This is the answer to my old question, "I wonder why tongue & groove siding went out of style?" Walls are fairly easy. Ceilings are a real pain in the derrière.
Looks good, though.
Weekend Eve Meme Dump!
15 hours ago
Thursday, October 14, 2010
"And that is QUITE enough of that!"
So said Landlady after six freaking hours putting up tongue & groove cedar on her front overhang. And I thank whatever gods there may be that the house only has the one overhang.
This is the answer to my old question, "I wonder why tongue & groove siding went out of style?" Walls are fairly easy. Ceilings are a real pain in the derrière.
Looks good, though.
This is the answer to my old question, "I wonder why tongue & groove siding went out of style?" Walls are fairly easy. Ceilings are a real pain in the derrière.
Looks good, though.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Joel Ludd ... In the Twenty-First ... CENTURY!!
Well, I went to town today, hoping to buy a new pair of boots. Found the boots for quite a bit less than I feared, and did something completely frivolous with some of the surplus. I bought myself one of them thar MP3 player thangs.
Yup, I do admit that my consumer electronics elevator stopped going to the top right around the time cassette tape players went out of style. If it weren't for cell phones being so cheap there's virtually no excuse not to have one, I wouldn't. Blackberry? IPhone? Whazzat? But now I got me a little doodad that plays music right into your ear.
Supposedly it'll even work with ebooks and videos, though it's hard to imagine wanting to do either of those things on that itsy-bitsy little screen. Still, the old CD player I brought to the Lair doesn't work worth a damn, and the radio only gets two channels down in the Lair's holler and they're both (erg) country music. So I guess it was time.
I do use Linux, though, so some of my geek karma ought to be on the good side of the ledger, right?
I mean ... spreadsheet.
Yup, I do admit that my consumer electronics elevator stopped going to the top right around the time cassette tape players went out of style. If it weren't for cell phones being so cheap there's virtually no excuse not to have one, I wouldn't. Blackberry? IPhone? Whazzat? But now I got me a little doodad that plays music right into your ear.
Supposedly it'll even work with ebooks and videos, though it's hard to imagine wanting to do either of those things on that itsy-bitsy little screen. Still, the old CD player I brought to the Lair doesn't work worth a damn, and the radio only gets two channels down in the Lair's holler and they're both (erg) country music. So I guess it was time.
I do use Linux, though, so some of my geek karma ought to be on the good side of the ledger, right?
I mean ... spreadsheet.
The S in NASA stands for ... um ... Wait, I used to know this one...
Stupid foreign policy?
James Hansen, the head of one of President Barack Obama’s NASA labs, came to Canada last week to tell us not to allow a French company called Total to proceed with its Canadian oilsands project.
Even for Obama, that’s quite a foreign policy accomplishment: Interfering with two allies at once.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Anybody want a dog?
Oh, man.
I've been loosening the leash on Little Bear for some time, and thinking we were making real progress. He maybe goes down the slope alone for activities in the pursuit of which any of us would prefer privacy, but other than that he's been really good about not wandering off.
Until Friday evening, when I turned my back for a moment, he and Ghost disappeared, and less than ten minutes later I got a call from D&L. Right back to their old ways.
This morning, a morning for which I had serious plans, they pulled something really different. I loaded the Jeep's trailer with two very heavy batteries and the woodstove's concrete pedestal. Loaded the boys in the Jeep and went down to the Meadow House to pick up some stuff. Left the boys in the Jeep with the door open; if they get out they won't go far, because they know damned well the Jeep will be leaving again.
Come back out - no dogs anywhere. I figure, well, they'll hear the Jeep leaving and chase. So I drive out of the meadow.
No dogs.
Now I've got a problem. I can't unhitch the trailer because its load is too heavy. I can't go trolling through the desert for the dogs, because the batteries won't survive the jouncing. So I've no choice but to go to the Lair and unload the trailer. Hopefully the boys will either come back home or I'll get a call from D&L. Neither happens.
So by the time I get the trailer unloaded I'm in quite a state. I go home, no dogs. I drop the trailer and troll through the wash, no dogs. I go to D&L's. No dogs.
