I AM a shitty patient. Hatez being sick, not at 100%. Even though I am not bedridden, I am not running WOT currently: more like ‘limp mode’. Its this damnable Drippy Schnozzz,,,, GRRRRRRRR

But I thought I would add some visuals and other deets to a previous post for y’all. (I need to distract myself from the discomfort of illness.)

Introducing Kuài yá (快牙) Fast teeth.

the name is Chinese,(she was made in China after all.) but she is based on the Mongol Horse bow (Loosely, mind you, No horn belly, no sinew back, but otherwise, right there. The Siyahs don’t ‘catch’ like they do on other style horsebows.) 54″h, 27″ draw@35# Kinda short for me, but I do over-draw it and get a touch more speed.

And here you have My Da’s Bear Bow, that I took ownership of a few years back.

No name, Never really thought this one needed one, even though it’s very much a family member. This bow put food on our table many times in the past. This one is 56″ 28″draw and 45#.

Note, both are strung for the modeling session: they do NOT get stored that way. Fact; the Grizzly there, had spent almost 4 years ‘strung’ while in storage, and NOT hanging, but setting on her bottom limb. It has a slight twist to it now and even with mild heat applied, I have not been able to straighten it out. It doesn’t seem to effect her, but does make me worry some.

Now,,, a bow is a peice of art, beautiful in the curves and what not, but the real deal is what gets sent down range.

Here are close-ups of my two ‘walking’ and ‘Hunting’ points. (I use bunny busters too, no pic of those in here.)

Both are 125grn, slight difference in length, but they fly the same. Whats different is AFTER they bust skin.

That’s 1 1/2″ of razorblade that open up after passing through the outer barrier. Chances are it won’t pass through, especially if through the ribs. The bodkin point,,, well, its likely to go clean through and leave a nasty channel, where the ‘broadhead’ will (Redacted for the sensitve bambi lovers) The Bodkin is a three blade, or I think the Brits called them Triads,,, Not a brit style mind, but not a flat ‘viper head’ either. (Old English Bodkins were typically square in cross-section, and diamond shape in profile. And VERY heavy, but long bows had the power to drive them.)

And I tune my arrows. When I was a kid, we didn’t have a clue about this stuff and just shot whatever shafts dad brought home. Most were uncut aluminum shafts. 32″ long, and no idea what the frellin spine was. My draw length is 28″ and those extra 4″ hanging off the riser always caused some ‘things’ to happen out front. I compensated, and still managed to get “ok”,,,

THEN, My cousin showed me how to tune my arrows.,,, Length, finding the correct spine, finding proper ‘forward of center’ balance, bare shaft tuning, fitting proper weight points, adjusting weights for off spine shafts,,,

Suddenly, my pattern went from Minute of Barn, to minute of Bullseye. (I kid, but my patterns DID tighten up and quite a bit.)

Well, me being me, I wanted some gear for tuning, and when I went online to see,,,

O!

M!

F’ing!

Lord!

Bullshit! Dio says,,, I can make that shit for next to nuthin!,,,

And I did.

My shaft measuring tool

The shaft center/balancer is in there to. That little square thing on the right. The weight is exactly 1 kilo of lead. Making the measurements was done with a micrometer and patience.

When I buy shafts, I will buy them in double dozens. Strip them of those cheezy palstic vanes they use these days(hey, I am a traditionalist,, I like FEATHERS!) then start the tuning process, Out of 24 bare shafts, I probably end up with 12 that are near to identical. Those will be set up for ONE bow,,, The other 12, if they are close enough, will be set up for the other bow I decide that by the spine rating. Fast teeth likes a 600 spine, loosey goosey arrows. Grizzly Bear likes em closer to 400. (spine, how much the shaft deflects, in Inches, with a 1Kilo weight attached in center hanging on 28″ between ends. 500, shaft deflects 1/2″)

I don’t shoot as much these days. I haven’t bought nor tuned an arrow in 6 years. I did recently refletch my ‘walking’ arrows,,, They were looking a little worn.

Walking arrow: my term, but its where I walk through the woods, shooting stumps or whatever (non-living) target takes my fancy. Two points of improvement: My fast instinct shooting improves. second: it trains Dawgum to not freak the F! out when the arrows fly. Voodoo was awesome about this,,, He seemed to have some instinct for partner hunting, and never flinched at any shooting; firearms or bow. (and I could tell you stories about that dawg at the shooting range,,, he was a trip!)

Cosmos,,, not so much,,,sigh,,,, (actually, if I have a bow or gun in hand, He won’t even go with me,,, sorta,,, he trails along behind me, 50-100yds and is skittish. Gonna take some time and work to get him over that.)

