[Was originally “What else is going on?” - this is the granddaddy original thread for the “Life goes on” series.]
Here’s a thread for you to post what else is going on in your life, maybe the things that keep you apart from your project, or just interesting stuff that happens to you.
Like this:
We’ve been living with a construction zone almost in our backyard for about a month now. They are replacing the sewer line, and have been blasting through solid rock to do it. Or when they aren’t blasting there’s a constant pounding as they hammer through the limestone layers.
As of today it IS in our backyard. I snapped some photos to prove it.
Hi Chris, We had that for almost an entire year here just last year or the year before (I try to forget). They built an entire sewage treatment plant next door to us and also ran the new line in a new spot (twice !!) … but all the noise and vibration was right here. Both Sue and I never got enough sleep to keep our systems stoked up and they used old lagoon dirt in the project so the bacteria in the area was horrible. We both had pneumonia twice. I missed the open house on the plant when I was in Argos … I think you still get up early so you won’t be needing an alarm clock for a while. I haven’t used one in 30 or so years … Mike
Well here’s my discovery for today. Look what I found under the plastic side panels… Completely hidden from view, surrounded by perfect metal. Basically no rust anywhere else on the car. This is non-structural and can be repaired.
This is what distracts me from my gasifier, work. Having to work 5 days a week this summer. Easy enough, office mgr. Typical load of logs coming into the mill, about 30 tons mixed hardwood for ties, pallets, & dunage blocks. I need to start getting the waste cut-offs for chunkier fuel.
My outdoor welding shop feels like I’m welding without turning on a machine. It was 110 yesterday, similar today and more expected tomorrow. You’d never know we don’t live in the desert - we’re at 3000’ in the Sierra Nevada foothills of CA.
Hi Lee, Were you named after the comet ?? Mid day today the moon was clear as crystal in the sky here in Wisconsin. We have had rain but most of the corn and beans are trashed and half dead and there is no moisture in the air. I have only dumped condensate on one drive here this summer and that was right after the rain the other day … Hope to get my new cyclone on the trailer tomorrow … I worked hard today to allot time for it … I think it will happen … Wifey had enough of me and the world today … OOK
It’s vacation time, most dump and construction shops are closed. So new mixer has to wait to next weeks. We’re busy in our veg garden now. Canning fruit and vegs. A self sufficient live eats a lot of time. But we’re also enjoying the nice weather while it lasts.
Car needed MOT, almost forgot it. Everything fine, except for the dust boots in the front suspension/steering. All seals are dead on this almost 40 year old truck. The recent changed pignion seal looked more like bakelite than rubber… A pic of my sunday morning fumbling. I am getting great respect for American materials. Each nut came off very easy, despite some had never been loosened before.
The wife and I just got back from vacation in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was great to have such cool temperatures after the heat wave here in Ohio all summer. The perch were biting like crazy and I probably cleaned about 300 of them. Good eating! Now back home and back to the gasifier.
That’s a familiar sight! There’s nothing quite like an old American truck, eh? The reason the bolts loosen so easily is that they have been auto-greased for the past 40 years by leaking oil. This should be a design feature. Plus you mentioned this is a California truck, so there’s less rust.
HI GUYS, WELL MY DISTRACTION THIS WEEK IS, PAUL A CHURCH FRIEND NEEDED HIS TROLING MOTOR WELDED, SO GUESS WHO HE ASK TO FIX IT ? I GET ALL KINDS OF WELDING JOBS THAT I DO NOT ASK FOR. FROM WELDING NEIGHBORS LAWN MOWERS TO EXAUST PIPES ON THIRE CARS. PHOTOS OF THE TROLING MOTOR BEFORE AND AFTER, THE BOTTOM FIN GOT BROKEN OFF IT WAS ALUMINUM. I HAD TO PUT MY SPOOL GUN BACK ON THE WELDER AND CHANG THE GAS TANK TO STREIGHT ARGON. I WORK FOR FUDGE LOL, HIS WIFE MAKES GREAT FUDGE.
Hi David, I take it that fin broke on dry land or would have been lost in the mud at the bottom of the lake. How did you keep the housing cool so the motor windings didn’t get damaged by the heat ??
Nice job welding, and I agree with Mike, however is that cast aluminum, or that “pot metal” I have never had any success getting pot metal welded and have it have any strength.
I finally transferred my camera pictures to a computer … My hopper pictures turned out a bit blurry but here goes one. Actually, this site would not let me upload my picture so I’m a bit pissed. It doesn’t accept my picture in either jpg or jpeg format. Here’s the message I get
The selected file undefined cannot be uploaded. Only files with the following extensions are allowed: png, gif, jpg, jpeg.
Crap, here’s the link to it on my site http://www.intergate.com/~mlarosa/images/woodgas/hopper-inspection-8-8-12.jpg
but I wanted it here … ML
Hi David S, Pot metal was named pot metal for a reason :o) … It’s whatever winds up in the pot and it corrodes all by itself just like the brand new started on my dodge. ML
Chris, Well I’m trying again from a different location and different computer … Just very frustrating to do a simple thing like upload a single small picture. My first computer work was in 1968. It won’t let me load it from here either. I went through a bunch of crap with the Mother Earth News folks and they finally got it straightened out. I could not even begin to load their site. I do not have a high speed option here and it is possible that this site will not allow me to upload anything but text due to my connect speeds. This is the only thing I can figure is happening. Maybe we can confirm this if Steve U tries to upload a picture … I’m about ready to say color me gone but I know better … ML
