Good morning!!!!

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Ron, love the sandhills, on the sand hill. How the sam hill did you get that picture? :laughing:

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Put your sunglasses on, the future is bright!



Randy is right! I had to "skinny" out the rolled down window to get out of my impala. I usually don't haul much of anything heavy. tandem axles rated at 3500lbs each=7000lbs minus the 1500lbs the trailer weighs, so technically have 5500lb capacity. I do NOT have trailer brakes, my friends recommend the old school type with the controller in the tow vehicle. I'm really careful if I have a heavy load, give myself plenty of room to stop. Keep speed down a bit.



Super Congrats LS! There is an unwritten rule about not being able to get out of Costco/Sam's for less than $100. If you manage to get out for less, they'll get you on the next trip.

You are exactly correct about that rule.... I got off easy today, only $162 bucks.... it could have been much more in the blink of an eye, but I was able to maintain discipline.....

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Ron, love the sandhills, on the sand hill. How the sam hill did you get that picture?

View attachment 666841

Kyle, I am sure you are one proud PaPa!

 

[rswyan]

62F and clear @ 21:30, high hit 76.8F for the day. Predicting 82F and sunny tomorrow, looks like next decent chance for any rain will be Sunday.

Started out by watering the newly sown grass by the catch basin, then added a little more straw to make sure it was well-covered and not prone to drying out.

After that I mixed up some juice for the hummers and cleaned out their feeder before refilling it, fed the fish and the downstairs cat ... and Squeak (of course ... )

Then I headed up to continue working on the planting bed around the shed. This was what we got done yesterday, as far as pulling those invasive bushes:

Today I got all the hosta in the cleared area dug up and moved down to a shaded area on the west side of the house. Tomorrow will probably be spent replanting as much of it as I can.

Also got the tree on the right side of the picture dug out and placed on the burn pile. There's a large root that goes over in front of the overhead door still has to be dug out though.

Should allow good access to repaint the block and trim once I'm all done ... :thumbsup:

During a break I came down to house and got the top of the auger rack screwed onto the base. Also got 3 coats of BLO applied to parts of the top.

Pulled out the floods and will be heading out there in a few to do some BLO on other parts.

Reviewed average monthly temps for September and October, with any luck should be good until late October as far as staining the house.

Plenty of other work to do between now and then ...

Hope everyone had a great day.

 

[rswyan]

Glad the temps have moderated for the yard work, RS.

Thanks ... me too.

Hope you guys out there see some cooler temps, along with some rain ... without lightning.

All that talk of retaining block has my back hurting in sympathy!

There's a couple of reasons we chose the small block ("Crestone Beveled", 17lb per unit) ... and one of them coincides with the reason I chose the 11lb. tamper Menards had over the 17lb. one ... :laughing:

We did make sure that the color we selected was also available in larger sizes ... just in case we find a need to use the larger size somewhere ...

Hopefully not though ...

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 62F for the start, clear, calm wind. Light wind day, sky mostly clear, and high temp was 89F. Men's Meeting to start, the walk with wife and bike ride. Afternoon nap successful, but did not get truck cleaned out. Took stepdaughter's boyfriend to dinner it is his birthday and she is out of town.
Covid update: Cooke unchanged, Montague unchanged, Grayson 1322 confirmed cases,109 active cases.
RS interesting bush you were dealing with.
David when Dad had cucumbers in garden using and giving then away was time intensive, mom was not big on pickling
Drew thanks for the suggestion, used something similar at work when on radial arm drill. Have fun at grocery store
Billy Always need to wear mask when cleaning underside of mower
Thomas trying to catch RS?
Don surprised you have not been cooler, 800 hour is a lot of volunteering
Kyle wire and ram EDMs are really neat as are waterjets, used garnet in the water jet, had to be cleaned out every 1.5-2 years. Ram EDM very good at broke bolt extraction
David(Moss) As you pack consider whether or not you need it or you might need it. We got rid of a lot of stuff prior to actual packing.
Ken hope you stay on better half's good side or out of sight
PJ if they still have the stop sign on the MO side the bridge won't move much traffic anyway
RNG sorry to hear no purge valve yet hope you work out you issue with the new power outlets.
Ted congrats on 37 years enjoy Costco run
Bird did you dress warm to mow?
Jim love that story
Kyle great pic, thanks for sharing
RS have fum painting the shed
Prayers for all, especially Drew/move, Jay/Peg, Kyle's daughter, Mike, David(Moss)/move and Country
stay safe and healthy you all.

