Good morning!!!!

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 42F here in Yankee Hill, CA. Sun and clouds mixed. High 61F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.
Looks like this will be the last warm day here for a while, with rain moving in for tomorrow and temperatures peaking in the low 50s for the rest of the 10-day. Which is calling for rain and snow showers weekend after this coming one. Might have to head south again before that.

I saw the TurboTax display at the Costco down south last week, but will hold off until their flyer to see if they'll offer it for a few dollars off.

there are so many ads on youtube now. Almost like I'm forced to buy the opt out.

I got email from Amazon last week that there will soon be ads on Prime Video. Opting out will cost about $3/month. Nothing like being charged for something that was initially offered as a free benefit. But come to think of it, that free benefit was never really free, but included in the monthly Prime subscription. And now they have to break out the $3, because every other streaming service has a pay wall, too.

Another mostly smooth trip north yesterday. I did hit fog, but it was while climbing over the Coast Range to get to the valley and I5 beyond. Enjoyed a few podcasts along the way, first time I'd tried them. Interesting subjects helped me stay alert behind the wheel. But the infotainment system kept dropping the connection to the iPhone, something probably attributable to the case on the phone not working well with the wireless charging cradle. Next time I'll tether the phone via USB and see if the problem goes away.

I'd been sleeping on an air bed here and was never really comfortable, so I brought back the queen size bed from the guest room and set it up when I got back. Also got a fire going in the wood stove, and was quite comfortable by dinner time. Restoked the wood stove this morning and am waiting for the heat to reach the bedroom.

Last Christmas we tried spiced rum in banana flavored milk instead of eggnog, and actually preferred it. There was some of the milk left over, but no rum, so yesterday I finished it off with tequila. The rum is better, but the tequila worked in a pinch.

Also waiting for the temps to warm outside before having another go at the Vanagon wiring. Making hay while the sun shines. Before it does, I might go out to the last burn pile and limb up a few trees for campfire wood. I took all I had south to use at the cabins over New Years, and burned every stick. But I might not, as my back is a bit sore from the trip, and chainsawing has never been good for it.

TGIF gang!

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning! Low was 25°, only heading to 35°, sunny. Tomorrow afternoon more snow arrives. Winter storm warnings already in place, but no real forecasted amounts.

Even when they do give the amounts, they are so wide ranging..... "we can cover our butts.... just give a large enough range". ---- but half the time that's not correct.

We got about 5" yesterday, it was still snowing late last night. Cleared the walks and drive this morning. At least the majority of the snow was light and fluffy.

Scott, you had to be thinking of a reason to only bring a couple legs..... maybe because you were going back so soon? At least the 'done' ones are looking good.....

Wng, definitely not the 'end'..... but a good mid-point!

Kilroy, my babcia had a butcher shop / corner grocery including a smokehouse in Port Richmond (Philly). All the keibasa and sausages smelled soooo good! Yes, they used whatever was handy to get the job done!

Daughter is returning from Texas tomorrow, stopping by and collecting the MIL. Then we can get back to 'normal' day to day living.....

My motivation came back.... it just took an unannounced vacation.....
Now that the MIL will be leaving, all her bags and personal stuff will be cleared out of the way and the area can be accessible. Then I can get back to the shelves.

Today's agenda is to bring up some more pellets to the porch. Then a conserve energy day. (Again).....

Everyone have a great day!

 

[sodamo]

66°F and .08 inches rain

Weather never did settle yesterday. Get suckered into a nice period of dry, almost sun only to get a blast of rain. Could be related to this advancing cold front I guess. Even fooled my weather app.

Made a chicken version of shepherd’s pie. Nice comfort food.

Guys lost at H&F. Gals dominated from beginning

Prayers for all
Be safe
Have a great day

 

[sodamo]

Drew, how wide is the garage window opening? Will a door fit with the existing header? Any electric wires crossing under it? How high is the header? Is it a side wall? Does bottom of wall sit on slab, or a block wall above the floor? What is the existing siding?
Maybe if things look ok using existing header, and no permits required, we can have a spring TBN door install party. A basic 9 lite prehung door probably $200-300.
They are not hard to install.

Pretty much my thinking as well. But even if not same measurements, I think the garage wall is just open studs, so easy.

Drew, post a couple pics inside and out and I bet someone can render a pic of the work/door to show landlady.