Up the road, no dogs. J&H's, no dogs. Back home, no dogs. I can't find them anywhere.
I've left word with all my neighbors to call me if they see my dogs, then there's just no place left to look. I go to the Lair and try to work, but I can't relax when I don't know where the boys are.
Finally about 10:30 my two miscreants show up at D&L's like there's nothing wrong. I'm ready to disembowel them both, but at least they aren't hurt. Here there really be monsters, and they really shouldn't be running around the desert loose. There's apparently nothing to do but go back to being LB's jailer, because there's no question in this world that he's the ringleader. One way or another this shite has got to stop.
I did, at least, get some good work done today though not all I'd hoped. I knocked down some old pallets for their 4X4's, and used them to build a heavy table for the batteries. I now have three big gel cells that have responded well to charging with the solar panels, and this afternoon I strenuously levered all of them onto the table - Oh, how I wish I'd made it less high - and cabled them all together. That felt like I broke my back, so in the morning I'll put together some sort of rack for the solar panels and wire them together, then connect them to my new, improved battery bank. That should give me some serious depth at last.
Maybe I'll even be able to use power tools!
I've been loosening the leash on Little Bear for some time, and thinking we were making real progress. He maybe goes down the slope alone for activities in the pursuit of which any of us would prefer privacy, but other than that he's been really good about not wandering off.
Until Friday evening, when I turned my back for a moment, he and Ghost disappeared, and less than ten minutes later I got a call from D&L. Right back to their old ways.
This morning, a morning for which I had serious plans, they pulled something really different. I loaded the Jeep's trailer with two very heavy batteries and the woodstove's concrete pedestal. Loaded the boys in the Jeep and went down to the Meadow House to pick up some stuff. Left the boys in the Jeep with the door open; if they get out they won't go far, because they know damned well the Jeep will be leaving again.
Come back out - no dogs anywhere. I figure, well, they'll hear the Jeep leaving and chase. So I drive out of the meadow.
No dogs.
Now I've got a problem. I can't unhitch the trailer because its load is too heavy. I can't go trolling through the desert for the dogs, because the batteries won't survive the jouncing. So I've no choice but to go to the Lair and unload the trailer. Hopefully the boys will either come back home or I'll get a call from D&L. Neither happens.
So by the time I get the trailer unloaded I'm in quite a state. I go home, no dogs. I drop the trailer and troll through the wash, no dogs. I go to D&L's. No dogs.
Up the road, no dogs. J&H's, no dogs. Back home, no dogs. I can't find them anywhere.
I've left word with all my neighbors to call me if they see my dogs, then there's just no place left to look. I go to the Lair and try to work, but I can't relax when I don't know where the boys are.
Finally about 10:30 my two miscreants show up at D&L's like there's nothing wrong. I'm ready to disembowel them both, but at least they aren't hurt. Here there really be monsters, and they really shouldn't be running around the desert loose. There's apparently nothing to do but go back to being LB's jailer, because there's no question in this world that he's the ringleader. One way or another this shite has got to stop.
I did, at least, get some good work done today though not all I'd hoped. I knocked down some old pallets for their 4X4's, and used them to build a heavy table for the batteries. I now have three big gel cells that have responded well to charging with the solar panels, and this afternoon I strenuously levered all of them onto the table - Oh, how I wish I'd made it less high - and cabled them all together. That felt like I broke my back, so in the morning I'll put together some sort of rack for the solar panels and wire them together, then connect them to my new, improved battery bank. That should give me some serious depth at last.
Maybe I'll even be able to use power tools!
The song in my head...
...has been in there, off and on, for the past few days and as usual I couldn't begin to tell you why. I could only remember two lines, and one of them was wrong. Didn't know what group recorded it. It's apropo of exactly nothing.
My brain is broken.
My brain is broken.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Old trucks and tractors...
