What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Mooseman]

@MRRSM, good choice. I have the exact same one except it's about 10 years old and branded Kenmore. Controls are a little different and I have an actual LCD display that gives messages. It's been really good except for a few issues. The top rack's wheels broke off, which I fixed by using plastic nuts and bolts. The top rack slider end locks also broke off, allowing the top rack to just fall off the rails when pulled out, which I fixed by using zip ties. And finally the oversudsing sensor needed replacing. The one thing I thought that would break but didn't was the bottom spray bar, which on mine has an actual set of gears to turn a mini spray bar similar to yours. It did leak once which was attributable to some crud between the seal and door. The one thing I dislike is the filter and screen that has to be cleaned every once in a while and difficult to get all the shmoo out. Which reminds me, I should do that now

 

[BrianF]

I did some more prep on the future pasture. The old previous owners had an old garden on the south side that has long grown in. But the kicker is it was fenced with barbed wire, which was over grown, fell from the posts and tangled in the grass.

I used the old trusty C1500 to yank most of it out, where I cut it down into segments and hauled to the dump. Tomorrow I will yank out the posts and get my saw out to knock down more brush.

 

[Mooseman]

On one of the hottest and sweatiest days of the year, what do I decide to do? Haul all the accumulated metal to the recycler. Weighed it all in at 1160lbs and all I got was $52. I had a 9lb aluminum drive shaft and all I got for that was $3.40. Either metal prices have tanked or I got ripped off. First time going to this yard and didn't get a good feeling there.

 

[BrianF]

Knock out some teeth and roll in with stripped copper wire and batteries. You will get along just fine.

 

[northcreek]

Guess I'll be Chainsawing today. Severe thunderstorms rolled through last night and split a big Maple which fell next to our fire ring area. So F'n humid/hot out I may wait until the cold front this w.e.
Can't really complain after seeing what the people on the West Coast are dealing with.

 

[BrianF]

Alright boys, last night my hip and back seized up so I was able to get my back cracked this morning. I get twisted into a pretzel and hip fcked. My SI gives out a very uncomfortable crack sound and like a Criss Angel mind freak I walk in like a partially upright archaic human and walk out upright and somewhat respectable.

I eased into the day with coffee and ibuprofen and then headed out to the shed to fix my Magnum 500. Last time I used it the pulser or trigger coil must have acted up. It fires fine with the recoil but won't using the electric start. Possibly the coil is shot or the likely scenario that the gap widened and some corrosion got in the way.

Its easy to rip the recoil cover off and cleaned rhe flywheel with brake cleaner and some emory cloth. I pulled the coil off, cleaned it and went to bolt it back on (I really should have tested resistance for a proper diagnosis) and went to bolt it back in but the aluminum threads must have galled as neither machine screw would thread. Of course I have no chaser so I shimmed them and angrily bolted them on. The gap went from approx. 1mm to that of a thick sheet of paper. Buttoned everything back up and she fired right up. My youngest and I went for a rip in the country to test.

This evening I will tackle the door on my Trailblazer, which needs to be bent out.

 

[BrianF]

So I did a full brake bleed on my quad and yes accidentally let the master cylinder go partly dry. Thankfully its a small and easy system. The handlebar mounted MC runs the front and rear brakes while the foot MC runs just the back.

The back needs new pads but has a spacer between them so there is no metal on metal when they are toast. I used an extension cord tied to the foot pedal to cycle it for a pressure bleed as it would not gravity bleed. Then did the hubs since they are so easy.

Now for thr real fun.... my Mormon van... I wanted to drop the spare to check pressure and ensure its release mechanism works. Must have been designed by GM as it has a safety catch that rusts in place. Of course there is zero room to work so I need to keep digging to get this freed.

 

[BrianF]

So the van was not as bad as I thought. The dmsafety mech was not over rusted, just packed with dirt. I used to jacks to hold the tire up and then unwound the cable a bit. There was two folding ears that once free of dirt would fold up and rhe tired dropped. The twin hook safety was then visible and easy to free.

Other than the cable bound up in one place going down, it releases and winds up nice. The tire was damn near flat so it was topped up. She is good to go.

 

[Blckshdw]

Had a pretty slow day in the office today. So slow, that I was nodding off during a webinar from corporate. Good thing I had my door shut! lol Later in the afternoon, had a little going away gig for 3 coworkers who are leaving. Had some cake, drinks, and idle chit chat until people started sneaking off.

