Sunday, April 2, 2023
Dammit! After finishing the welding on that bracket I find that it's too crooked to use, and I'll never be able to fix it. I chucked it in the lathe and tried to straighten it, but that only made it worse. I'll have to start over. Rather than making pieces and welding them together, I'll start with a larger bolt and cut the whole thing out of one piece. I should have done that to begin with. I did enjoy the warm afternoon today. I was able to shut off the heater and work with the big south door of the shop open, and I didn't need any fires in the house this evening.
Monday, April 3, 2023
First thing up this morning was a trip to Wichita for a checkup by the eye doc. I had pressures of 10 and 11, which are great numbers. But I also have some cloudiness developing behind the artificial lens on the right side. So I'll go back next month for a bit of laser surgery to clear it up. While in the city I wanted to stock up on Diet Squirt, but it was out of stock at both stores where I stopped. My experience has been that when it's out of stock at one or two stores, it's out everywhere. I don't know why, but that stuff is missing more often than not. The sugared version is always there, but the zero calorie stuff is usually represented by an empty shelf. My afternoon work was in the office, going through papers and collecting receipts to file and setting aside forms and records I'll need to do my taxes. That is, of course, one of my most unfavorite things in all the world.
Tuesday, April 4, 2023
It was a perfect day for laundry. The solar dryer was on full, with a warm, strong south wind that dried things quickly. I had the last of the wash hung on the line a few minutes past noon, and brought it all in abut 4:30. I don't think we quite reached the predicted high of 90º, but it was close. By Thursday morning we're supposed to be back down to freezing again. During all this, I'm still having conflicting feelings. I'm looking forward to getting back to Model T travel, but feeling too lazy to do the necessary work to prepare for it. But with the low-energy malaise, I'm not totally useless. Today I did manage to make a couple of minor corrections and update my web page on Model T travel.
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
The blood pressure pills are doing their job, keeping my systolic pressure well under 120 most of the time, and the diastolic safely under 80. Tonight's reading was a little higher than the recent average, at 107/74. But tachycardia, the racing pulse rate, continues. After years or decades averaging in the seventies, on February 14 it suddenly shot up above 120. Increasing dosages of metoprolol have reduced it a little, but it's still averaging 112-115. It doesn't hurt, and my doc says it's not going to kill me, but I'm tired of feeling tired. My lack of ambition for any physical activity leads to a lot of sitting around instead of getting things done.
Thursday, April 6, 2023
Never went off the place today. But I did phone the post office to ask about bringing in my passport application and having my picture taken. It turns out I have to make an appointment on the USPS website. Of course, when I tried that I couldn't get the website to work. I'll try again later. I don't have any definite plans for foreign travel, but I will probably at least go through Canada sometime, so I want to have a current passport ready when I do. I would like to travel in Mexico again, but these days that seems more dangerous than it used to be. I never felt endangered in Mexico, but in recent years the reports of tourists being kidnapped or dying in crossfire have at least made it seem dangerous. Of course, some Mexicans perceive the USA as a dangerous place with our daily random mass shootings.
Friday, April 7, 2023
The centerpiece of today's activity was filling out tax forms. Even with a computer program helping, I'd rather be doing almost anything else. I guess that's why tax preparation has become a major American industry. I got part of the job done today, but will need to come back to it tomorrow. I found the USPS website still not working for me today, so I phoned the local post office and one of the clerks there made the appointment for me to bring in my passport application Monday morning. My last chore of the day was taking the Camry down to Topper Auto to get the leaking valve cover fixed. I should have replaced the old seal myself, but I was overpowered by elderly laziness.
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Why do I despise the US tax system so much? Byzantine complexity. I could probably come up with other reasons, but that one will do. After checking the Defore auction and finding no reason to stay, I came home and resumed my tilting with bureaucratic windmills, federal and state. I finished the forms and downloaded them about 3:30, but I'll review before I print and mail them. I still do it the old way, by snail mail. Several years ago, after hearing for the umpteenth time that electronic filing was so quick and easy, I tried it. A week after the filing deadline I discovered that the IRS had rejected my electronic return, and I ended up paying a penalty. Lesson learned. I won't risk that again.With that adventure mostly over, I took time for an inspection walk in the woodlot. I found the road mostly clear, with only a few small branches I'll need to remove. But there is still some invasive Asian honeysuckle that I'll need to spray. For this week's treat night in town, dinner was carnitas at La Fiesta. The movie was Air, the story of how future basketball great Michael Jordan joined Nike. The strong cast (Matt Damon, Jason Bateman, Viola Davis) is as good as you would expect, and director Ben Afleck pulls it off nicely. Thumbs up from me.
