Thomas
Epic Contributor
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- Apr 6, 2000
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- 31,805
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- Lebanon,NH.
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- Kubota B2650HSD w/Frontloader & CC LTX1046 & Craftman T2200 lawn mower.
Good morning!!!!
- Thread starter 300UGUY
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buckeyefarmer
Epic Contributor
My experience with Uship to ship a baler to Ohio was not good, only 2 quotes, one with no experience and high, the other set a short deadline and was high. They later came back even higher. Maybe up east coast has more participants.
I borrowed a trailer and took it myself. Now dad is out of the cattle business. He sold the round baler.
I borrowed a trailer and took it myself. Now dad is out of the cattle business. He sold the round baler.
RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,753
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
Good Morning!!!! 78F @ 4:30AM. Plentiful sunshine. Hot. High 104F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Congrats on the bumper tomato crop Kyle!:cloud9: What did you do different this time around that led to such a resounding success?
Thanks for the suggestions, Ron. I'll see if I can't chase something down during today's siesta time. Aren't the female bluebirds always somewhat duller in appearance?
How fortunate excavator konked out on dry land, Eric. Could something that shouldn't have got wet? They only let us move 100 cubic yards of dirt here before we have to pay for a permit and submit all kinds of paperwork explaining what is to be done. So far I've managed to keep the projects small enough to stay under that limit, but I think I'll have to sharpen my pencil for the new shop building permit.
Sorry Coco's having such a rough time, Billy, but at least she's enjoying the new food and it sounds like you're doing everything you can. Hope she's back to her old self in no time.
That blueberry pie, and especially the ice cream, sound delicious, RS. Sounds like the Squeak might not have been the only comatose diner yesterday?
Eleven new CV19 cases here in the county just yesterday, Bruce, pushing the total over the hundred mark. Only three in the hospital though, and still holding at one death. But it does show that people are letting down their guard a little too early.
Glad you have a new friend, Drew. There but for the grace of God. I worked for a nondestructive testing firm one summer while I was in college, and was certified in magnetic particle and liquid penetrant testing. But x-ray and ultrasonic testing were used to find defects in critical work like pipelines and heavy structural welds, and a summer was too short to gather the necessary skill and experience for those certs. Later on I'd learn that good as they may seem, sometimes the only real way to be certain about a defect is to cut something up, and often times one out of ten was randomly sampled that way just to make sure nothing bad had crept into the production processes. TIG, or more accurately Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, uses an arc between a tungsten electrode and the work, and inert gas shielding to prevent oxidation. That's the one most used for aluminum and stainless steel, and that requires extra skill to manipulate the hand fed filler wire. MIG, or Gas Metal Arc Welding, uses an arc between an automatically fed filler wire and the work, and may or may not utilize a shielding gas. Shielding compounds that break down to form a gas can be incorporated into the hollow core of the filler wire, or CO2 or argon/C02 mixes can be used for shielding when a cleaner weld appearance is desired. GMAW can also be used for aluminum and stainless steel, but it's more involved to switch over from mild steel, so you usually only find it applied to those situations when there's a lot of that work to be done. GTAW, on the other hand, can just pick a compatible filler material, and flip a switch to go from AC to DC current and be off to the races. I put a lot of weld metal into that old tractor, and I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do that work for me, or how many trips it would have meant for someone to come out or me to haul it in to a shop somewhere. But almost all of it was GMAW, because my dexterity and eyesight just aren't good enough to get a decent result with GTAW anymore. If you're lucky, they put thumbscrews on your PCs case. Usta be I could open up my laptop to clean it out or upgrade the memory or drive, but these new ones either snap or are glued together, and there's nothing replaceable inside. Dunno how you're supposed to clean 'em, maybe blow 'em out with compressed air?:confused2:
I've used UShip twice, and not been impressed by the drivers either time. Both were for moving motorcycles, and neither had proper straps or knew where to place them to avoid damage. The great state of Kalifornia limits anything pulling a trailer to 55 MPH. That means there's often a big speed differential between the cars and trucks, made worse by kids in little rice rockets that like to play pinball with the truckers. So we get a lot of accidents in the big cities, especially during rush hour when everyone's in a hurry.
