What are you doing today? [Part II]

[Mounce]

First day back at work woo

 

[Mooseman]

Still having back pains, somewhat at a tolerable level, so needed to work some more on the sled. Flushed the cooling system a couple more times and filled it up with a 50/50 mix with the addition of Water Wetter as it has helped in keeping temps down by increasing heat transfer. I also "rinsed" the oiling system twice by using some cheap oil to flush out any debris from the head R&R. Then filled it with Mobil1 0W40 European formula. I've always used this oil due to its higher zinc content and has never let me down. Also put in a new K&N oil filter. Love that nut on the end, especially in these tight quarters. Drained and refilled the chaincase. Put some of the plastics back on. That was enough for today and limped back into the house.

Yesterday, I ordered an adjustable fan controller kit as the sensor I got does not fire at the stated temperature. Should be here tomorrow.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Doing the work thing, then DR appt, then bowling league. Kind of a busy little Tuesday

 

[Matt]

In the office today, which kinda sucks because today is my "working from home" day.

 

[xavierny25]

Finished that floor yesterday.

 

[BrianF]

Nice!! Good job getting around those door frames. I had done a pile of flooring in a few of my houses and those immovable objects always made for an enjoyable experience..... or something to that effect.

 

[Mooseman]

Home stretch on the sled. Received and installed the Hayden adjustable fan controller that I received today. Wasn't difficult at all to adapt to a sled. I did wire in a manual switch using the A/C clutch wire but I don't think it's really necessary. Fan does help a bit in controlling the temps. Odd thing though, wired the way it's supposed to and it's a pusher. Not much air flowing through. As a puller though, pulls more air so that's how I'll wire it.

Just taking a break right now, took more pills and using the tens machine to try and relax my back muscles. That's what happens when you sit in a car wearing a gun belt for years.

 

[Mooseman]

Just got off the phone with the bank because I received a fraud alert on my phone for one of my credit cards. It's one I haven't used in months that was expired and that I received a new one that I never activated so they never had a chance. Second time this has happened. Must have been compromised from a data breach somewhere.

Last night, finished with the sled. Greased all the zerks and put some Fluid Film on the outer tie rods. Checked the skid and it didn't need anything since I did so few KM last season. Put the rest of the plastics on and DONE! Cleaned up the plastics with my oily rag. Gave it a nice shine. Went for the obligatory romp around the yard a few times and she's running mint. Let it idle for a while to let the fan kick on at 85c so that's working perfect, however I'm disappointed that it's not bringing the temp down but it does slow down the rate that it goes up so I'll take that.

So later I'll be riding with my son on the local trails. That will be the real test when I romp on it and see if any coolant gets puked out into my makeshift Perrier coolant recovery bottle.

 

[xavierny25]

After a failed attempt to cover the pool a few days ago I got the right tarp in the mail and now its completely covered. Lol.

The new old tarp was 5' short to the left.


The new one did the job.

Used spiral ground rods to get the tarp wrapped around the curved parts of the pool.

 

[TollKeeper]

Just got off the phone with the bank because I received a fraud alert on my phone for one of my credit cards. It's one I haven't used in months that was expired and that I received a new one that I never activated so they never had a chance. Second time this has happened. Must have been compromised from a data breach somewhere.

Where I work, we handle verification of employment requests, and unemployment requests. We have gotten 15 fraudulent ones in the last 2 weeks. 2 for the owners of the company. I would give an opinion why but some might find it offensive or something.

 

[xavierny25]

I've been working on a home project at work. Cutting up some wood for a fireplace mantel the wife's been wanting and that I think will work nicely in the area under the t.v.




I got these pieces home and went to work on the base and the frame for the fireplace insert.



Its going to be a mix of 2 pictures she sent me.
Here's the main one

 

[Mooseman]

Today was ride day and to test out my head repair work. Trails were open but a bit rough in a lot of spots. We need more snow. Really romped on her quite a few times to get the same conditions that made it puke coolant. Overall a good 3 hour ride.