 

[sodamo]

Got the toilet flange set for caretaker bathroom so when you workers visit you will have a flushing toilet.
Of course the skies opened up just last troweling of the concrete.

 

[sodamo]

Another great garden visit resulting in fresh corn and digging 1 hill of potatoes. Not store quality corn but very good and encouraging to keep trying. I just self steam in their husks in microwave.

Can’t remember variety of potato, some smallish white.
Most were quite small but enough from the 3 vines to make some delicious homefries. Enough left for breakfast tomorrow.

 

[RoyJackson]

2020-08-20, 0226

52 right now...first day I kept the windows closed in the bedroom in several weeks. High in the lower 70's today...

Up early...got some work to do and a meeting with the 3rd shift before the audit starts at 0800

 

[Eric Salop]

Good morning, pleased to see it a little brighter this morning, yesterday was dark clouds and rain all day long - all my fault for having an appointment to collect sun glasses from the opticians. The town was very quiet, when I called in the bookshop I was the first customer through the door in many hours. I came out with 3 books, feeling guilty that my taunting of the weather gods had done almost as much damage to trade as Covid-19.

... I almost finished mowing before daylight

Bird, please don't set the blades on your EGO too low - "The early bird catches the worm"

Today was kind of fun, they had already laid the 24 crushed granite tent slabs and we got to pick out the picnic table locations around each slab
View attachment 666828

Don, all the camping I have done has been on grass, I imagine there will be more fun driving tent pegs into a crushed granite base. That curvy fence would be a good challenge for LS's fence unroller !

Kyle, great to see your daughter playing, but did you ask if it would be ok to post it for the whole world to see, or are you trying for proud dad forgiveness ? Hope she starts talking to you again by the time she gets to 21.

 

[daugen]

good morning all. 69 going up to 85 today with rain likely this afternoon.
But it is nice to wake up and not hear the roar of the a/c unit.

my meat loaf last night turned out well, but a bit soft since I used some disposable aluminum loaf pans so none of the fat and juice
could drain away. Still tasted good but I prefer the meat loaf to drain and get a little crunchy on top. Will make for some good sandwiches next few days.
Flavored it with Caribbean Mango marinade and that added some nice flavor.

off to Washington this morning, half an hour East to see primary doc for first time in four months. Always a nice visit,
am taking some chocolate donuts and a bag of those small ez peel oranges, something for everyone. Probably last time I see her, want to thank her again
for ordering the CT scan that discovered my cancer. Then off to tax office there downtown to apply for refund of property tax on my Ram truck that was sold.

I spent hours on the phone yesterday calling BC/BS and SS, doing address changes. SS automatically tells Medicare, which is nice. Could not do this online, I'd fill out the form, twice..., and then was told there was a problem and all my work disappeared. I have always found SS staff to be very good. Of course in two months I'll have to do it all over again. Lady at BC/BS got a little huffy with me when I didn't understand that Part A and Part B doesn't care where I live, it's only the Prescription plan that does.
I have Plan F supplement, which I think is their best. So far no one has billed me for a dime of my 250K+++ hospital bill. Have been with BC/BS about thirty years, like being with Verizon, tend to stick with what works for me.

Got lots of pics on prospect rental house number two last night, aggravating beyond belief doing this at dial up speed with throttled down Mifi. At first I didn't think his pics were coming through, finally they did. House built in 1930 with one addition, bedroom and bath downstairs plus another upstairs, all very small at 1300 sf, but then home on farm was ridiculously large for one person at 3500sf. No dishwasher, old white counter tops, been vacant for three years and needs a serious cleaning. But the grounds and gardens around are lovely and he does the mowing and snow removal, plus he had no problem with me adding a portable gen transfer switch.
So it's nice to have two homes to choose from. My older brother will go check this second one out this weekend. This is a cottage, not a fancy house but I'm fine with that. And 1600 rent is very reasonable for area. And despite being on a very private country road, is 15 minutes from supermarket and 18 minutes to hospital.

 

[Buppies]

63 high of 80 today showers forecast again we shall see grass still growing and green

Prayers for all

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Don, all the camping I have done has been on grass, I imagine there will be more fun driving tent pegs into a crushed granite base.

I remember a time at the Stovepipe Wells campground in Death Valley when the ground was so hard I couldn't drive a tent peg with a hammer, Eric. Just laid the tent out and crawled inside anyway. Woke up in the very early morning to the pitter patter of raindrops, and proceeded to get soaking wet. When dawn broke, I gathered up all my wet things, tent, sleeping bag, clothing, and headed down to the laundromat. Chucked it all in the dryer, everything I had with me, left standing in a bathing suit and a pair of cowboy boots. But in 45 minutes I and my gear were dry, and the ground had softened enough to get the tent pegs in.:thumbsup: Nowadays, my tent doesn't need tent pegs, and I've pitched it on many oh so hard places. Thank goodness for modern air mattresses!