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Just as nobody will ever accuse me of being a good welder, the same goes for machinist. I can use the lathe, but not like an expert. Anyway, I started my second attempt at a speedometer swivel bracket today. This time instead of making pieces and welding them together, I'll try to cut the whole thing out of a single one-inch bolt. Before I got to that project I spent too much time again playing on the internet. At one point somebody posted a 1916 Ford Times article about taxis in Tokio. A couple of people noted the old spelling of Tokio, and I added this little commentary: Transliteration from other languages changes over the years. Musselman became Moslem, then it became Muslim. Sounds in one language often can't be written accurately in another language. In Korea Suzuki is written as Sujuki (스즈키) because the Korean language has no Z (also no F). The Spanish cañon is written in English as canyon because the English alphabet has no ñ. Transliteration is also in the ear of the listener. The Korean family name 박 (Pahk) is usually rendered in English as Park. The first transliteration of the language was by a couple of Englishmen, and to an Englishman Park sounds like Pahk.
Monday, April 10, 2023
Dad's birthday. He would be 120. Born before the brothers from Dayton flew, he saw Sedan's first automobile and the first aeroplane that came to town. When he was three his mom died, and when he was seven, his dad. Raised by his dad's parents, he grew up Republican. His GAR grandpa took him to see Taft campaigning. But life turned him into a yellow dog Democrat. He hated The Bosses, and they earned it. He was a still operator for Shell, Pathfinder, and Union Oil for forty years. I once asked him why he went into refinery work. "Because I didn't want to spend the rest of my life looking at a mule's ass." That's what farming was when he was a boy in southeast Kansas — long hours of walking behind a plow. Damn, I miss him! All the old timers of my youth have been gone a long time now, and I find that as time goes by I miss them more, not less. And what did I do today? I took my passport application to the post office, had my picture taken, and paid $130 to the State Department for processing and $50 to USPS for a fee. USPS accepts credit cards, but the State Department demands a debit card or a check. The idea was was just to have a passport ready in case I make a foreign trip. But I guess I have to go somewhere now, to get my money's worth. I'm supposed to receive the new passport in ten to thirteen weeks. I could have had it "expedited", but it would have cost another $60, so I didn't even ask how long expedited means. July will be soon enough.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Today I worked a little more on that swivel bracket, and so far I haven't wrecked it. But I am going slow and being careful. I don't want to have to start over again. Tonight I burned trash in the fireplace, but I haven't burned any wood for heat since last week. It's possible to get cold weather all the way through April, but it's possible I've already had the last wood fire of the season. I'm now sleeping with the electric blankets turned off too.
Wednesday, April 12, 2023
Up before daylight, I was off to the hospital for tests at 7:00 AM. There was absolutely no physical exertion involved. I had a couple of ultrasound sessions lying down, and an EKG while sitting. I wore tennies, but I did't get to use the treadmill. Maybe my doc thinks I'm too old and feeble to take that kind of exercise. Anyway, the hospital visit burned up most of the morning. In the afternoon I did grocery shopping and sent an email to the camera repair company asking if they received the camera I sent them three weeks ago.
Thursday, April 13, 2023
It was Tax Morning. I printed out the forms, wrote the checks, and stuffed the envelopes. With a bit of internet surfing interspersed, I didn't finish until after 1:00 PM. When I went to town in the afternoon for household supplies (tissues, charcoal starter, paper plates), I stopped at the bank to convert a couple of savings bonds to dough to cover the taxes. I was due a refund, but the estimated tax for next year was over $800. This business of having to pay a year early is one of the things I hate about the tax system.
Friday, April 14, 2023
The good news is that I finished the swivel bracket, painted it, and it's in the oven to bake overnight. The bad news is that that's about all I have to show for another 24 hours on the planet. I'm tired of being so tired, but I don't know of anything I can do about it. I wonder if shredded Ralston would give me lots of cowboy energy to get up and do what needs to be done.
