Sunday, January 1, 2023
79 days to spring
Life is all the stuff that happens to you instead of what you planned. When I do laundry I roll the Maytag from the west porch where it's stored, and into the bathroom where I fill it with a hose from the shower. Recently I went down to the cellar and shut off the water to the bathroom sink and the shower in case the single digit temperatures penetrated as far as the pipes. This morning when I went down and turned on the water to the shower, I heard water gurgling in the pipes. When I got back up to the bathroom I found hot water spraying from a cracked pipe in the shower and steaming up the room. When I got the hot water shut off and examined the plumbing, I found that a tee had split. I wiped it dry, wrapped Gorilla tape around it to reduce the volume of the leak, and hung a wash cloth over it so it wouldn't spray. After I got the laundry washed and hung out to dry, I went to town in search of a replacement for that cracked tee. I forgot that today was a holiday. The farm supply was closed. The hardware store was open, but I don't want to pay Ace prices if I don't have to. I'll go back to the farm supply tomorrow and see what they have. This being New Year's Day, I dined on the traditional corn bread and black eyed peas. The cornbread recipe I have is very simple, and makes just the right amount of batter to fill one corn bread pan.
Monday, January 2, 2023
78 days to spring
Today I discovered the real reason the speedometer in my runabout quit working. It wasn't any problem in the head. The swivel mount had worked loose, and the drive gear at the wheel lost contact with the big road gear. So I repositioned the drive gear and turned all the bolts good and tight to hold it where it belongs. I put the head back in place on the firewall, and installed the cable between the head and the swivel. Spinning the front wheel worked the odometer, but the speedometer didn't budge from 0. What the...?!? So I disconnected the cable from the head and turned the main shaft with a drill. The speedometer worked. So it works when I turn it with the drill, but not when the cable turns it? I'll work on other things and come back to this later. Maybe I'll figure it out after I sleep on it.
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
77 days to spring
On this fine winter evening the old man is not a happy camper, boys and girls. The first incident occurred when I was in town for shopping and to pick up the new windshield glass for the runabout. I intended to pay for the glass with a check, and sitting in the car in the Walmart parking lot I wrote everything on the check except the amount, and recorded the check in the register except for the amount. I then drove to the glass shop, and when I got there my check book had vanished into that alternate universe where objects go when I drop them or set them down in an absent-minded fog. It wasn't in any of my pockets. I didn't find it fallen down between the console and the seat. It wasn't on the floor. I didn't find it under the seat. After looking everywhere three of four times, I paid for the glass with plastic, went on with grocery shopping, and came home. This evening after dinner I set about installing the new glass. I got it into the frame and set about reinstalling the frame caps and the upper windshield. I was doing fine until I dropped one of the flat head machine screws that hold the caps in place. Of course it bounced off into that alternate universe where my check book and lots of other items are hiding. It may re-emerge in this world in a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or never. Do I have more machine screws that size painted and ready to use? Maybe. If I have them will I be able to find them? I won't waste much time looking. Most likely I'll end up preparing and painting several more, one to use and the others to go into the painted hardware drawer for the inevitable next time I lose one.
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
76 days to spring
This morning, wearing the same coat I had on yesterday, I stuck my right hand in a pocket and felt something I hadn't felt the several times I did the same thing yesterday. Yep, my missing check book had returned from its hiding place in an alternate universe. So that's one lost item found. No such luck with the dropped machine screw. So when I went to town a 12-24 x ½ slotted flat head machine screw was on my shopping list. The farm supply didn't have it, and the so-called hardware store didn't have it. So I went shopping online. Grainger had it for $5 and change per 100. But their cost of shipping was more than double the price of the product. At Bolt Depot the price per 100 was a little over $7, but shipping was less than half what Grainger wanted. So Bolt Depot got the order. It stinks that so many things can't be bought locally anymore, but there's nothing I can do to change it, so getting upset over it would be a waste of emotional energy. Other activities today were office work. I indexed all the August digital photos, and finished the Wyoming section of my digital atlas. There are 184 Wyoming maps. I relabeled them all with county or city names in place of the codes that were on them, and separated them into a county folder and a city folder. All the Wyoming counties are divided into two or more maps, some being so big that it takes seven or eight maps to cover them. The atlas now covers all the counties in thirteen states. I've found that the USGS website has maps that are similar to Google maps but easier to read. I may use those for the states that don't provide county maps.