So, there it is. My current ‘arsenal’ of pointy stick hunting things, I shoot from fingers, Amer-indian style, bare fingers, no tab. only TWO fingers, which confuses some people, but I feel I am more accurate that way. And with Fast teeth, I shoot off knuckle; No riser or rest on her. There is a tab made for that, I do use it (or just a leather glove): those fletchings can/will cut to the bone if you don’t. I wanted to learn thumbring shooting, but arthritis in my hands made that impossible. I’ll keep using the fingers: it works for me. Besides, I can. accurately, get off 6 shots in 5 seconds using my two fingers. Why mess with a system that ain’t broken, eh? (in re-read, this sounds ‘fast’ and like I am bragging: I’m really not,,, Think about it like this. Hold your breath for 5 seconds while exercising. Its actually a bit of a time spread. and when things are happening in a hunt situation, 1 second is a LONG time. I might get off a second follow-up shot,,, maybe,,, Usually not)

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Last night was rough. Better, some anyways,,, still got the drippies and some chest congrestion, They sorta go hand in hand,,,

So, last night, while doin’ the fightin internally, I did some external orderin’. Went ahead and orderd a new master cylinder for Twuck, and the headlights. Just the cheepy H6054’s current: I figure, when Twuck starts earning her Stall space, she gets the upgrades then.

Right now, Gettin’ her out of hospital and on road is more important than my wanting to pull her into the 21st century.

Now,,, to those amused by my anthropomorphism, I’ve been like that for decades,,, I treat my “hicles like my children, of which I only have four feets these days. They get names, I find their charcaters, learn how to listen to them and their complaints, and no, they don’t all sound the same (funny that coming from a near deaf dood) Similar, yes, especially with mechanical failure, but even there, each will have a different timbre. Much like the failure of the rear-end in Buffalo. That sound was never from the back end, until at failure point. It was always up front, down low and why I ended up doing bearings and other front end parts, trying to eliminate a problem before it bit me. Seconds before total failure was when that noise made its location VERY clear, and at that point, well, it was sudden and noisy as the rear tires smoked from lockup at 60mph (to which, I would like to add: the design of those axle shafts, ROCK solid,,, Didn’t show signs of twisting/warping during tear down later.)

Its domestics day. voice is still rough and scratchy, and I am going to make a run to get some Theraflu or something to help with symptoms I am dealing with still. Fever broke around 3am,, but I am not out of the woods yet: gotta keep hammering on the buggies.

Due to voice and focus issues, no podcast as I said last night. Next week, pinky swear,,, No idea what the subject will be: maybe y’all could have some say on that in comments,,, Fire away,,, might be fun to have a challenge presented.

I gotta get at the rest of the day,,, y’all take care out there today.

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Dio’s HOt TOttiE,,,

2 shots of FINE Proofed vodka (Bourbon works too, depends on your tastes,,, With what I add, I prefer Vodka)

1/2teaspn Cinnamon

1/2Teaspn Ground Ginger (fresh works too, but gives it a ‘flowery’ flavor.)

STEEP the spices in the Vodka for 10 minutes. Start you water to heating at this time.

In a separate cup, 1 Tbspn of REAL HONEY,,, Get locally raised if you can, it really DOES have better health benefits as the stuff that makes you sick is LOCAL,,,,

1/2 squeezed Lemon, or REAL lemon Juice, try to avoid the processed ‘from frozen’ shit. If you can’t, is what it is, but,,,,

Add your 100 degree-ish water to the honey/lemon mixture, stir until well mixed.

Add to your ‘cocktail of spices and alKEEhaul,,, (Getting a buzz on,,,)

The Cinnamon helps your body raise its internal temperature. The Ginger helps you gut process all the crap you are sending at it,,, (the alcohol mostly,) and also helps raise your temperature. Its also a natural astringent, helps kill buggies,,,, the alcohol,,, Well, It IS a poison,,,, Just one we have adapted to somewhat. Not all the biologics of this world have,,,

You will have to stir occasionally, as the ground ginger likes to settle, and you DO want that in your belly.

This is actually a variation on my morning drink. In that, I use the Apple Cider vinegar instead fot he Vodka, and I use Olive oil over the Honey. Other than that, Same basis. diifferent targets.

OK,,,,Just started the shower, Drink is almost gone, brain is floating a touch,,, and I have warm wear and lots of blankets to keep the uptick in temps contained and focused.

MOre tomorrow, wish me well please….

Due to unforseen illness, The Cog Speaks will be delayed one week.

Woke up in the wee hours with a scratchy throat (and why No Podcast,,, Sound like pure hell right now) and by dawn, that had started making a beachhead in my bronchii to attempt a Coup de Pnuemonia.

