Wednesday, October 12, 2022
A little rain overnight wet the ground a little, but wasn't enough to do any good. The ten day forecast predicts continuing drought, and I will still have to continue watering stressed vegetation. The main project of the day was trying to restore my usual internet connection. I spliced the rat-chewed ethernet cable back together and it seemed that the router was working, but the wi-fi wasn't reaching my computers. Because the downstairs wall of the house are poured concrete covered by stone, I have the router in the attic so it can get a signal out to my office over the shop. From the modem in the living room, the cable goes down into the cellar, then up through a kitchen wall downstairs and a bedroom wall upstairs, then across the attic to the router. A fifty foot cable is just long enough. With the spliced cable connected, I still had no wi-fi reaching my office. So I went to town and got a new cable. To install it I taped the ends of the old and new cable together and used the old cable to pull the new one into place. That's a job that take a lot longer to do than it does to tell. Even with the new cable in and connected, I still ended the day using the slow hot spot connection.
Thursday, October 13 2022
This morning I phoned Cox to have my internet connection checked. They sent a technician who replaced the modem, which was due to be replaced with a new model anyway. After that the computers were getting a w-fi signal, but the signal still had no content. Trying to open a web page got only a "can't find that site" notice. So I got on the phone to Cox again for help. The agent suggested unplugging the router for more than a minute, then plugging it in again. I did that, went out to my office, and tried opening a web page on the Netgear71 network. Bingo! At last I had my wi-fi connection back. I have also set two rat raps in the attic beside the router, but no customers yet. This evening Shorty got to take a ride. She's always up to go anywhere in a car. I'm a member of both Model T clubs in Kansas, and I don't get to all the meetings and activities of either one because both require a drive of about 2½ hours going and another 2½ hours coming home. This evening's meeting was of the East Central Kansas T's in Burlington. I left a little after 4 PM and arrived at the Burlington library at 6:40. After the meeting I headed home at 9:00 and got here a little after 11:30. It was a long day.
Friday, October
14, 2022
Late to bed, late to rise. It was almost 9:00 AM when I rolled out of the sack. About the only productive time I spent today was shopping for groceries and starting a map flash drive to take traveling. I went to the Kansas Department of Transportation website and downloaded maps of all 105 Kansas counties. The space on the drive is 128 GB, and the 105 PDF's have taken up less than ½ GB, so I'll have room for several states. In prowling about the internet I found a couple of pictures of me at Hershey last week. Saturday, October 15, 2022 Today I got around to the Camry's overdue oil change. Changing oil is simple, but the filter is another story. I have five filter wrenches. Four of them are too large to fit this little filter. One fits, but will grab a filter only to install it, but not to remove it. This leads me to ask: How stupid is it possible to be? So when I went to town for my Saturday night out I stopped at a parts store and bought a filter wrench that not only fits, but works in both directions. After a tasty dinner of enchiladas blancas at La Fiesta I went to see Don't Worry Darling. When I arrived at the theater there was a line out the door and only one person selling tickets. This wasn't a case of the manager failing to schedule another person. The one person selling tickets was the manager, and she said she hasn't been able to recruit another person. So the labor shortage has hit Cowley County. But how about the movie? I enjoyed it. The setting is a swanky company town in the Mojave in the fifties. We are never told exactly what the cult-like company does, but it's all very secret. Chris Pine as the charismatic and creepy leader is very good, and Florence Pugh as one of the wives who are not allowed to know what's going on is outstanding. Olivia Wilde plays one of the wives, and directs. This is only her second feature as a director, and it's very well done. If she directs another, I'll see it. |
 Rob Heyen caught me trudging through
the Red Field.
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 Kathy Taggert got a shot of me
visiting with MTFCA president George Akin.
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Sunday, October 16, 2022
Burning season started this evening. It wasn't really cold, but 66º in the kitchen felt chilly so I had a fire in the kitchen stove during dinner. I didn't have a wood fire in the living room fireplace, but I did burn trash there instead of outside in the burn barrel. Soon the real cold will arrive, so I need to get busy on firewood. In the shop I unloaded Hershey purchases from my backpack and put them away. I found that the engine in the runabout had coolant dripping from a couple of the casting plugs. I pounded on them with a drift and a heavy hammer, hoping that will seat them better, but I'm afraid I may have to replace them.
Monday, October 17, 2022
Today I finished downloading the PDF maps of all 114 Missouri counties to my 128 GB flash drive atlas. Those 219 files (Kansas and Missouri counties) use 1.44 GB, so I expect all the county maps of states that have them will fit with space left over for a lot of city maps. It's unfortunate that several states don't have county maps. I'll have to resort to Google for those. This afternoon after grocery shopping I brought a couple of boxes of wood into the house. More warm weather is coming, but we're going to have the first hard freeze of the season before they get here.
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Tuesday, October
18, 2022
There's a saying in the Model T world that the question isn't whether a T crank shaft will break, but when it will break. These cranks were none too sturdy when they were new, and after a hundred years of pounding sometimes they break, often doing considerable collateral damage. Because of this, my 1923 touring and my 1915 runabout both have new SCAT cranks. The SCAT Model T crank is heavier and stronger than the original, and there have been no reports of one breaking. But being larger than the original, it will hit one of the lower pan reinforcements, popularly called horseshoes, if you don't grind a little off the horseshoe. Well, recently I started up the runabout and heard a distinct knock in the engine. I suspected the reason was some maintenance I had just done. I had tightened all the cap screws holding the inspection cover on the bottom of the oil pan, including the one where the crank shaft comes close to the rear horseshoe. Sure enough, when I backed that cap screw out a little the knock was gone. The simple fix was to just grind about ⅛" off the end of the cap screw. I made a little video of the adventure. Wednesday, October 19, 2022 Last night Shorty slept inside. When I called her at bedtime she came running, because it was pretty chilly out. During cold weather I have an electric blanket on my bed, with a couple of regular blankets on top of that, then a big comforter, and on top of that an army blanket for Shorty. She doesn't like the cold any more than I do, and she doesn't waste any time getting into the house or the shop to warm up. Most of today was a medical adventure. My cardiologist had me visit the hospital in Ponca City for tests. That included ultrasound and an MRI. I thought I was going to go on the treadmill too, but they gave me an injection while several sensors were stuck to my chest, and that's supposed to be the same as the treadmill test. I was there for over two hours. On the way home I stopped at the market for celery, and finally got home at 3:35. By the time I brought in firewood and laid the fires in the kitchen stove and the living room fireplace the day was pretty well spent. This evening I skipped the cup of port wine after dinner. For years that has been a regular thing most evenings but for awhile I'm cutting that back to two or three times a week to see if that cutback in calories will take off a few pounds. This morning I weighed 145 pounds. I'd prefer 140, which will make my BMI score 18. That's at the skinny end of the optimal range. I have a friend who is overweight, diabetic, and has had heart surgery, and smokes. He promotes the "Keto" diet, and often posts pictures on Facebook showing a meal of what I call heart attack food.When I asked him what his BMI was he said he didn't know. He doesn't want to know. It takes a few seconds to Google a BMI chart. |
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Today I downloaded all the Michigan county maps and about a third of the Wisconsin maps. When I finish Wisconsin that will be five states' county maps done. Eventually I'll add some cities for each state. This morning I noticed that the lack of moisture for many weeks has shrunk the front screen door so much that the latch doesn't catch. I've lived here since 1985, and I don't think I've ever seen that before. The ten day forecast shows a good chance of rain Monday and Tuesdsay. I hope it really happens and is enough to do some good.
