Tuesday, December 1, 2020
The new month got off to a mild start, sunny without much wind, and an afternoon high about 50º F. I took advantage of that for some outside work, firing up the chain saw and attacking the big pile of tree remains behind the shop. I ended up with three boxes of pieces ready to use, and took them into the house. About an equal amount is in bigger pieces stacked by the splitter. That will have to wait under a tarp for a couple of days. Tomorrow and Thursday are predicted to be wet. Meanwhile, two Model T Fords sit in my shop waiting for me to get them reassembled and running. The 1923 touring needs a new flywheel and the transmission rebuilt, and I still need to finish rebuilding the magneto for the 1915 runabout and get the engine back in the car. On the first of December driving season seems a long way off, but it will be here soon enough and I want to be ready to enjoy it.
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Didn't get a lick of work done today except catching up on some correspondence. When I went to town for apples and bananas I stopped at the pharmacy for a blood pressure test. It was high again, 150/87. I'm getting unacceptable numbers like that far too often, and if it keeps up I'll schedule a visit to the clinic in search of a remedy.
Thursday, December 3, 2020
After several weeks doing other things, today I got back to rebuilding that magneto ring.
Applying
Kapton insulating tape to copper ribbons. I put it
on both sides. It's 1 mil, so the winding has 2 mils
of insulation between layers.
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Winding a
coil. It took awhile to figure out how to tie a
finished coil with wire so it won't unwind.
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Four down,
28 to go.
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Friday, December 4, 2020
Every day brings news of a new record death toll, and when I have to go to town for groceries I see barefaced geniuses pretending it's all a big hoax. I keep my distance and hope they don't kill me before I can get vaccinated. The way things are going it won't surprise me if we have half a million dead Americans by spring. And there will still be idiotic Facebook posts attacking science and saying it isn't real. It all demonstrates that intelligent people can believe the most preposterous things.
Saturday, December 5, 2020
Continuing work on magneto coils, I used up the first roll of ¼" Kapton on the ninth coil. With another 23 coils to wind, it was obvious that just one more roll of tape wouldn't be enough, so I went online and ordered a couple more rolls from Amazon. The tape would have been about $2 a roll less from the manufacturer, but with only UPS shipping at an insane cost nearly three times the cost of the tape. No thanks. By the time the package arrives on Wednesday I should have the next nine individual coils wound, all eighteen soldered into nine double coils, and maybe have them wrapped and installed on the ring. I hope to have the mag ring finished in a couple of weeks, and maybe even have the engine back in the car and running before the end of the month.
Sunday, December 6, 2020
Last winter I neglected watering the seedlings I planted in the fall, and by spring, when they should have leafed out, a couple of them were dead sticks, including the American sweet gum I most wanted. So this year I aim to pay attention and water weekly unless a recent rain or snow has made the ground obviously wet. This year's sweet gum and red maple both appear to be in good shape, and I hope to keep them that way. So today I watered all three trees and the two forsythias I planted last month.
Monday, December 7, 2020
Today was the deadline to sign up for supplemental insurance to go with medicare. I decided to add some dental coverage, so when I went to town I stopped at the dentist's office to get a list of the companies they deal with. I went to the lumber yard and bought a couple of bags of fine blasting sand, and picked up two 2021 wall calendars — one for the bathroom and one for my office. I stopped at the insurance agency and got another for the kitchen. My other stops were at the market for bananas and at the Walmart for jalapeño cheese not sold at the market, and a blood pressure test at the pharmacy. My BP was a stinking 130/76, continuing an unacceptable trend. I will be going back to the clinic to see if there's something that can be done to get my pressure back down to normal. I prefer not to continue on the road to a stroke. When I got home I spent most of the afternoon researching supplemental insurance plans online and signing up for the one that seemed like the best deal. With a $0 monthly premium and more coverage of preventive care than I've been spending it looks like it will save me some dough. Today is the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. In a discussion about the day on the Model T forum I posted this:
Before the movie Midway was released last year I was afraid it would make WWII look like a video game, which some movies of recent years have done. I was delighted to find that it wonderfully recreated the look of the era. The Pearl Harbor attack and the subsequent battle scenes looked very real. From what I've read the historical accuracy was much better than we've come to expect in movies. All historical films, including this one, get some things wrong, but I think in this one the mistakes are few and minor. If you haven't seen it I recommend it.
