What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Mooseman]

For drugs, Advil as an anti-inflammatory, Tylenol as a pain killer and muscle relaxants. Also assaulting it with heat and a TENS machine. I should look into CBDs, either a rub or liquid. My issue is muscle spasms however I did have a slightly herniated disk about 30 years ago that I was able to put back using exercises and manipulation by a chiro. And having a gun belt for all those years sitting in POS cop cars certainly didn't help.

The secret is to use your legs while lifting and not your back. Keep your back as straight as possible. I may have forgotten that while lifting those jugs of DEF

I'm fine when I ride solo because I can stretch my legs and back. Not so with a passenger.

 

[NJTB]

As one who has hurt my back many times, and then got old, I can tell you eventually you won't pick up anything you think MAY hurt your back.
Getting old truly sucks, as you think like you're 30 until you get into something, and realize uh oh.

 

[TJBaker57]

Well shit,,,. Different day,,,, looks the same... Did I not just do this yesterday?? Can tell it's not the same photo as my lady's Ranger is still here this early. And why are our vehicles out in the snow? In the shop are the TrailBlazer and the John Cooper Works Mini !!

 

[TJBaker57]

As for the getting old thing.... I have discovered that the older I get the further up I adjust "that" age. According to schedule I will be somewhere in Pennsylvania on my 65th birthday having put some 1100 miles behind me on the hike.

 

[Mooseman]

I turned 57 on Sunday and I feel like 75. The things we do to our bodies.

 

[flyboy2610]

Hit the big six oh last November.

 

[Matt]

I turned 57 on Sunday and I feel like 75. The things we do to our bodies.

I was 51 on Thursday and I hear ya!

 

[TJBaker57]

I was 51 on Thursday and I hear ya!

Damn!! There MUST be someone here older than I !!

 

[azswiss]

I was 51 on Thursday and I hear ya!

A mere pup!

 

[northcreek]

Damn!! There MUST be someone here older than I !!

I hold the patent on fire....

 

[Redbeard]

So this morning I glance through Youtube and what do I see FIRST, but this.

which only seems fitting to what's being discussed above
but I shouldn't say much because the mrs. is turning the big 60 in April only to be followed by me in may. She surely hates that time of year when it shows she is older than me.

so remember this video when you get to old to "blow out all the candles."

p.s. my old water fire extinguisher would have no problem extinguishing all the candles in this video. Heck, it pushed a 1/4" stream of water over 75', which made fun chasing nephews and neighborhood kids with and they all thought they "had me" with their super soakers. And the water fire extinguisher held 2.5 gallons of water, so much more than a kids super soaker. So don't mess with us old farts cause we been there and done that.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Trying to get some side work did while working the main job so maybe I will get two days off on a weekend for first time in a long time.

Money is good, but sometimes ya just get tired n need a break .

 

[NJTB]

I'm 72 years old.

 

[BrianF]

Well boys I have been spending some cash lately. Got a new air compressor, rubber air hose that will maybe be pliable in this Arctic tundra, got a recoil handle for my Evinrude, rear brake pads for the Polaris Magnum and now tires for my 3500 along with the last two tires on my horse trailer.

I was looking at Duratracs again but they have increased by over 100 bucks a tire this past year. So I decided on some Coopers. Have had the Discoverer AT3 prior on my 1500 but they wore fast. They had a new upgraded version but I opted for their new Rugged Trek, which looks to be similar to the Duratrac.

Then the last two Carlisle Radial Trails to finish up the trailer. We got some big changes coming and will be needing the truck and trailer quite a bit this year.

 

[flyboy2610]

Went to work, finished setting a die in the 300 ton stamping press, ran that job out, pulled the die, and set the next one. Busy day.

 

[Blckshdw]

Took advantage of the cool morning weather to goof around in the shed. Finally time to try troubleshooting the riding mower's intermittent operational issues. Had the images and troubleshooting steps on my phone from tech support, and started with the easy stuff first. Cutting deck, and drive mode switches tested out fine, which was expected. One of the spade connectors on the reverse contacts did have a little more wobble than the others, a quick gentle squeeze with the needle nose pliers resolved that.