| Friday,
October 21, 2022 It's called a senior moment, but today's snafu was more of a senior few hours. It was a little past noon when I suddenly remembered a 1:00 PM appointment with the eye doc in Wichita. It would take me an hour and a half to get there, so there was nothing to do but phone and reschedule. I did actually accomplish something today. I tested dozens of vintage bulbs, looking for ones that would be suitable for magneto headlamps. Magneto lights are wired in series, so the bulbs have to be matched for equal brightness in pairs. A lot of the bulbs I tested were good, but not bright enough to suit me. I ended up with several good pairs, each pair together in a plastic bag. There are more than would fit in the little 3 x 4¼ x 4¼ candy tin I've been using so they will ride in a 3⅝ x 5 x 7 wooden cigar box. It holds eight pairs of magneto headlamp bulbs, one spare 1129 bulb for the battery charger, and a candle to lubricate the bases, sockets, and headlight rims. I'll add a few tail/brake and turn signal LED's. For the last hour before quitting time I went to Oklahoma. Gasoline at the gasino just across the state line is usually 5¢ to 7¢ a gallon less than in town. Today it was $3.049 and the town price was $3.499. I'd say the 45¢ a gallon difference made it worth my time to drive the runabout down there. Tomorrow I'll fill the Camry. Saturday, October 22, 2022 Auction day. Shorty got a long Model T ride as I went to check out three auctions. The Roth auction at the fairgrounds in Winfield had one item of mild interest, a set of vintage porcelain-coated steel bowls. One of those would be good to take camping. I would bid on them if they were still there after I checked out the other auctions. At the Defore auction downtown there were several good items among the tools. Those wouldn't come up for sale until mid-afternoon, so there was plenty of time for a drive up to Douglass to see what they were selling at the Brazle auction. The answer turned out to be absolutely nothing I cared about. I drove the twenty miles to Douglass on 19½ miles of back roads, having to use a modern highway for only half a mile. In that forty mile round trip I don't think I met more than three of four other vehicles. Kansas is great for Model T driving, with lots of very low-traffic back roads. Back at the fairgrounds the set of bowls had been sold, so I went back to the Defore auction and read the newspaper and the new Vintage Ford while I waited for them to get to the tools. When they did I bought a large box of sandpaper for $8, a roll of light chain for $7, five ⅜" and ½" ratchets for $1 each, an electric drill for $1, and a tubing bender for $1. I left the auction at 4:30, got home at 5:10, and drove modern for Saturday night out. After dinner at La Fiesta I went to see Ticket to Paradise, a rom-com with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. It's a well made, pleasantly amusing diversion. It won't win any awards, but it was an enjoyable hour and 44 minutes. |
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Sunday, October 23, 2022
You snooze, you lose. I didn't get the Camry down to the gasino until today, and the price had gone up from Friday's $3.049 per gallon to $3.349. but that's still 15¢ a gallon less than the town price of $3.499. My work here at home today was preparing for rain. The forecast is showing a 100% chance tomorrow, so maybe it will really happen. I filled two boxes with cottonwood pieces and brought them into the house for a little heat when it's needed. There were a lot more pieces that need to be split, so I tossed them in a pile and put a tarp over it. My 1924 ton truck project, just the chassis, has been sitting in front of the barn tarped to keep it dry. The old tarps are going to pieces so I want to roll the chassis back into the barn. To do that I need to clear a space for it, and to do that I need to get the mowing tractor out of the way. When I went to move the tractor I noticed that the front tires needed air, so I drove it over to the shop and aired up the tires. By the time that was done, and I went to fill the Camry and pick up some pills at the pharmacy, it was obvious that I wouldn't have time to move a lot of stuff and get the chassis inside today, so I put the tractor away and put a couple of new tarps on the TT. It's sort of overwhelming to think of all the things that need to be done, and a lot of them depend on other things being done first. Example: I need to build a garage so I don't have any vehicles sitting outside in the weather. But before I build a garage I need to clear a space for it, removing a lot of trees and junk. Clearing a space has waited for me to have my loader tractor running so I could pull the smaller trees out of the ground and move some of the junk. Meanwhile, there's upstairs bedroom rebuilding to do, and weed pulling, and road clearing, and volunteer trees around the house to pull, and building a larger tool shed that will hold all the mowing equipment, and a barn roof to fix, and the list goes on and on. It really all too much for one old man to handle, and I suppose I should feel overwhelmed and depressed, but I don't. I don't sweat the small stuff, and in the grand scheme of the universe it's all small stuff.
Monday, October 24, 2022
The day dawned wet. The rain started early in the morning and was still falling when I got up. Phillip brought me a printout of the soybean harvest recently completed, and said he's already planted wheat for next year. This rain will get it going, and we'll hope there's enough rain in the winter and spring for it to turn out better than the soybeans did. When I went to Michigan in September the soybeans in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana looked great, but here, with no significant rain since June, it was pretty miserable. After a trip to town for groceries and pills, I was going to get started making a puller to get big weeds and small trees out of the ground but I discovered that I was out of oxygen, so I had to go back to town with the empty cylinder and trade it for a full one. I got a little done on the puller before chow time, but there's a lot more to do.
Tuesday, October 25, 2022
There's not much to report today. The project of the day was the puller. Lots of welding and grinding, and more tomorrow. I'll have to go buy some steel in the morning. I'm using mostly materials on hand, but I don't have all the right stuff among my scraps. This evening I worked awhile on my flash drive Atlas, downloading Nebraska county maps A through F. So far I have all the counties of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. I took a look at the Ohio DOT county maps and was not impressed. Many of the roads are unidentified. That's not helpful.