20200120 Ride.mp4

drive.google.com

Get back home, let it cool down, check the coolant level and catch bottle and ... Super! No coolant loss. So I declare it fixed!

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Sitting on the computer working while it is actually sunny outside. Thinking it may be a good day for some time off

 

[BrianF]

Finally a day without heavy winds. We are just tipping into normal winter temps so the kids and I went for a little leisurely 4 mile burn on the sleds. The open fields are still pretty rough but along the wind rows, there are some sizable drifts and decent powder to mow though.

No noticeable leaks from my chain cases and the ghost is running well. I let it warm up for a several minute idle and find the engine is running very well but had a mid and high range bog still. I surmise the secondary or even the primary requires some warm up before they work properly as once I had a few hundred yards on she ripped very well. That was still in my list was to clean the secondary.

 

[cornchip]

Signed my life away on a 2021 Jeep JL Rubicon. Now I get to wait 12 weeks. BTW...I'm keeping the TB as the dealer only offered $750. They called it a 'parts' truck. The nerve. I'll continue do drive the TB to work.

This is what it should look like when built.

 

[littleblazer]

Bought a 60 gallon 2 stage compressor from harbor freight. Normally I would steer away but it was the Bellaire pump head with the AO Smith motor and us made tank... couldn't pass the thing up

 

[BrianF]

Not much for me. Trying to stay warm. People call it the polar vortex, we just call it winter. Yesterday morning my gasser work truck didn't start. As it sat with the charger I managed to do chores. -33c but thankfully not much wind. Today I had it plugged in and she fired up. Only -30 but the east wind came a knockin. -39 windchill. That packed some bite i tell ya.

But with the east and south winds come warmer weather. Should be getting lows of -20c later this week. Not to shabby!

 

[Mooseman]

Rode the sled on Sat and Sun. Lots of other sledders out on the trails. She's running strong and like a kitten. Trails are beat to death though, hard packed and they can't be groomed any further so it's like being on a bucking bronco at times. We need more snow. That's also when I found out that my rear shocks are dead. Bounces like Uncle Buck's car. I'll have to send them to be rebuilt in the spring as I don't want any more down time in season.

Might go for a quick rip today after lunch. Very light snow falling now would make for a nice ride.

 

[TollKeeper]

Paid those taxes that I was prepping for last week. Only 175k bucks!

Now I gotta work on getting all the permits out.

 

[NJTB]

Finally got Medicare part B and the Advantage plan. What a fight.

 

[TollKeeper]

Got notification that the local Computer Parts Store (Microcenter) had gotten a shipment of the Ryzen chips, and this is one of the last 2 parts I need for my new computer build. So tore out of work exactly at 5pm, and made it to the other side of Denver is 18 mins (a feet in and of itself at rush hour). Ask the salesman for the chip, he tells me he dont know why the system is showing we have stock, he has not had any stock since last week. GRR!

 

[djthumper]

Working in the boondocks. Got some snow in town yesterday, so a good cap up on the mountains.

 

[littleblazer]

Set up the compressor in dads garage for now... easy access to 220 and storage until I get the new place lol. (And yes... its a tiny garage... @xavierny25 saw it and can attest... how we used to park the escalade in it I'll never know.)

 

[m.mcmillen]

Changed the TCM in an Express van and flashed it with a Ford VCM2. I’m pretty sure there is something very wrong with this...

 

[Beacon]

Today and tomorrow. found an apple orchard who cut down a few hundred trees, and is giving the wood away. I can already taste the ribs, sausage, and ham about to be smoked.

 

[Mooseman]

Follow-up medical appt at the hospital this morning. Starting on new blood thinners in pill form in a couple of weeks when I'm finished with the f*cking injections! Then went to pick up a brand new still-in-box WeBoost RV cell phone booster. Fantastic deal from Marketplace. Normally costs $900+tax ($1017). He was asking $700, I offered $600 and he bit. This will allow us to travel in areas that have fringe cell service so the Mrs can keep working while we RV all over the place. She wants to go as soon as the snow melts! We could since it is a 3 season trailer.