Moved onto the motor controllers for the cutting deck. They used some super hero grade shrink wrap, with glue inside it. Took me more time to cut through that stuff (trying not to damage the connectors, or the wires inside) to get access, than the actual testing did. Both primary and secondary motor controllers tested good, so no idea what the issue is there. Realized the tech I spoke with didn't send me the steps for the drive motor controller. If I was smart, I would have followed the same steps as the cutting deck ones, and noted the resistance values, so when I follow up and ask for them, the work would already be done. But my back and knees were beginning to complain, so I had to get upright, and re-secure the control panel.

Quick test to make sure everything was connected back correctly, turn the key to run and get 2 clicks. It comes on with the key halfway turned, but switches back off when fully engaged. Oh hell, what happened here. Took the panel off to make sure I didn't loosen one of the wires to that switch, and they were both snug. It's a DPDT switch, so I tried moving the 2 connections to the other pole and trying it. Basically reversed the functionality. So now turning the key the other way, to accessory, was run, and the original way was accessory. Cutting deck engaged, and I was able to move the mower, although the intermittent drive mode stuff was still going on. Will circle back to them for the drive motor stuff, and see if I can get a new ignition switch.

Got some laundry running now. That does it for my productivity for the day, firmly planted on the couch for the some TV time.

 

[azswiss]

Nice cool weather this weekend so I decided to clean out the dryer vent (going into the attic here in AZ any time between April & October is suicide!). Took one look at the ducting & leaky connections and realized that it made more sense to install new versus open up, clean, and reassemble/reseal the old. Was irritated to find that the portion of the ducting coming up inside the wall from the dryer was not actually dryer vent duct (4" round) but 3" x 4 1/2" downspout!! Needless to say there are no standard adapters for this transition so I had to fabricate one instead.





Did not come through the ceiling or slice myself open to the bone on those sheet metal edges. And, bonus, the Mrs. says the dryer works way better. Time for a frosty one!

 

[Mooseman]

Had my son and his daughter here for the weekend. Had a good time and he had his old gang over for drinks and reminiscing the past. She is such a cutie! And she sure loves our dog.


And he also needed to have errors tuned out on his '11 Silvy. He had a faulty downstream sensor and the fuel tank sensor. Because of those, he couldn't use remote start. He also had no comms from the ABS module so his dash was giving him a sunburn. Found the EBCM2 fuse missing. OK, take one of the spares and those lights were gone however, now it would crank and not start. WTF? Pull my tester out and power to the fuel pump fuse and relay are good. Start backtracking and find out the "spare" fuse I used was actually for the Fuel Pump Control Module . Another fuse and we were good to go. He has no idea what happened to the ABS fuse.

 

[Reprise]

A couple of weeks ago, I detailed having the brake fluid leak out of my new rear calipers on my Accord, and what I had to do to fix that.
As it turned out, even after bleeding multiple times, the pedal was still softer than it was before.
I finally figured out that I had lost so much fluid from the master cylinder that the piston had air in it, and I had to 'bench bleed' the master cylinder. Which I did this weekend. A messy process, but after I finished and re-bled one last time, the pedal is firm again.

If anyone wants some 'best practices' for bench bleeding a master, let me know, and I'll do a write-up.

Lesson learned for me: Next time the 'brake' lamp comes on, check the level & correct issue sooner -- before the master cylinder gets air in it. Because if it does, no amount of caliper bleeding alone will correct the issue. The master has to be bled, and it's generally done out-of-car.

 

[northcreek]

Got our taxes done today...have to pay
But, Hey! it's a sunny day so we finished up with a nice hike and some burgers...

 

[Blckshdw]

Followed up with Ryobi tech support about the mower. Got sent the goods for troubleshooting the drive motor. Even though my mower is well out of warranty, they are sending me a brand new key switch. Debating going out in the shed and messing with it after work, but I'm a little sore today, and I've got some chicken in the slow cooker for tacos that's smelling REALLY good right about now.