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Shredded Ralston for your breakfast Starts the day off shinin’ bright; Gives you lots of cowboy energy, With a flavor that’s just right. It’s delicious and nutritious, Bite-size and ready to eat. Take a tip from Tom, And tell your Mom, Shredded Ralston can’t be beat! |
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Saturday, April 15, 2023
A check of the Roth auction at the fairgrounds found a severe shortage of reasons to stick around. At home I did some cleaning up in the shop and started changing the passenger side spindle arm on the runabout. As usual, that job takes longer than I expected. Specifically, replacing the steel bushing with a bronze one and reaming it to the correct size was slower work than I thought it would be. This week's treat night featured the Pizza Ranch buffet. The movie was Renfield. What a hoot! Nicolas Cage as Dracula is great fun, and some of the over-the-top action scenes are very funny. As the old saying goes, don't miss it if you can.
Sunday, April 16, 2023
Drat! With paint on the shaft the spindle arm wouldn't fit into the spindle. Wire brushing the shaft also removed the paint from the adjoining part of the arm, so I had to mask and repaint. An annoying little delay, but I have plenty to do while the new paint dries. In fact, when I took the newly painted arm in the house to put it in the oven, I found something else to do. It was chilly enough in the kitchen to persuade me that burning season isn't over after all. I went out and fired up the splitter and filled three boxes with wood. My doc may be right that the tachycardia isn't going to kill me, but bringing that firewood into the house demonstrated that it's going to keep me from getting some work done. The least little bit of physical exertion soon has me breathing hard. Fortunately a lot of what I have to do doesn't take much physical exertion. That includes filing receipts, which I did this evening, getting caught up on all of March and April.
Monday, April 17, 2023
Done (mostly, I hope). This morning I installed the "new" spindle arm and speedometer swivel bracket on the runabout and bolted on the swivel. I finished a little before noon. The question is whether it will stay put or work loose. If the latter becomes a problem I'll add some toothed lock washers. In the afternoon I got back to work on the southeast bedroom, trimming sheetrock to fit. I should have got back to it before today, but I was too much of a cold weather sissy. It would be nice to have the room finished before my brother comes in June, but as slow as I am he will probably be sleeping in an unfinished room.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
The weather and the forecast made this laundry day. Bright sun and a warm south wind made it the perfect drying day. All I needed to do were sox and sheets, and while they were washing and rinsing I pulled a patch of dead weeds north of the shop. Looking for county road maps to add to my digital atlas, I checked the New Mexico and Colorado DOT websites. Not finding any such maps, I sent messages to both websites asking if there were maps I was missing. Colorado answered no, and I'm waiting to hear from New Mexico. I expect the answer will be no there also. For the states that don't have county road maps, I'll have to resort to satellite view. Sadly, some of the most tourism-oriented states have no maps at all.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
My favorite job of the day was driving the runabout to town for groceries, a round trip of about six miles. I think it was the first time I've run the car this year. I'm happy to report that the new speedometer swivel bracket stayed in place and did its job. This evening we went for the first after-dinner cruise of the year, and the car got balky, wanting to die at stops. I had to keep giving it a little boost with the throttle to keep it running. Finally, just down the road at the cemetery corner, it did die at the stop sign, and I had to get out and restart it. I don't know what's wrong, but I suspect some kind of problem in the fuel system. This evening I got back to work on my digital atlas, downloading all the county maps from the Montana DOT website. I wish they were better maps. A check of satellite images confirmed my suspicion that there are a lot of roads they don't show. Driving in Big Sky Country, I'll probably have to rely on Google.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Damn, I hate this! I'm in no pain, and my doc says the tachycardia isn't going to kill me, but I've had more than enough of always feeling tired and weak. I do a lot of just sitting and waiting to build up the gumption to do something. Today's something was runabout hood repair, replacing a couple of missing rivets and cutting new leather pads to keep the hood from wearing holes in the radiator. In the office I got started downloading Virginia county maps to my digital atlas. I've done twenty states so far, and I'm guessing that there are probably about twenty more states that have county road maps. One of the emails I received today was confirmation that New Mexico is one of the states that don't.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Working on roofs has never been a problem for me. I would easily go up the ladder and walk around without a second thought, doing my work without any fear of falling off. That was then; this is now. Wind from the south has loosened some of the corrugated panels on the old part of the shop, so today I went up to replace some of the old lead-head nails with new screws. With my past-80 geriatric clumsiness I now move slowly and deliberately, paying close attention to my footing. The work is really no more dangerous than it ever was, but now I'm much more aware of the potential problems. My afternoon job was installing those new leather pads in the runabout's hood. That's one of those chores that sounds simple but takes longer than it should. I found another loose rivet, so replacing that will go on the schedule for tomorrow.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
