Sometimes we should have a dislike button. That looks way to cold and just walking to the wood pile would be a pita
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So we are no longer totally off grid at the time it was too much with new babies… At this time of year I only generate about 2 kw a day which used to make for a lot of genny time. I still run part of the house on solar; That mean cleaning off panels on the roof. Attic hatch, view from the cupola, snow covered and then nice clean panels… having trouble with the pictures…
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Solar panels looks good but now I’m really glad mine are on the ground. The roofs scare me when they’re dry in the summer.
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Hey Bill, It does not show well but I’m standing in the cupola at the top of the roof. I pop the hatch in the attic and stand on a step stool to clean them. I have a healthy respect for gravity… it was either on the roof or clear cut the woods…
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Sorry to say guys with wet-energy zipped past us yesterday NA west-coast you will be having more snow in 2-3 days.
Tree down power outrages here again. One death-by-falling tree. Gravity always wins in the end.
S.U.
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(GASP!)
Finally have some time to come up for air. I’ve been absent for a while, due to my unexpected career shift. On January 15th, my former boss called me in his office and told me that “due to several months of revenue shortfalls”, they were making some radical adjustments, one of which was my job.
After spending a couple of days praying and soul-searching, I decided to start my own surveying business. Like Mike LaRosa says, “been busier than a one-armed paper hanger” ever since. I made a few phone calls and dropped a few emails to some people I had a good working relationship with, and have been literally covered up with work. The surveying part is easy - it’s all the business-related issues I have to think about, because there’s nobody else to think about them.
I’m starting to work out the initial rough spots, and am now remembering more things than I’m forgetting. I wish I had done this when I was younger, but the only way to become old and wise is from the bruises of being young and foolish. 
The worst part was, I had to pull out of the Belton MEN Fair. 
I was all geared up to demonstrate my charcoal powered lawn tractor, then the bottom fell out of everything. I couldn’t even make it down to Belton to see all you guys that were there, because I had to spend the whole weekend working. Bummer. Maybe next time.
So, if anybody’s looking to have their land surveyed in Texas, you know who to call . . .
Harold A.(Alex) Taylor
Registered Professional Land Surveyor
Sunbelt Technical Services
701 Caudill Drive
Waco, Texas 76705
(254) 292-0641
[email protected]
TBPLS Firm Number 10194191
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Alex, I love self reliance stories. We learn so much of what we’re made of. It continuously pushes our boundaries.
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Good luck Alex. Always scary to think of someone else cutting off the paycheck. Never had it in my job rich area. Enjoy being in the driver’s seat and see you in May?
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Yes, Alex, good luck to you. Self reliance is the backbone of this country, it’s what made us great. This site certainly has a lot of backbone, too. I went to “A” school for Engineering Aide-surveyor at the 21st NCR, Davisville, RI, attached to MCB 7. There was also an Engineering Aide-draftsman rating. Spent about 3 1/2 yrs surveying stateside and in-country SEA. As surveyors, we had a good degree of freedom of movement, it felt like a regular outdoor job. Loved it.
Pepe
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Something about listening to this COACH talk made me think I had to post this on DOW. ( any resemblance to a real person is purely coincidental ) TomC
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We had part of our road wash away. The (small corrugated) culvert pipe under our driveway got clogged and overflowed the ditch into the road.
We live at the bottom of a long fairly steep hill with only a few drainage cut offs. There’s a bit of water flowing through when it gets to our driveway during heavy rains.
Luckily, the damage to the road was not too bad, any reasonable Honda Civic could navigate through with a little care. Basically, the dirt road had several small “canyons” roughly 8 inches across, 4 inches deep, down the middle/edge of the road.
I went out and shoveled wet gravel and clay for about 5 hours in the rain, which is a lot for me with my health.
Only 1 neighbor actually stopped on the road to thank me. Another neighbor stopped to try to order me to do “what I needed to do to fix our problem that is messing up ‘his’ road.”
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there is always someone no matter what hope you don’t half to where that shovel out . 
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Bit of DOW trivia… our logo had very humble beginnings.
(FYI it has been altered and reshaped enough that there are no copyright issues.)
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Does anyone have experience with tapioca glucose? These plastic barrels I got originally had that in them, and they haven’t been cleaned. There’s still about a gallon or so of glucose in each barrel… extremely sticky, clear, odorless and tasteless. Acts and looks like uncured clear silicone. Doesn’t dissolve in water, that I can tell.
Is it useful? Should I save some?
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Chris, is it the Tapioca that Is use in foods for thickening. I love to eat Tapioca pudding.
Bob
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Hey Chris, If I remember correctly, some types of glucose can be used for adhesives, such as wall paper glue, paper glue, etc.
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I don’t know anything about tapioca other than I love it. I would like to say, before you do anything make sure what ever material it is, it is not flammable. A neighbor brought over a barrel to have me make into a trash burner. I smelled in the bung hole. It smelled like pond water. There was no liquid in it. Before I started to cut I waved the torch across the open bung hole. The barrel jumped 3 ft. in the air, con vexed both ends, and had it rolling down the hill by the time I gathered my wits. I’ve heard of “swamp gas” but I don’t know what was in this TomC
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Very nice visit from folks at Middle Tennessee state university ( Mike Sims , Terry Young and Dr. Cliff Ricketts )
We road in the V-10 a few miles and then took the dakota out for a spin. ( I think the speed limit was 85 on that road ? )
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