 

[daugen]

David, thank you.
Frits, checking bolts smart idea.

well my experiment with the one into four USB did not work.
it performed exactly the same whether I had two USB cables plugged into two spots in the pc
or the one adapter plugged into pc with two audio usb cables plugged into that.
Recognized both Klipsch The Fives and PS Audio as separate and only gave one choice for selection.
oh well.
I did order a better quality USB cable to go to the Sprout amp from the pc.
did a lot of A-B comparisons on music, had fun with that, each speaker has its own sound and the Klipsch speakers
seam to project more, but the KEF speakers sound highly accurate. I guess what musicians want in a studio monitor.
Where the Klipsch speakers with those big horns project out into larger rooms more powerfully.
But then the original Bose 901s were considered phenomenal speakers for their time due to dispersion,
but not due to accuracy.

I have a Nividia U32R59X sound card in my pc. Have no idea what the audio specs on the sound board are.
Noise is a big deal, quieter the better. If it all starts on that sound card, I wonder if a better sound card would help.
It's going into a very good DAC in the Sprout integrated amp, which converts digital to audio.
Does digital have "separation" like audio? I'm sure it has measurable noise.

my understanding is that pc audio/video cards come in different resolutions, speed and memory.
But what about the audio portion?
what do they ever tell us about that?

I think my relatively inexpensive bookshelf speakers sound as good as they do because they are driven by a
very low distortion amp.

I've worked on the output to the speakers, now wondering about the input to the amp.
I spent 59 bucks on the least expensive higher end usb cable. Amazing how many 300 and 400 dollar usb cables are sold.
so that's about forty bucks of better copper and more noise insulation, possibly better connectors.
I will A-B the old and new usb cables and see if I can tell the difference. Unlikely but it's a cheap cherry on top

If I were a musician, I'd be wondering if I needed a new/better guitar.
But I'm not, so I'm wondering if a better signal would help.
you computer wizards will need to add intelligence here.
I do know there are internet sites/stations that stream only hifi music,
or exceptionally well recorded music where a decent stereo can show all the detail.
I was thinking of getting a turntable, but need to research online digital first.

owning a radio shack, I sold an awful lot of wire. And yes I carried one line of speaker cable, nice 14G stranded copper with a good cover, that was
"better" than Radio Shack's store brand. If they needed 16, I always gave them 14.
Would not sell more expensive cables, was more value oriented.
At least the more expensive cables are usually super durable. Tech will change before the cables wear out

 

[scootr]

Daugen, you probably already checked for an updated driver for the audio card?

 

[kenmbz]

David, thank you.
Frits, checking bolts smart idea.

well my experiment with the one into four USB did not work.
it performed exactly the same whether I had two USB cables plugged into two spots in the pc
or the one adapter plugged into pc with two audio usb cables plugged into that.
Recognized both Klipsch The Fives and PS Audio as separate and only gave one choice for selection.
oh well.
I did order a better quality USB cable to go to the Sprout amp from the pc.
did a lot of A-B comparisons on music, had fun with that, each speaker has its own sound and the Klipsch speakers
seam to project more, but the KEF speakers sound highly accurate. I guess what musicians want in a studio monitor.
Where the Klipsch speakers with those big horns project out into larger rooms more powerfully.
But then the original Bose 901s were considered phenomenal speakers for their time due to dispersion,
but not due to accuracy.

I have a Nividia U32R59X sound card in my pc. Have no idea what the audio specs on the sound board are.
Noise is a big deal, quieter the better. If it all starts on that sound card, I wonder if a better sound card would help.
It's going into a very good DAC in the Sprout integrated amp, which converts digital to audio.
Does digital have "separation" like audio? I'm sure it has measurable noise.

my understanding is that pc audio/video cards come in different resolutions, speed and memory.
But what about the audio portion?
what do they ever tell us about that?

I think my relatively inexpensive bookshelf speakers sound as good as they do because they are driven by a
very low distortion amp.