Now at home, questioning some of my decisions in life. When 2 of my friends go out of town, I usually watch their dogs for them. Problem is, over the years they keep getting more dogs. Started with 2 small breeds for the longest time. Then they got a bigger one, so he'd have one that could go running with him. That one has a lot of energy, so they got another large breed to play with and keep up. On top of that, I have my sister's dog for a month while she's between homes.

What could make this even more complicated you ask? I got a brand new sectional that's not even a week old. Bought some couch covers for it to protect against fur, and the frequent paw licking that at least one of them is always bound to have. Not to mention when I have my niece over, cuz 2 year olds eating is

Took a little while to get everyone to calm down after getting dropped off. So much barking, but a little romp in the back yard after the rain helped get their minds right. The true test will be bedtime, and if they all stay peaceful through the night. Thankfully I work from home tomorrow, so I'll be able to keep an eye on them.

 

[Mooseman]

Drove Mrs Moose to get x-rays and an MRI done of her shoulder and while she was in there, went for a Costco run for a few items. Then we headed up to the cottage for a day trip. BIL is redoing some concrete steps and also got satellite internet installed. I supplied a router to use with it. Not bad service, about 8mbps down and .5 up however the lag is horrible (>1000ms ping) which is understandable. This will work until Musk's Starlink is available, which is currently in limited beta testing.

 

[xavierny25]

Worked on the pantry though out the week (1hr here and there) and its finally finished.
This is going to make for a very happy wife and we all know what that means. NO its not "happy wife happy life" Its more like "How about that other project we spoke about" lmao

 

[NJTB]

Love tne piano hinge. Even the kids won't be able to break that.

 

[Matt]

Got a new one...looks somewhat familiar.

 

[Mooseman]

Yesterday, I installed LED bulbs on the RV. I found that the taillights were not very bright so figured I'd upgrade them. They initially didn't make a whole lot of difference and looking at the fixture, I know why. In the old days, they used to put a reflector behind the bulb but not anymore. Cheap bastards. I fashioned my own with some aluminum foil. Not pretty but makes a big difference, especially in the daytime when I do most of the towing.

 

[Blckshdw]

Yesterday, I installed LED bulbs on the RV. I found that the taillights were not very bright so figured I'd upgrade them.

I mean, that space is just begging for a section of perf board and an LED array on it. Just saying.

 

[Mooseman]

I mean, that space is just begging for a section of perf board and an LED array on it. Just saying.

Now that's an idea

 

[northcreek]

Went to my oldest son's MX track with him to do work to get a 6 cyl. Cummins fire pump Diesel started. I admittedly don't know a lot about diesels but, I'm tearing off all of the electrical stuff that a fire pump needed to make it a more basic pump to provide water for the track. One more visit and we should be ready for a test run...

 

[Mooseman]

Used the TB with the trailer to move my son into the house. Apart that it was as sweaty as the devil's armpit, it was a relatively easy move since most of the stuff had already been moved. Was just the bed, dresser and a few more boxes to move and then cleanup the apartment. Also had to take apart and punt to the curb a 3 place recliner and an old desk. He's so happy to be out of that dump.

 

[BrianF]

Got a bunch on the go these upcoming days. Taking the kids to a local open class horse show in Eastern Alberta tomorrow, so we got some last minute prep for that today.
I have to hit the garden to dig potatoes, carrots and pick peas. It was not a super yield but still plenty to get.

The boys are bringing by my work F150 today. Its just out of the shop and ready to be wrecked. The 2014+ trucks are terrible on gravel roads. The wiring in the rear gets torn out in a hurry. First the license plate lights, then backup camera and next was the electric ebrake, which kills the cruise.

Then up Is my Polaris Magnum 500. Its in need of some more work. It looks like the decompression is not working, not since I've owned it anyways. Which explains the slow crank and nearly impossible rope recoil. This comes down to the cam and follower with the Fuji built engines. There is a centrifugal weight that engages to lift the exhaust valve a touch on start up. So either the mechanism is not working or it wore a groove on the follower. Regardless, I have to rip off all the front plastics to pull the fuel tank to access the top end with enough room to work. Since I will be that deep I will go further and tear out the lower steering shaft bearing.

 

[BrianF]

Managed to rip the quad down enough to get at the top end. Inspected the cam, the lobes looked good and the decompression mech was intact and. You can see the little ball bearing that engages on the exhaust lobe to raise the follower.