How did I not get around to that rivet? Mostly by participating in online discussions, a little shopping research, and other internet activity. I quit at three to head for Wichita. I went to stock up on diet Squirt and to see a movie unlikely to show down here n Podunk. The Squirt was a bust, totally out of stock at the three markets where I stopped. Treat night dinner was one of my favorites — burrito de chorizo, tamal, and frijoles refritos — at El Agave. The movie was Chevalier, about the illegitimate son of an African slave and a French plantation owner, Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, who rises to improbable heights in French society as a celebrated violinist-composer and fencer, complete with a love affair and falling out with Marie Antoinette. Kelvin Harrison Jr. prepared for the title role with six months of fiddle practice six hours a day. He is very good, both as a musician and as an actor.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
The bad news is that when we took the runabout down to the gasino to fill up, a horrendous pothole in the old highway dislodged a headlight rim and broke out the glass. The good news is that I was able to find the rim beside the road, and it wasn't seriously damaged. 1915 lenses are plain window glass, so that won't be terribly expensive to replace. My project today was making a new web page. A new guy in one of the Facebook Model T groups wasn't sure how the ignition system is supposed to work, so I took my explanation and turned it into a page on Ignition System Basics.
Monday, April 24, 2023
Change of plans. I thought I would go up on the roof and put a screen on the chimney to keep the swifts from roosting in there this summer. I set up the big ladder to get me up there, and went to fetch a stepladder to reach the top of the chimney. When I came back with the step ladder I found that the wind had blown over the big ladder. What if I'm up on the roof and the wind blows down the big ladder? I'll wait and do that job on a still day. A job I did get done was downloading Virginia county maps to my digital atlas. With 90+ counties plus insets showing parts of counties, it all came to a little over 200 Virginia maps. I've now finished 21 states, using about 10 GB of the flash drive's 128 GB capacity, so there's plenty of space for all the remaining available maps.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
After an unusually dry winter that killed off some of the trees, it's good to have a few rainy days. Today, tomorrow, and Thursday morning are supposed to bring moisture, then a 50% chance of more Friday evening. The whole thing will probably total under two inches, but even that will be good for the wheat. I never ventured off the place yesterday, but today I went to town for blood pressure pills, cat food, milk, and a toilet seat. That last item is a replacement for a seat that turned out to be inexpensive but flimsy and easily broken. While I was in town I stopped at the glass shop for a replacement for my broken headlamp lens. I expected to order the lens and pick it up later, but the glass man wasn't busy and made it in a few minutes. The cost was $8.41. I like that better than $27 for a lens from one of the parts dealers. While I was out I drove down to the gasino and filled up the Camry. Gas there was 19¢ a gallon less than in town.
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
It's the day when they update the theater websites and I plan Saturday treat night. I look for movies I want to see, and their starting times. If the show starts late I can go to a buffet and take my time. If it's an early show I'll go to a restaurant where the whole meal is served at once and take less time. By now I've tried all the local restaurants and settled on the few I like. A story in yesterday's paper said a new Mexican place will be opening in August. I'll try it, and maybe add it to my rotation or maybe not. I'm not a sophisticated gourmet, but I have no trouble deciding whether a restaurant suits me or not, and I just go to the ones I like best. For many years this was pretty much a Mexican food desert. Then a packing plant opened and a lot of Mexican workers came to town. Not coincidentally La Fiesta opened, and with a growing Mexican population to support it the place has done well. Having grown up on good Mexican food in California and suffered through many years of faux-Mexican places here, I appreciate that a whole bunch.
Thursday, April 27, 2023
Rain yesterday and last night left 1..3" in the gauge, and more is predicted for tomorrow evening. The ground will be soft and I will start pulling trees. There are a lot of volunteers that need to go, especially around the house. There was no rain today, but everything was sopping wet and I stayed mostly inside. I buffed the scratches on that headlamp rim that fell off the runabout the other day, and annealed the tabs so they won't break off when I bend them to hold the new glass. I did some polishing on the rim, and will do some more before I put it back on the car. I wanted to remove the mag post from the runabout to see if it needed cleaning, but could get only one of the three screws out. So when I went to town for a prescription I also picked up a miniature ratchet set that would handle the job. When I got the mag post off I found that it was perfectly clean. I had suspected I would find band fuzz making an intermittent ground, but apparently there's something else causing the magneto's occasional lapses. Maybe a problem in the ignition switch. We'll see. With the return of chilly weather I've been having fires again lately, so this afternoon I went out to split some firewood. The splitter has been running poorly lately, and today it quit and wouldn't restart. It's a good thing the burning season is about over. For the few remaining chilly evenings I'll cut up some small branches that don't need splitting.