 

[toppop52]

Years ago I went down and helped my Ex move. I had a Subaru wagon and a 6x4 trailer. The new house was less that 4 miles away. On the second day it was 1 load to the house, 1 load to the dump, 1 load to the house, 1 load to the dump. by the time she realised she was missing things I was 300 miles away at home. :cool2:

 

[toppop52]

Ron, love the sandhills, on the sand hill. How the sam hill did you get that picture? :laughing:

View attachment 666841

Pretty girl!

 

[toppop52]

“David(Moss) As you pack consider whether or not you need it or you might need it. We got rid of a lot of stuff prior to actual packing.”

Or just get Jim to help you move!

 

[Thomas]

mostly_gas.
Thomas trying to catch RS?
---------------
Nope...I am made for comfort not speed.

 

[Thomas]

49F clear sky mid 70's for high...little taste of early autumn.

Outside chores done E muffin time. :licking:
While setting on the deck last evening Peanut brought her fawn...Butter... also :dance1: Peanut Butter.
Plans for today...Give Kubota good washing from the last project,this afternoon mow the lawn,putter.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[ronjhall]

First cup of coffee is cooling. 49ｰ with clear skies this morning. Heading to 82ｰ with plenty of sunshine. Temperatures are headed back up to the 80's for weekend. Got painting window frame job done. Need to put everything away. Did some landscape of hillside. Still need to plant some flowers. Put lawn trimming on today's list. My IRS refund $ finally showed up in my bank account. Took over 6 months from when I mailed it in.
Turkey chick is growing.

Kyle, great DD picture.

Randy, good to hear you are getting your strength back.

Drew, I like #2. That place reminds me of my place. Parts of it were built in the 30's. All the Knotty Pine is gone from house. Stored in loft of barn. Internet connection would be something I would check on any place I would consider moving too.


RS, your projects make me feel like a slacker. That's OK. I am liking this laid back life.

Bird, best reason to have an electric mower. Very little noise.

LS, glad Costco visit went well.

Eric, care to share some of your rain. 1/2" of rain every 2 weeks will not let thing grow here.

Jim, good moving story. :laughing:

Roy, early morning shift visit. I did many of those when I worked. My kind of day.

Everyone stay safe and healthy.

Good Morning All.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 75F @ 4:00AM. Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 98F. Winds light and variable.
The sun may be out for the afternoon, but we'll likely see only a small red dot because of all the smoke in the air. Here's last night's sunset:


Gosh, Jim, I guess your ex found out that good help is hard to find, especially when it comes to moving!:laughing:

Glad you have some housing choices opening up for you, Drew. But for heaven's sake, man, hold out for a dishwasher!:laughing:

Good to see your daughter blossoming, Kyle. You must be bursting with pride.:thumbsup:

Good job remembering the anniversary, Ted! But with that new rule in place, I'm not sure I can afford to get any older. I think my coping strategy will be to continue to ignore birthdays...

Got the sprinkler head put back yesterday, and was reminded again how much I don't like being up on a tall ladder. Need to install a camera on a tall mast today, but I think I can reach where I need to by standing on the peak of the roof.

Installed new RG45 connectors on that bad cable, this time making sure the wires were in the correct, official order. But no joy. I think I'm gonna try hooking a new wire to the old one and see if I can use it to pull the new one into place. It's a long run in a very full conduit, so I'm not very optimistic it'll work. There's an empty conduit next to it, though, but the end by the house doesn't come up under the junction box. That means some digging and conduit work if I have to go that way.

Crawled under the firetruck and ran a 3/8 pipe tap into the bottom of the stuck drain valve. It went in with little resistance, and I think it was already threaded. Got a new ball valve on order that should be here Friday. I counted eight lines from various places going into that one valve, so I'm very happy not to have to remove it.

Had the gate open for the FedEx guy yesterday when a man in a hard hat and fluorescent green vest walks by the open garage door. It was another PG&E contractor looking for a tree he's supposed to cut down. Turns out it was about a half mile away on the neighboring property. While he was figuring that out, the FedEx guy showed up, and shortly after the tree man and his crew left, I closed the gate again. I really don't like those kind of surprises, being here on my own like I am.

Hang in there, gang, Friday's comin'!