On the Anti-biotics to fight that, and LOTS AND LOTS OF FLUIDS, Saline flushes of the sinuses to fight the Bugs Logistics chain, and gargling salt water and Listerine alternately, for the same purpose (and to sooth that throat.)

And,,, To add insult to injury, Its NICE out,, Like Spring-like, not the Witches teat Cold the Weather liars warned of. ((Still calling for sleet tomorrow and snow on monday,,,, We’ll see,,,))

I did manage to get a little done on Twuck, at least pulled the Mastercylinder and line to the clutch,,, Lots of ICK sucked out of the resevoir so I decided to not fuck around here,,, Did manage to get it where clear fluid was flowing through the end of the line, but by that point, my body temps were burning my eyelids up and I decided, “th e slave cylinder can wait, Health wins out”. Tools put up, cleaned up, and Home now. Getting my Hot Tottie arranged and I turned up the T-stat on the water heater a touch. Gonna try to burn this out the old fashioned way. Lots of blankets piled up on the bed, and Fresh sheets off to the side so I can change out after I soak the current ones.

live, learn, love, laugh, LOAD More tomorrow

oh yeah,,, Twucks Title came in today, in my name, all legal-eagle like,,,, Another small win, (was told 4 weeks,,,, Took one.)

Not whorin’ mind you,

Nopes, climbed under Twuck again, this time to look at the slave cylinder and how hard it will be to flush and bleed the system and see what I actually have/haven’t and what if anything needs replaced. While under there, I looked up at the frame and Sho;nuff, right there, where the frame does it’s drop into the main from the front rise: it’s wet,, I found my blown brake line. Rusted as F! and not surprising. Gonna be some repair there, and not just that ‘little section’, oh no!,,, I learned that lesson once upon a time back in me younger days.

Dunno that I am gonna be able to do the clutch work this weekend. Its pissing down kats and dawgs out there right now, and not supposed to let up much tomorrow. THEN, the bottom is supposed to drop out and things get cold, wet and KOLD, Snowy, in that order.

But I’ma gonna try,,,

Looking at things, I really want some upgrades as well. LED lights where I can find alternates for starters. Much like that touchscreen interface I mentioned in a previous post, I DO see the advantages of some upgrades to older tech. I found LED replacements for the headlamps, which, as you can see in the first set of pics I posted, ARE NEEDED. The ones that were in here had split and were burned up and one had a plant growing in it,,, NO, that one ain’t gonna work no matter how many prayers get sent on high. Oh, and those replacement bulbs I had in the shed,,,, Not so mucho,,, Twuck takes a 6054,,, I had 4666’s. NO MATCH,,,looked close, but not gonna do it.

Right now, the internal argument between myself and I, is “spend the money now: as in Cry once” or the counter argument “Keep to budget and deal with it when the finances free up”. both valid points. I haven’t decided yet: I did put BOTH in my online cart, and when I finally have enough to justify ordering, I will decide then. I don’t want to spend oodles of cash on shipping tidbits here and there,,, Get a few items and spend the one shipping fee or none at all on shipping.

For what its worth to y’all: RockAuto and Amazon are my goto’s right now. Everywhere else I look is triple or more in price. I’m not a scrooge, I’m closer to broke: LOL. The bills WILL get paid,,, just might take some time.

I hate to say it, but the markups that some places are applying to things is damned near criminal. Like at the J.O.B.,,, we needed 40′ of #41 drive chain to finish that install I started Turdsday. Son of Bossman found some local, at $10 a FOOT! the bill, including enough master links to make the sections a full 40′ was close to $500,,, After work, I looked on the Zon and found a roll of 100′ and 15 master links, for $1.39/ft with free shipping,,, I sent the link to Son of, with the caveat “might wanna get some for future needs, you know we will need it.” and got back a thumbs up and a thanks.

In the automotive world, I see similar. I can find the same things online, for a third of what local wants to charge, and I would bet (in one case, no bet, its a given) they are ordering from RockAuto and applying a hefty markup. I understand profit, but TRIPLE? I think I’ll take my cash elsewhere,,,,

That kills local economies, and I don’t like it, but there is NO WAY I can afford local at triple markups. And in this economy, I know I ain’t alone in that.

Now, there are some things I am going to get locally, like the solid lines for that brake repair. I may pay more, but will have the conveinence of “if it ain’t right, they are up the road” not waiting a week or more for a replacement, and iffy refund policies. Plus, I can take the old parts with and match what I need (like proper thread size and such.)(and I don’t get hit with “oversized package” fees, like I would get ordering a 10′ section of solid hydraulic line. It all balances in this case.)

