Good Morning!!!! 42F @ 6:00AM. Partly cloudy skies. High 64F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
The .222, or triple duce as it's sometimes called over here, was once a benchrester's favorite. I have a Ruger No. 1 in that chambering still waiting on me to return to Ohio to collect it...
Congrats on the retirement, Hawkeye! I also retired in uncertain financial times, and somehow have survived the past ten years without drama. Somehow we'll all make it through this current challenge, at least I hope so!
The nightly newscast was interrupted last night with an announcement from our governor that the entire state of Kalifornia is to shelter in place until further notice. His proclamation carries no force of law, though, but if you read
this article, it makes a lot of sense. Basically, it's a numerical argument based on the idea that the number of infections doubles every three days, so that in thirty days, 1024 people will be infected for every 1 person that is infected today. That's pretty much what's happened in Italy, and what was happening in China until they implemented drastic stay-at-home controls. And since there's no vaccine for this virus, and there aren't enough critical care beds and equipment to handle the numbers predicted, the US could be in some pretty deep doodoo if social distancing isn't widely adopted, and soon.
I started my day yesterday with a shovel, and was able to locate the propane pipe with only 18" of digging. I started at the upper joint of the pipe I'd welded 22 1/2ー nipples on, based on what the pressure gauge did during the last test. It started with a slow leak, and progressed rapidly after a few seconds, which seemed consistent of the tape wrapping around the welds giving way. The upper joint of that pipe was just fine, leaving me to follow it down, down, down, about six feet, to unearth the lower one. By that time I had an air line connected to the pressure gauge, and as soon as the shovel got near the joint I could hear the air escaping. :dance1: Only problem was the trench was so narrow and deep I could barely touch the pipe. So after lunch, I used the bucket on the FEL to dig down about 18", making a huge mess in the soft ground, but gaining better access. Once the tape was unwrapped from the joint, I found my weld in perfect shape, but the pipe on the other side of that coupler had pulled out, stripping its threads in the process. I still don't have enough access to the pipe, as the repair will involve cutting the bad end off and replacing the coupler with a union after that pipe end is rethreaded, in situ. So I started mounting the backhoe on the tractor, as the ground there is very hard and I'd be forever digging it out with a shovel. But the hydraulics relaxed on the 'hoe while it sat, and it tumbled off its stand, so getting it precisely positioned for the mount was more of a challenge than I was up to at the end of the day. But without a union, I'm powerless to fix it anyway, at least not without a trip to Home Depot for parts. And since I have to go there anyway, I'll take along three empty propane bottles to refill, and pick up the last lot of concrete I'll need for the generator pad, along with a bunch of rebar and other goodies. Ordered those this morning already, and when I get the email that they're ready, I'll head over there. Thank goodness hardware and grocery stores are exempt from the governor's rule.
The last Amazon order resulted in packages from the USPS, FedEx, and UPS all arriving yesterday, and among them was a neat little bracket that positions the iPad Mini above the drone controller. As the sun headed toward the horizon, the winds dropped and since it had been a while since the last drone practice, I decided to burn a battery or two. More "O"s and "8"s, per Jay's good advise. But this time I remembered to turn on the video camera. Enjoy!

Also delivered were 12 rolls of TP, ordered just over a week ago when the panic was just starting. They're supposed to be double roles, but they're only about half the size of the Costco/Charmin roles I have on the shelf. But after doing some math, they should be enough to take care of business for the next three months, and hopefully somewhere in there I can order more.:crossfingers:
TGIF gang!:drink: