What are you doing today?

[Mike534x]

Getting the coffee can cut off the Envoy, found a small shop thats doing it for $50. Then heading to work, and off to get a new battery for the ATV. We were able to use the jump pack to get it started, but its not holding a charge.

 

[Eric04]

Hit Costco for new tires on the wife's Nox. 110 bucks off a set of Michelins.

**edit**
Thanks to the members who mentioned the Michelin Defender LTX M/S, as I was going to spend on the tires for her ride anyway and couldn't decide which model Michelin I liked best.

 

[BrianF]

Found some time to troubleshoot the carb issue on my 32r. Clearly user error, another reason to maybe not do this stuff late at night.

I improperly matched up the fuel pump diaphragm. Completley mismatched the shape as I matched on color and material. Installed the correct one and it all lines up good. The blue is the correct. Now to test. Remember people; you just cant fix stupid.

 

[Eric04]

Found some time to troubleshoot the carb issue on my 32r. Clearly user error, another reason to maybe not do this stuff late at night.

View attachment 96133View attachment 96134

Hey man, we've all been guilty of trying to squeeze too many chores in and paying the price. Many times I've gone back to something later and thought, 'WTF were you doing?'.

 

[BrianF]

Alright have another update. Plopped the carb back on. Have both hi and low around 1.5 out. Have a real heavy oil mix, ballpark 30:1. After a fuel pulls she was primed. Fired up and loped well. Let it warm up and tuned the hi and low in about 1/4 turn. She still leaves a light haze on wide open. She will get a steady diet of about 40 to 45:1.

She cracks right open at the blip of the throttle and settles to idle after.

Next up is to pull the clutch and recoil for a cleaning and inspection.

Oh and I did my proprietary drop of something and have to dig around to find it. Dropped the carb/crankcase gasket. Classic Brian.

 

[mrrsm]

Best Neodymium Telescoping Magnet, EVER... For Under $10.00 ...FTW...!!!

I know I'm starting to sound like a 'Broken Record' about touting everyone to have THIS Specific Tool... But Men... IT can pick up to a 15 Pound Object... and it WILL allow you to recover Ferrous Metal Parts, Fasteners AND Tools AFTER they've literally been Stomped Down into the Turf:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RB3XBA/?tag=gmtnation-20

... With FREE S&H...

 

[Mooseman]

Dammit man, you're making me spend more money!

 

[BrianF]

I need to snag one of those on rollers to pick nails in my yard. Would work better than my vehicle tires finding them first.

 

[northcreek]

Alright have another update. Plopped the carb back on. Have both hi and low around 1.5 out. Have a real heavy oil mix, ballpark 30:1. After a fuel pulls she was primed. Fired up and loped well. Let it warm up and tuned the hi and low in about 1/4 turn. She still leaves a light haze on wide open. She will get a steady diet of about 40 to 45:1.

She cracks right open at the blip of the throttle and settles to idle after.

Next up is to pull the clutch and recoil for a cleaning and inspection.

Oh and I did my proprietary drop of something and have to dig around to find it. Dropped the carb/crankcase gasket. Classic Brian.

All this weed wacker talk has got me wondering if my old Kawasaki wacker will start after I fell in love with Roundup brush killer and quit using it a couple of years ago...

 

[Mounce]

Worked for the man and hated it again. Been rather screwed since Corona hit and my promotion basically got revoked due to lack or staff. Got interviews Tuesday at a mom and pop and a dealer, gonna try to get the Chevy dealer to check me out as well. Hoping one of those pans out as I'm 100% done with the current gig after management let an employee get away with theft since he returned the items the next day before he was confronted after he heard the big boss was coming to see him. I can't work at a shop related to that. I won't stand for it after I've been f'ed. Loaded up all my tools and moved out a few days ago, had some folks scratching heads and worried about it, even caused the manager to come back a week before his scheduled return from military duty to see what was going on. Too bad. Too little too late pal. I need out.

Came home and started another job on the old 4runner, fixing oil leaks. Japanese girls are weird compared to our murican vehicles. I wish they had a few more vacuum lines or something...



I'm booked for a month or two at the home shop, good timing with me hoping to switch jobs. All jobs I'm looking at have weekends off so that'll help the side gig a ton. Wouldn't mind taking it full time, but with weekends off I'll see how my customer base builds and ride out the winter and see how it goes then decide.

 

[mrrsm]

@BrianF ...Its been around 3-4 years since I finally "Bit The Bullet" and had a 50 Year Roofing Replacement Job performed on both the Flat and Pitched areas of my roof (2,110 Square Feet)... and from Long Experience... I knew that I'd have to get a Roller Magnet from Home Depot and run it across my yard, N-E-W-S and THEN Diagonally for a whole week in order to get all of THESE Damned Things Picked UP.