Thursday, January 5, 2023
75 days to spring
Never went off the place today. My outside work was splitting firewood to fill seven boxes, and taking them into the house. I wanted to cut more wood, but the saw wouldn't start. Recently I accidentally poured some oil into the fuel tank. I quickly realized the mistake and drained the tank, but I suspect some of the oil found its way into the carburetor. I'll wash it out with gasoline and see if that cures the non-start. My office work was writing a letter to the president of my bank. For many years I've been buying rolls of dollar coins at the former Corner Bank in Winfield. I find them more convenient than paper dollar bills. When Corner Bank was acquired by RCB I was afraid that would turn out to be bad news. Recently I was informed that the roll I was buying would be the last available, and I will no longer have that privilege. I don't delude myself that my letter of complaint will change anything, but the RCB Bank prez will know that at least one customer thinks the new policy stinks.
Friday, January 6, 2023
74 days to spring
Today's outside work was splitting and fetching in more firewood. My office work was indexing more photos. I now have them all done through October, with only November and December left to do. There's so much more I should be doing, but I haven't even got around to procrastinating most of it. I hate anniversaries. I lost count of how many times today I heard about the "two year anniversary" of Trump's putsch from highly paid professional wordsmiths. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Saturday, January 7, 2023
73 days to spring
My Stewart Model 100 speedometer worked when I turned it with a drill out of the car, but in the car and hooked up to the road gear by the swivel and cable it stayed at 0 when I spun the front wheel. So today I took it out, opened it up, and moved the tiny coil spring as far as I could without disconnecting it. Reassembled and back in the car, the speed drum still stays at 0 when I spin the front wheel. I won't mess with it anymore until I can drive the car and see whether it works at road speeds. If the speedometer doesn't work I'm tempted to leave it alone as long as the odometer functions. I can get speed from a GPS device as long as I can rely on the odometer to keep track of mileage. And why do I want a speedometer in a Model T? 1 Some of the little towns I encounter while traveling have speed limits of 30 mph, and even 25 mph. 2 If I don't know what speed I'm going I tend to let it creep up and up, and I want to keep it under 40 mph. You can cruise at 45 mph in a T, but that will wear it out much faster than driving slower. This week's Saturday dinner in town was the buffet at Pizza Ranch. When I first went there I tried everything, but having eaten there a few times I'm learning what's especially good and what I can skip without regret. This week's movie was the new Whitney Houston biopic. For the singing they used her actual voice, and it appeared to me that Naomi Ackie's lip-synching is perfect, and her acting in the title role is first rate. Stanley Tucci is always good, as he is here in the role of Houston's music advisor. I give this one a thumbs up.
Sunday, January 8, 2023
72 days to spring
The machine screws I ordered Wednesday were delivered yesterday, so today I stripped, prepped, and painted thirteen of them. They will bake overnight. Tomorrow I'll use one and reassemble my windshield, and a dozen will go into my supply of painted fasteners for when I need another one. Another job today was assembling the spare chain saw I bought last year so I would always have one to use if one needed repair. It's a Husqvarna 450 Rancher like the first one, which will go to the shop in Ponca City for revival while I use the spare. So far this winter, with so much dead wood in the yard I haven't done a lot of sawing. I just split enough to fill a few boxes and bring them in the house as the need arises. Maybe I'll start building up the supply in the garage before burning season is over, or maybe I'll go all the way just cutting and splitting dead trees in the yard ad hoc.