In other news, I sometimes wish I could buy some property far away from other people so I didn't have to be bothered by idiots. Sunday afternoon I noticed a dark object on the side of the road down by the end of my fence. Roll the security camera footage back, and Saturday night some people in a car drove through and threw it out of their window. Since I was working from home today, I went to the grocery store on my lunch break, decided to go the long way so I could drive by the back of the property and see what it was.

I had known about a fence board that was broken back there, top quarter piece was snapped off. But when I came around that corner, not only was that whole board gone, but the one adjacent to it was ripped off too. Didn't even see what the object was, because I was mad about my fence. The gap was then big enough for someone small enough, say teenage kids to get through. Now the sounds I thought were coming from the area back there over the weekend have a lot more credibility.

Had a couple of spare boards by the shed, so grabbed some screws, my drill and those boards to go put them up. While working, something stank. Not like the people who don't pick up after their dogs, like something was dead. Quick look around, there's an old door mat on the ground, butted up against the fence maybe 10 feet away. Kick it out of the way, and there's a dead cat under it. WTF? Had to have been there a while as it was just fur and bones. Finished the fence, put on a glove, grabbed my "back yard trash" contractor bag. Put the dead cat, door mat, and black garbage bag (that was tossed from the moving car) into this bag. Tied it off, and it now sits on the side of the house until trash day Wednesday.

Even though this IS Florida, I sometimes wish I could just shoot people for being a$$holes.

 

[BrianF]

Put north of 1000km so far on the new tires. They run awesome! Probably have the same grip, ride and harshness as the Duratrac but they run a bit smoother and quieter. I can't complain as those poor Duratracs got flogged hard.

We picked up a 4 season camper yesterday outside of Edmonton. Its a 2000 Citation that was in excellent shape. My wife will be bunking in it for a couple weeks at the indoor riding arena she is now managing. The residence is vacating and needs some renovation before she moves in. We just need to get some more blocks for the stabilizers as its on a crappy spot. I already bent one that I need to fix. Will see how this new job pans out before I transfer up that way and the kids move schools. She gave up plenty of great jobs following me around for the past 15 years, time for her to do her thing. Plus its only 110km from our place and my current office is half way in between.

 

[BrianF]

So we got an absolute dump of powder today. Just to rub it in, it blew in from the east, just to make a mess.

So my wife plates the Trailblazer as we need to rip into town and don't feel like unhooking the truck and trailer. We get 1 mile from the house and the engine dies. Yep, that's gas dripping underneath. Well fck me sideways you dirty SOB. So I hoof it back on foot and we tow it home and leave it in the middle of the yard. I'm done, thing can wait until I can work on it with no gloves. I am going to drop the front of the tank this time and get the best access I can.

So I say fck it and we still roll into town but let's take the diesel. I must say that I'm loving these new tires. They like to dig and we had no issues bombing through this mess.

 

[Blckshdw]

Decided to start working on that wood siding that was showing signs of damage at the bottom. Had chipped out most of the bad stuff already, and applied liquid wood hardener to the backside Friday morning before the attic got hot. I got 1 pint of 2 part epoxy putty that was moldable by hand. Figured that would be easiest to apply to a vertical surface, as well as be easier to press into voids with my fingers.

Got everything prepped and got to work. Of course there was a learning curve, since the resin part of the compound was crumbly, and would break off and fall apart quite easily if you weren't careful. A decent number of small pieces ended up in the grass, whoops. Went with pool ball sized amounts, and that seemed to work well, but I think I waited too long before applying. As I was trying to apply it to the house, it was starting to stick to the gloves more than it was while mixing, so it was pretty difficult to smooth and feather the edges. It would just pull up and break off. Decided to do it in layers, so the base layer behind the siding and across the void for now. Used maybe 1/3 of the product, so will let that setup and cure. Then tomorrow I'll level it with the face of the siding, starting from the middle of the voids working my way out, and hopefully I can squeeze the excess over the edges for a better bond and smoother finish with less sanding later. I also think I'll dip a putty knife in alcohol to help it not stick, and use that instead of doing the final work by hand.