Recently, THIS One drilled itself into the arch of my shoe when I stepped off of my Ryobi Riding Lawn Mower... These Horrible Things can wreak havoc on Bare Feet... and when it comes to Roofing Shingle Nails like these...there is No Such Thing as ever "...Getting Them ALL":


So even after picking up nearly 3 Pounds of the Damned Things years later... I'm STILL "picking them up"...in my Shoes. And NOW more than ever, I need to be watchful because the Ryobi drives around on Pretty Fat Pneumatic Tires.

You mentioned recently that your Kids were being out and about around the property, doing chores, etc. If you get one of these things from Home Depot... give the Oldest and Most Responsible child First Dibs at the "Friday Surprise Box" (on top of the Fridge) if he or she comes back with more than Ten Items of ANYTHING Metallic that it picks up. Sort of like... "Treasure Hunting".

There are much LONGER ones this ...but they are VERY unwieldy, even for Adults and would be even more difficult for the youngsters to maneuver around your Dwelling and Farm Property:

Empire 11.5 in. Black and Silver Adjustable Magnetic Clean Sweep 27059 - The Home Depot

The Empire 40 in. Black and Silver adjustable Magnetic Rolling Clean Sweep feature a rolling design and an adjustable head. The Magnetic Rolling Clean Sweep has an aluminum shaft that can be extended to 40 in. Adjustable angle 11-1/2 in. magnetic head provides more coverage. The Magnetic Rolling...

www.homedepot.com

 

[BrianF]

Yep, that roller looks good!! Our big issue out here is that our property was a long established farm. There were old junk piles and buildings that are now long gone. Finding all sorts of hidden treasures as we turn up the ground. Old conveyor chain, railway spikes, chunks of broken iron equipment, nails, bolts, lost children, the remains of kurt Cobain and on and on. But that's the price you pay for mature trees and grass.

 

[m.mcmillen]

Thinking about mowing the yard but not wanting to. I need to get the kids trained up soon.

 

[Mounce]

Helped my brother move his shooting house, glad the fuel pump rebuild is holding up on the tractor, been a couple months and it still rips, he drove it over to his house and worked on his driveway after we used it to move the shooting house then came back and made a couple passes on my driveway too. Worked on that yota some more, will finish Tuesday and collect payment if all goes as planned. Owner is supposed to drop off his other yota for about the same list of things which is great but where have my off days went? Woooo. Got a hair cut to look decent for interviews and be cooler to finish out the summer.

Finally identified a nasty looking oil spot in the garage, has dye in it so it must be AC and the last thing to sit in that spot was the TB when I was working on the headlights. Fingers crossed that it's something easy. Was beginning to think an animal had gotten in the garage and drank some oil or something by the looks of it but hit it with a uv flashlight and it told the story.

 

[northcreek]

I did do some mowing and then this...

 

[Mounce]

Finished the 4runner after work today. Just gotta double check myself on everything tomorrow and fire it up and try to get it degreased. Will be a chore, it has leaked for years by the looks of it. Owner to pick it up tomorrow evening and drop off his Tacoma for much of the same treatment and then some.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Love Southern Tier! Today is cleaning and grocery store. Got ahead on my work stuff so doing some household chores.

 

[Mounce]

2 interviews done, gotta do some paperwork for one and wait on a call back next week from the other if I'm the lucky contestant.

Sent the 4runner and collected Tacoma as planned. Also realized all of the vehicles this man has are my age

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Working on couple jobs, watching kids, and since they are napping now...its time to mow the grass.

 

[BrianF]

Our friend came over again and brought the JD tractor. I ran over our arena another couple times. Its mint now, just needs one more once over to find anymore rocks or nails.

I put some time on my 32r as the grass was getting a bit on the long side. I had to tune it just a tad more as she still had a slight bog and haze behind it at wide open. I ran into another small tuning issue as it would die the odd time returning back to idle. I think the idle is to low. I will play around with it tomorrow but on a good note, when cold, one pull with the choke and it fires briefly. Then half choke, no throttle and she runs.

 

[mrrsm]

When COVID-19 "Food Fatigue" Sets In... My Wife likes to make us meals like THIS one that I Call "The Veggy-Meatball-Express":



Preheat the Oven to 375 Degrees Fahrenheit and later raise to 400 Degrees during One Full Hour of Cooking Time: All of the Vegetables will become nice and “al dente” and yet still remain a little bit Crisp and Chewy… without reducing them to a softer “Stew’ like condition. THIS MAKES THE MEAL VERY FLAVORFUL!