Knowing you as we do, Drew, it's a safe bet most of your housing and medical costs are being covered by good insurance policies, or at least I hope that's the case. And it takes a lot of worry about what's going to happen next, especially for your family that had to so quickly make those hard decisions. Hopefully the chemo will go easy on you and you'll be out of there in no time, and more affordable alternatives will open up to you when you need them.
Spent the cool of yesterday morning reclining under the van, installing a magnetic switch to detect when the transmission is in neutral. Had to disconnect one end of the drive shaft to do it, but I've had lots of practice at that. Then run a long wire back to the computer, where I was reminded I still have a couple of oil leaks to deal with on the transaxle and engine. A little solder, some heat shrink, and lots of zip ties to keep the wire safe and that job is done. Hopefully it takes care of that one persistent error code that keeps coming up, but only time will tell.
By the time I finished that, I was hot and hungry, so after lunch I switched over to getting the power system controller on the internet. Tried lots of things until finally late in the day I stumbled across a forum post that suggested the controller had to be power cycled before new settings would take effect. Then I found another post that said to pull out the cable from the hub to power cycle it because there's no switch to do it. Turns out that worked, and now I can view, but not change, the controller settings from a laptop or handheld, and the controller reports it is connected to the more capable OpticsRE software my contractor wants to use to monitor and maintain it. Would have been nice if they'd have dealt with this on their last visit, but once again, they were in too much of a hurry...
Fingers crossed for a good final inspection outcome today, but we still don't know what time the inspector will be here, and won't until they have their morning meeting and update their website. The contractor says he wants to be here for it, but then says he has a conflict in the afternoon...:confused3:
Congrats on the bumper tomato crop Kyle!:cloud9: What did you do different this time around that led to such a resounding success?
Thanks for the suggestions, Ron. I'll see if I can't chase something down during today's siesta time. Aren't the female bluebirds always somewhat duller in appearance?
How fortunate excavator konked out on dry land, Eric. Could something that shouldn't have got wet? They only let us move 100 cubic yards of dirt here before we have to pay for a permit and submit all kinds of paperwork explaining what is to be done. So far I've managed to keep the projects small enough to stay under that limit, but I think I'll have to sharpen my pencil for the new shop building permit.
Sorry Coco's having such a rough time, Billy, but at least she's enjoying the new food and it sounds like you're doing everything you can. Hope she's back to her old self in no time.
That blueberry pie, and especially the ice cream, sound delicious, RS. Sounds like the Squeak might not have been the only comatose diner yesterday?
Eleven new CV19 cases here in the county just yesterday, Bruce, pushing the total over the hundred mark. Only three in the hospital though, and still holding at one death. But it does show that people are letting down their guard a little too early.
Glad you have a new friend, Drew. There but for the grace of God. I worked for a nondestructive testing firm one summer while I was in college, and was certified in magnetic particle and liquid penetrant testing. But x-ray and ultrasonic testing were used to find defects in critical work like pipelines and heavy structural welds, and a summer was too short to gather the necessary skill and experience for those certs. Later on I'd learn that good as they may seem, sometimes the only real way to be certain about a defect is to cut something up, and often times one out of ten was randomly sampled that way just to make sure nothing bad had crept into the production processes. TIG, or more accurately Gas Tungsten Arc Welding, uses an arc between a tungsten electrode and the work, and inert gas shielding to prevent oxidation. That's the one most used for aluminum and stainless steel, and that requires extra skill to manipulate the hand fed filler wire. MIG, or Gas Metal Arc Welding, uses an arc between an automatically fed filler wire and the work, and may or may not utilize a shielding gas. Shielding compounds that break down to form a gas can be incorporated into the hollow core of the filler wire, or CO2 or argon/C02 mixes can be used for shielding when a cleaner weld appearance is desired. GMAW can also be used for aluminum and stainless steel, but it's more involved to switch over from mild steel, so you usually only find it applied to those situations when there's a lot of that work to be done. GTAW, on the other hand, can just pick a compatible filler material, and flip a switch to go from AC to DC current and be off to the races. I put a lot of weld metal into that old tractor, and I hate to think what it would have cost to pay someone to do that work for me, or how many trips it would have meant for someone to come out or me to haul it in to a shop somewhere. But almost all of it was GMAW, because my dexterity and eyesight just aren't good enough to get a decent result with GTAW anymore. If you're lucky, they put thumbscrews on your PCs case. Usta be I could open up my laptop to clean it out or upgrade the memory or drive, but these new ones either snap or are glued together, and there's nothing replaceable inside. Dunno how you're supposed to clean 'em, maybe blow 'em out with compressed air?:confused2:
I've used UShip twice, and not been impressed by the drivers either time. Both were for moving motorcycles, and neither had proper straps or knew where to place them to avoid damage. The great state of Kalifornia limits anything pulling a trailer to 55 MPH. That means there's often a big speed differential between the cars and trucks, made worse by kids in little rice rockets that like to play pinball with the truckers. So we get a lot of accidents in the big cities, especially during rush hour when everyone's in a hurry.