Monday, January 9, 2023
71 days to spring
Drat! I wasted almost three hours today driving to Ponca City and back. I took that non-starting chainsaw for repair, and was informed by the guys at the shop that they no longer work on equipment they didn't sell. Looks like that saw will be going to Wichita. But before I take it I'll call and be sure they still do repairs. When I got home I finished reinstalling the windshield on the runabout. I think my next job on that car will be attempting to fix the right turn signal and the emergency flasher that have quit working. Thanks to a reminder on the Model T forum this evening, my reservation for a space at the pre-war swap meet in March will go in tomorrow's mail. I need to start getting ready for that, gathering stuff to take and sell and getting the Suburban ready to make the trip.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
70 days to spring
Well, that's better. This evening after chow I disconnected the cable from the Stewart speedometer in the runabout, carefully lined up the two "teeth" in the end of the cable with the slot in the man shaft of the head, and reconnected. Spinning the front wheel by hand, I found the speedometer reading about 4 mph. Tomorrow I'll go for a test drive and see if it's close to accurate or not. Today's first job was phoning the Husqvarna repair shop in Haysville to make sure they were open and still in the repair business. The answer was yes, so I made the round trip of about 2½ hours to fetch them my defunct chainsaw. At home I changed a flat tire on the Suburban. I tried to jack up the vehicle with a "HYPER TOUGH two ton trolley jack" from Walmart. It's such a feckless piece of junk that I gave up on it and used a dolly to bring out a floor jack from the shop. That got the job done in short order.
Wednesday, January 11, 2023
69 days to spring
This evening the TV weather guy said there's a slight chance of rain or snow overnight. I went out and tarped everything I want to keep dry. That will probably scare it away. Today's big time-eater was phoning Blue Cross/Blue Shield about a questionable bill from the clinic. Insurance covered one office visit, but another, exactly the same, was denied. I was passed from one person to another, including one woman who tried to sell me a "Help! I've fallen down and can't get up!" device, along with a $50 monthly fee. Eventually I reached the right person, and she put me on hold and phoned the clinic herself. When she came back she told me they had decided to write off the $135. They probably didn't need to. My guess is that somebody transposed a couple of digits of the clinic ID on the claim, and the BC/BS computer didn't recognize it and denied the claim. They probably could have resubmitted the claim with the correct ID and it would have been accepted like all the others. In other news, I drove the runabout to town for groceries to try out the speedometer. It read low, showing 20 mph when the GPS was at 32, and 25 mph when the GPS showed 37. But the odometer was near perfect, showing 2.45 for 2½ miles. That works out to a reading of 98 for 100 actual miles. Good enough for me. The odometer is the important part for me because it will keep a running total, whereas an electric odometer resets to 0 whenever you have to change the battery.
Thursday, January 12, 2023
68 days to spring
After staying up past 1:00 AM, we didn't get out of the sack until 11:00. By the time I got dressed, did my exercises (crunches & curls) and had breakfast (oats) it was almost noon. You can get away with that when you're retired. I spent too much time schmoozing on Facebook, but I also checked the Model T forum and read speedometer guru Russ Furstnow's answer to my question about adjusting the Model 100. Armed with his instructions I'll see if I can make it read close to the actual speed. I took the flat tire from the Suburban to town for repair and had a nice surprise. There was no puncture or other damage. Somehow air had leaked out between the tire and the rim. Why? The tire guys had no idea. They just cleaned up the rim, reset the tire and filled it. No charge. This evening I finished indexing all the digital photos through the end of 2022. One folder has all the shots from 2007 through 2019 and another has all from 2020 through 2022.
 First digital photo on file, March 20,
2007. A pup named Andy.
|
 Last photo in File 1, December 31,
2019.
New brick walk to the shop. |
 First photo in File 2, January 1,
2020.
Shorty wants a ride. |
Friday, January 13, 2023
67 days to spring
In the immortal words of Chester A. Riley, What a revoltin' development this is! The spare chainsaw I bought to use while the other one is in the shop turned out to be an absolute non-starter. The two saws are the same model, but the other one has a compression relief button for starting and this one doesn't. When you pull the rope, compression jams it solid. I might as well be pulling on a rope that's tied to a tree stump. It is infuriating. Fortunately I have well over a week's worth of wood already cut and waiting to be split. When I left the regular saw at the repair shop Tuesday I said I wasn't in a rush. I'll have to call Monday and tell them the sooner they can fix it, the better.