While I was there, I had noticed the caulk around the kitchen's garden window had split. This has allowed water to get into the kitchen if the rain blows the right way. Since my neighbor's house is pretty close on that side, the wind tends to blow side to side, and not at the side of the house, so the water issue was super rare, and I'd only see a small amount. Had a tube of silicone, so after a quick wipe down, went ahead and covered the splits on top and sides.

While getting things cleaned up in the garage, I thought about the EXT's battery situation... TBC in the other thread. The rest of the day will be spent relaxing, although I should clean the house up some. Meeting up with the guys this evening to watch the UFC fights, get some wings, and catch up.

 

[Matt]

Got the Humphreys going and will be throwing in wings and mac n cheese...mmmmm.

 

[Mooseman]

Past couple of days, been riding the snow. 340km yesterday and 140km today. Tomorrow be raining and warm so getting as much riding time as I can because the trails could close for good.

Thinking of heading north to snow with the truck and trailer but the price of fuel these days may tell me otherwise. Price of diesel is nearing $2/L. And I don't have a riding partner. Around here is close to civilization no matter where I go, but up there, it isn't smart to ride alone.

 

[azswiss]

340km yesterday and 140km today

Hats off Mooseman, that's some serious sledding!

it isn't smart to ride alone.

Same holds true here in the desert.

 

[BrianF]

Well not much as of late. We have had a pretty harsh winter so far. Had rhe snow all cleared out at the arena, ready for horses to arrive, then hit by a hell of a storm last night. North West winds were 70km/h with snow, right after it was warm. Roads are ice and lots of concrete drifts. Took me close to an hour of breaking up the drifts with a spade, just to move it with the blower. They weren't too tall, just solid.

Made it 3 miles from home and came across a drift so bad that someone hit it, never touched the ground and left some bumper behind.

 

[flyboy2610]

Getting ready to go outside and clean the PVC system on the wife's '06 TB. Then do an oil change on it. Should take about an hour.

 

[Blckshdw]

My sister finally got around to letting me come get the microwave that was part of the set of kitchen appliances that came with her house last weekend, so this morning I got around to installing it. Didn't have a paper template to go with it, so had to get creative. Since the old one was in the same spot, it was easy to tell where the studs were, not to mention the giant hole in the drywall the previous owner left to hide the plug inside the wall.

Side note, I installed the spare fridge in the garage in that same spot to hide the hole in the garage, and swapped the single plug on the end of the wire for an outlet box.



Since the underside of the cabinet had a lip around the edges, I figured it would be extra work to make a template that fit inside that space, and opted to come at it from a different direction. Rested the microwave on a box while attached to the bracket. Cut up small pieces of cardboard, stacked them to fill the gap between the microwave and cabinet floor, and taped them in place. Spun down the bolts as far as possible and put a dab of toothpaste on the bolt heads. Lifted the microwave up to transfer the toothpaste to the tape, and use that as my mark to drill the new mounting holes.



Worked perfectly. Bolts came down nicely through the holes, and got the new appliance in place. Had a bit of cleanup to do in the kitchen anyway, so 2 birds, as the saying goes. Will be giving Habitat for Humanity a call on Monday to try and donate the old appliances, since they all work just fine.

 

[TollKeeper]

Went out, and got to play with a couple R1T's..

 

[flyboy2610]

I think your son approves!

 

[Blckshdw]

Since that cold front came through yesterday and it was a relatively chilly morning, took a few hours to revisit this deconstruction project.