The Meat Addition:
‘Johnsonville Fully Cooked Home Style Meat Balls’ (These have a VERY Low amount of Animal Fats and Oils!) They just needed a little bit of Olive Oil in the Teflon Stove Top Cooking Pan. The Gravy Mix was added AFTER the Meatballs were Browned up very nicely.

The Gravy Mix:
Three Packets McCormick’s Low Sodium Mushroom, Brown and Onion Gravies in “The Mix” with Three Cups of Water.

The Vegetables: These required Two “Roomy” Low Rectangular Aluminum Cooking Pans filled with a little water to create steam and better distribute the Cooking Heat:

Cabbage: Leaves and ¼ to 1/8 Sections spread around evenly with the other Vegetables.

Russet Potatoes: (Medium Sized) Quartered and likewise spread around.

Celery: Washed, Cut into ¼ Lengths and laid about on the tray bottoms.

Romaine & Charred Red Oak: Salad Leaves strewn about on top for the ‘Phlavor & Phyto-Nutrients’.

Carrots: Peeled and Cut to ¼ lengths.

Yellow Onions: LARGE, ¼ s and ½ size Chunks… spread mostly under the Cabbage Leaves.

The Seasonings:

McCormick’s Montreal Chicken: Just to get the ‘Rosemary & Thyme’ flavorings.

EVO: Extra Virgin Olive Oil sprinkled all over the Vegetable Trays to allow the seasoning to stick.

Meal Assembly:

Ladle up PLENTY of the Hot Vegetables in Large Soup Bowls and then top them all off with the Meatballs and Warm Gravy Combo. Say Grace, Folks … and ENJOY!

Bon Appétit

 

[TollKeeper]

Looks yummy, except I would be killing people with my "gas emanations"

 

[BrianF]

Pulled the walbro wta 8 carb off the 9ld lawnboy hand held blower. My dad bought it late 80s, early 90s. Used to tear it apart for fun in middle school, modified its cooling and spark plug access like the teenage tool i was.

Dad dumped it with me 2 years ago. Drained the black sludge from the tank, a quick rinse and new fuel. Fired up after 5 or 6 pulls but never ran right so I parked it.

I did a full clean, new Welch plugs and some leftover gaskets. Will need a compete kit to get the metering and fuel pump diaphragms, new fuel line, filter and spark plug.

Ran decent after some rough tuning, better than it was but not how it should be.

 

[BrianF]

Just to add, the Lawn Boy 1490 was made in 1985 and the 1490C, with the serial number range of mine is 1986. Its going to get the engine ripped out as a lesson for my kids. This poor girl is going to run the gauntlet again.

 

[mrrsm]

I'm mentioning a serious problem that more than just a few of us have encountered if your Kitchen Sinks are equipped with any "Garbage Disposal Units..." :

The Problem:

...comes from buying an expensive, Top Of The Line "In-Sinkerator" "All Stainless Steel Unit" that unfortunately also sports a Cast Iron Cutter Plate inside the Business End instead of having one installed that is ALSO made of Stainless Steel:

(1) SOMEHOW... A Polyethylene Plastic Water Bottle Cap accidentally got dropped down inside of the GDU GAPING MAW ...and then Got Crunched and THEN Got the pieces of itself JAMMED into the Small Spaces in between the Stainless Steel "Chum Chamber" Liner and the Cast Iron Cutter Plate.

(2) In Very Short Order... The Plate Rusted Up and Swelled due to its exposure to all of that Organic Mung and Hot Water coming out of the Dishwasher. This was compounded by the presence of all those additional Electrolytes in the DW Soap Solution... So the Cast Iron Plate finally just seized in place ...ROCK SOLID.

(3) In the time that followed,"The Lil Woman" kept flipping the GDU Switch ON and OFF ..but left it ON while trying to get it to Run until it finally Tripped the Circuit Breaker in the Base of the GDU.

ENTER...'THE HUSBAND' ...TO THE RESCUE:

(A) Emptied Out the Sink and Eye Balls the Drain Area just in case any Sharps or Other Cutlery had also accidentally made their way down inside.

(B) Filled the Clogged "Chum Chamber" with a 1/2 gallon of Drain-O and WAITED until all of that disgusting, in-dwelling Organic Mung Plug dissolved away enough to Clear the Clogged Up Secondary Drain Hose. Then... Washed all that Crap down the Drain with HOT Water.

(C) This is "The FIRST Clever" Part...
Used A S/S Barbecue Fork down inside the "Chum Chamber" around the Clogged Chopping Ports in the outer perimeter of the Cast Iron Plate to break up the Rusty, Crusty Barnacles out of those small spaces and around the edges of the Cast Iron Plate.