I've worked on the output to the speakers, now wondering about the input to the amp.
I spent 59 bucks on the least expensive higher end usb cable. Amazing how many 300 and 400 dollar usb cables are sold.
so that's about forty bucks of better copper and more noise insulation, possibly better connectors.
I will A-B the old and new usb cables and see if I can tell the difference. Unlikely but it's a cheap cherry on top

If I were a musician, I'd be wondering if I needed a new/better guitar.
But I'm not, so I'm wondering if a better signal would help.
you computer wizards will need to add intelligence here.
I do know there are internet sites/stations that stream only hifi music,
or exceptionally well recorded music where a decent stereo can show all the detail.
I was thinking of getting a turntable, but need to research online digital first.

owning a radio shack, I sold an awful lot of wire. And yes I carried one line of speaker cable, nice 14G stranded copper with a good cover, that was
"better" than Radio Shack's store brand. If they needed 16, I always gave them 14.
Would not sell more expensive cables, was more value oriented.
At least the more expensive cables are usually super durable. Tech will change before the cables wear out

Some audio cards allow dual USB music, some don't, mine on the dell and Lenovo does not allow second device simultaneous.

Need to find the documentation on your card.

Can also get a USB to Audio splitter, plain old USB to 2 sets of analog jacks.

 

[rswyan]

Greetings GM'ers !

31F and sunny @ 16:00, calling for a high of 34F. Low this morning was 16.9F ... ... brrrrr !

Just got done refilling hopper, 2 tube, and 2 suet feeders + cracked corn and split peas scattered for the ground feeders. Also took a bucket of whole corn up and tossed it in the deer feeder.

Garage had been holding at a little over 40F (without me out there in it) until yesterday morning when I noticed it had dropped to 38F.
So fired up the torpedo heater last night after I got back from Menards and brought in the 4 gallons of diesel that I picked up @ the cheap on the way back.

Speaking of which, I noticed that gas had fallen to $2.47/gallon so I went ahead and topped off The Woman's car while I was at it. Diesel was $3.69/gallon ... so we still have a little work to do there ...

Washer developed a leak so after going around with The Woman on it, I tore into that to see what it was.

She was wanting a new machine and I was willing to pull the trigger on a new Speed Queen ... but She didn't want to spend that kind of money.

And I wasn't inclined to go low-end and have something that didn't hold up and last for more than a few years.

After tearing it apart, I discovered it was only the pump ($21), did some further research and located a good price on a new inner basket. The enamel on the old one had gotten dinged and was rusting in one spot.

First time I had looked into pricing a new inner basket (back in 2019 when I repaired the drain hose) the price was over $500 IIRC. Managed to locate a new genuine Whirlpool part for $148. Will replace the brake/clutch lining ($25) while I'm at it ... which will hopefully get rid of the grinding noise when it comes out of the spin cycle.

Advice I got from 2 different repair techs was to hang onto to this washer (Whirlpool with a direct-drive motor) because after they stopped making these they went to crap.

So we reached a compromise: spend a couple hundred to fix the outstanding issues and hopefully we'll get another 20 years out of it (we purchased it in 2003)

Well, probably not us ... but somebody might ...

Had to shut the water off going to the kitchen and laundry while I tore into it because I was never able to get the shutoff valves for the washer freed up.

Last night I was finally able to get the hose bibs removed from the pipes in the wall they screw onto so I ran down to Menards and picked up a new pair of hose bibs and a new set of hoses.

So I'm about to go stick those on ... so I can turn the water to the kitchen and laundry room back on.

Hope everyone is having a great Friday ! ...

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evening Guys,

When I retired in 2004. One of the first things I did was have a wholehouse generator installed.

Ron, I would love to have one, and do have two propane tanks ! I don’t know if anyone on here told you, but I’m kind of on the thrifty side !

Scott, you had to be thinking of a reason to only bring a couple legs..... maybe because you were going back so soon? At least the 'done' ones are looking good.....

Ted, this project of building two sculptured rockers for my grand daughters, is a long range project at best ! If these rockers get totally built in the next 2 years I will be surprised! If I was in Vt every day I think I could have them both built and sculpted and finished by spring ! I guess in a way it’s good, because im
Not in a position to rush !

Frits, your ATV looks awesome with that BOSS plow !!

Don, glad your brother is Covid negative !

Date night with Kathleen, using a gift certificate to a nice restaurant!

Hope all have a Great evening !

 

[Thomas]

24F cloudy.
Weather station saying 4' to 6" fluffy snow arrive late tomorrow night,got feel 8 to 10 inches.


Work day zip by home for quick lunch headed outside,5 extra wheelbarrow load wood in basement,was going to cut kindling decided remove 4 game cams from different location will leave 3 game cams watching 3 different ben dens hoping will be used,walk well used deer trail in hopes finding sheds no such luck...yet.

Plans for the evening little as possible.

Enjoy your evening all.