Another day in the yard. Took a rest, then back at the gazebo to remove the plywood decking. Got into a good groove with the prybar, and was getting panels popped loose and tossed off, and then hit a snag. I should have figured this, from how the PO used multiple fastener types for the metal panels. Well in addition to nails, he also used screws, and in some cases extra long screws that had the tips bent and hammered flat on the underside of the rafters. I didn't notice this right away, until some of the rafters busted. That joist you see, and it's twin right behind it, are at eye level for me.

View attachment 99349View attachment 99350View attachment 99351


Got all the way around to the last section, and had one panel that kept fighting me. The last few panels were full of screws all over, so had to get on top to back those out, but even still, the last one in one section wouldn't let go. I could see it had a couple nails in it, and eventually tore it out, damage be damned I just wanted to be done at that point.

View attachment 99352


Did come across a number of wasp nests, and some ant colonies in some of the gaps, so I'm sure they weren't too happy to see me. Just like Friday, wrapped up just as the sun was starting to set. Tore off all the tar paper, and tossed the plywood in the shed. I'm sure there will be random uses for scrap wood at some point. At least the hardest parts are out of the way now. Can't imagine doing this in the heat of the summer.


View attachment 99353




I've actually wanted to get one of these for the garage, cuz I always drop stuff, and don't find them until days/weeks later it seems. I'll definitely be getting one to run around the work area. I made an effort to catch all the loose nails and screws, but you never know....

With the recent vandalism of my fence, it put the idea of taking down the old gazebo front and center in my mind again. Since the decking was out of the way, that did make it easier to stand on the portable platform and get eyes on where the screws were for taking down the rafters. Many of them were hidden, the previous owner drove them so far into the 2x4s, that the wood swelled around the holes nearly closing many of them. A good number of the heads were a little rusty, which caused some to start stripping, just like with the decking.

Got most of the rafters out, when my back decided it would rather be on the couch watching TV. I was already wearing my back brace, so I knew it would have hurt way worse if I hadn't. Decided I was on a roll and to push through, I think as my muscles warmed up more, things relaxed and the pain reduced considerably. Long story not quite as long, got most of the roof structure taken down. Just a couple of cross beams, and the center supports left. Tore out as much of the old screens as possible. At the corners, they put in these metal decorative pieces, but they aren't screwed in. He cut holes in the upper and lower wood mounts and set the poles in them. The 2x4s are doubled up on those, and no exposed screws, so that means these were built early on, and then the additional beams added. Not dealing with those right now, so called it a day.




The plan down the road is to install a camera on the shed over the door, pointed at the back yard. This will be the view from there. The junk boats that were left behind, is the area of biggest concern, and that's directly behind the gazebo, so once that thing is taken down to the platform, I'll start figuring out how I want to get it wired up. Thinking run a coax line out to the shed, and use a MOCa adapter in the shed with small POE switch.



Kinda wanted to keep going and take advantage of the weather, cuz it probably won't be like this again until October, but my forearm started cramping, and then my knees started complaining. I guess my back called for reinforcements? Got a nice hot shower, ran some laundry, and threw a pizza in the oven. Gonna be relaxing the rest of the evening and try to recharge for another week.

 

[Mooseman]

Through some form of a miracle, the trails have reopened near my house. So jumped on the sled and started making tracks. Nice day, not too cold but quite windy. The snowfall we got Friday night was just enough to make the trails ridable. Some were quite nice with recent grooming, some others no so nice, ungroomed and/or snow blown onto the trail creating some deep snow drifts. There were also some bare and icy spots that were windswept. Regardless, racked up a nice 80km.

Contacted my riding buddy and we're gonna be riding starting tomorrow morning but we'll have to get back before it gets to 4c in the afternoon with wet snow or rain. And that will sure be it for this season because it will be above freezing all week with 13c Thur. It will be all gone by next weekend.

 

[Mooseman]

Sold my Honda 4518 Lawn Tractor with snowblower. I bought it in 2014 and it runs like a top however, that broken PTO clutch cable and possibly a burnt clutch did it for me. I was using a regular snowblower when this one became unserviceable and it's actually easier to use.