Knowing you as we do, Drew, it's a safe bet most of your housing and medical costs are being covered by good insurance policies, or at least I hope that's the case. And it takes a lot of worry about what's going to happen next, especially for your family that had to so quickly make those hard decisions. Hopefully the chemo will go easy on you and you'll be out of there in no time, and more affordable alternatives will open up to you when you need them.
Spent the cool of yesterday morning reclining under the van, installing a magnetic switch to detect when the transmission is in neutral. Had to disconnect one end of the drive shaft to do it, but I've had lots of practice at that. Then run a long wire back to the computer, where I was reminded I still have a couple of oil leaks to deal with on the transaxle and engine. A little solder, some heat shrink, and lots of zip ties to keep the wire safe and that job is done. Hopefully it takes care of that one persistent error code that keeps coming up, but only time will tell.
By the time I finished that, I was hot and hungry, so after lunch I switched over to getting the power system controller on the internet. Tried lots of things until finally late in the day I stumbled across a forum post that suggested the controller had to be power cycled before new settings would take effect. Then I found another post that said to pull out the cable from the hub to power cycle it because there's no switch to do it. Turns out that worked, and now I can view, but not change, the controller settings from a laptop or handheld, and the controller reports it is connected to the more capable OpticsRE software my contractor wants to use to monitor and maintain it. Would have been nice if they'd have dealt with this on their last visit, but once again, they were in too much of a hurry...
Fingers crossed for a good final inspection outcome today, but we still don't know what time the inspector will be here, and won't until they have their morning meeting and update their website. The contractor says he wants to be here for it, but then says he has a conflict in the afternoon...:confused3:
txdon
Super Star Member
Thats where many of our hurricanes originate.
Good morning! Much needed rain this morning which caused the FireWise to be canceled for today. 70˚F.
Yesterday was my first day in the covid era neighborhood gym. Only seven people are allowed each hour so it's easy to keep distance. Lots of wipes available and the gym gets closed and cleaned each hour. Face mask required except on aerobic machines in front of the gym where every other one is closed for distance spacing.
Nice haul on the tomatoes Kyle. Time to pull out the canning jars.
Ron glad you let the bird comb his feathers before you took his pic.
Bird
Rest in Peace
Dust from Africa?? Well, the dust oughta be settled around here. I awoke to a downpour and just a little thunder this morning. The heavy rain has slowed to a light sprinkle, but the radar doesn't look like it should quit for quite awhile. My gauge already had 1.7" for today. So that's 5.41" for the month and 35.24" for the year and supposedly our ANNUAL rainfall should e 30.05. Yep, a very wet year, or at least the first half.
kenmbz
Super Star Member
- Joined
- May 8, 2019
- Messages
- 10,950
- Location
- S.E. PA
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson GC1720/JD x360/Echo CS-490/CS-620
Good morning all. 72 going to 90 today and the air is thick and wet.
Might be a good day to just trim the bushes out front.
Garage door springs are in, time to fix that so the missus can park her car out from the rain.
Had a little more than .5 inches of rain last night.
Gave the tractor a bath, it needed it.
Kyle - secrets for the tomato crop, my plants are slowly growing, not a tomato in sight, but we had a cold spring so...
Drew - Sounds like you are doing well. So many medicines short term, a few months and that should reduce.
RNG sounds like you are making good progress with the solar-too bad they couldn;t of sat down with you for a basic walk through and config
TXDon - good to see you can get to the gym, small steps forward can make a big difference.
I have a Cardinal alarm clock here, every morning it stops by to fight itself in my window. Would hate to be another cardinal in the area
Stay Safe and be well
Might be a good day to just trim the bushes out front.
Garage door springs are in, time to fix that so the missus can park her car out from the rain.
