forty dollars a year. That's about a third of what I'm paying for a SPOT tracker now, and the alarm also reports vehicle position via GPS, same as the SPOT. So the new alarm should be here Friday.

Sorry to hear about all the scratches and dents on new vehicles. But when you stop to consider that even a small scratch, unless the shop already has that particular shade of paint on the shelf, will cost in the neighborhood of five hundred dollars just for the materials, and three or four hours of someone's time that's probably making twenty-five or thirty dollars an hour, then add in the overhead of running a large shop full of specialized equipment and a heavily regulated spray booth, and you begin to appreciate why repairs cost so much. And that's pretty much the cost for plain old white, with only a small fractional increase in the price for the extra time needed for additional coats in some of the fancier, formerly custom, finishes. It's no wonder some folks put stickers over their scratches and dents! And why I have yet to add up all the automotive paint shop receipts that accumulated while I was painting the Vanagon.:shocked:

 

[PJSprog]

35°F and clear skies this morning, going up to 54° today.

I never bothered to upgrade from basic paint on a car. Vehicles have pretty much always been utilitarian to me. As a working musician since I was 16 years old, I've always needed something that can haul large equipment (should have taken up the flute instead of bass guitar ). For the most part, that ruled out sports cars. I did once buy myself a used '77 BMW 320i as a 18th birthday present to myself. Not the smartest choice I've ever made. Between repair and parts costs, and being raped by my insurance company for being a teenage boy with a German sports car, that car was an instant money pit. I think my favorite vehicle was probably the '99 Dodge Caravan. It was a solid vehicle that did everything I needed it to do ... and it was white (made it fun when talking with someone and pointing to a large busy parking lot to say, "Mine's the white minivan" :laughing.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Good Morning. It was 36° this morning and already up to 63°. It’s clear, sunny, and high should be near 73° this afternoon.

I’ll take advantage of the nice weather today to mulch fallen leaves with the ZT and new Gator mulching blades. All the post oaks have dropped their leaves over last 10 days.

Some AH scraped the rear right quarter panel and rear bumper before I had 100 miles on my new F-350 KR. I can truthfully say that, in all my years of driving, I’ve NEVER been hit by someone with insurance. I end up having to use my “un-insured” motorist coverage and they get away with it.

Randy ... praying for a great outcome from your upcoming surgery.

Hoping for an excellent “Hump Day” for everyone.

Prayers to all.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning to all! Low only down to 35, going up to around 48. No snow this morning, the moisture is still to the SW of us, so when it gets here it will be rain. It will be welcome to get rid of the remaining snow.

When I had my Jeep, I had stopped at a stop sign. The person behind me thought that I started moving....not. She hit my hitch receiver at maybe 2-3 mph. Bent the hitch down about an inch. (Which actually bent the frame cross member). Cost $2400 to repair. It turned out she was my son’s elementary school teacher from 15 years earlier. She remembered him as soon as she saw our last name. She had far more damage to the front of her minivan hood.

Eric, I also use a bucket and a small fountain to tell the length of time ‘below freezing’ overnight. Nothing like old school forecasting.

Drew, you might look really good in one of the new high performance Porsche 911 Carreras.... gets into smaller parking spots....really fast

Thomas, I lost track of the ‘adventures of BooBoo’....has he been around or is he now napping?

Neighbor’s two horses were fighting last evening. One kept bucking up and kicking the side of the other...really loud solid ‘thumps’ on the side and back quarters. That horse would then go and bite the kicking one and it would start all over again. Sounded brutal, looked brutal. Went on for about 15 minutes until one horse went to the other side of the corral. The neighbor never came out to see.... I know which horse to stay away from....

Today is errand day. Run to PO, then HD, then grocery store. After struggling with a ladder to get up into the storage loft in the garage (step ladder is about 2 feet to short to reach, extension ladder wayyy to long), I am finally going to install some pull down stairs... the knee won’t have it any other way. Hopefully I will be able to pick them up today. Also get all the electric stuff needed for the son’s garage project.

Everyone have a great day! Prayers sent

 

[toppop52]

Good morning, 36- 49 today. Cloudy now, but some sun today.

Have not heard from the guy with the truck, why people post stuff then don稚 respond is beyond me. It痴 a legit local ad. Oh well.

Going to try to get some seat time later, got stuff to move, a low spot to level and some seeding to do.

Have a good day guys, prayers.

 

[hawkeye08]

35F this morning, stove still working.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Have not heard from the guy with the truck, why people post stuff then don稚 respond is beyond me. It痴 a legit local ad. Oh well.

