What did YOU do today?

[sgtsandman]

Being Sunday and Mother's Day, not much today. Yesterday was using the broad fork in the garden, cutting the lawn, a bunch or measuring and marking the underside of the frame of the utility trailer, and starting to cut steel. This was after paying bills, and balancing the check book ledger so I could accurately figure out how much money I don't have.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Church this morning, put together and uploaded a video for my YouTube channel this afternoon then grilled for dinner. You’ll have to check the appropriate thread for that in a few when I get it posted. Currently cigar and beer time, then I’m doing dishes for mom.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Did much less than yesterday, mostly just burned some brush, picnic table and some pallets... of course 10 seconds after I lit the fire the wind kicked up for the only 10 minutes of the day! Had to get the hose out and tame it down, I think I might have killed one of the poplar trees that shot up a few years ago... being a poplar it's 4 years old and 20' tall...

 

[Rick W]

Today was a day of adventure and realization, truly inspiring. Where do I start….

Let me start with the downside. The Missing Linc got “blocked up,” and it was very sluggish when I was trying to pick up my latest score.

First, second and third trips…

As part of cleaning up the deferred maintenance, I’ve been looking for some of those stacking retaining blocks to help with some drainage in my yard. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to you guys, but I love Craigslist/marketplace.

I found a bunch of the 18 x 8 x 12” commercial size stacking blocks FOR FREE close by if I just went and got them. Those big boys are 36 to a pallet, and a pallet is $933. I got about 75 of them. I also got about 20 of the 2 1/2 inch thick by 18 by whatever solid cap stones. I also got six or seven of the 18” x 8” x 9-1/2” solid stacking blocks. All of this stuff is concrete, not cinderblock. Also a half dozen of those concrete footers that you use for posts on a deck. Also some two by fours. Also, some rebar…. I think just the stone added up to about $2500 if I went out and bought it.

I probably should’ve used the F250, but it has a cap, and they were close by, and I figured I could make a couple trips in the Missing Linc and get them all. Well, I made 3 trips, and I’ll have to make another trip tomorrow. But I realized I don’t have a good ole Ranger. I have a super Ranger! No, not a super Ranger, a super duper Ranger!

The face blocks are 80 pounds each. The cap blocks are about 60 pounds each. The 8 x 18 solids are about 120 pounds each. I loaded about 30 in the truck for each trip. I figure it was about 2400-2500 pounds per trip. I boogied down the road at a whopping 25 or 30 miles an hour in third gear max with all the code 3 lights flashing, but it didn’t miss a beat. I’m going to go to the upholstery store and get a big Superman cape made for the truck with “SDR w/HHP” where Superman’s S would be (super duper Ranger with house hauling package).

But the really amazing part? I loaded three loads with my 71 year-old broken and worn out pathetic body, block by block. Quick math tells me I loaded 7,500 pounds of block, and I unloaded 5000 pounds! I guess the old fart is a little superduper too!

For the first load, I pretty much picked them up and put them in the truck, and then unloaded them when I got home. The second trip took almost exactly twice as long, a lot more rest time, but I still got them in and out, block by block. The third trip was almost comical. I was so worn out, I could barely lift the blocks. I made a stair step out of three blocks, just below the tailgate. I rolled the blocks on the ground up to it, and then I rolled each block onto the first step and then on to the second step so then I could then flip them over into the bed. I had to stop and bend over and put my head between my legs to let my blood recover two or three times for each block. And none of them are unloaded yet from the third trip.

The real trick was the solid blocks, which were all on the last trip. That’s when I had the idea for the stairstep. At about 120 pounds each, I had to take a break in between each time I just flipped one over on the ground, and then when I flipped it on the first step and flipped it on the second, and then into the truck.

The whole time, Lincoln was looking at me like “and why are we doing this?”

When it comes to the details on the truck, you guys know I like those little bitty things that nobody else would think of. So when I get the cape, I’m also going to get one my size, and I’m going to get one that’s Lincoln’s size. I will only wear them when we’re wearing T-shirts with a picture of the truck loaded up with the block.

Right now, I’m on beer therapy for my aches and pains, but a little bit also and celebration. And just think, now I have another big project hanging over my head.

 

[Curious Hound]

Today was a day of adventure and realization, truly inspiring. Where do I start….

Let me start with the downside. The Missing Linc got “blocked up,” and it was very sluggish when I was trying to pick up my latest score.

View attachment 142593View attachment 142594View attachment 142595

First, second and third trips…

As part of cleaning up the deferred maintenance, I’ve been looking for some of those stacking retaining blocks to help with some drainage in my yard. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to you guys, but I love Craigslist/marketplace.