Saturday, January 14, 2023
66 days to spring
"Who is she to him, or he to Hecuba, that he should weep for her?" ~ Hamlet It's called the willing suspension of disbelief. The king knows that he's watching a play, and that the actors are pretending, and in Shakespeare's time that Hecuba is played by a boy. Yet he weeps. When Spencer Tracy dies in Captains Courageous we cry. We know that he's an actor, pretending. But we, the audience, are pretending too. And when the character he has created dies, the pretense makes us feel real emotions. The best actors are those who make it easiest for us, the audience, to pretend. That brings us to Tom Hanks in A Man Called Otto, my Saturday night movie this week. Brother Hanks has the gift of making it easy for the audience to pretend with him. Along the way we see some of the things that made the title character a curmudgeonly old man, and how, in the end, his enlarged heart is not only a physical condition. All the actors are good, but I have to mention especially Mariana Treviño, who lights up the screen. And what did I do today? One thing was plumbing. I took the leaking tee out of the shower and installed the new one. I surprised myself by doing the job in less than an hour. I also took the Stewart speedometer head out of the runabout and opened it up to see if I could figure out how to adjust it. I found the tab you're supposed to move, I think, but I couldn't make it budge. I'm afraid I might break something expensive, so this job will go to Russ the speedometer expert.
Sunday, January 15, 2023
65 days to spring
Housekeeping day, or rather, barnkeeping. My 1924 ton truck project has been sitting in front of the barn with tarps over it to keep off the weather. Eventually weather destroys the tarps, so the present ones are going to pieces. Rather than buy new tarps that also will eventually go to pieces, I'm going to roll the truck chassis back into the barn. So I spent the afternoon cleaning up, sorting, and moving things to make space for it. In the process I rediscovered some things I had forgotten. Among the parts were some triple gears I may be able to use in rebuilding the transmission in my 1923 touring car. All my other triple gears are the old riveted type, but these are the improved one-piece gears. While the earlier triple gears were riveted together and the later ones were one piece, the configuration never changed. The two types can be used in any Model T of any year, from 1909 to the end of production in 1927. Some of the other stuff I moved today will go to the Chickasha pre-war swap meet in March and, I hope, pay for my space and the fuel burned up getting there and back. By quitting time I had a space cleared and swept, and all the tarps removed from the truck chassis. The tires have sunk into the ground a couple of inches, so tomorrow I'll pull it loose with the tractor and roll it inside.
Monday, January 16, 2023
MLK Day, and 64 days to spring
And that's what I did. Pulled it loose with the tractor and rolled it into the barn. But of course, it wasn't as simple as it sounds. Somehow the rear wheels didn't want to roll freely, and I had to move it by putting an eight foot 2 x 4 under the rear axle and prying the thing backwards a little at a time. What sounds fairly simple took well over an hour to accomplish. But now the thing is indoors out of the weather. Maybe I can get it reassembled and roadworthy this year. With that out of the way, I turned my attention to the Suburban and its non-functioning speedometer. I dug into the dash and removed the actual speedometer and determined that there's nothing wrong with it. Turning the shaft on the backside, I found that it works normally. That means that the trouble is in the cable or the little gearbox on the side of the transmission. This is where I encountered incompetence in media. I Googled speedometer cable replacement, and was treated to several videos shot with a wildly bouncing camera and some guy mumbling off-mike so you couldn't hear or understand most of what he said. Well, the forecast predicts one more day for comfortable outdoor work, so maybe tomorrow I can get the cable out and find whether it or the gearbox is the problem.
Tuesday, January 17, 2023
63 days to spring
Shucks! Got up late, wasted way too much time playing internet, and didn't get out of the office until 1:00 PM. I went to the saddle shop and picked up leather straps for making hood pads, paid my bill at the dentist's, stopped at the market for celery, then went to the bank and rummaged in my safe deposit box. I was after a couple of matured savings bonds to transfer into a checking account to cover a fertilizer bill for over $1000. Yes, over a thousand! And I'm in for only a third. Phillip's share of the bill was over two thousand. As long as Putie is having his war, I hope it will keep the price of wheat up enough for us to come out ahead. While I had the box open I found something I had forgotten was there. Two V nickels that were melted together when the old house burned down in 1917.