Okay, so M's tractor is running fine now, right? So naturally it needs a better test. I fired it up this morning and drove it to J&H's to move some manure during my regular shit-shoveling visit, and it didn't give me the slightest trouble. Called D and arranged to meet him at his place, because I needed a more experienced eye to help me find all the grease fittings. Some of the fittings have grease so hard I KNOW they haven't been greased since the Clinton administration, best case. All the links really need lubing, and I didn't want to miss any.
Drove it over there, and again no problem. We're standing in the yard, talking, and L says, "What's that dripping?" This is never a welcome question.
Pretty clearly what was dripping was engine coolant. I raised the hood and poked around, and the drip became a - well, not quite a gush but the lower radiator hose was pretty clearly toast. We got a drain pan under the engine and I pulled it right off the radiator, clamp and all. Oil has been leaking onto it for quite some time, and the hose was all rubbery.
Sigh. D wanted to go to town anyway, fortunately, so I tagged along. Naturally the town's only auto parts store didn't have the right hose, I didn't expect that, but I did hope there would be something close. Nope. Fortunately the old hose is symmetrical: It fits just as well either way. So I put it back on upside-down and it clamped on fine. Brought back two gallons of coolant. Topped it off, and just now drove it home. Slowly. Carefully.
This thing is taking me back to cars I owned when I was a teenager. They're not particularly happy memories, doncha know.
Drove it over there, and again no problem. We're standing in the yard, talking, and L says, "What's that dripping?" This is never a welcome question.
Pretty clearly what was dripping was engine coolant. I raised the hood and poked around, and the drip became a - well, not quite a gush but the lower radiator hose was pretty clearly toast. We got a drain pan under the engine and I pulled it right off the radiator, clamp and all. Oil has been leaking onto it for quite some time, and the hose was all rubbery.
Sigh. D wanted to go to town anyway, fortunately, so I tagged along. Naturally the town's only auto parts store didn't have the right hose, I didn't expect that, but I did hope there would be something close. Nope. Fortunately the old hose is symmetrical: It fits just as well either way. So I put it back on upside-down and it clamped on fine. Brought back two gallons of coolant. Topped it off, and just now drove it home. Slowly. Carefully.
This thing is taking me back to cars I owned when I was a teenager. They're not particularly happy memories, doncha know.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Al Sharpton is upset. Democrats aren't being proactive enough about being passive.
Seriously. I could post the clip here, I do it enough, but ... Nah. I really don't want him here.
Y'know, at different times in my life I've been hungry and I've been full. In the former case, the government was sometimes to blame, directly or indirectly. In the latter, I never had the government to thank. On those occasions when all was well, my livelihood and child were taken care of and all our health care needs were covered, it wasn't because of somebody I'd voted for. It wasn't because I'd convinced a sugar daddy to rob somebody else and give the proceeds to me. There are many things in my life about which I'm less than completely proud, but I never worked for the government and I never sold my soul for a handout from it.
I'm kind of retired now. My child is grown, my responsibilities are minimal, and I'm really not interested in holding a regular job. I live on a variable income that averages somewhere around fifty dollars a week. On that income, I'm building a house. And when I take money it's generally because of something I did to earn it. And when I accept kindness from friends they know they can expect kindness in return, because that's the way my friends and I treat one another.
I don't have a lot, but I have that. And you know what? I think that makes me richer by far than Al Sharpton and all the parasites in his audience, no matter how extensive their belongings. They could heap treasures to the sky and still never be filled, because there would always be a demagogue to tell them they deserve more of someone else's time and toil. And so they will never know the key to a contented life, which is how to be hungry and how to be full. They will never understand that good in life never, ever comes from what you can take from others, no matter how fervently you believe that those others deserve to be taken from.
They will never have life, no matter if they end their days in mansions. And though I'll admit that I have no sympathy for the fate of a parasite, sometimes I do find that sad.
Maybe if all was well and you could sit down and know that your livelihood was taken care of and your children were taken care of and you had all of your health care needs covered, I could see it.