I then had to rip the thermostat off to access the side cover for the cam. The spring loaded centrifugal weight worked as advertised to engage the little ball bearing.

The exhaust follower had some very minor wear with a very faint groove from the ball bearing. Now it appears that the groove is far from causing lift issues.

Then went to set the valve clearance. .006" but ran i to some issues. Put the thing at TDC and adjust all valves, which were tight. Rotate the engine a few times and back to TDC. Then find the valves tight again. I adjust again and rotate. Valves are tight. Rinse and repeat. Next day I get a chance I'm going to verify TDC with a dowel down the spark plug hole and watch its movement and compare with the cam timing.

 

[BrianF]

Put the quad back together today. Went well i suppose. Tested my pulser coil, which checked out fine.

Found my issue with the valve adjustment. The rocker box or stand is dowled and is a precise fit. May have had it slightly off kilter when torqued down. Also rockers are a snug fit and not really "loose". So I used a screw driver to ensure they were sitting flat against the cam lobe. Adjustment went easy then.

She fired up and runs good and topped up the coolant after a warm up. No real difference but thats fine, she ran good before. So next step is to clean all grounds and source some rear brake pads. The lower steering bearing needs to be replaced but I need a dremel to remove the rivets. The replacement kits are bolt in.

 

[Blckshdw]

Hard to believe Friday the 13th was a couple weeks ago, with the day I had. Currently we work in the office part time. I work from home Mondays and Fridays, in the office Tuesday through Thursday. Got up this morning, packed a lunch, and headed to work. Get to my desk, sit down, and there's no laptop. OK, reach for my backpack, and it's not there. It's still hanging on the back of my chair at home. So I had to get back in the EXT, drive all the way home to get it, and come back. 30 minutes late...

After getting a backlog of work cleared, decided to chat up a coworker who was remote. I know things have been a little tough in our department as our boss keeps overloading folks with projects from other departments. It's starting to take its toll, and folks are looking elsewhere. One person has a part time job already, and if she gets more hours, will leave here and go there full time. Another person is looking to transfer departments, and I heard they are gonna take her. And my friend has been putting in applications for the past couple of weeks. I'd warned the boss in past annual reviews, not to overload the team like she's been doing, as it burns them out. We've lost 4 people in the past 4 years who I know of that said they left because of her. Sounds like the trend is continuing.

Get home and there's 3 envelopes from the insurance company. Given my recent experiences with home owners insurance, this triggered my anxiety. I did see on the news that FEMA had redrawn the coastal flood maps, which could affect coverages, but I'm not near the coast, or in a designated flood zone. Open the first envelope, revised flood coverage. Honestly couldn't tell if anything changed, premium stayed the same, so that's fine. Open up the 2nd one, amended home policy. Minor change regarding the roof, they added the 4 years of life left, and changed the connection type from Toe Nail to Unknown (why?), and everything else stayed the same. No money changes either. OK fine. Open the 3rd, cancellation letter effective in 2 and a half weeks. Sites the roof is in unacceptable condition, and the required pictures were not received. WTF? They wouldn't have written the damn policy in the 1st place, until I got things fixed acceptably, so what is this?

Fired off an email to my contact at the agency. Dunno if the pictures I sent her, just never made it to the underwriters, or they need more/different/better pictures or what the deal is. With the way construction material costs are right now, I will be screwed in the worst way if I have to come out of pocket for a brand new roof right now.

Really hoping it was just a mixup, and someone found the post-repair pics after issuing the cancellation, and that's why the declarations got resent to me. Why else would they send those documents out again, on the same day as a cancellation letter? I just need to win the lottery, buy some land, build a brand new dream house with a kick ass garage that my mod bug can live in.

 

[Blckshdw]

Fired off an email to my contact at the agency.

Got a response back from the agent this morning. She forgot to upload the 4 point inspection pics to the underwriting company... That was 2 month's ago. You'd think they'd have some sort of check and balance in place, to confirm exactly what's what, before cancellation letters start getting sent off to people. My blood pressure doesn't appreciate the roller coaster.

My lottery statement still stands

 

[Mooseman]

Killed a hornets nest last night with the help of my son. It's in a truck box that was lying around. There is a hole on the bottom side of it and they were going in and out through it. On the night before, I sprayed some foaming hornet killer into the hole and when I opened the lid, the nest was actually on the underside of the lid and fell into the box. I just dropped the lid and hauled ass as they were pissed. Didn't get bit luckily. Yesterday I could see there were
still hornets coming and going but not as much as before. While my son opened the lid using a ratchet strap hooked to the handle, I foamed the nest completely as well as the remnants under the lid. We propped the lid open and today I vacuumed it all out.