Had a little more than .5 inches of rain last night.
Gave the tractor a bath, it needed it.
Kyle - secrets for the tomato crop, my plants are slowly growing, not a tomato in sight, but we had a cold spring so...
Drew - Sounds like you are doing well. So many medicines short term, a few months and that should reduce.
RNG sounds like you are making good progress with the solar-too bad they couldn;t of sat down with you for a basic walk through and config
TXDon - good to see you can get to the gym, small steps forward can make a big difference.
I have a Cardinal alarm clock here, every morning it stops by to fight itself in my window. Would hate to be another cardinal in the area
Stay Safe and be well
Thomas
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 31,805
- Location
- Lebanon,NH.
- Tractor
- Kubota B2650HSD w/Frontloader & CC LTX1046 & Craftman T2200 lawn mower.
RNG.
"Fingers crossed for a good final inspection outcome today, but we still don't know what time the inspector will be here, and won't until they have their morning meeting and update their website. The contractor says he wants to be here for it, but then says he has a conflict in the afternoon."
----------------------
Yep fingers etc. cross for :thumbsup: you certainly put LOT time $$$'s into project.
"Fingers crossed for a good final inspection outcome today, but we still don't know what time the inspector will be here, and won't until they have their morning meeting and update their website. The contractor says he wants to be here for it, but then says he has a conflict in the afternoon."
----------------------
Yep fingers etc. cross for :thumbsup: you certainly put LOT time $$$'s into project.
Thomas
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 31,805
- Location
- Lebanon,NH.
- Tractor
- Kubota B2650HSD w/Frontloader & CC LTX1046 & Craftman T2200 lawn mower.
LS Tractor Owner
Super Member
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- May 1, 2017
- Messages
- 7,665
- Location
- Edgewood, NM
- Tractor
- LS XG3025 TLB, Previously MT125 TLB, Craftsman GTS6500
Good morning to all! Low of 64, only going up to 85 today. Slight chance (20%) of a t-storm.
That is it.... I am moving to Texas... I cannot believe you guys are getting so much rain! We have enough of our own dust here... we do not need any more from the Saharan Desert! That is one big dust plume!
Drew, I am glad that the resident looking for Mr Miller was not more insistent.... could have been an exciting moment. I am glad that you have support helping to get your next phase of life in a reasonable assembly of order.
Wng, I hope that you can determine what is causing Coco have her symptoms. It is crazy prices of pet food and minimal regulation of the ingredients that caused us to start making our own dog food. It is cheaper than the cheapest kibble, but top notch ingredients. We have been doing it for 14 years now.
Did not do any trim in the hobby shack yesterday, but prepped all the materials. Decided to make the storage shelves vs. buying racks. Then took it to the next level deciding to in-lay the shelves into the wood supports. So, spent the day in the shop making dados, sanding, and staining the shelf structural supports. This project has broken out way past a simple shed.... But, if you are gonna do it... do it good....
So... getting myself in gear... time is a wastin’ ....
Everyone have a great day!
That is it.... I am moving to Texas... I cannot believe you guys are getting so much rain! We have enough of our own dust here... we do not need any more from the Saharan Desert! That is one big dust plume!
Drew, I am glad that the resident looking for Mr Miller was not more insistent.... could have been an exciting moment. I am glad that you have support helping to get your next phase of life in a reasonable assembly of order.
Wng, I hope that you can determine what is causing Coco have her symptoms. It is crazy prices of pet food and minimal regulation of the ingredients that caused us to start making our own dog food. It is cheaper than the cheapest kibble, but top notch ingredients. We have been doing it for 14 years now.
Did not do any trim in the hobby shack yesterday, but prepped all the materials. Decided to make the storage shelves vs. buying racks. Then took it to the next level deciding to in-lay the shelves into the wood supports. So, spent the day in the shop making dados, sanding, and staining the shelf structural supports. This project has broken out way past a simple shed.... But, if you are gonna do it... do it good....
So... getting myself in gear... time is a wastin’ ....
Everyone have a great day!
LS Tractor Owner
Super Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2017
- Messages
- 7,665
- Location
- Edgewood, NM
- Tractor
- LS XG3025 TLB, Previously MT125 TLB, Craftsman GTS6500
Thomas, nice (well really great) job on the bucket guard! Looks factory installed!