At the time of the attack my folks and I lived at 1363 Gulf Avenue in Wilmington. I was just six months old, so I don't remember it. But Mom later told of the effect it had on her. In those days the nearby Palos Verdes peninsula was mostly undeveloped, and along the south side of the peninsula were farms owned by Japanese immigrants or Nisei. After Pearl Harbor Mom dreamed that Japanese agents from Palos Verdes had tied grenades to the springs of her bed, and she awoke from her nightmare trying to untie them. Five years after the war she met her closest friend Terry, who was Nisei. They were dear friends for the rest of their lives.
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Most of today was a drive to and from Wichita. At long last wood shingles were back in stock at Star Lumber and I went to get a bundle. When they were out of stock early last month the price was $90.30. Today they were $126.31. Despite severe sticker shock I bought a bundle, but when I saw them I found that they are very rough on one side. I'll inspect them more closely tomorrow in the daylight. I think I may phone around and try to find some better ones and return these. Paying 40% more for lower quality does not sit well with me.
 August 2016...
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Wednesday,
December 9, 2020
When I did most of the shingling on the house four years ago I had to buy the shingles in Wichita because Woods Lumber, just four miles from me, didn't have them for some reason I don't remember. Well, this morning I phoned Woods and found that now they do carry the shingles I need. A good look at the bundle I got yesterday confirmed that they were shakes, not the shingles I needed. So I left them in the car, drove to Woods and bought a bundle of the right ones (for $20 less than they cost at Star Lumber), drove back to Wichita, and returned the shakes to Star. All this shingle chasing has wasted a couple of days of good weather. The forecast says tomorrow will be one more good day before we sink back into normal December weather. With any luck tomorrow I can finish the little shingling I have to do on the east side of the living room before the arctic blast blows in. Thursday, December 10, 2020 Done. I nailed on the last shingle at 2:40 PM, put the tools inside, and went to town for groceries. When I got home I moved the scaffold around in front of the house where I have one last bit of shingling to do on the front of the porch. It will take just two rows of shingles, so the bundle I bought yesterday should be more than enough to do the job. There should be enough decent weather for me to have it finished by the end of the year. |
 ... back of the house.
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 Cutting to fit odd angles: Tape
together bits of stiff paper to make up a template.
Use it to mark the outline of the piece you need. |
 Cut along the lines.
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 Put up the finished shingle and nail
it in place.
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Taking advantage of a "warm" day in the high forties I split the pile of wood I left by the splitter recently, filled three boxes and brought them into the house, and put a tarp over the remainder to keep it dry until I can get it under cover. That should be tomorrow. The forecast shows it dry before we get snow Sunday morning. Meanwhile, I'm beginning the count-down: 99 days to spring. That may seem like a long time from this end, but I'll be surprised and delighted if I have all my "winter" projects done by then.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
As planned, I brought in all the wood I split yesterday. Rather than stack it in the garage, I filled several boxes with it and brought them into the house. There will be plenty of cold evenings to use it up. I remembered to water all the recently planted seedlings. I aim to do that every weekend except when the ground is wet from recent rain or snow. Speaking of snow, the forecast claims we have a 97% to 100% chance of getting some early tomorrow morning. If past experience is any indication, it won't amount to much. For the final work of the day I got back to insulating and winding more magneto coils. Saturday is treat night, and tonight the treat was tamales buried in chili beans topped with grated jalapeño cheese, jalapeño slices, and chopped onions. Yummy.