After that, I installed a couple of computer fans on the inside of the outside door of the RV fridge. These absorption type fridges aren't the most efficient so anything to help get rid of that hot air helps.

 

[northcreek]

Killed a hornets nest last night with the help of my son.

Seems to be the year for pesky stingers, I can't remember being harassed by Yellow jackets as badly as this year, must be Covid related......

 

[TollKeeper]

Seems to be the year for pesky stingers, I can't remember being harassed by Yellow jackets as badly as this year, must be Covid related......

They didnt get the memo to stay inside, and I have not seen them wearing masks...

 

[northcreek]

and I have not seen them wearing masks...

Nope!....just Yellow Jackets...

 

[Blckshdw]

Got a response back from the agent this morning. She forgot to upload the 4 point inspection pics to the underwriting company... That was 2 month's ago. You'd think they'd have some sort of check and balance in place, to confirm exactly what's what, before cancellation letters start getting sent off to people. My blood pressure doesn't appreciate the roller coaster.

My lottery statement still stands

So the agent just called me back this morning. The underwriting company changed their minds. The partial repairs aren't good enough, they want the entire roof replaced, in the next 2 weeks. Hell, at least the first time I was getting dropped, they gave me 45 days notice to work with. I'm willing to bet it's a hard ask to get a crew out here that quickly, so I'll have to hope getting under contract with a deposit down would be good enough to keep me from needing bank issued insurance. Honestly waiting for lightning to strike me the next time I go outside.

Been researching Android HU replacements, and just haven't found something I really like, that doesn't cost an extreme amount of money. Reached back out to the company of the one I blew, and asked them about getting a replacement screen to try. $110 shipped from China, and now I wait. Hopefully that's all it is, and I'll be back to where I was before. Given how this week has gone, I won't hold my breath.

 

[BrianF]

I spent an hour yesterday and dug most of my potatoes. Not a huge crop in the end but better than most apparently.

So today I got a sirloin tip roast in the crock pot. This is that nice assed Speckle Park beef I picked up two weeks ago from the butcher. Spiced it, seared it on the gas grill and then put her in the pot with some fresh carrots and potatoes. Then get some mashed potatoes and BBQ veggies for the side. Bitches eating good tonight!

Tomorrow the family and I are ripping up to Crimetown with some horses. A friend bought an indoor riding arena this summer so the kids are going to ride and then bring back a horse for training. My 12 year old is excited to team up with mom to start training.

 

[BrianF]

Well boys, pics or it didn't happen. These aren't staged photos like those other guys do....

 

[northcreek]

Can't get a F'n thing done with this oppressive never ending heat/humidity this summer so I'm hiding out in air conditioned relief.
Electric bill is going to be higher than the National Debt .....

 

[BrianF]

Well that roast kicked ass. The family almost dominated it.

I noticed a slight leak on then shifter box on my quad. A quick youbtube shows its easy to tear down. No lies I had it out and in under an hour. Had some o rings to seal it up and she's good as new.

 

[northcreek]

Our local NFL team is playing at 1:00 today, the stadium is just down the road from us but, I will be watching at home in A/C comfort with wife, dog and Ale...

 

[aaserv]

Tieing everything down today for the Hurricane tonight/tomorrow and Monday. Local forecaster says Baton Rouge will have an 18hr stretch of the worst weather ever in its history.
Ive got 4 forts to hold down. Mine which is just N of BR. My daughters which is about 6 miles East of mine and then my mothers which is around 6 miles S of my daughter and finally my cousin about 6 miles east of Moms. So Ill be out in this thing for the entire stretch. Hopefully between the 4 of us 1 of us can keep electricity.
Hurricanes are nothing new around here but as long as Ive been alive Baton Rouge has been spared the damage that towns to the South have endured. They're saying this time our luck is going to run out. We"ll see. Ive never had any trouble being out in them, I was riding around a completely desolate and dark New Orleans the night after Katrina hit. Drove around in hood deep water during the great flood here in 2016. They can close roads , bridges whatever it wont keep me from taking care of the family...
Hopefully Ill have some pics and maybe vids captured during and after the storm.......and with 9 75-100ft trees in my backyard lets pray none of them are of my leveled....and uninsured....home.