Thomas
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 31,805
- Location
- Lebanon,NH.
- Tractor
- Kubota B2650HSD w/Frontloader & CC LTX1046 & Craftman T2200 lawn mower.
RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 8,753
- Location
- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
They did, and I videoed it. But you don't know what you don't know. I was never asked about the LAN address issue because he didn't check his work to realize there was a problem.
I was promised access via the OpticsRE application, but that never came because the controller was never on the internet, and they were too slow to twig to the problem. I'm hopeful that issue can be corrected this morning while we're waiting on the inspector to show up.
RedNeckGeek
Super Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
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- 8,753
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- Butte County & Orcutt, California
- Tractor
- Kubota M62, Kubota L3240D HST (SOLD!), Kubota RTV900
Nice job, Thomas.
Another of those things that makes you wonder what Kubota was thinking when they set up the curl cylinders that way instead of connecting the body side to the bucket instead.:confused2:
Thomas
Epic Contributor
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2000
- Messages
- 31,805
- Location
- Lebanon,NH.
- Tractor
- Kubota B2650HSD w/Frontloader & CC LTX1046 & Craftman T2200 lawn mower.
Thanks... Often wonder do companies send person/tech visit working sites ask equipment owners/operators for improvement ideas. :confused3:
sodamo
Super Star Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2004
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- 18,480
- Location
- Big Island, HI
- Tractor
- Bobcat CT4545 LS XR4140H (Mine) BX2380 (wife’s)
68°F and no rain, may need to water the garden
Continue on from yesterday
Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day
Continue on from yesterday
Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day
sodamo
Super Star Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2004
- Messages
- 18,480
- Location
- Big Island, HI
- Tractor
- Bobcat CT4545 LS XR4140H (Mine) BX2380 (wife’s)
RNG
If you now have internet to the Mate3, go to OpticsRE site via Optics RE
You will need Mate MAC address.
rswyan
Super Star Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
- Messages
- 13,240
- Location
- Northeast Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota B2910, Cub Cadet Pro Z 154S, Simplicity 18 CFC, Cub Cadet 782
Late start and a little slow to get moving today.
Was 73F, cloudy @ 12:00, with intermittent rain on and off, heavy at times. Seems to have lightened/brightened up at this point (14:00)
So much for that whole "hopefully no rain tomorrow" thing ...
Should get some sun later today ... continued wind would be welcome as well. Has been blowing pretty good the last four hours or so.
Back down at the house to grab some aluminum foil to seal off the can I'm going to use to try and clean some old brushes with hardened polyurethane on them.
Way behind on catching up with replies.
Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day.
Was 73F, cloudy @ 12:00, with intermittent rain on and off, heavy at times. Seems to have lightened/brightened up at this point (14:00)
So much for that whole "hopefully no rain tomorrow" thing ...
Should get some sun later today ... continued wind would be welcome as well. Has been blowing pretty good the last four hours or so.
Back down at the house to grab some aluminum foil to seal off the can I'm going to use to try and clean some old brushes with hardened polyurethane on them.
Way behind on catching up with replies.
Hope everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe day.
rswyan
Super Star Member
- Joined
- May 12, 2004
- Messages
- 13,240
- Location
- Northeast Ohio
- Tractor
- Kubota B2910, Cub Cadet Pro Z 154S, Simplicity 18 CFC, Cub Cadet 782
It was (a Marie Callender pie) - The Woman was hoping it was not going to be too sweet and would still have some "tart" to it.
It was not overly sweet but lacked the "tart" that one of her pies would typically have.
Correct ...
But I'm up and moving now ... :thumbsup:
Kyle_in_Tex
Super Star Member
Daughter did great in church, needed extra mic on voice, maybe next time. Proud papa Fathers day.
Billy, if you eat the sauce soon enough, you can just freeze it in baggies for 2 months. Easy peasy.
Billy, if you eat the sauce soon enough, you can just freeze it in baggies for 2 months. Easy peasy.
PJSprog
Elite Member
66°F and partly cloudy this morning, going up to 80° today. The stormy front that rolled through yesterday brought some welcome relief from the heat, even if only for a couple of days.