Y'know, at different times in my life I've been hungry and I've been full. In the former case, the government was sometimes to blame, directly or indirectly. In the latter, I never had the government to thank. On those occasions when all was well, my livelihood and child were taken care of and all our health care needs were covered, it wasn't because of somebody I'd voted for. It wasn't because I'd convinced a sugar daddy to rob somebody else and give the proceeds to me. There are many things in my life about which I'm less than completely proud, but I never worked for the government and I never sold my soul for a handout from it.
I'm kind of retired now. My child is grown, my responsibilities are minimal, and I'm really not interested in holding a regular job. I live on a variable income that averages somewhere around fifty dollars a week. On that income, I'm building a house. And when I take money it's generally because of something I did to earn it. And when I accept kindness from friends they know they can expect kindness in return, because that's the way my friends and I treat one another.
I don't have a lot, but I have that. And you know what? I think that makes me richer by far than Al Sharpton and all the parasites in his audience, no matter how extensive their belongings. They could heap treasures to the sky and still never be filled, because there would always be a demagogue to tell them they deserve more of someone else's time and toil. And so they will never know the key to a contented life, which is how to be hungry and how to be full. They will never understand that good in life never, ever comes from what you can take from others, no matter how fervently you believe that those others deserve to be taken from.
They will never have life, no matter if they end their days in mansions. And though I'll admit that I have no sympathy for the fate of a parasite, sometimes I do find that sad.
Yep. Good day.
Landlady's been having some financial troubles of her own, for which "while you're building a house" is never a good time. But that's what friends are for, and yesterday we passed a milestone. We (well, she) got the breaker box all wired, and one complete string of outlets. They forgot to bring outlets from the city, and that was a problem because the local place where a hardware store should be is never adequately stocked with...well, anything. But M went to town and brought back the one box of 10 outlets they had in the whole place, which allowed us to wire up a complete circuit.
Then S the Weekender Neighbor came over to make sense of our electrical system's ad-hoc wiring and connect the cable for the house. Down the slope, throw a couple of breakers, stick a saw in an outlet, and - it works! Yay! I dug out an old table lamp I've carried with me since high school - kind of a good-luck charm, long story - and they had light at night! She was happy, which made us happy. There aren't any electrical appliances yet, but there's electricity.
This morning we went to M's Dome and laid some block, but only kept at it for a couple of hours because that's all the cement we had. Which also made us happy. All in all a good weekend, and it's only Sunday morning.
Then S the Weekender Neighbor came over to make sense of our electrical system's ad-hoc wiring and connect the cable for the house. Down the slope, throw a couple of breakers, stick a saw in an outlet, and - it works! Yay! I dug out an old table lamp I've carried with me since high school - kind of a good-luck charm, long story - and they had light at night! She was happy, which made us happy. There aren't any electrical appliances yet, but there's electricity.
This morning we went to M's Dome and laid some block, but only kept at it for a couple of hours because that's all the cement we had. Which also made us happy. All in all a good weekend, and it's only Sunday morning.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
And then, depression set in - Pt 2
So this morning I'm down in the Meadow House helping Landlady do some wiring. We installed the breaker box, I stripped a bunch of wire, then she went to work wiring the box while M and I installed outlets. M went up to the ridge for something, and I heard the tractor start. No problem, I'd told him the engine was running but the clutch was FUBAR and I didn't know why. I couldn't see the tractor from the window I was looking through, but I heard it running.
And then...the tractor slowly backed into my view. With M in the driver's seat.
Needless to say, I awaited his return with something closely resembling impatient anticipation.
Me: What did you do? How'd you get it to go into gear?
M: Oh, I put it in gear before I started it.
Me: Yeah, okay, but then it wouldn't stop when you stepped on the clutch, right?
M: No. It stopped fine.
Me: HUH? How the $#@! did the ^$^&* stop when the (*&^@$ wasn't *&^@$! working? That's so @#$%ing )&*^$ed up I can't even ^$^&*%$ believe this !@#$%^. (I said this very calmly.)
And now, having jogged off whatever gear tooth the transmission was having trouble engaging/disengaging from, the tractor works...just...fine.
I'm keeping him around until his golden aura of invincible luck goes away. Then I'm gonna murder him in his sleep.