Frustrating, ain't it? If it's a Craig's List ad, it's pretty common, especially with the folks that don't have an account, to lose track of the confirmation email that has the URL to cancel the ad. So it just stays up there until it expires, even if the item has already been sold. But then there's the ones that are just too lazy to cancel them, and don't mind all the emails from frustrated buyers. :muttering:

But then there's folks like the railroader I bought my touring bike from, who was out on a week long trip with no email access until he got back. He took most of that week to respond, and my only other options were half way across the country. I was at his door that same afternoon, and I'll be getting that bike ready for a trip to San Diego over the holiday period.

So hopefully the truck owner will call you back, and he'll still have the truck for sale...

 

[daugen]

rv oil changed, expensive with 14 quarts, but he went all under the chassis with spray lube and got all my bushings.
Dealer sure never did that, they didn't even open the hood before delivering it to me.
oil filter was pitch black at 2200 miles, black enough to open your eyes wide if you had a gas engine.
Apparently more particulate soot makes its way into the oil in a diesel so they get black almost immediately.
They reset the oil computer and this was interesting.

Says 20,000 miles to next service. That is the statistical possibility I guess of the computer resetting to a perfect world.
But as soon as I get in stop and go traffic and keep my foot in it, I will watch that number plummet, I'm guessing one half of that within
a couple hundred miles of driving. Interesting to watch basic AI at work in the truck. Normal oil change time is 10k miles but curious to see what
the engine oil life indicator gets down to. I'm changing it at 10 or sooner no matter what. Mechanic was very impressed with how smooth the engine was, and how
quietly it idled. V6 diesel. Very German and relatively simple underhood. Meaning I could figure out what each part did. Mechanic showed me crazy looking knob on
jump start lugs that you turned and it popped out. Utterly overkill. Rubber covers work pretty well for a buck.

Ron, you live in a marvelous area...
Rick, my next older brother owned a late model Z06 with 650hp I think and he said it was the only car
that scared him, had more usable horsepower than he could handle. he goes from fun car to fun car.
911s currently, has owned an Aston Martin, AMG Mercedes, always about 5 years old, when all the depreciation is out.
He's an accountant and a car guy and knows he has to wait. Or you just get beat to death on depreciation, and your asset's worth
is looking like an ice cream cone in the Miami sun. So he waits until usually two other guys have taken the major hit
and then he has a nice car for not a lot of money. It's his fun outing, otherwise he works too hard, still.

Bottom line is I think 495hp would be just plenty for me. 3 seconds flat at worst, have to be careful with my neck...that's a mighty shove forwards.
Like Tesla ludicrous stuff but with the wail of an engine that you can play like a musical instrument.
I've owned lots of cars and trucks with paddles and never used them. But I would like my fun car to have a shift.
PJ may be playing his multi-stringed guitar with great enjoyment while making beautiful music, while I, Toppop, Rick
and others would be delighted if Santa dropped something with
a manual and lots of horsepower in the driveway. So we can make a different kind of music on a six string manual.
I'll be looking on Christmas morning...

off to wash the bugs off the rv and then put it way. Sunny and nice out finally.

 

[sodamo]

68°F and .06 inches rain.

May have to spend some time this morning looking for motivation, don’t think it got up with me.

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[RedNeckGeek]

They reset the oil computer and this was interesting.

Says 20,000 miles to next service. That is the statistical possibility I guess of the computer resetting to a perfect world.
But as soon as I get in stop and go traffic and keep my foot in it, I will watch that number plummet, I'm guessing one half of that within
a couple hundred miles of driving. Interesting to watch basic AI at work in the truck. Normal oil change time is 10k miles but curious to see what
the engine oil life indicator gets down to. I'm changing it at 10 or sooner no matter what. Mechanic was very impressed with how smooth the engine was, and how
quietly it idled. V6 diesel. Very German and relatively simple underhood. Meaning I could figure out what each part did. Mechanic showed me crazy looking knob on
jump start lugs that you turned and it popped out. Utterly overkill. Rubber covers work pretty well for a buck.

Those ridiculously long oil change intervals began when manufacturers started including oil changes in their 3 year/30,000 mile warranties. In a Diesel, it's not the oil that wears out/breaks down, it's the accumulation of carbon particles that act like an abrasive slurry inside the engine, that makes me stick with oil changes every 5,000 miles.

As for the jump start lug, I'd expect nothing less from the "if it works, let's make it more complicated until it doesn't" German engineering mind set.:laughing: