blog523

Viernes, 5 de Mayo, 2023

Tonight a little before nine somebody was setting off fireworks (aerial bombs) over at the old country club. Was it for Cinco de Mayo, or were they getting an early start on the Glorious Fourth? No clue. And what did I do today? I finished reinstalling the mag post in the runabout. It was almost quitting time when I tried to start the car and see if the magneto was working, but the battery was down. So I put a charger on it and left it for later. After dinner I came back and started the car. I was happy to find that the car started on BAT, ran on MAG, and had no oil leak at the mag post. Apparently that job is finished until some future date when I may have the transmission cover off and can fill and redrill those holes to the correct size. My office work was downloading more North Carolina county maps. I now have A through H in the atlas, which means about halfway through.

Saturday, May 6, 2023

"Oh, Mr. Shaw, I do hope you're enjoying yourself."
"Madam, that is the only thing I am enjoying."
The famous comment by GBS reminds me that sometimes just being at home is more enjoyable than going to the meeting, the party, the event. I recall a remark by another famous wit, Oscar Wilde, to the effect that one of the privileges of old age is Not Going. Today's not goings for me were the Defore auction in Winfield and a car show in McPherson. Missing the auction was an easy choice, as there was not one thing I wanted. The car show at McPherson College was more tempting, but today I just didn't feel like driving all the way up there and back. Instead I took care of some occasional routine chores. Running clean water for Shorty and the other critters takes just a few minutes, as does emptying the back porch garbage pail. I haul the garbage way out back for the skunks, raccoons, and other little friends when it gets about half full, as a full five gallon load is rather cumbersome. Filling the cat feeder is more of a job. It sits on a platform on rafters in the garage, up out of dog reach. Using a large steel bowl as a scoop, it takes about 18 or 19 trips up and down a step ladder to fill the feeder with the contents of a 44 pound bag. I'm making note of it here to find out how long one fill-up will last. This week's treat night meal was tostadas at home, two with sardines, chopped onions, and jalapeño slices, and two with frijoles refritos, chopped onion, grated Mexican cheese, and jalapeño slices. This week's movie was Big George Foreman, directed by George Tillman. Khris Davis plays George, and Forest Whitaker (one of my favorite actors) plays his trainer, Doc Broadus. Muhammad Ali is played by Sullivan Jones, who doesn't look much like Ali (Ali would say he isn't as pretty), but has the voice down and plays the part well. Matthew Glave as Howard Cosell is also not a ringer for his subject, but you don't have to see him to recognize the voice. I thought the boxing scenes here were less convincing than what we saw in Michael B. Jordan's recent Creed movie, but I would call this a good biopic.

Sunday, May 7, 2023

This morning I was up at 2:30 for the reason that old guys get up in the middle of the night, and before I went back to bed I took off the army blanket, the comforter, and the electric blankets. All that bedding made me too warm. I expect it will be off until November. After I got up for real about eight and had breakfast I spent the morning dispensing wisdom on the internet. In the afternoon I figured out a way to get the Dixon's mower belt back on the pulley without halfway dismantling the machine. But the battery was low and I couldn't get the thing started. So I put a charger on it, then came back this evening after dinner and got in a good hour of mowing in places where the tractor wouldn't be suitable.

Monday, May 8, 2023

Gabe Heatter began every broadcast with, "There's good news tonight." In the darkest days of the war, he always found something positive to report. On this Tuesday evening in 1945 it was the most positive news possible, Germany's surrender. I was almost four. I had seen troops marching on West O Street by our house, and I was used to seeing military planes overhead, and had seen the scary caricatures of Hitler, Tojo, and Mussolini beside the merry-go-round at the Pike in Long Beach, but I was otherwise unaware of the war or what it was. That was 78 years ago, and I don't remember a lot from those days. I do remember a few things from today. I hitched the dead splitter to the Suburban and towed it to town for repair by Dave the small engine guy. While I was in town I bought bananas and gloves. Leather palm work gloves were $1.97 a pair. I'll be interested to see how long gloves that cheap last. I started digging the nastiest weeds along the road by the west field, but the ground was so hard I decided to wait and see if there would be some rain overnight to soften it. I was going to trim some branches, and attempted to fix my electric tree saw. No soap. The switch has gone to pieces, and I'll have to go to town tomorrow and get a new one. The last outside work of the day was a bit of mowing in the back yard. This evening I looked up the Go Connect website and sent a message asking if the impossibly slow hot spot I bought from them can be fixed, or if I need to toss it and buy something better.

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

First up this morning was a drive to the county seat to renew my driver's license, due to expire next month. On the way home I stopped at the farm supply and picked up a new switch for my electric tree saw, and when I got home I spent a couple of hours installing the new switch. A couple of hours? Yep. Again, everything takes longer than you think it will. While that was going on the three new trees that were delivered yesterday were soaking in a tub of water. They're American sweetgums to replace three that were killed by the drought. So my main afternoon project was planting the new trees. With the tree saw back in business, my last job of the day was trimming some of the low hanging branches on the cedars behind the house.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

I was hoping for some overnight rain to soften the ground, but had no such luck. So I decided that I would cut off the worst weeds and poison the roots with Tordon. But before I could do that the township mower came by today and mowed both sides of the road. Oh, well. I guess I'll try to keep all those weeds mowed so they can't go to seed before they die next winter. In the office I did a little more work on my digital atlas, downloading a few more North Carolina county maps. I'm about half way through those, then I can start on another state. I've finished county maps for twenty states, with probably about that many more to do. I think there are about ten states that don't have county maps.

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Today's main activity was a trip to Wichita for an appointment with the eye doc. My pressures were 12 and 10, both pretty good. She had thought I had some lens clouding that would need treatment, but with further examination decided that instead I should see my local optometrist for a new prescription. Ordinarily I would have used the trip to stock up on kimchi and diet Squirt, but wanting to keep this month's credit card bill down following a high one last month, I'll put those purchases off until the next cycle. I'm what the credit card companies call a deadbeat. I have my card on autopay so it's paid in full every month and I owe no interest and never have to worry about getting stuck with a late fee.

Friday, May 12, 2023

Today began the new credit card cycle, so I was free to start a new round of spending on the bill that will close on June11. It will be higher than usual, as I need to buy new rear tires for the runabout. The two front tires I bought in March came to $526, and the rears will be about the same. Today's immediate need was a 44 pound bag of dog food for Shorty's feeder, which she emptied yesterday. All the rest was stocking up on things that are sometimes out of stock in the store when I need them — jalapeño cheese, salt, pepper, pickles, canned soup, etc. Adding groceries at the market and a roll of stamps at the post office, I blew $170.23 in one day. Fortunately I don't have to spend like that most days.

Saturday, May 13, 2023

After a winter break, this morning I got back to work on the southeast bedroom. I won't finish it soon, but I want to get all the wiring in and sheet rock on the walls before little brother comes to visit next month. Thinking of what I still need to do, it seems like it shouldn't take long. But I know it will. About three I headed for Wichita. This time I found diet Squirt in stock, but Mein Gott! The stuff was $8.99 a twelve pack! I'll have to try some of the similar products and see if there's one I like at a more reasonable price. I stopped at Grace Market for sliced 김치. Normally I buy a couple of gallon jars and they last three months or more, but today I had to settle for the only one they had left. Treat night dinner was enchiladas blancas at Mexico Viejo. This week's movie was Fool's Paradise. Charlie Day, who wrote the script, directs and stars as Latte Pronto, a simple and non-verbal character who happens to resemble a famous movie star and takes his place. The way people project their own attitudes and assumptions onto his blank slate made me think of Peter Sellers' Chauncey Gardner. In an all-star cast with a lot of good performances, my favorites were Ken Jeong as a desperate publicist with more aspirations than talent, and John Malkovich as a menacng rich guy with a political agenda.

Sunday, May 14, 2023

Last night's rain plus more this afternoon left another .36" in the gauge. I spent the wet day indoors, working on the southeast bedroom. I reinforced ceiling joists, finished installing the box for the ceiling light, and put in most of the wiring for the other lights, which will be high on the walls. There will be five LED bulbs equivalent to 500 watts, but using only 75 actual watts, less than the previous single incandescent bulb. In reinforcing joists I'm glad that I'm not yet too feeble to drive a nail, though if it's above shoulder height I hold the hammer with both hands to drive it home. While working today I listened to one of my favorite radio stations, XHRPA in Morelia, Michoacan (Radio Ranchito). That's by internet streaming, of course. The desktop computer in my office feeds a small FM transmitter which broadcasts to radios in the office, in the shop, and in the house.