Sunday, December 13, 2020
Snow fell all morning. I played online in my office until noon, then ventured out for taking pictures. This view of the house shows the ladder still up after shingling the east side of the living room, and the tarped scaffold in front waiting for me to shingle the front of the porch. The whole Facebook album is here.
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Monday, December
14, 2020
Wash day. When I started hanging the clothes out to dry about 11:00 AM the thermometer read 30º F, but by noon it had warmed up above freezing, and the sun and wind did their job. My afternoon activities were a trip to the Gasino to fill up the car, then a drive to the county seat in Winfield to pay the property taxes. It seems like a lot of money, but when I think of what some people have to pay for rent, I guess I'm getting by dirt cheap. Tuesday, December 15, 2020 Rather than making a Christmas card this year I decided I'd send a newsletter. I spent all day working on it. A couple of hours were wasted just figuring out editing on this new operating system. "Help" is little help. I figured out most of what I needed to know purely by accident. Anyway, I finally got it done and will proceed with printing the letter and addressing envelopes tomorrow. Wednesday, December 16, 2020 Believe it or not, except for grocery shopping I spent all day and into the night working on that letter. My Kodak "Easy Share" printer has become a hard share. The paper feed has gone south, and I have to print every page separately, feeding one page at a time into it by hand. It's agonizingly slow. Thursday, December 17, 2020 Today I got most of the letter done. I addressed envelopes (by hand, of course) and got most of the printing done. Tomorrow should see the project finished. Friday, December 18, 2020 Done! I spent the morning printing the few pages I still needed to do, collating, folding, stuffing envelopes, taping envelopes (they're old enough for the self-sealing to no longer seal well), putting on return stickers, and adding stamps. This was a magnum opus of five pages, due to having many pictures, and each envelope weighed a little over an ounce. That meant it needed an extra 15¢ postage. Of course the local post office was completely out of 15¢ stamps, and I had to drive to Winfield to buy the extra stamps and mail the letters. If I do another letter next year I believe I will keep it down to a page or two. By the time I did the shopping and got home it was time to build the evening fires and feed the cats. Maybe tomorrow I can accomplish something productive. |
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Saturday, December
19, 2020
Yes! I actually got some work done today. I had a nice long session of applying Kapton insulating tape to both sides of the copper ribbons and winding them into coils. I got all 32 done. They will go in pairs to make 16 stacks. Next will be cutting insulation to go between the top and bottom coil in each pair, soldering the pairs together, and wrapping them with fiberglass insulating tape. I hope I can have the engine back in the car and running sometime next month. Sunday, December 20, 2020 After the usual Sunday morning bog-down playing on the internet, I did a little on magneto coils. It was very little. I just applied between-coil insulation on one to see how I'll go about that task. I think I know how I'll proceed, but it will take actually doing a few to be sure of the best method. The real work of the day was attacking the pile of wood behind the shop with the chain saw, cutting firewood. Today I just did the cutting. Some of it will need to be split later. Monday, December 21, 2020 The first day of winter was a warm one, over 60ºF. I was happy that the Camry happened to be due for an oil change on a good day for outside work. I ran the car up on ramps and took care of business with no trouble. The forecast is for more of the same tomorrow, and I plan to install new brake pads. |
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Steel grinding on cast iron is not the sound you want to hear from brakes. I've been hearing that sound in the Camry for a few weeks, so I went to O'Reilly and bought new brake pads and ordered a new rotor from Rock Auto because I could tell from the sound that the old one was toast. Today I took advantage of the nice weather and set about installing the new rotor and pads. I ended up doing only the right front. When I got the left wheel off it was obvious that the rotor on that side needed to be replaced too. It hasn't reached the grinding stage yet, but it was worn enough after twelve years that a replacement is in order. With the new pads and rotor in place on the right side, the brakes now operate quietly as they should. Having that right front wheel off reminded me that the tire was worn past time for replacement, so when I went to town for medicine I blew $123.40 for a new tire. One of the rear tires is running out of tread too, so it will need to be replaced in the next month or two. My other chore today was indoor work: adding a new opinion page to the website.