I hate FB even though I sold it within a day. I had hoards of people messaging me about it but this guy was first and coming from out of town to get it so I was holding it for him. One guy I had to block he was so insistent, even offering $100 over asking. I hate people that screw me for an extra buck so I don't do it to other people.

 

[flyboy2610]

I had hoards of people messaging me about it but this guy was first and coming from out of town to get it so I was holding it for him. One guy I had to block he was so insistent, even offering $100 over asking. I hate people that screw me for an extra buck so I don't do it to other people.

A man's word is his most priceless possession.
He must always make certain he keeps it.

 

[azswiss]

Slaintѐ!

 

[BrianF]

Well the wife has been working her ass off this month but making progress in her new position. Has some events booked in already and the owner is ecstatic. So to make things easier, she picked up a new skid steer. While a touch undersized weight wise, it lifts like a boss. Its a brand new John Deere 318G. It's slick with ISO EH controls, load level and quick attach coupling.

No great pictures but got one of my wife testing it out. Hell I damn near tipped it already moving bales over some real crap terrain. Had a slight pucker....

 

[Blckshdw]

Been kinda all over the place today. Planned to get up this morning and wash the EXT, but got sidetracked. Those stairstep cracks in my block wall have been begging to get filled in for years, so I finally got off my ass and did something about it. Had a tube of masonry crack sealer collecting dust on the shelf, so got to work. Threw a wire wheel in my drill and cleaned up the chipped paint along the cracks, shot the goo, and flattened it with a putty knife. Doesn't look that great, but it's between houses and eventually when I paint the house, it'll get covered up.

By the time I got around to washing the truck, more time had passed than I planned for, and the shade was nearly gone from the driveway. Needless to say, lots of water spots to deal with. Checked the tires, cuz 12 mpg kinda sucks more than usual right now. Front tires were 5 lbs low, rear were 2 lbs low. Every lil bit helps.

Garage needed to be swept out, some leaves had blown in, and some sand and grit fallen off the truck from some of the rainy commutes. Got cleaned up and ran errands. Groceries and hardware store. Come home to see my laptop is reporting the battery is only half charged, even though it's always plugged in. Ran a diagnostic and get this... It's almost 10 years old, and I figured this was gonna be the new year for a new laptop anyway

 

[Redbeard]

Laughing at the April Fool joke Sheriff Judd of Polk county Florida played:

On April Fools' Day, Polk sheriff debuts blimp, 'Aeroin,' seized from drug dealers​

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Polk County Sheriff's Office announced they have a new method to help fight crime: a giant blimp – if only it was true.

In a joke fitted for April Fools' Day, the agency shared on social media that they seized the "2014 Zeppelin NT 07-101 semi-rigid airship" from drug dealers who were trying to discreetly transport $80,000 worth of heroin inside the blimp. Naturally, it was the agency's helicopter that pulled over the airship mid-flight.
The suspects named it "Aeroin."

"It was epic," according to the sheriff's office, adding it was the first time they ever conducted such a traffic stop. "Retired U.S. Naval pilot Tom Kazansky from Arcanum, Ohio moved down to Polk County just last year, but will come out of retirement to take the helm of the airship."
According to one of the sheriff's office's spokespeople – described as "among the very best in the business, unusually attractive, and uniquely intelligent" – say it's another chance to monitor crime in Polk County from above. But, it will also be used for community events.

"Children will love this more than our K-9s," said the public information officer, who remained unnamed. "I mean, no offense to our K-9s, but this is a flippin’ blimp, man! I bet Hillsborough County doesn’t have a blimp!"

Last year, on April 1, the agency debuted their "G8R Unit," which comprised of an alligator named Godzilla.

And if memory serves me correctly this is the 50th year Sheriff Judd has worked for this county in the sheriff's office.

On April Fools' Day, Polk sheriff debuts blimp, 'Aeroin,' seized from drug dealers

The Polk County Sheriff's Office announced they have a new method to help fight crime: a giant blimp – if only it was true.

www.fox13news.com