And then...the tractor slowly backed into my view. With M in the driver's seat.
Needless to say, I awaited his return with something closely resembling impatient anticipation.
Me: What did you do? How'd you get it to go into gear?
M: Oh, I put it in gear before I started it.
Me: Yeah, okay, but then it wouldn't stop when you stepped on the clutch, right?
M: No. It stopped fine.
Me: HUH? How the $#@! did the ^$^&* stop when the (*&^@$ wasn't *&^@$! working? That's so @#$%ing )&*^$ed up I can't even ^$^&*%$ believe this !@#$%^. (I said this very calmly.)
And now, having jogged off whatever gear tooth the transmission was having trouble engaging/disengaging from, the tractor works...just...fine.
I'm keeping him around until his golden aura of invincible luck goes away. Then I'm gonna murder him in his sleep.
Friday, October 8, 2010
I just learned something that makes me a little sad.
Why should I care about a columnist when - left or right - I usually just keep them around for laughs? Sobran seemed to be an unusually honest and courageous one. Once an up-and-coming conservative pundit, he actually broke with William Buckley over Reagan's Libya bombing and the whole question of whether what's good for Zionism is good for America. Since then he went even further afield, and that couldn't have been an easy path to walk for a person who considered himself a conservative.
R.I.P.
ETA: The ambiguity of his conservative status didn't keep him from tearing long, bloody strips off Bill Clinton at every opportunity. I just found my very favorite from that period. Enjoy.
You gotta admit, the thing is just...Awesome!
U.S. District Judge, George Streeh, of the Eastern District of Michigan ruled that Congress does have the authority to enact a key part of President Obama's healthcare law reform, requiring US citizens to obtain coverage by 2014. The day Obama signed it into law, the Thomas More Law Center had filed a lawsuit arguing that it was an unconstitutional tax outside Congress authority. The latest ruling said that under the ...Wait for it...
... Commerce Clause of the American Constitution ...THERE it is!
... a penalty could be imposed on those who did not get insurance coverage.Ah, the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause! Is there nothing it can't do?
Y'know, the mornings have been getting pretty nippy lately. I wonder if I could get the CC to let the dogs out and bring me coffee in bed? 'Cause that'd be pretty cool. And much less annoying than this.
H/T to Claire.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
As God is My Witness, I'll Never Be Itchy Again!
Finally.
There's a bit of insulation I never got around to installing in the Lair, because, well, I dreaded it. It's the part of the side walls between the main stretch and the rather radically pitched roof, and I put it off so long that I only made things worse for myself by installing interior walls for the bathroom that are really in the way, and crowded the rest with a bunch of other stuff that's always in the way.
But I got'er done today, and that's the very last of the insulation. Didn't really have enough fiberglass batting to do the job before I tore down the old pantry house, and most of that was in pretty rough shape, which meant I needed to cut intact pieces out of every old strip and fit them into place on the walls. But it was doable, since most of what those wall sections needed was pretty small. So today the insulation is finally DONE! AT LAST! DONE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I"M DONE AT LAST!
I also got a good start on installing the toilet - though I'm gonna be digging the whole damned septic system out by hand if I can't find out what's wrong with the tractor's clutch. Got the hole cut in the floor for the flange, then climbed under the cabin and dug out the trench with an old entrenching tool, which in our "soil" was every bit as fun as it sounds. But it's done now, and I'm ready to lay pipe.
Four things I need now, to render the cabin minimally habitable for winter: Treads for the loft ladder, wood stove, kitchen sink and stove, and toilet. M called me last night, though, and told me the pipe flanges for the pipe treads I was going to use would cost me $150 - just for the flanges. Well, that ain't gonna happen. But I can still make treads out of 2X6's laid on 2X4's, and though it's a poor second-best that's probably what I'll do. If I find a source of flanges later, I can always install pipe treads later. I haven't been able to get into the loft with anything other than a ladder since I put up the interior panelling, and there's no way I'm doing that all winter. A ladder takes up pretty much the whole damned open part of the cabin.