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
As expected, more welding and grinding. That was after a trip to Winfield to buy some ⅜ x 1½ flat stock. I made some progress on the puller, but there's still plenty to do. Maybe I'll get close to finished tomorrow. On my way to Winfield I stopped at the co-op to sell my share of the soy beans. In a good year the crops pay the property taxes and the house insurance. This was not a good year. The soy beans will cover the taxes, but not the insurance. This evening I finished downloading Nebraska counties to my flash drive atlas. That's six states done and a bunch to go.
Thursday, October 27, 2022
Another day of cutting, welding, grinding, and drilling on the puller project. The idea of the thing is quite simple, but actually making it feels like it's taking forever. This is another example of the old saying that everything takes longer than you think it will. Will I finish it tomorrow? Dunno. We'll see.
Friday, October 28, 2022
Almost done. In fact the puller was near enough to finished that I took it out and tested it. I was pleased to find that it pulled a small tree out of the ground quite nicely, but needed a little more work. I tried making a puller last year, but it was too flimsy for the work. So I overbuilt this one to be strong enough. The only problem with that is that it's pretty heavy. I can carry it, but I think I'll figure out a way to put some wheels on it.
Saturday, October 29, 2022
A depleted supply of clean sox made this laundry day. I had the first load, sox and overalls, on the line about 9:45, then went to Winfield to see if there was anything of interest in the auction at the fairgrounds. It was mostly glassware and pottery, with some nice furniture and a few odds and ends. None of it was anything I wanted, so I came home and did the rest of the wash — sheets, towels, and shirts. A little after three I headed for Wichita for this week's Saturday night out. For dinner I filed my hollow leg at Buffet City which, as the name implies, offers a great spread of good food. When I go to Wichita for Movie Night it's because I want to see a picture not likely to ever make it down here to our local theater. In this case the movie was Till, the story of the Emmet Till murder case. If Emmet was alive today he would be my age. We were born a month apart. Jalyn Hall as Emmet is excellent — easy-going, fun-loving, and fatally naive. I cannot say enough good about Danielle Deadwyler as Mamie Till. She is wonderful in the part, and if it doesn't bring her an Oscar nomination there is no justice. This is director Chinoye Chukwu's third feature film, and her work is is first rate. This is one of those movies I will happily go and see a second time.
Sunday, October 30, 2022
It seems that Thursday and Friday nights I didn't get enough sleep, so last night I caught up, putting in almost ten hours of sack time. Today's action revolved around that puller I've been working on recently. I put it together and tried it out. It worked nicely to pull several small trees out of the ground, and I shot some video I still have to edit and post. I attacked the weed patch across the road from the house, pulling many by hand and using the puller on the stubborn ones. By quitting time I had cleared a considerable area.
Monday, October
31, 2022
Today I continued the weed war across the road. Yesterday I cleared the area from the end of the fence to the water tank. My aim today was to clear another ten feet. My aunt Mary used to say that missing a meal made her feel "woozy". I've never had that problem, but after about a half hour working I felt a bit woozy myself, so I went up to my office and sat for an hour or so until the feeling went away. That time off the job kept me from clearing the whole ten feet of weeds I had planned. I had to quit at three to go to town for hardware, pills, and groceries. By the time I checked the tires on the runabout for air pressure and aired up the ones that needed it, and put away tools I used on the puller, and unloaded auction purchases from a week ago, wedidn't get away until 3:30. Shorty was so eager for a ride that she was barking when I drove the car out of the shop. Our three stops in town were at the farm supply for a couple of pounds of half inch nuts, at the pharmacy for blood pressure pills and diapers, and at the market for groceries. The nuts are not for a specific project, but just stock to have in the nut drawer when I need them. The diapers are a staple product for a graduate of prostate surgery with a perpetual slow drip. They're one of the products I keep in extra supply so I have some when they're out of stock in the store. Another item in that category is the jalapeño cheese I like. When I get down to two packages of that I buy another so I'm well stocked when the store runs out. Sometimes products are out of stock for a long time. All the Walmarts were out of the wheat crackers I like at the start of September, and two months later they're still out. Every month the Dillons stores send me coupons for some of the products I buy often. There is usually one for Kroger frijoles refritos, and I usually can't use it because the beans are out of stock. That's another product I buy when my stock gets down to less than half a dozen. Oh, by the way, I shot some video of my new big weed and small tree puller. Today I edited and posted it here. |
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