(D) This "The SECOND Clever Part"...
Dumped in a Small, 8 Ounce Bottle of EvapoRust GEL...and waited 2-4 Hours for that GOOP to Do its MAGIC.


(E) A bit later on... Re-Set the GDU Circuit Breaker Button on the Lower Motor Cover Plate.

(F) Then... Covered the Drain Hole with a Plastic Baggie to prevent anything Dangerously Unhealthy and Disgusting from Jetting Outwards... and Flipped ON the GDU Switch. SO FAR... NO SWEAT!

(G) The GDU Motor Started Up Right Away... and then... Purred Like a Kitten and 'wound up' spinning freely from the large Motor Mass for 10-15 Seconds ...even AFTER the GDU Switch had been turned OFF. Very Nice!

(H) Sprayed Hot Water FIRST to rid the unit of the Bio-Degradable, Non-Toxic EvapoRust GEL. THEN added some Chlorine Bleach down BOTH Drains to KILL ALL OF THOSE REALLY BAD LINGERING GERMS. (Installed a S/S Catch Screen inside of the GDU Drain Port and advised "The Lil' Woman" to keep it down inside there ...from now on).

(I) Typhoid Fever? ...Averted! BBQ Fork Tool & EvapoRust GEL IDEA? Priceless!!!

 

[Mooseman]

Been at my son's since yesterday. Drove the Caprice up. Had no problems passing by those less inclined to keep a good steady clip . Then, last night, took her and my son on a deserted road. Killed lots of bugs!

Then today, DIL and granddaughter arrived. Having a great time together and a BBQ dinner. Now babysitting while the young couple went to see the sunset together and probably talk a while as he found out that he'll be gone again for almost a month with work

Leaving for home sometime tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Blckshdw]

One of my security cameras went down earlier this afternoon. It had given me some issues a few weeks ago, forgetting its configuration for some reason, so I was hoping it didn't crap out completely. Only change was that I trimmed some of the PVC conduit leaving the house. Didn't knick the cable, but decided to use a spare 100' cable to test.

Ran it through the living room, patio and back yard. Reached the camera with about 6" to spare, and after swapping plugs, I have picture again. Not sure how I damaged the other cable, but I did... So my reward, is climbing back up in the hot ass attic after already showering and committing to couch potato-ness for the day, to run another cable, as well as fishing it through the conduit in the back yard to get it to the camera's mounting position.

Got a notification from the pharmacy that my prescription is ready. I usually prepay online so I can be in and out quickly, logged in to see the cost is almost 3x what it normally is. Not sure if they didn't process my insurance or what, so I have to follow up to see what the deal is there. I'm not happy.

 

[christo829]

Had a bad storm a couple of weeks ago show me that my bay window roof had a leak. Got it all
cleared of wet sheetrock/insulation, mold treated and resealed, but wanted to wait for another gully washer to verify seal integrity. We've had a couple of those and things stayed dry inside, so today is reinsulating and at least putting the sheetrock back, even if I don't do the spackling just yet.

Glad the sun isn't out over here in Fairfax just now. It's warm enough in that space without it, and even the "low particulate" insulation is itchy when you're sweating. Blech....

 

[Blckshdw]

Reached the camera with about 6" to spare

This should have been a red flag, cuz the conduit outside doesn't run diagonal across the yard like the test cable was. And the original cable had a TON of slack in it, so when the new one went taught, about 10 feet short, some choice words were had.

Gonna have to order something longer, hope I can zip tie the ends of the new connectors at the conduit junction in the yard, pull the connectors in both directions from the switch and camera mount, so I won't need to get in the attic again. Was only up there for maybe 10 minutes max, but my clothes looked like I got caught in a thunderstorm. 🌧

 

[Mooseman]

Yesterday, drove back from North Bay, mostly in rain. The Caprice handled that like a champ, even in a torrential downpour. Calculated mileage with it is great at 21 MPG, which is even better than when it had AFM active. Still driving it like I stole it.

Today is gonna be another rain day so not much going on. Noticed that the RV trailer that the dealer supposedly sold to somebody else is magically back on their website with pictures this time. I might drop by just to see what's up with it. I think they had under priced it the first time they posted it online, however, I have a printout of it . After that, need to go to Costco for some supplies. Hopefully it won't be too busy

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Working the side business by court order. First time I ever had a court appoint me without any prior indication or conversation. Of course it is an oddball assignment I likely would have turned down if given option.