The toilet's the hard part, because of all the damage Monsoon did to my septic pit and trenches. But if I've gotta dig, then dig I must. Of course I'll try to fix the tractor first, but so far the only information I've been able to find on the clutch in the service manual is that it's got one. I knew that, and can't believe that's all there is in the book. So I must be missing something; I'll bring the other volumes up from the Meadow House where M left them and try again. I don't even know if the thing's hydraulic or mechanical, though I see no sign of a hydraulic cylinder external to the transmission. But if it's mechanical, why would it suddenly not work? It worked fine when we parked the tractor for maintenance work.
There's a bit of insulation I never got around to installing in the Lair, because, well, I dreaded it. It's the part of the side walls between the main stretch and the rather radically pitched roof, and I put it off so long that I only made things worse for myself by installing interior walls for the bathroom that are really in the way, and crowded the rest with a bunch of other stuff that's always in the way.
But I got'er done today, and that's the very last of the insulation. Didn't really have enough fiberglass batting to do the job before I tore down the old pantry house, and most of that was in pretty rough shape, which meant I needed to cut intact pieces out of every old strip and fit them into place on the walls. But it was doable, since most of what those wall sections needed was pretty small. So today the insulation is finally DONE! AT LAST! DONE AT LAST! THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I"M DONE AT LAST!
I also got a good start on installing the toilet - though I'm gonna be digging the whole damned septic system out by hand if I can't find out what's wrong with the tractor's clutch. Got the hole cut in the floor for the flange, then climbed under the cabin and dug out the trench with an old entrenching tool, which in our "soil" was every bit as fun as it sounds. But it's done now, and I'm ready to lay pipe.
Four things I need now, to render the cabin minimally habitable for winter: Treads for the loft ladder, wood stove, kitchen sink and stove, and toilet. M called me last night, though, and told me the pipe flanges for the pipe treads I was going to use would cost me $150 - just for the flanges. Well, that ain't gonna happen. But I can still make treads out of 2X6's laid on 2X4's, and though it's a poor second-best that's probably what I'll do. If I find a source of flanges later, I can always install pipe treads later. I haven't been able to get into the loft with anything other than a ladder since I put up the interior panelling, and there's no way I'm doing that all winter. A ladder takes up pretty much the whole damned open part of the cabin.
The toilet's the hard part, because of all the damage Monsoon did to my septic pit and trenches. But if I've gotta dig, then dig I must. Of course I'll try to fix the tractor first, but so far the only information I've been able to find on the clutch in the service manual is that it's got one. I knew that, and can't believe that's all there is in the book. So I must be missing something; I'll bring the other volumes up from the Meadow House where M left them and try again. I don't even know if the thing's hydraulic or mechanical, though I see no sign of a hydraulic cylinder external to the transmission. But if it's mechanical, why would it suddenly not work? It worked fine when we parked the tractor for maintenance work.
Why do environmentalists hate children?
Don't bother answering that, I already know. Children are bad for the environment, because they may grow up to be carnivores or even (gasp) entrepreneurs.
Unlike polar bears, which only eat baby seals alive.
"Act-Responsible" is apparently an advertising group, of all things.
Unlike polar bears, which only eat baby seals alive.
"Act-Responsible" is apparently an advertising group, of all things.
Its goal is to federate, promote and inspire responsible communication on sustainability, equitable development and social responsibility. ACT shows how advertising professionals from all continents can use their core talent - creativity - to play a significant role in addressing today's crucial world issues.Personally I think ad executives seem to have lost their collective minds, right about the time they got tired of two ladies standing in a kitchen and rapturously discussing dish soap. As an example of their concern for "social issues," the above ad - which was apparently aimed at some expo in Cannes last year - makes me wish they'd go back to hawking detergent. Now with Extra Phosphates!
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
And then, depression set in.
So I got the engine running on the tractor. Yay me. Took long enough, but then I was just doing it in spare minutes, right? Not my tractor.
But then, having let it warm up through posting the previous, er, post, I go outside to play with it a bit. Take off the trickle charger, rescue my wrenches, swing the battery tray back over the engine.