Did a bunch or running around for errands Saturday morning, and got almost nothing accomplished. Seemed everyone was out of everything I wanted. Stopped at the Kia dealer to pick up an oil filter, only to find that their Parts Dept is no longer open on Saturdays. Convenient for them, I guess. Stopped at the Academy store right behind them to pick up some .38 Special ammo for me and 9mm for The Wife to get in a little range practice, and their shelves in the handgun ammo section were almost completely bare. The only 9mm they had were shotshells. I did find a few boxes of .38 for me. Stopped at Harbor Freight to finally return the recalled jack stands, and swapped them for new ones. A couple other items I wanted were, of course, out of stock. On the way home, wondering where else I might try for some 9mm ammo, I remembered a little gun shop near Carlyle that I've been wanting to check out for awhile. Called them when I got home, and the guy told be he'd just gotten a shipment on Friday, and had about two dozen boxes. He said he normally closes at noon on Saturdays, which was in five minutes. I told him my predicament, and he said he'd stay open until I got there. He did, and I bought six boxes. Great guy, who has probably earned my future business.
Sunday morning, after the morning chores, we packed up some handguns in range bags went to shoot at a new-to-us range in Pocahontas IL. An old friend had recommended the place to me years ago, but we just never found the time to go check it out. They opened at 10am, so we were there when they unlocked the doors. Nice place. We shot for about 45 minutes, and had the place to ourselves for about the first half hour. She brought her 9mm S&W Shield and .380 Ruger LCP, and I shot three of my .38/.357 revolvers. Enjoyed it, and will probably go back when we want to shoot indoors out of the weather. We went home, and I cleaned the guns while The Wife was taking care of the dogs, then we headed back out to a place in O'Fallon IL for our CCW renewal class. Instructor was fun and efficient, and we were out of there in under two hours and heading to another range in Columbia IL for qualification shooting. This was the same range we qualified at last time, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, and they have peacocks roaming around the grounds. Magnificent birds. And noisy. We got the shooting done, everyone qualified first try, took a group photo (which I haven't seen yet), and were on our way. Full day of shooting stuff, and I didn't hate that at all. Haven't been doing enough of that lately, something I've always enjoyed. Plus, now we have that silliness out of the way for another five years.
My boss called me Friday afternoon and asked if I could take some parts to a customer in north central Illinois Monday morning. When I hesitated, he asked if I had a scheduling conflict. I told him, "No, just the last time I drove up there for another customer back in February, it cost me a car." I agreed to do it, though. When I got there Monday morning to drop off the parts, I was met by their Quality Engineer. Nice guy, but he had a problem he needed resolved. That saw me there all day sorting parts for them. Not something I'd hoped to do, but staying and doing it made for some great customer relations, and they expressed their gratitude several times before I left. The 2-1/2 hour drive home tuned into a little over three hours due to some rather whopper storms passing through the state yesterday afternoon. Just north of Springfield on I-55, I almost pulled over, as even the trucks had slowed to about 20mph. We just couldn't see. Just as I was thinking about pulling off, it suddenly slowed to a drizzle. There were cars all over the place; in the ditches on both sides, up the embankments, and a white Camero with a new guard rail hood ornament. It started getting heavy again just south of Springfield, and again when it let up there were accidents everywhere. The northbound lanes were shut down by an accident, which I passed just in time to see them righting a tractor trailer which had tipped over onto a car ... fortunately only the trunk area was smashed. The rest of the drive home was relatively uneventful, and just in and out of rain. When I got home, the ground there was still dry as a bone.
Wife picked up the new foster dog yesterday. Her name is Nadia, she's a deaf and blind (double merle) Australian Shepherd, about two years old, and she was surrendered by her former owner to a high-kill shelter in the Little Rock AR area. One of the volunteers there got in touch with the Speak St. Louis organization to get them to rescue her before she was put down. The shelter had been keeping her in a cage that they clean with a power washer ... without removing the dogs. So, Speak STL got their volunteers to get her out and ferry her to St. Louis, where she ended up with us, as my Wife is their unofficial official trainer for blind and deaf dogs. Just in the few hours she'd been there before I got home, The Wife had already taught her touch commands for "come", "food", "water", and "outside". She was already house broken, and gives a low bark when she needs to go. She's a very gentle girl, and has no problems with strangers, other dogs, or cats. Here's a pic of her with our three stooges just hanging out in the kitchen last night.