Wednesday,
December 23, 2020
I don't light the fires in the kitchen stove and the living room fireplace until I go in the house in the evening. This time of year if the wind is blowing from the south the unheated kitchen feels cooler than the outside. Not today. The wind turned around and blew from the northwest. The 44º of ten in the morning became the freezing of five in the afternoon, headed for the low twenties overnight, so the 45º kitchen felt warm. When the weather persuades me that I should work indoors, I do it in my shop and my office where I have gas heat. Except for a trip to the pharmacy for BP pills, I spent most of the day slaving over a hot computer learning more things to do with the GIMP photo editing program. It does a lot of things, and how to make them happen is not always obvious. So learning how to do something new with it is usually slow going. Today's project was changing a photo of an Auntie Chatter sign from a low angle shot to a straight-on perspective, and putting it on a white background. I still have to learn how to correct the uneven lighting. |
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Thursday, December 24, 2020
I shoot mostly digital photos, but still shoot a few on film. I started a new roll in April and finished it recently. Yesterday the developed photos came in the mail, and today I scanned them. So here are a few shots on film of 2020 on the farm.
 April 30
Mowing the north bank, too steep for a riding mower. |
 May 10
Destroying little trees in inconvenient places. |
 May 10
Not every year, but often enough to be aggravating — the ground looks solid enough but isn't. |
 November 5
Clearing away damage from the ice storm. |
 May 5
Cutting little trees out of the brush pile road. |
 November 29
Watering new seedlings: American sweet gum and red maple. |
 December 13
First snow of the season. There have been two more after this one, which is unusual. Some years we don't get any. |
December 25, 2020
It's become pretty much of a tradition in recent years for my cousin Pete (Charlotte) Nichols to have her cousins Wally Brickey and me over to her place for dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas. She likes to cook, and always lays out a good feast with turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, pie, and all the other traditional fare. After a good stuffing, Wally and I always leave with a lot of left overs that will feed us for the next week. Today Pete's son Shane joined us. |
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Saturday, December 26, 2020
After grocery shopping I took advantage of the warm day (about 60º) for some outside work. I sharpened the saw, hauled a truckload of kindling up to the house, cut up and split some wood behind the shop, boxed it and brought it in, and cut some more. I expect that will get me into the new year. We have 85 days to spring.
Sunday, December 27, 2020
On the last day before we return to winter, I got in another lick of outdoor work. Of course that was splitting and bringing in more wood. The forecast shows highs in the forties and lows mostly in the twenties for the next week, and I expect to be mostly indoors.
Monday, December 28, 2020
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Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Rain! Actually it was chilly and blustery all day with enough occasional mist to keep hard surfaces wet, but the real rain didn't start until evening. I spent the day in my office and shop. In my office I spent way too much time online enlightening the masses. In the shop I got back to work on magneto coils, applying Kapton insulation that will be between the halves of each double coil. The only hard part of the job is peeling the Kapton off its plastic backing sheet. Getting a corner of it off the plastic far enough to get a hold of it and pull is pretty tricky.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Other than a run to town for medicine, groceries, and paying a couple of bills, I accomplished remarkably little today. I spent way too much time playing on the interwebs.
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Had to go to town again (cucumbers and tomatoes). Inspired by the forecast for winter weather (freezing rain, ice, snow) overnight, I made up six bags of kindling to stay dry in the garage. I had just put those away and had come inside to warm up when the phone rang. It was old pal Michael C. Ford. In 1970 Herbie's first wife Cammy was singing at the New Hope Inn in Santa Monica Canyon. That got us introduced to the owner, actress Peggy Webber (The Screaming Skull), who hired us to do alleged comedy for $5 a night and free beer. That's where we met Ford, and we have been friends ever since. Michael marches to his own drum. The first time I ever saw him, he was wearing a velvet cape. He's the only professional poet I know personally.
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