Probably not the safest way to ground ones self: Mowing the front yard barefoot. Works, was careful with a push mower, but feeling the ground and grass and dampness of freshcut grass, really helped my spirits.
Having a decent paycheck certainly didn’t hurt that either. Granted, its ‘mostly gone’ now, but my stress levels are reduced. Not gone, just reduced: both my stress and paycheck.
Talked with Son of Bossman this mornin’. He was ready to back the truck in and start hoisting that bed, but I walked him in the carport and asked (pleaded) to add reinforcement to that center joint, and explained why I hadn’t till now. He agreed that, Yah, that bed is one hella beast (2500#) and maybe adding some extra support would be a good idea. Was going to start on that today, but this, that, the other, all little things, got in the way and by the time the endofday was rolling in “we’ll get to that one Muhnday.”
That reinforcement is 3-1/4″ plates 4″x4″ and I’ll cut opposite corners off to make it a fishplate. Two on either side of the web, one on the bottom and stress the bottom plate as I weld it. (farm jack with a 2 1/2″ pipe on top pushing up on the beam as I weld.) Been here before doing pipe racks on the trucks, and know that not stressing them, they later sag like a willow in a snow storm,.
Earlier thoughts about CERN and whatnot. Just some things that have been drifing across my feeds and I found the thought intriguing. Lord knows the world is nothing like the one I grew up in, but thats not to say that this is an alternate universe we got bumped into by some experiments in a lab on the other side of the planet. I certainly wouldn’t rule that out, but will put in the “what if” files of my mind. Truth be told, our accelerated technological race is creating more waves and turbulance by itself. And yes, the two could be related. There could even be the whole ‘battle between heaven and hell’ spilling over. no one knows. There could be that 3′ tall chocolate cake orbiting in Saturns rings too. So, until the monsters start climbing out of the crater left behind when CERN goes too far, explodes, and opens up a portal,,,
New carb on old mower works flawlessly. Opened up the bowl on the old,, Yah,, the float wasn’t able to move from all the crud built up in the bowl. And it ain’t worth saving. I’ll pull the brass out of it and the body will go into the scrap aluminum pile, the brass in the brass bin, and later, will both will be melted down and made into something else.
I once considerd an crucible furnace for iron, but the logistics of it are krazy kakes in comparison to aluminum and brass works. I’ll stick to white and brassy metals. As little of the two I do melt down, a ‘hole in the ground’ furnace works just fine. (and I once did just that and did an entire post about it.) And those of y’uns that have been around awhile might remember my little steam engine I built from raw to running. Still have it: its on one end of my bookshelf. Still runs with some airpressure on the intake side. Not big enough for anything practical, but that wasn’t the point. The point was “Can I?” and I did. And can scale it as needed in future efforts.
All of the things I did in that little project, the eccentric wheel was the one that sticks out the most in my mind. Making that was very interesting to me. What I used as a resource was even kind of funny. I needed Ziconal for that part, and for some reason, couldn’t find it for love or money. MONEY! What is Ziconal? Its what every penny after 1985 is made of. So I melted down about $1.75 in pennies and ouila! Ziconal! and just the right amount for my needs. a good mixture of zinc, aluminum and copper alloy, very machinable, Even now, I can shine a light on that eccentric and see the bluish-ness of the metal compared to the straight aluminum parts.
My head is filled with trivial shit that sometimes earns value when the pinch is on. The zinconal thing was one such event. Found out later, the same amount of ziconal would have cost me $4 with $7 shipping. Yah,,, >rolls eyes<
Ordered the correct parts for the riding mower, despite not having shipped back the wrong parts yet. Need to print a shipping label: will do so at library tomorrow, and drop package off at UPS pickup point. It’ll be two weeks (or more) before the refund hits, and that mower needs to be in service much sooner. The weeds are getting cocky and starting to make war chants about taking over and erasing the Hooman interlopers. I was able to put a hurtin’ on the ones closest to the house, but over at Unks old place, its getting stoopid silly. Need Powered Armored support for that theater.
End of week, a little whooped with al the stuff I’ve been into, but things are moving forward, and the creases are getting smoothed over. I can’t complain. Time for a beer, a sit, and watch the sunset with a Cozz and a Mamakat.
Love y’all
Stay Curious
LIVE
LOVE
LAUGH
LEARN
LOAD!!!