On other points, I still have not tried cutting that P-brake cable at the hub and seeing if that frees my rear wheel up. THAT will happen this weekend. Would have happened this eve, ‘ceptin’ I forgot my cut-off wheels at the J.O.B. and didn’t have one on my grinder,,, That’s a’ight,,, I has keys to the shop. Just didn’t feel like runing back at that point,,, I have all weekend (kinda, weather y’know,,,)

So what DID I do, other than Eye-ball leaks and needs?

I gave Twuck a bath

One that she almost sighed over,,, Not a full bath, but enough to get that decade worth of algae off her skin. She’s shiny under all that muck!!! And of course, my curse “wash truck, gonna rain” came true, again! I did not wax her, so no big deal, just a wet scrub down and rinse to wash off the muck. Shit was rolling off her was BLACK at first. Blech!

She almost looks respectable right now,,, Headlights would go along way to make the look complete,,,, among many other things,,, So much more to do before she is road ready.

Ok, yawns are catching up to me, time to call it an early Freeday evenin’ and go watch the show on the insides of my eyelids,,,

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I wanted BLOO-Twuck.

Seriously, every reason I have ever wanted a contractors grade rolling tool box, came forth today and bit me in the ass. A double install of powered gates,,, We set the pedastools yesterday (and that concrete was still green today,,, it got COLD last night) and this morn, loaded up the gear for install, and all the parts and peices that make up that install.
Gear included the shop welder and a bottle of welding gas, as well as the 7K genny to run the beast.

And lord did I NEED that welder today. Seems that the company that builds the controllers decided to change the design a bit. I had to cut the top of the pedastools apart and turn them 90degrees: just to get the controllers lined up to the gate properly. Plus adding on the chain mounts and one extension to a pole so We could raise the gate up a few inches: had to, as the gate runs level, but the ground AIN’T!!!

And I am not even going to go fully into the SNAFU that our supplier sent us,,, Not even,, Only know, when I saw some of the stuff this morning, I walked it over to Son of Bossman, asking, “WTF?!?!” The customer even declined this stuff,,,, LOL. There were a couple of other F!U!”s from them, and that means that I am back there tomorrow, to finish up AFTER we go get the right shit.

But yah, Had I had BLOO-Twuck running, my tools would have been ALL right there, and some of the McGuyvering I was reduced to, would have taken half the time. One of my Assistants today, got a lesson in WHY I am the go-to guy for shit. He got to see at least three instances where “Dio knows NOTHING about this Box you speak of”, as I used tools in ways the designers NEVER thought of, to accomplish some “alterations” to things to make them work.

He even got to see me welding upside down, literally hanging upside down to get at my points, half of which were also blind welds. (where you can’t see the puddle, only the edge of the arc,, maybe,,,)

And I kept telling him, “I have no idea what I am doing, I’m making it up as I go along”. Which is True, as I never have any idea what sort of wild ass shit the suppliers will sell Bossman next week. I just have to make it work!!! THAT is my job,,,

Woulda been nice to have a truck full of tools and extra parts,,,,, Not just the “Idunno” bag of stuff I toss on the trucks in current logistics. That’s the “Promise” I heard from BLOO-Twuck when I saw her mouldering away in that back lot. Thats the promise I am busting my nuts (and finances) to bring to fruition. The Promise of Availablity and Adaptability. (and an escape route, one in my control.)

Tonights efforts on BLOO-Twuck were piddlin’. I spent the evening after work (while I had light) to put the cab/dash back together for the upcoming festivities of Hydraulic diags. Yes, I will pull that tank (and I did dip it to see how much is in it, NOT MUCH,,, Dipstick came back up, wet only on the last inch) only because I want to clean out rust, which I KNOW it has now. No way it couldn’t being that low in volume with gasahol in her.

But more important, right now, is sorting out the clutch system, and make sure that functions, and whether or not I need to pull the trans and replace the slave cylinder (and the clutch since I am in there) AND!!! Figure out where the brake lines are blown at. (freeing up that rear wheel too.)

And of course, the weather is slotted to NOT cooperate with me this weekend. Calling for a wet Satyrday, and COLD damp Sonday, leading into Thunderboomers/sleeting overnight and snow on Muhnday. I’ll get SOMETHING done, just may not be much as the weather is going to make a big impact on that.

It’s winter time,,, Or near enough in my opinion. Short days, long nights, feels like we’re runnin’ outta time.

Keep the head up, walk tall, walk with confidence. This ain’t just about “J.O.B.” This is MY future I am working on. One step at time, small baby steps if need be, but one step at a time,,,,

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