 

[cornchip]

Got an unexpected phone call from the wife. Seems she came in a little hot and hit a community postal box with the 2006 Equinox. The Equinox has a low 130,000 kms for the year and is extremely clean considering it's age. Over the phone she said it had a broken head light and a bent hood.

When I got home.....a quick scan revealed much more hidden damage.

All the damage was above the bumper. So hood,passenger front fender,headlight,centre grill section with trim,and the worst thing.....the radiator support and pushed back inner fender. Somehow the bags didn't go off and the radiator/AC seems fine so far. Might be enough to write if off.

 

[Redbeard]

Unpacking boxes. Many many boxes. Moved last week from tampa to florence alabama. The mrs. quilting supplies stayed dry in the uhaul while my tools became damp from two days in the drizzling weather . But the poor visibility and wet weather probably was a blessing in disguise for the stays in the motels them folks with "sticky fingers" didn't go looking for tools that weren't theirs. I don't quite understand it, but while unloading all my tools most were dry (yet not in waterproof cases!) I can't understand this but I don't mind it.

 

[Matt]

Got up at 6, got the smoker going, rubbed my butt and put it on at 7.20. Going for a real haircut later this morning.

 

[Sparky]

@cornchip that sucks, but be glad the airbags didn't go off. If she's fine then the SRS ECU did its job and prevented potential injuries from unneeded deployment (not to mention extra damage).

Just doing odds n ends today before the winter storm hits tonight. They're saying 5-7 inches of wet heavy snow. Which around here means we might get a dusting, or be totally buried. 2/3 the time they overreact, so we'll see.

Also looking off and on at trucks. Back n forth between a crew cab Silverado or an Avalanche. Prices on nicely appointed 2012-ish crews with just over 100k miles are not bad at all, I'd just want to be sure the rust isn't already getting too much of a hold already.

 

[xavierny25]

Bought a new TV.

 

[BrianF]

Visited my parents for 2 days. Helped with some medical appointments, some chores and fixed their old van. 2005 grand caravan with 225,000km. It lost all ps fluid in the driveway a couple weeks back. Thankfully it was an easy fix. The low pressure lines going to the cooler underneath cracked. Bought 2 feet of 9.5mm line and installed.

My dad gave me a 1.5 amp maintainer he had laying around. That will go in the TB. I bought a 3 amp for my 3500 and another jug of 2 stroke oil for my sleds.

 

[TollKeeper]

Well, had been planning for a new computer build, and was so expecting my old computer to die.. Come to find out, it was just a bad SATA cable, and a corrupted windows 10. I found it by complete accident.. I thought, and so did my IT guy, it was a bad motherboard...

Had a spare hard drive, and decided to throw windows 10 on it. Computer wouldnt even boot the first time, this is when I found the bad SATA cable. Had a SATA1 Cable, and the computer booted in 32 seconds, from hitting the power button, to being in Windows.. Hasnt done that in months! and thats on a HDD. So I put my SSD in, and got into windows, cleaned up all the stuff I need, and installed a fresh copy of Windows. I went from a computer that took 13-15 MINUTES to boot, to a computer that can boot in 17 seconds. Not bad for a OLD I7-2600k.

And then theres the bonus stuff. My build prior to this format, the computer would never boost over 3.5GHZ, and idle clocks were always in the 3.4GHZ. Now I am seeing boosts up to 4.8GHZ, and a couple times of 5.1GHZ. Idle clocks at 1.3GHZ. This computer is stock, no overclocks, or anything. Im shocked!

So its like driving a brand new computer!

So my power supply was making my Vega64 video card have some capacitor whine. It is a 16 year old PSU (still works thou). So I went out, and bought a new power supply..