Did a bunch or running around for errands Saturday morning, and got almost nothing accomplished. Seemed everyone was out of everything I wanted. Stopped at the Kia dealer to pick up an oil filter, only to find that their Parts Dept is no longer open on Saturdays. Convenient for them, I guess. Stopped at the Academy store right behind them to pick up some .38 Special ammo for me and 9mm for The Wife to get in a little range practice, and their shelves in the handgun ammo section were almost completely bare. The only 9mm they had were shotshells. I did find a few boxes of .38 for me. Stopped at Harbor Freight to finally return the recalled jack stands, and swapped them for new ones. A couple other items I wanted were, of course, out of stock. On the way home, wondering where else I might try for some 9mm ammo, I remembered a little gun shop near Carlyle that I've been wanting to check out for awhile. Called them when I got home, and the guy told be he'd just gotten a shipment on Friday, and had about two dozen boxes. He said he normally closes at noon on Saturdays, which was in five minutes. I told him my predicament, and he said he'd stay open until I got there. He did, and I bought six boxes. Great guy, who has probably earned my future business.
Sunday morning, after the morning chores, we packed up some handguns in range bags went to shoot at a new-to-us range in Pocahontas IL. An old friend had recommended the place to me years ago, but we just never found the time to go check it out. They opened at 10am, so we were there when they unlocked the doors. Nice place. We shot for about 45 minutes, and had the place to ourselves for about the first half hour. She brought her 9mm S&W Shield and .380 Ruger LCP, and I shot three of my .38/.357 revolvers. Enjoyed it, and will probably go back when we want to shoot indoors out of the weather. We went home, and I cleaned the guns while The Wife was taking care of the dogs, then we headed back out to a place in O'Fallon IL for our CCW renewal class. Instructor was fun and efficient, and we were out of there in under two hours and heading to another range in Columbia IL for qualification shooting. This was the same range we qualified at last time, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, and they have peacocks roaming around the grounds. Magnificent birds. And noisy. We got the shooting done, everyone qualified first try, took a group photo (which I haven't seen yet), and were on our way. Full day of shooting stuff, and I didn't hate that at all. Haven't been doing enough of that lately, something I've always enjoyed. Plus, now we have that silliness out of the way for another five years.
My boss called me Friday afternoon and asked if I could take some parts to a customer in north central Illinois Monday morning. When I hesitated, he asked if I had a scheduling conflict. I told him, "No, just the last time I drove up there for another customer back in February, it cost me a car." I agreed to do it, though. When I got there Monday morning to drop off the parts, I was met by their Quality Engineer. Nice guy, but he had a problem he needed resolved. That saw me there all day sorting parts for them. Not something I'd hoped to do, but staying and doing it made for some great customer relations, and they expressed their gratitude several times before I left. The 2-1/2 hour drive home tuned into a little over three hours due to some rather whopper storms passing through the state yesterday afternoon. Just north of Springfield on I-55, I almost pulled over, as even the trucks had slowed to about 20mph. We just couldn't see. Just as I was thinking about pulling off, it suddenly slowed to a drizzle. There were cars all over the place; in the ditches on both sides, up the embankments, and a white Camero with a new guard rail hood ornament. It started getting heavy again just south of Springfield, and again when it let up there were accidents everywhere. The northbound lanes were shut down by an accident, which I passed just in time to see them righting a tractor trailer which had tipped over onto a car ... fortunately only the trunk area was smashed. The rest of the drive home was relatively uneventful, and just in and out of rain. When I got home, the ground there was still dry as a bone.
Wife picked up the new foster dog yesterday. Her name is Nadia, she's a deaf and blind (double merle) Australian Shepherd, about two years old, and she was surrendered by her former owner to a high-kill shelter in the Little Rock AR area. One of the volunteers there got in touch with the Speak St. Louis organization to get them to rescue her before she was put down. The shelter had been keeping her in a cage that they clean with a power washer ... without removing the dogs. So, Speak STL got their volunteers to get her out and ferry her to St. Louis, where she ended up with us, as my Wife is their unofficial official trainer for blind and deaf dogs. Just in the few hours she'd been there before I got home, The Wife had already taught her touch commands for "come", "food", "water", and "outside". She was already house broken, and gives a low bark when she needs to go. She's a very gentle girl, and has no problems with strangers, other dogs, or cats. Here's a pic of her with our three stooges just hanging out in the kitchen last night.
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