MoΩday, May 15, 2023

Oh, great. My desktop computer has lost a letter. CaΩ a local computer shop fix it, or will I have to buy a Ωew keyboard? After more overΩight aΩd morΩiΩg raiΩ, the gauge had aΩother .36" iΩ it. That's over aΩ iΩch iΩ three days. The Ωice thiΩg is that it was all slow, aΩd soaked iΩto the grouΩd. AgaiΩ I speΩt the day workiΩg oΩ the southeast bedroom. I put up the last piece of ceiliΩg light wiriΩg, aΩd got most of the east wall iΩsulatioΩ aΩd sheet rock iΩstalled. Maybe I caΩ get some light fixtures iΩstalled tomorrow. Today I made more progress thaΩ I expected. maybe I'll fΩish the moΩth with more doΩe thaΩ I thought I would.

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Since March I haven't had to use the Suburban, and it's been sitting with Chickasha swap meet stuff in it. This morning I unloaded and took it to town for two things. One was a new keyboard, so now this computer has a working n again. The other was lumber for the ceiling in the southeast bedroom. I spent the rest of the day working on that project. I installed two of the three electric outlets. The third will include connecting into the house system, requiring me to shut off the power while I wire the connection. I aim to do that tomorrow, and should get some light fixtures installed too. Today I finished putting up insulation and sheet rock on the east wall. I have to put in a few more screws there, then it will be ready for me to plaster the seams. Today's emails included a notice that my repaired camera was about to be shipped, so soon I'll be able to show you what I'm doing.

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Ooops! Never went off the place today, and at quitting time I realized I had forgotten to go to town for cucumbers and tomatoes. Ah, well, bean soup was a tasty substitute. First up today was laundry. While I was hanging sox, and sheets, and other usual stuff on the line to dry, I washed Shorty's blanket. In the cold months when it's freezing out, she sleeps on an army blanket on my bed. It gets cold in the bedroom too, but there she has an electric blanket under her. I had the laundry all done and hung by half past ten, and spent the rest of the day working on the southeast bedroom. The first part of that was installing the third and final electric outlet. Connecting it into the house system required shutting off the power, and the stopped clock in the kitchen told me the job took 46 minutes. In my less clumsy days I think I would have done it in half that time. Other bedroom jobs were installing one of the light fixtures (I need to buy wire nuts for the others), and nailing up more ceiling joist reinforcements. To be continued...

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Too much socializing online got me off to a late start. It was half past noon before I went to town for wire nuts and groceries. The wire nuts were for installing light fixtures, and I spent over an hour doing that. I now have three out of four in place — two on the east and west walls at the north end of the room, and the ceiling light in the middle. The one at the south end of the room will come later. My other work on the bedroom today was nailing up more ceiling joist reinforcements. I have more of those to do before I start installing supports for ceiling panels. I'm thinking I will spend one more week on this project, then put it on hold while I get the place ready for the family reunion in the middle of June. That's four weeks away, and it will come fast. While I was working this afternoon I heard a bit of unhappy agricultural news on the radio. The state ag department reports that this year's wheat crop will be low quality and low yield. In a good year the crops pay for my property taxes and house insurance. It looks like this will not be a good year.

Friday, May 19, 2023

AutoStitch works to combine shots #2 and #3, but it refuses to include #1. So I'm putting #1 as close to #2 as I can. We'll see how that works out. Rain arrived in the wee hours of the morning. I awoke earlier than usual and was up before six, and back to work on the bedroom project a little after seven. With a break of about an hour at one, I spent the day on ceiling joists and reinforcements. I thought I might finish them today, but I ended the day with one more left to to. I should finish that in the morning and get a good start on ceiling panel supports.

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Well, I did finish up the last joist reinforcement, and got started on the ceiling panel supports. But it was slow going where I had to fit them against the angle of the roof, so I got only a couple done by quitting time. About three I left for Wichita. This week's movie was showing locally, but only as a matinee, so I chose an evening showing in the big city. Dinner was at Buffet City, a pretty good Chinese buffet. The movie was Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. It filled the bill for what I prefer — movies for grown-ups about something real. Comic book movies put me to sleep. Mythical monsters and supernatural mumbo jumbo are a bore. Ditto raunchy potty-mouth "comedies". So this week's show was right up my alley. Judy Blume's book and this movie based on it are about human people who happen to be sixth grade girls, and the people in their lives. Kelly Fremon Craig wrote the adaptation and directed the movie, and her work on both is first-rate. Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret and Rachel McAdams as her mom head a very strong cast. Kathy Bates is outstanding, and the actors in minor roles add to the overall excellence. I would rate this as one of the best movies I've seen this year.