Close the hood.
Climb into the seat.
Goose the throttle once or twice: Nice and smooth now.
Run the scoop up so it'll roll.
Engage the clutch. (Hm! That's a mighty easy clutch!)
Attempt to put it in gear. (GRIND)
Attempt to put it into another gear. (GRIND)
Hmm. I think maybe we got snookered.
But then, having let it warm up through posting the previous, er, post, I go outside to play with it a bit. Take off the trickle charger, rescue my wrenches, swing the battery tray back over the engine.
Close the hood.
Climb into the seat.
Goose the throttle once or twice: Nice and smooth now.
Run the scoop up so it'll roll.
Engage the clutch. (Hm! That's a mighty easy clutch!)
Attempt to put it in gear. (GRIND)
Attempt to put it into another gear. (GRIND)
Hmm. I think maybe we got snookered.
Jah! Jah! Der Gulchendiggensmoothen läuft!*
Alternate Title: "It was working fine before I fixed it."
Yes, after only about eight attempts at what turned out to be a very simple but apparently futile maintenance procedure, HPAV Gulchendiggensmoothen decided this afternoon that it had tortured me enough. Damned thing's finally running again, for the first time in nearly two weeks.
*Since I don't actually speak German, I may have just said "The Gulchendiggensmoothen Armoire," or something equally indescipherable. Play along.
Yes, after only about eight attempts at what turned out to be a very simple but apparently futile maintenance procedure, HPAV Gulchendiggensmoothen decided this afternoon that it had tortured me enough. Damned thing's finally running again, for the first time in nearly two weeks.
*Since I don't actually speak German, I may have just said "The Gulchendiggensmoothen Armoire," or something equally indescipherable. Play along.
How to lose a job in Events Support, in one easy lesson...
I'm not a big fan of his oratorical style, but he didn't handle this very badly. I wouldn't have played it up quite so big, but then I'm not Obama.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
This Modern World (and you're welcome to it.)
I am sitting in the cell phone lot at the Indy airport right now. This is simply a small lot a mile or more from the terminal where you can park whilst waiting for someone to arrive and call you.
Decent idea as it removes a significant amount of congestion from the terminal. My only question is this: given that there is - by design - nothing nearby except for a fenced employee lot, why is there are reserved handicapped spots.
Anyone?
H/T to Tam.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Sigh - October.
This kinda sucks.
September lasted for an eyeblink. This morning's got me rummaging around in the barn pantry for my winter woolies. Yeah, I knew I'd be peeling it off in an hour, but still. It sucks.
Ghost was really full of beans this morning, which was nice to see. He spends large periods of time acting like a grumpy old dog, and considering that this time last year I lost two old dogs in quick succession I find that unacceptable - particularly considering that Ghost is only about five. But this morning he wanted to PLAY! Wanted to PLAY! Let's go for a walky, Uncle Joel!
And the truth is I've been criminally remiss in the walky department lately. Most of the summer I've had some pressure sores on the side of my stump that Would! Not! Heal! The best that could be said for them was that they didn't ever get much worse, either. Can't blame the skin for the problem. If you were a patch of skin, I'd defy you to heal if you spent all day sweating into:
But the sores have been much better just lately, Uncle Joel is feeling pretty damned good, I certainly don't have the excuse that it's too hot, so off for walkies we go. Pretty quick I was sweating into that ill-advised overshirt. I know better than to do that. When preparing for a good walky, always dress at least one layer less than you need for comfortable warmth. It doesn't take long to regret that extra layer, once you get going.
After several tries, I'm still having trouble getting M's tractor going again. Bleeding the filter housing and the injector pump was a piece of cake, but I can't get the engine to pump the air out of the injector lines and I've worn the battery down twice trying. I get some dampness and bubbles, but no clear flow from any of the injector lines. At this rate I may need to wait for M to come up next weekend and was really planning to have it running long before then. It's not that complex, but so far it's not working. It is an irritation.