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
62 days to spring
Well, that was disappointing. I felt fine when I got up, but after breakfast I started feeling weak and a little dizzy. I didn't pass out, but felt like I could easily go in that direction. I plopped down in front of the computer and just played internet most of the day. I should have at least done some of the clerical work I need to do, but just felt too blah to make the effort. But by 3:00 PM whatever it was had passed, and I was able to go start up the splitter, fill four boxes of firewood, and fetch them into the house. I also redid one recent video shot of stoking the kitchen stove from a better angle. Now I have to edit over thirty shots into a single video running no more than a few minutes so it won't be too tedious. The editing will take a lot more than a few minutes.
Thursday, January 19, 2023
61 days to spring
Today's outdoor work was splitting firewood and bringing four boxes of it into the house. In the office I imported 32 video files into iMovie and started editing them into one video. The editing is complicated by the program importing the files out of order. That and the total run time persuade me that I should break this opus into two parts. I finished the first part this evening, and hope to complete Part 2 tomorrow. My trip to town today was for bananas. I bought the two least green ones I could find at Walmart, then got the four least green ones at Dillons. This time the ones from Walmart were closest to being ripe. One of my pet peeves is how stores change all bananas at once, so they're all neon green. It would be nice if they would leave some ripe ones for the folks who don't want to wait several days for them.
Friday, January 20, 2023
60 days to spring
This morning I managed 61 crunches (sit-ups). That's one of the three exercises on the Marine Fitness Test, along with pull-ups and the three-mile run. How many I'm able to do varies by the day, anywhere from 40 to, at this point, 61. At one time I aspired eventually to pass all three parts, but since a hip started going south on me the running is out. If I don't run it doesn't hurt, and I don't want to exacerbate it. The tough part for me is the pull-up. At 81 I've lost so much upper body strength that I can't do even one. I aim to try regaining some strength with exercise. Currently that means 100 14-pound curls a day (a 7-pound window weight in each hand). I think I'll start doing that twice a day and see if it makes any difference.
Saturday, January 21, 2023
59 days to spring
I was on the road at 6:30 AM for the Midwinter Model T Clinic at McPherson College. Getting back to town about five, I dined at the Chinese buffet. This week's movie was the new Puss in Boots flick, but I can't tell you much about it because I kept dropping into a snooze. Suddenly the closing credits were rolling and I had missed most of the show.
Sunday, January 22, 2023
58 days to spring
Apparently I was really tired, as I put in ten hours of sack time. It was an especially lazy Sunday. I had planned to do a wash, but it was overcast and damp all day. Not good for drying laundry. So that will wait for tomorrow, which is supposed to be sunny. I mostly goofed off on the internet, but did manage to order some rivets that I hope will work to replace some that are missing from the hood on my runabout. There is not a snowball's chance that I would find any steel rivets in a local store, so I'm getting a pack of 500 to get the few I need, and paying for shipping that more than doubles the cost. Welcome to the wonderful 21st century.
Monday, January 23, 2023
57 days to spring
Here we go again. This morning I wrote a check to pay a bill. It was #3970, the last check in the book, so I went looking for the next bundle of thirty that begins with #3971. Of course it was not in any place that makes sense. I distinctly remember having those thirty plus thirty more, but I have no clue where they are. When I do find them it will be, "Oh, yeah, now I remember." Fortunately I use very few checks these days, so I may find them before I need another. On the daily work front, waiting a day to do laundry was a good choice. The forecast was for clouds, but it turned out to be sunny all day. By 10:30 the temperature climbed above freezing and most of the wash dried completely. When I took everything off the line this evening the sox were still a little damp, so I hung them in the shop across the room from the heater, where warm air will blow on them. In the winter I keep some things in the shop that are in the kitchen the rest of the year: olive oil so it will stay liquid, butter so it won't be rock hard, and bananas so they'll ripen. Even with the heater turned off overnight, the shop stays above 50º. Oh, by the way, here are those two videos I was working on: Wood For the Winter, Part 1; Wood For the Winter, Part 2.
 |
Tuesday, January 24,
2023 56 days to spring Snow arrived about
10:00 AM and kept up a little and a lot into the
evening. By the time it's over it may be a couple of
inches. Sunny days are coming, and the ground isn't
very cold, so it won't last long. My observation of
the day: Internet shopping is quick and easy except
when it isn't. Sometimes the website is user
unfriendly, and it takes three phone calls to
customer service to get through the digital morass.