Dio's Workshop 
Awesome about the reinforcement. Too strong is a null statement. Better that it never bends than try to straighten it out after the fact. 2500# is a good load. And if it holds that some yahoo will try for 3000#… That’s how some guys are. Then they’ll say “Oops, I thought it could hold it.” You know how they are. “Dammit Carl! Why’d you do that?” I forget which race car driver said it, but he said it best. “It’s never too much power, it’s always not enough traction.” It’s the same principle.
More than once in my life I’ve wondered if I fell through a interdimensional crack and wound up one universe away from where I was… That’s an eerie disjointed feeling. Like, “I’m here, am I supposed to be here?” Did you ever read ‘The Number of the Beast’ by Robert Heinlein? It was a really good book when I was young. Read it and it’ll either put the feelings to rest or reinforce them. Ever since I read it I’m not as skeptical about weird stuff. The show Unsolved Mysteries made more sense after reading it.
I got a good jump on my firebreak today. I had to drop the rippers on the box blade all the way and make three passes, but now I think the tiller will work the clay. This drought is the worst I’ve seen in years. Last time it was this dry half the state burned down. It’s got me nervous! 6 hours of the sprinkler and the dirt is just a little moist. Maybe the grass will turn green. I hope so. Green grass doesn’t burn like dead dry grass. Dry weeds are almost as bad as roman candles in a grass fire. They’ll jump a firebreak with a quickness! We’ll see how it goes.
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If it were in my power, I’d have sent ya some of the rain we had over the summer. Wettest summer here’bouts since time out of mind. Even the oldztimers are saying they don’t recall any summer this wet. Grounds still soggy in my yard after a week without rain.
Yupper, LOVED Number of the beast. Strangest ending of any of RAH’s works, but he tied ALL of them together in that one book, and more than a few other Authors works. Inspired me to read some of the older writers just to see who inspired the Dean of Sci-fi.
Something interesting about the Worlds of Imagination theory he proposed in that book. As a writer, I don’t really feel like I am creating anything, more like observing/recording. That goes hand in hand with the underlying premise of that book.
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So Muhnday, I get to weld upside down. Yay,,, NOT! At least my leathers are in good shape and I have new nozzles lined up. May piss the machine off and reverse leads. Seems to do inverted work better that way. (More heat in the steel, not the wire.)
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Button that sucker all the way up to and including the collar. You don’t want any slag down the collar. I tried it, you wont like it. [involuntary shudder] I danced around like a pentacostal… hooting and hollering and begging Jesus to heal me! After that, I had a vague understanding of WP. It cured me of overhead welding. I’ll turn a car on the side before I weld overhead again.
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Back in the day , when I was around 12 years old. Parents owned the Drive in theater and I got drafted to run the projectors. A pair of carbon arc lamphouses. Wellington boots, with the pant cuffs tucked in was stylish for a young boy then…
got careless and dropped a red hot carbon stub , went right into my open boot cuff. Still have the scar from that , to this day. Needless to say, I stopped putting my pant cuffs inside after that.
then there was the time , I learned to keep my mouth shut , when stick welding…
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I’m the only guy at work that doesnt’ tuck his pants into his work boots. Same reason! One good peice of spat and you KNOW.
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AMEN, brother!!
L’s!
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
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The lessons we learn the hard way stick with us a lot longer. Pain is an effective teacher. Rewards also improve retention. I remember a corporate training session where the point was made by somebody that positive reinforcement works better and negative reinforcement isn’t effective and only causes more problems down the road. It occurred to me that that particular belief bears a lot of responsibility for the problems in our society.
Do be safe with that welder sir (please don’t fall off the stepladder doing the spatter dance)
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I have a safety harness I use for tall stuff: BTDTHTS. Don’t like tall ladders to begin with, so I don’t takr chances.
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same here Dio , since my left leg leg tried detachment from getting run over by the car vs me on a motorcycle. I get paranoid even two foot from Tera firm. My snake boots get more use , when hacking weeds with a trimmer than they do for hunting lol.
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I love high angle work. My knees however are toast. I had to give the climbing gear away or I wouldn’t quit climbing. And I really didn’t want to quit the hard way. I’m not scared of dying, but I really don’t like pain. I knew a guy that was forced out of the tree business by a forty foot fall. It didn’t look like an appealing way to retire…
Ladders aren’t that trustworthy. I fell off one once. Zero stars, wouldn’t recommend!
And if you dangle from the lanyard, swear everybody to secrecy. It’s bad enough feeling like a yoyo, getting the nickname doesn’t burnishthe street creds.
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ROFLMAO ‘doesn’t burnish the street creds’ OMG thats good,,,
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