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Recent rains have made the ground right for weed pulling, so I took a day off from the bedroom project and pulled the good-sized patch of weeds behind the shop. It takes a few seconds to tell it, but it took several hours to do it. Around two it started getting a bit sweaty, so I took a break for about an hour while the work moved into the shade, came back and worked on it until chow time at five, then came back about eight and finished in twilight. My computer work was putting away some of the files that have accumulated on my desktop, and downloading more maps for my digital atlas.

Monday, May 22, 2023

Wanting to take advantage of the soft ground before it dries out, I took another day off from the bedroom project. I pulled or dug weeds from the lawn by the west drive and along the road by the west field, then mowed both places. While I was weeding I noticed that all the goats are gone from the yard across the road, and grass is growing up in front of the gate where the owner has always gone in to feed the other animals. I hope there's not a bad reason for all the livestock to be gone. I haven't seen an obituary for the owner or his wife, so I guess they haven't checked out. Something else I noticed was that all the small volunteer trees between the road and the old well have been cleared away. I assume it was the township road crew that did the clearing. I'm glad they did the job for me, but they left little stumps tall enough to wreck a mower. I'll have to go down there with a chain saw and cut them all off at ground level, the way they should have been done in the first place.

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

On another day off from the bedroom project, I dug and pulled weeds, mowed with the ZTR, trimmed some branches, and mowed with the tractor. This time of year I could spend all day every day on yard work, but I need to get a little more done on the bedroom before I set it aside until late June. Then there's all the other stuff awaiting my attention. Oh, well, I can only do what I can do. There's more to do than I'll ever get done, so there's no point in worrying about it.

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

The three new trees I planted on May 9 have showed no signs of life, so I did the scratch test and found not a trace of green. They're three dead sticks. So I got on the phone to Arbor Day Foundation and ordered replacements, just in time. Today was the last day for spring orders. If any of the replacements fail, there will be no more until November. Back to work on the bedroom today, I installed some supports for ceiling panels. I also cut a two foot square of Masonite to use in marking where to position the panels. Holding that square up against the joists it was obvious that installing the ceiling will be a nightmare if I don't use a sheet rock jack. With other rooms needing new ceilings too, renting a jack will eventually add up to lots of expense. I think it will cost less over time to make one of my own. The ceiling can wait until I do that.

Thursday, May 25, 2023

This morning I was scanning a Murray Fahnestock article on magneto charging so I could print it out in a larger, more readable size, when the power went off. I heard the bang when the transformer out at the road failed. Maybe a snake or a squirrel got into it. Not a big problem for me. A guy from the electric company arrived in a few minutes, and while he worked to restore power I pulled weeds in front of the shop. In about forty minutes the power was back on, all the weeds were pulled, and I got back to scanning. This afternoon I looked around to see what I have on hand for making a sheet rock jack. It seems I have enough 1" square tubing and ¾" conduit, but will need to buy some 1¼"square tubing and some 1" conduit. I'll have to go to Winfield for the square tubing. I don't know about the conduit. I was hoping to get it at Orscheln farm supply, but of course they're completely out of the stuff. I suppose I'll end up paying an Ace price for it at the hardware store. This evening after chow Shorty and I went back to town for the first band concert of the season in Wilson Park. The Arkansas City Municipal Band is beginning season 153, which runs from late May until Independence Day. After the concert I like to go across the street to Braum's for a double dip cone. In May the weather is mild, but by July it will be hot enough to make the ice cream a special treat.

Friday, May 26, 2023

Today I recharged the magnets in the 1915 runabout. I've always charged magnets one at a time, out of the car, so today was my first in-car charge. There seem to be two camps on this. One says use the Fahnestock method for best results. The other says using the compass is a waste of time that makes no difference. There are advocates for both sides who have much more Model T knowledge and experience than I have, so the question for me was: Will it hurt anything to use the compass? My answer was no, so I used the Fahnestock method,

Being me, I have a compass but have no idea where it is. That's one of the many common items not available in local stores, so I made my own. It's not very strong, but for this job it doesn't have to be. Using 36 volts DC I flashed the coil ring with the flywheel in four positions, eight times in each position. The results were good. I started the car on MAG a couple of times. The magneto headlamps were perfectly bright, which means they were almost adequate. This evening Shorty and I went out for the first after-dinner cruise of the season, and the car ran great. I am pleased.