Ah, well. As usual I've a list of things I want to do today, and as usual by the end of the day I probably won't even get to half of them. I've cut all the tiles I need for the Lair's stove pedestal, but so far still haven't glued them into place because I can't find a single toothed trowel on the whole damned place and I know we have at least two. I still need to pull the shower tub up in the bathroom so I can install that new drain fitting I've had for over a week. Little stuff like that: Stuff that I really need to get off my duff and get moving on, because IT'S OCTOBER!
One thing that's really going surprisingly well is the matter of batteries for the Lair. There are all these big 12-volt gel cell batteries we obsoleted out last year; I pulled the ones with the best readings and tried to coax them back to life with a trickle charger, with no joy. But I've found that wiring them directly to an 18-volt solar panel and just leaving them in the sun for three weeks seems to work a lot better than I thought it would. I think that'd boil the electrolyte right out of a regular lead-acid battery, and am pleasantly surprised to learn that these maintenance-proof gel cells actually do have at least one advantage over the old-fashioned way.
Oops! Just got a call from H; I've overdue for shit-shoveling, and she's making bacon and eggs and wanted to know (snicker) if I (choke, chortle) wanted any.
Gotta go!
September lasted for an eyeblink. This morning's got me rummaging around in the barn pantry for my winter woolies. Yeah, I knew I'd be peeling it off in an hour, but still. It sucks.
Ghost was really full of beans this morning, which was nice to see. He spends large periods of time acting like a grumpy old dog, and considering that this time last year I lost two old dogs in quick succession I find that unacceptable - particularly considering that Ghost is only about five. But this morning he wanted to PLAY! Wanted to PLAY! Let's go for a walky, Uncle Joel!
And the truth is I've been criminally remiss in the walky department lately. Most of the summer I've had some pressure sores on the side of my stump that Would! Not! Heal! The best that could be said for them was that they didn't ever get much worse, either. Can't blame the skin for the problem. If you were a patch of skin, I'd defy you to heal if you spent all day sweating into:
- A nylon sheath
- A thick wool sock
- A closed-foam soft insert
- Two layers of other socky stuff, just to make up for the soft insert having pretty much collapsed from age
- A fiberglass prosthesis.
But the sores have been much better just lately, Uncle Joel is feeling pretty damned good, I certainly don't have the excuse that it's too hot, so off for walkies we go. Pretty quick I was sweating into that ill-advised overshirt. I know better than to do that. When preparing for a good walky, always dress at least one layer less than you need for comfortable warmth. It doesn't take long to regret that extra layer, once you get going.
After several tries, I'm still having trouble getting M's tractor going again. Bleeding the filter housing and the injector pump was a piece of cake, but I can't get the engine to pump the air out of the injector lines and I've worn the battery down twice trying. I get some dampness and bubbles, but no clear flow from any of the injector lines. At this rate I may need to wait for M to come up next weekend and was really planning to have it running long before then. It's not that complex, but so far it's not working. It is an irritation.
Ah, well. As usual I've a list of things I want to do today, and as usual by the end of the day I probably won't even get to half of them. I've cut all the tiles I need for the Lair's stove pedestal, but so far still haven't glued them into place because I can't find a single toothed trowel on the whole damned place and I know we have at least two. I still need to pull the shower tub up in the bathroom so I can install that new drain fitting I've had for over a week. Little stuff like that: Stuff that I really need to get off my duff and get moving on, because IT'S OCTOBER!
One thing that's really going surprisingly well is the matter of batteries for the Lair. There are all these big 12-volt gel cell batteries we obsoleted out last year; I pulled the ones with the best readings and tried to coax them back to life with a trickle charger, with no joy. But I've found that wiring them directly to an 18-volt solar panel and just leaving them in the sun for three weeks seems to work a lot better than I thought it would. I think that'd boil the electrolyte right out of a regular lead-acid battery, and am pleasantly surprised to learn that these maintenance-proof gel cells actually do have at least one advantage over the old-fashioned way.
Oops! Just got a call from H; I've overdue for shit-shoveling, and she's making bacon and eggs and wanted to know (snicker) if I (choke, chortle) wanted any.
Gotta go!
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