 

[Blckshdw]

Day of problem solving complete! Called the pharmacy about the price on my script, they said it was processed through insurance, and to contact them about pricing questions. I know prices fluctuate, so hit up HR to see if a swing this big should be questioned under our plans. She looped in our consultant who said he'd look into it. Couple hours later, I get another notification from the pharmacy that my script was ready for pickup. This time the price was about $1 more than it usually is. That's more like it.

Amazon delivered a new cat6 cable just before my shift ended. Tried a different technique, unplugged the short cable from the switch, taped the connectors together. Went outside and started pulling. Thankfully there were no snags, and it came all the way outside, so no trips to the attic. Got the whole length pulled through the conduit, and my camera is back in play. Oddly enough, while I was working under the avocado tree, a handful of them fell around me. If I didn't know better, I'd say the squirrels were secretly trying to hit me with them.

 

[Sparky]

Watch out getting cat5 or cat6 from Amazon. WAY too much CCA wire used by a lot of vendors on there. Utter crap.

I'm trying to keep my head above water at work, without dedicating my entire life to work. Boss tells me every so often "overtime isn't limited" - yeah, but I have a family and a life of my own. I work to live, not live to work!

 

[Matt]

I work to live, not live to work!

But isn't that the American way?

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Overtime is catch 22. I wish some days I could get overtime at the regular job so I did not have to have a second business. BUT if I could, then when they lean on you to do overtime it is hard to say no.

Today is bunch of paperwork while the rain is coming in.

 

[TollKeeper]

Not today, but yesterday.

We are getting the fence replace at my house. Got a few phone calls from the wife wondering where the contractor is. Then she calls me saying they are their, and the cable is out. Put 2 and 2 together, and the fencing guys cut the cable digging holes for the fence posts. Call the contract company, and they had not been made aware of the cable being cut. Company calls 811, and 811 sends out the power company ?

So i get home, and the guys are still working on putting up the fence. I go around, looking at the job they are doing, and it looks good, but I was concerned about the gap inbetween the bottom of the fence and the ground in some areas. The guy tells me its the contour of the land, and they only build level and straight fences.

Continue looking around, and I keep seeing these crushed cans laying around. Didnt really pay to much attention to it, till I found a bag of the same cans at their stock pile of wood. And this is when I notice its BEER cans. Well at least this explains why the 3 day job is now on day 5, and I estimate there is another 3 days to go.

Spent the next 2 hours on the phone with Scumcast (Comcast) to arrange getting this cable line fixed. They were supposed to call me at noon today, that was 45 minutes ago, and no call. Now sitting in a chat with Scumcast, and they have no record of this.. SOB

 

[Mooseman]

Not much today. Replaced some velcro in the Saab that was holding the Scangauge II, the trailer brake controller and the trailer backup camera screen. Then fashioned a cover for the pool solar cover using a white tarp cut to size. Put some velcro strips to hold it in place and voila, cheap and durable cover. And I have tons left over if I have to redo it.

And yesterday, when I went to the RV dealer, the particular one I was looking at sold "yesterday". Wow, only the third one of the exact same year and model each sold "yesterday". Screw 'em. I'm not in a hurry and will wait for a post pandemic deal. There will be a glut of these when all the covid newbs decide the RV life isn't for them.

 

[Mounce]

Had the day off. Went to a second interview for one and took a drug test for the other. Met with current management the other day and basically got told you're f'ed, we refuse to hold our word, and it'll be three more months before we can hold our word. Gotta love a corporation.

After running around town between the two offers, came home and worked at the side job for a few hours, front pads and rotors and quick struts installed. Gotta do rear shocks, valve covers, door handle, ac system, radio, and find a vibration still. This customer has utterly blessed me over the last few months between random projects and now big projects on their daily's. And I've still got one more of his vehicles to work on after this one, then one of his brothers vehicles.

 

[Mooseman]

Picking up a new pellet smoker that I ordered from Princess Auto. Perfect timing for the birthday celebration we're planning for my eldest son next week. It was on sale last week but they didn't have stock. Ordered one at the store and it came in relatively fast, way faster than the online order I did for the same one, which I cancelled.

Found out from the Mrs that we'll be dry camping (no hookups) at a friend's property a couple of hours away this weekend. First time boondocking so I have to check that the fresh water tank and pump are working. Also have to check the fridge works on propane. Battery is new from last year so good there. At least I have a 3000w inverter generator that I picked up in the spring capable of running everything if necessary.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Which pellet grill did you get? I love my Green Mountain. Used Traeger and Pit Boss and Camp Chef. None of them has me wanting to switch.


Today I am doing a little more work and then actually thinking of firing up my GMG and cooking up some stuff. Got some jalapeno for poppers, some pork chops the kids always like, and some veggies that are always a bit better with some smoke n garlic.