Today I heard from the repair shop about my dead
chainsaw. It's toast. The reason it won't start is
low compression due to bad scoring of the cylinder.
The worst part is that fixing it would cost as much
as a new saw. So tomorrow I'll drive up to Haysville
and leave my other saw and hope they can make it
run. I'm sure glad I have some wood already cut and
waiting to split. My work in the shop today was a
little bit of repair on the runabout's control panel
for tail/brake lights and turn signals. The brake
light indicator was an easy fix, just resoldering a
connector that pulled loose. But the right turn
signals and the emergency flasher blew a fuse, so
something's still amiss in those circuits.
Wednesday, January 25, 2023 55 days to spring All I did outdoors today was split enough wood to fill four boxes and fetch them into the house. In the office I filed receipts, shopped for a new chainsaw, and hunted down new photo stitching software that will combine two or more shots into a single panorama. The original PhotoStitch that came with my first Canon A640 camera fifteen years ago is not "supported" by newer computers and operating systems. The program I found, Autostitch, worked well to combine a couple of shots. I'll install it on my laptop too, so I'll have it to use when I'm traveling. |
Thursday, January 26, 2023
54 days to spring
Spending almost a grand in less than 24 hours was not the plan, but that's what happened. With my chainsaw officially toast, last night I ordered a new one. That was $375.95 onto the credit card. This morning I set out for Haysville to pick up the defunct saw and leave the one I've never used because it won't start. I noticed that the Camry's electric system warning light was flashing once in a while. By the time I was near Mulvane it was flashing steadily. As I drove into Mulvane the radio went silent, the speedometer quit working, and the instrument lights went out. I stopped at O'Reilly's in Mulvane for a battery test. It wasn't completely dead, but was dying. So the second big expense was $195.29 for a new battery. While I was there I bought some spare fuses for the runabout. Only $4.33. As I drove on toward Haysville the warning light still flashed occasionally above 2000 RPM. Under 2000 it flashed more often. Under 1500 it flashed steadily and under 1000 it stayed on. Obviously it was a failing alternator that had ruined the old battery. At Haysville I picked up the dead saw and left the refusenik. I headed for home with a slight detour to the Lowe's in Derby to buy Trufuel for the saws. I bought flour cans to get the discount of $2.40 each. Total: $93.23. I drove on toward home keeping the RPM's above 2000 and revving the engine at stop signs to keep it running. I stopped at the Arkansas City O'Reilly's. A check of the alternator confirmed my diagnosis. Not counting the $40 core charge, a replacement alternator was $252.94. So between last night and this afternoon I spent $919.81. I hate to do it, but I'm afraid I may have to cash a savings bond to cover the credit card bill. I would rather leave it alone and let it continue to draw interest, but as Gary Cooper taught us, a man's got to do what a man's got to do.
Friday, January 27, 2023
53 days to spring
With the Camry down, we went to town in the 1915 today. I ran out of gas and had to use three gallons off the running board. I pulled into Casey's to refill the two empty cans and fill the tank. The pump couldn't read my card, so I went inside and told the clerk I wanted to fill up. He said I had to tell him how much I was going to buy, and pay for that before I pump. I told him no, I'm not going to play that California s--t, and I went down the street to Love's and filled up there. From Love's I went to the market. When I brought the groceries out to the car, I found that I had forgotten to put those two cans back on the running board. Drat! Immediately I returned to Love's, half expecting the cans to be gone, but I was relieved to find them right where I left them. When we got home I left the runabout behind the house, and after dinner I moved the Camry into the shop for the alternator replacement project. It should be easy, and would be if I knew what I was doing. But after watching several miserably bad How To videos I'm still not sure how to relieve belt tension to get the defunct apparatus out of the vehicle. I'll sleep on it, and maybe I'll figure it out in the morning.