Friday, April 28, 2023
One more wet day had me inside again. It was all little stuff. I put the mag post back in the runabout. I reinstalled the headlamp rim and new lens. I cut the tops off four empty pepper cans and put them in a parts drawer to hold nuts or bolts. I "antiqued" a dozen bolts — grind and buff off the modern markings, strip off the cad plating with muriatic acid, prep with phosphoric acid, and paint. I downloaded North Carolina county maps to my digital atlas, thirty counties so far and seventy to go. A few counties have a single map, but most are on multiple sheets, from two to nine. I thought I would cut up some branches that have been staying dry under a tarp, but the saw absolutely would not start. Husqvarna is supposed to be a quality brand, but you couldn't prove it by this sorry piece of crap. Tomorrow I'll try the spare saw and see if it's any good.
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Decisions, decisions... So many things to do! The boxes of glass, plastic, and metal cans in the garage were all full, so I began with a drive to the recycling center. When I got home I noticed weeds coming up across the road in the lane to the wood lot, so I spent about an hour pulling those. Checking the rain gauge I found .25" left from yesterday and last night. That makes a total of 1.55" in the few rainy days this week. The nice thing about that is that it was a slow rain and had time to soak in. That makes for very easy weed pulling. Next was keeping the swifts out of the chimney this summer. Luckily I had a piece of ¼" galvanized screen just big enough to fit. I cut it, folded the edges and fastened it with stainless safety wire. Close to quitting time I thought I would get in a little bit of tree trimming, but the saw still refused to start. I didn't have time to unpack and assemble the spare saw, so that will have to wait. Dinner for Saturday treat night was enchiladas blancas at La Fiesta, one of my favorite meals. This weeks movie was The Covenant. Director Guy Ritchie has come up with an excellent movie. With Spain standing in for Afghanistan, it tells the story of how an Afghan interpreter saves the life of an American soldier, then the American saves him from the Taliban and the U.S. bureaucracy. Everybody knows Jake Gyllenhaal is an excellent actor, as he is here. The revelation is Dar Salim as Ahmed, the interpreter. He does a great job in two languages.
 Redbud in bloom, April 2011
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Sunday, April 30, 2023
It is maddening. Absolutely infuriating. I set a tool down and forget where I left it. I may find it in a few minutes, the next day, weeks later, or years later. Will I ever break the habit? I've been doing it for over seventy years, so apparently not. This morning it was the measuring tape I always carry with me. I used it yesterday when I cut the screen for the chimney. Did I leave it where I did the work? Nope. Fortunately, in this case I have a spare tape. I thought I would make a bird house for the swifts, but I'm short of treated boards, so that will have to wait. When I went out to the road and fetched yesterday's mail, I found that my new fedrul gummint passport had arrived sooner than expected. When I submitted the application on April 10 I was told it would take six to ten weeks, so waiting only three weeks is a surprise. Not that it matters. I don't have any definite plans to venture outside the USA anytime soon, but I want to have a passport ready in case I do take another foreign trip. With the bird house on hold, I went to the next chore. That was to put the chain on the spare saw and do some tree trimming. Two trees in particular drew my attention. One was the young elm beside the backyard swing, which had a branch sticking out over the driveway. Just that one branch had to go. The redbud beside the front steps provided more work. It had a large branch extending over the porch roof and close enough to the flag pole to be a problem on patriotic holidays. I removed that and several inconvenient smaller branches, and while the saw was running I went out back and cut some branches by the barn into firewood lengths. After that came the first mowing of the year. I fired up the Dixon and mowed in front of the house, clearing a place to cut up all those redbud branches. A trip to the market for bananas used up the tail end of the afternoon. This evening I lit the kitchen stove and the living room fireplace, probably for the last time until next fall. I'm still using the comforter and electric blanket, but the bedroom windows are open and it won't be long before the heavy bedding comes off. |