Saturday, May 27, 2023

Today's first activity was a 1915 test drive. We went to check out an auction north of Winfield, and it was another of those with lots of stuff but nothing that would cause me to stay. The runabout continues to run fine, but unaccountably remains hard to start. When it has been running and is still warm, it usually starts on the first pull of the crank. But after sitting long enough to cool down it may take a dozen or more pulls to get it running. My first suspicion in such a case would be a leaking intake manifold sucking air. But I've had the manifold off and reinstalled it with sealant, so air leaking in at that point is probably not what's wrong. I'll figure it out eventually. My project today was unexpected. When I borrowed the battery out of the Suburban for yesterday's magneto charge, I discovered that the platform where it sits in the vehicle had broken and partially collapsed. So today I removed said platform and did some welding on it. There's more to do. I want to add some reinforcements so I won't have bother with it again. Treat night dinner this week was a burrito de chorizo, a tamal, and frijoles refritos at La Fiesta. The movie was About My Father, with Robert DeNiro and Sebastian Maniscalco. It's not great cinematic art, just a pleasant comedy.

Sunday, May 28, 2023

When I put the runabout in the shop last night the headlamps were out. Magneto lights are wired in series, like old time Christmas tree lights, so when one burns out they both go dark. Fortunately this was at home, so I didn't have to use any of the spares I carry in the car. I did have to test some bulbs from my stash to be sure I had a balanced pair. If you don't test them you can end up with one bulb bright and the other dim. Sometimes they're so unbalanced that one doesn't light at all and the other burns out. All the spares in the car are packed in balanced pairs. This afternoon I finished reinforcing the battery holder for the Suburban, but somehow didn't get around to reinstalling it. This evening I made a new web page to comment on a subject that has come up on Facebook more than once recently. When somebody else asks about Model T clincher tires I can just post this link.

Monday, May 29, 2023

The patriotic holiday began wet, with rain that made the usual driveway puddles full and left 1.25" in the gauge. I started the day spending way too much time schmoozing online, but by afternoon the rain was gone and I set about the first spraying of the year. I mixed ten gallons of the magic elixir of death to attack the weeds that are springing up in the wood lot lane across the road. But the sprayer I used last year is kaput. It will not hold pressure and spray. So I went to town for a replacement. At Walmart there were none. The shelf was empty. So I tried the farm supply. At Orscheln I found the shelves fully stocked, but their Country Tuff house brand is overpriced enough to drive me away for other shopping. Experience has taught me that all sprayers sold today are flimsy junk that inevitably will break and quit working. Paying more in hopes of getting a good one is a fool's errand. So I might as well buy the cheapest I can find, use it until it quits, then toss it and buy another one. I have to go to Wichita tomorrow for a medical appointment, so I'll look for a sprayer in the big city.

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Mom used to tell me I shouldn't lie out in the sun. But she was just Mom. What did she know? When you're sixteen your folks don't know anything. But 65 years later it turns out her advice was golden. Now every few months I have to get lesions removed so they won't turn into cancers. That's why I was off to the dermatology office this morning. On the way to Wichita I stopped at the Derby Walmart and bought a cheap sprayer. When I got home I filled it with some of the weed killer I mixed yesterday, and attacked weeds along the south side of the road. I believe the new sprayer set a speed record for revealing itself as a worthless piece of crap. After I used up the first two gallons I refilled it and it refused to build pressure and spray. Fortunately I was able to get one of last year's sprayers to work. I sprayed the bank and the ditch all the way to the east end before I quit and went to town for groceries. This evening after dinner I returned to spraying and was happy to see that many of the weeds I sprayed earlier in the day were already starting to curl and wither. I used up the nearly ten gallons I had mixed, and will do the same tomorrow.

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Gee, I actually finished two jobs today. First was mixing another ten gallons of weed killer and spraying the lane to the wood lot. The weather isn't hot enough yet to make me quit early, but weakness from tachycardia made me take a couple of rest breaks. I'll wait a few days for the killer to work, then I'll mow the lane and the wood lot road. Today's other completed job was reinstalling the battery holder and battery in the Suburban. In the office I downloaded more North Carolina county maps to my digital atlas. I may never get to that state, but if I do I'll be ready to find my way around.