O and The Envoy wont see any action all my travels will be in my van....300K miles and it drives like a tank.....indestructible I hope!!!!!!!

 

[Blckshdw]

Tieing everything down today for the Hurricane tonight/tomorrow and Monday. Local forecaster says Baton Rouge will have an 18hr stretch of the worst weather ever in its history.
Ive got 4 forts to hold down. Mine which is just N of BR. My daughters which is about 6 miles East of mine and then my mothers which is around 6 miles S of my daughter and finally my cousin about 6 miles east of Moms. So Ill be out in this thing for the entire stretch. Hopefully between the 4 of us 1 of us can keep electricity.
Hurricanes are nothing new around here but as long as Ive been alive Baton Rouge has been spared the damage that towns to the South have endured. They're saying this time our luck is going to run out. We"ll see. Ive never had any trouble being out in them, I was riding around a completely desolate and dark New Orleans the night after Katrina hit. Drove around in hood deep water during the great flood here in 2016. They can close roads , bridges whatever it wont keep me from taking care of the family...
Hopefully Ill have some pics and maybe vids captured during and after the storm.......and with 9 75-100ft trees in my backyard lets pray none of them are of my leveled....and uninsured....home.

O and The Envoy wont see any action all my travels will be in my van....300K miles and it drives like a tank.....indestructible I hope!!!!!!!

Stay safe up there man!

 

[Mooseman]

Just came back from a weekend of camping at a buddy's park site with the trailer. Hadn't seen him in over a year. We were troop mates in training and worked together almost our whole careers. He's still working and can't wait to retire. His trailer is currently permanently parked as a seasonal but when he retires, he wants to take it out and we go traveling together that we're gonna call The Crusades since the model name of his rig is Crusader. We ate, we drank, sat around a fire, talked about the good ol' days, good times. Weather was shit today raining while I broke camp and hitched up the trailer. It was a good weekend.

 

[BrianF]

Yesterday we ripped into Crimetown. Took the girls and a friend to go riding at an indoor arena our one friend bought this summer. With the diesel and a 5 horse trailer, there is always room and weight means nothing. Once down we took another horse home for some training this upcoming month.

ran some fuel economy numbers. This past tank was all fast highway with the trailer. Loaded with horse show gear and minimum 3 horses. 10.4mpg. Not as great as some other tanks but good considering total weight, speed and wind loading.

 

[aaserv]

What a week...... Never had winds like we had Sunday before. It was seriously like a 7 hour mini-tornado. Gusts had to be over 90mph and a fairly steady 60mph all night long. Baton Rouge is pretty far inland and most storms die down a lot before they get here....Not this 1.
Not much rain at all which was a blessing. But the wind damage was HUGE!! Trees down everywhere......I dont know anybody who didnt lose power at all and they've only restored maybe 60% here 4 days later. Between my 4 family members Im the only 1 with lights back on at present... 4 days of miles long gas lines getting gas for generators, up at 5am and topping them off again around 11pm. Back is killing me just from holding 5 gal jugs and filling up generators all week.
Luckily none of us had much real damage. I lost 1 limb out of 9 trees that I would have bet a few would fall completely, Lost a lot of wooden fencing but thats expected. A few shingles but I had an old roof so Ill let the SBA and FEMA cut me a nice 1.25% loan to get it replaced.....only good part of living thru these things is the low interest loans you get to fix them.

I think Ive had enough though. Been wanting to get away from here for awhile and Im searching for something maybe towards N. Mississippi.. Take it from someone who has spent his entire life here.....Louisiana is a dump. A hell hole....Not that Mississippi is any paradise either but its north enough that the storms have died down once they get there and ...well I wont get into politics but like I said Louisiana is a hell hole in EVERY way imaginable.

O I almost forgot to mention.........Theres another storm brewing in the gulf now. Should know more about where its heading towards the end of next week!!!!!

 

[northcreek]

I think Ive had enough though.

Ever consider the temperate zones ? yes we have snow BFD you can play in it . Plenty of water and twisters and hurricanes are rare (I've never seen one). just sayin'

 

[northcreek]

Did a total brake job on my 2016 JGC . Pretty straight forward but, then I noticed that the friction material was lose one parking brake shoes so, new shoes and hardware for that. Let me just say that the engineer that designed that P-brake should be drawn and quartered, what a Mickey Mouse design that is...added a day to the project ...