Life goes on - Winter 2023


Only a little, but still fun!

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View from claims:

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Thanks Bruce. I went to Arizona years ago hunting for gold and found way less than that but had a lot of fun. I always said you couldn’t pay me enough to work as hard as I did digging, screening, and running that dirt through a tiny recirculating sluice or a dry washer but I enjoyed it a lot.

I was almost in Mexico and there wasn’t any water unless I brought it myself.

Haven’t messed around with prospecting for a while now but the fever never fully goes away.

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Hi All
On our fourth glorious 20F/-7C clear sky morning now.
Real Fall making conditions.
Wood heating conditions for sure.

I am in-house stove burn getting rid of ~1/4 cubic meter of acummulated Douglas Fir bark.
Once a real wood charcoal bed is established intense heat outgases driving up the DF bark makes for some interesting gaseous flames:



The first picture showing the secondary air tubes jets clearly, evolves down into the second picture as the barks volitliles are used up.
The bark making a very poor remaining coal bed.
That bed having to be restored with real wood trunk core fuel chunks.

Ha! picturing this with a 3 second camera “shutter” delay is much harder than picturing rainbows and sunsets.

I pity those who cannot real-life experience these fire-fairies here-now; then gone, in the second picture.
But live just by warmed air registers. Shallow lives indeed.
Steve Unruh

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LOOKS like a trasula spider-? are them spider dangerous,or deadly ,i caint recall.

Tarantulas are pretty passive and not very venomous. You can let them crawl into your hand with no problems. My sister and I used to do it all the time to freak-out our neighbor lady. This is a middle sized one.

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As far as I know we only have Black Widow and Brown Recluse poisonous spiders here in this part of Michigan. A couple of years ago I got bit by a Black Widow while stacking firewood. Bit me on my left temple somehow. Over three days the swelling and pain spread through my sinuses to the right side of my face. Super painful and I could barely see out of my eyes. I have total distrust of the medical industry so I just toughed it out while my wife freaked out. I’m not much to look at under the best of circumstances but that was mega ugly.

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Not much the medical folks can do for spider bites TomH.
Broad spectrum Antibiotics to reduce the secondary infections from the necrotic dead killed cells while they are being body broken down and eliminated.
Ha! We are all just too damn big for the spider to externally pre-digest.
Some things a fellow just has to endure, and shrug off.
S.U.

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Both trailer and wife’s waggon are up for inspection today. See if I remember how to operate a fossil fuel vehicle :smile:

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Nice looking wagon and good wind sheer less resist. DO they really inspect- or just take the money and smile.

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What is the worst pest in your area for bugs-- animal bites. I live in michigan-though dont think i ever been bitten by black widow or brown lacruce–though i see the black widows fairly often in the wood piles- and have seen them in my old trailer once and a while,maybe twice a year,i might see one.

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Haha! Well, all three I guess. They found play I wasn’t aware of in one of the steering joints.

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I live in Michigan as well Kevin and I can assure you that the worst pests are the two legged soul sucking ones nesting in the state capitol.

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If American cars had to be inspected like your cars and trucks go through, half of the vehicles would not be able to get license taps to drive. In Albania it is against the law to drive with a dirty car, you can receive a ticket and fined. Now don’t get this confused with Alabama where dirty mudd on cars and trucks are required to drive on the road. Just kidding. But it’s not outlawed.

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Haha! Bob, Johan and I actually touched the subject of car washing at work a couple days ago, but that’s the closest any of us been to washing a car in years :smile:
So, I guess we would both prefer Alabama before Albania or we would be commuting on foot :smile:

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If I were to drive my work truck through Albania, not only would they fine me but put me in jail with no bond :smiley:

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I was going to say not counting the wife-joke-kidding–Ya i was just thinking this winter weather sucks- and what should i look out for if i went camping south a few months-- not this year though,dont have my wood gas truck prof tested or dialed in yet.

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Natural chimney draft was discussed in another thread.

This is today’s natural draft - down draft - cold start.
6×6 flue in my 25ft brick chimney.
The refractory combustion chamber starting to get a bit worn, but is still holding up after 21 years of every day 100% wood heating 8 months a year.

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Finally got us a new ride, made 2002 this is by far the new’est car i ever owned.


And now for the good news: wifes beloved, trusty old Volvo is now MINE.
Some fix before inspection, brakes and stuff.

Anyone have a guess what im going to hang from the rear bumper on this one? :smiley:

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Wow, that’s brand new :rofl:

Welcome to the club with the white one :smile: What year?

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