Saturday, January 28, 2023
52 days to spring
Well, after sleeping on it I was back at it bright and early. I finally figured out how the belt tensioner is supposed to work, but the belt changing tool I bought yesterday lacked the 14mm six point socket I needed. It has 13mm, 15mm, and 17mm, none of which fit this job. So Shorty got another Model T ride to town. I was afraid I would have to buy a whole set of sockets to get the one I needed, but I was delighted and a bit surprised to find that Orscheln carries individual sockets, and the one I needed was in stock. So, back in the shop I was able to get the belt off the dying alternator and get the moribund apparatus out of the car. When I got the new alternator out of its box and set about installing a wiring bracket that's supposed to be fastened to it, I found that the machine screw from the old alternator was a size too small to fit the new one. So back to town we went, this time to the hardware store, where one little machine screw cost $1.14. Back in the shop I found that the new one-size-larger machine screw had too large a head to fit where it was supposed to go. So I used a smaller 6-32 screw with a nut and a star washer. That $1.14 screw is going back to the store. I had planned to dine at home on tostadas for this week's treat night, with the usual visit to the cinema after dinner. Not this time. After chow I was back in the shop finishing up the alternator installation. I finally got it done and backed the Camry out of the shop at 9:20. Having that car in the shop showed me how much larger than a Model T it is. It really took up some space. Meanwhile, the runabout has gotten sick. It's very hard to start, and won't idle without dying, and runs erratically. So I was glad to finally get it started and back into the shop. I'd hate to have to work on it in the winter weather that's about to arrive.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
51 days to spring
Sleeping late on a lazy Sunday morning, I finished brunch about 11:00 AM. After an hour or so internetting, I went out to split wood. The splitter refused to start. In about twenty pulls of the starter rope I got one little chuff. A squirt of ether and another twenty pulls got one more little chuff, but no real attempt to start. So if that isn't going to start when it's cold, I'll have to get by with cutting up dead branches that aren't thick enough to need splitting. Fortunately there was enough stove-ready wood in the garage to last a couple of evenings, and I brought that into the house. With Saturday movie night preempted by work on the Camry, I decided on a Sunday movie night this week. The show was Steven Spielberg's fictionalized auto-bio-pic, The Fabelmans. I had no idea who was in it, so when I saw Paul Dano in the first scene I knew it couldn't be all bad. He and Michelle Williams play the parents of the future famous director, played by Gabriel LaBelle. All the actors are good, with Dano and Williams as the standouts for me. Judd Hirsch as Uncle Boris is fun, and David Lynch as John Ford is an absolute hoot. It doesn't hurt that the score is by John Williams.
Monday, January 30, 2023
50 days to spring
On the second day of the latest winter weather siege I holed up in the shop building. I schmoozed on Facebook, commented on the Model T forum, deleted oodles of scams and spam, and replied to some legitimate emails. In the afternoon I drove to town and left the defunct alternator at O'Reilly for return of the $40 core charge, returned the $1.14 machine screw to the hardware store, then proceeded to Haysville and picked up the chainsaw I left there for service on Thursday. On the way home I stopped at the Walmart in Derby for a couple of boxes of Crunch n Munch in the smaller size no longer sold here, then at a Dillons market for diet Squirt, which has never been sold here. In thinking of things I need to do, it occurs to me that I'd better get started on rebuilding some Model T carburetors to sell. I want to take some to the Chickasha prewar meet in the middle of march. As slowly as I work, that doesn't give me much time to be ready.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
49 days to spring
I don't know why I'm surprised, but have you shopped for a cheese slicer lately? Any I could find locally are mostly plastic, so I went online. I would expect such a simple tool, especially mass produced, to be under $10. Most of the ones I found were from $11 (not too shocking) to over $30. Are you kidding me? Add the cost of shipping, and it's no sale to me. I already have a good all-metal slicer, but wanted another to keep in my camping gear. I'll just take my kitchen slicer until find a good spare at an auction. Would $30 break me? No, but getting into the habit of overspending sure would. And how, did I end the month? Enjoying the luxury of a working saw, I started cutting up a fallen tree in the yard behind the shop, and splitting some of the big pieces already cut and waiting under tarps. The afternoon high was about 24º F, but it was sunny and still, so not miserable at all. In the end I brought six boxes of wood into the house, and the ten day forecast says I'll be burning some of it every evening except Saturday when I go to town.
 The splitter was pretty stubborn, but
eventually I got it started.
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 The off-white pieces are cottonwood, and the yellow and brown are mulberry. |
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