And you know, while I am at the computer store...

I bought 2 Acer ED270U monitors. 27 inch, 1440, 2k video, 165HZ. First time I have had matching monitors EVER! Went from a monitor with 720p, and the other had 1080p, to 1440.. Yea its a bit of a upgrade!

New SATA3 cable, boots up at 14 seconds now. Now to find some memory... DDR3 is a bit hard to find..

So now the new computer build is on hold. This one is just running to good to put it out to pasture. I am quite happy with what I got.. Seeing FPS on Ultra settings well into the 100's on every game I have.

I already bought some water cooling stuff for the new build, and I am going to use all that stuff on this old build, as its the first time water cooling, and this is a HUGE case, so lots of room to make mistakes, and not fry anything. The next case is SFF, and all the watercooling stuff will get transferred over. I should get 1-2, maybe 3 more years out of it. I play AAA titles, but dont change out every time a new game comes out.

 

[xavierny25]

Over the last couple of days off from work I've been working on the pot lights/high hats/recessed lights (what ever you choose to call them) in the living and dining room. I currently have 11 total between both area's and there just not where they need to be. So I went to work on it between taking the old ones down and popping new holes to relocate them my ceiling basically looks like Swiss cheese. Lol Anyway that just is what it is and a pretty annoying task.

I came across some new trims for the 6" high hats with led and a night light mood that the wife and I really like. Take a look at these bad boys.

Had to try at least 1 once I got them home and oh yeah this is going to work lovely.

Thats the full bright setting 5k which can be toned down to 2700k and now this is what I really like.
The nice part is that there dimmable on both setting which is nice for that cinematic look when watching TV.

Yes I know the crappie popcorn ceiling needs to go. Lol, I'm scrapping, sealing and skim coating as I go for a nice flat ceiling.

 

[cornchip]

Real sharp lights. Wonder if I can find them this side of the border?.

 

[Mooseman]

Those are noice!

Today, I ripped all the shocks out of my sled. My rear one was, as I thought, totally dead. The front one was surprisingly still good but likely low on nitrogen. I also decided to do the front ski shocks as one looked like it was leaking. Brought them to a rebuilder on the Quebec side. Should be ready by Wed or Thur.

While we were over there, we did a quick visit with our eldest son. He lives alone and this whole thing is taking a toll on his mental health. Hoping that things improve this summer so he can spend a week or so with us somewhere in the RV.

 

[cornchip]

Woke up and went on a mission to fix the wife's Equinox. Unfortunately I missed pictures of the damage and tore it down to get a complete idea of what I needed. Biggest thing was pulling the radiator support back to a near original position using a chain fall and heavy duty ratchet straps. With that done I hit the local Kenny U Pull and harvested a matching silver hood,grill with moulding and a headlight with harness. I have to say for a total of $170 including two jugs of premix coolant....it came out real decent.

 

[BrianF]

Currently working on my 3500. F'ing def countdown started and won't clear with fresh def, drive cycles and currently doing a battery reset.

Was fine last week when we ran it for 15 minutes but was instantly on today when it was remote started. The codes are heater circuit and reductant pressure to low. Checked fuses and connections at the tank.

Won't register that I topped up the def as well. Will check tomorrow but emissions is usually done at 80k, which I'm past. That and we have a big trip planned with it first thing in the morning.....

 

[Matt]

"Working from home" which means I have a driver fitting scheduled for 10. Looking for a new weapon off the tee.

 

[BrianF]

Managed our 500km round trip this morning. Finished last night around midnight working on the 3500 to no avail. Thankfully we got some of the best people we know in this area. They lent us their 2011 2500 cummins. Got trailers switched and were able to make our timings. 6 this morning I had another buddy calling to lend his 2018 3500 flat deck. Even offered to deliver it. Great people.

Still need to call the dealer and verify warranty. If no coverage then it could be 3 to 4k for a new def tank, pump and garbage or 1600 for a delete.