I found a bunch of the 18 x 8 x 12” commercial size stacking blocks FOR FREE close by if I just went and got them. Those big boys are 36 to a pallet, and a pallet is $933. I got about 75 of them. I also got about 20 of the 2 1/2 inch thick by 18 by whatever solid cap stones. I also got six or seven of the 18” x 8” x 9-1/2” solid stacking blocks. All of this stuff is concrete, not cinderblock. Also a half dozen of those concrete footers that you use for posts on a deck. Also some two by fours. Also, some rebar…. I think just the stone added up to about $2500 if I went out and bought it.View attachment 142596View attachment 142597

I probably should’ve used the F250, but it has a cap, and they were close by, and I figured I could make a couple trips in the Missing Linc and get them all. Well, I made 3 trips, and I’ll have to make another trip tomorrow. But I realized I don’t have a good ole Ranger. I have a super Ranger! No, not a super Ranger, a super duper Ranger!

The face blocks are 80 pounds each. The cap blocks are about 60 pounds each. The 8 x 18 solids are about 120 pounds each. I loaded about 30 in the truck for each trip. I figure it was about 2400-2500 pounds per trip. I boogied down the road at a whopping 25 or 30 miles an hour in third gear max with all the code 3 lights flashing, but it didn’t miss a beat. I’m going to go to the upholstery store and get a big Superman cape made for the truck with “SDR w/HHP” where Superman’s S would be (super duper Ranger with house hauling package).

But the really amazing part? I loaded three loads with my 71 year-old broken and worn out pathetic body, block by block. Quick math tells me I loaded 7,500 pounds of block, and I unloaded 5000 pounds! I guess the old fart is a little superduper too!

For the first load, I pretty much picked them up and put them in the truck, and then unloaded them when I got home. The second trip took almost exactly twice as long, a lot more rest time, but I still got them in and out, block by block. The third trip was almost comical. I was so worn out, I could barely lift the blocks. I made a stair step out of three blocks, just below the tailgate. I rolled the blocks on the ground up to it, and then I rolled each block onto the first step and then on to the second step so then I could then flip them over into the bed. I had to stop and bend over and put my head between my legs to let my blood recover two or three times for each block. And none of them are unloaded yet from the third trip.

The real trick was the solid blocks, which were all on the last trip. That’s when I had the idea for the stairstep. At about 120 pounds each, I had to take a break in between each time I just flipped one over on the ground, and then when I flipped it on the first step and flipped it on the second, and then into the truck.

View attachment 142598

The whole time, Lincoln was looking at me like “and why are we doing this?”

When it comes to the details on the truck, you guys know I like those little bitty things that nobody else would think of. So when I get the cape, I’m also going to get one my size, and I’m going to get one that’s Lincoln’s size. I will only wear them when we’re wearing T-shirts with a picture of the truck loaded up with the block.

Right now, I’m on beer therapy for my aches and pains, but a little bit also and celebration. And just think, now I have another big project hanging over my head.

You're going to be sore for a week! Good thinking on the stairstep method. "Work smarter, not harder"

 

[Blmpkn]

Broke out gods chosen chainsaw once I got home and unleased the Samson option on a bunch of daggum beech trees in the yard. Gonna raze them bitches to the ground and allow more maples & oaks to take their place.

Pa did a good job at removing most of the softwoods off the property when he was still with us, but considering pine trees grow like weeds and it's been 20 years since he was here... Those bastards are gonna need a 2nd cleansing once im happy with my removal of all the GD beech trees.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Today was a day of adventure and realization, truly inspiring. Where do I start….

Let me start with the downside. The Missing Linc got “blocked up,” and it was very sluggish when I was trying to pick up my latest score.

View attachment 142593View attachment 142594View attachment 142595

First, second and third trips…

As part of cleaning up the deferred maintenance, I’ve been looking for some of those stacking retaining blocks to help with some drainage in my yard. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to you guys, but I love Craigslist/marketplace.

I found a bunch of the 18 x 8 x 12” commercial size stacking blocks FOR FREE close by if I just went and got them. Those big boys are 36 to a pallet, and a pallet is $933. I got about 75 of them. I also got about 20 of the 2 1/2 inch thick by 18 by whatever solid cap stones. I also got six or seven of the 18” x 8” x 9-1/2” solid stacking blocks. All of this stuff is concrete, not cinderblock. Also a half dozen of those concrete footers that you use for posts on a deck. Also some two by fours. Also, some rebar…. I think just the stone added up to about $2500 if I went out and bought it.View attachment 142596View attachment 142597

I probably should’ve used the F250, but it has a cap, and they were close by, and I figured I could make a couple trips in the Missing Linc and get them all. Well, I made 3 trips, and I’ll have to make another trip tomorrow. But I realized I don’t have a good ole Ranger. I have a super Ranger! No, not a super Ranger, a super duper Ranger!

The face blocks are 80 pounds each. The cap blocks are about 60 pounds each. The 8 x 18 solids are about 120 pounds each. I loaded about 30 in the truck for each trip. I figure it was about 2400-2500 pounds per trip. I boogied down the road at a whopping 25 or 30 miles an hour in third gear max with all the code 3 lights flashing, but it didn’t miss a beat. I’m going to go to the upholstery store and get a big Superman cape made for the truck with “SDR w/HHP” where Superman’s S would be (super duper Ranger with house hauling package).

But the really amazing part? I loaded three loads with my 71 year-old broken and worn out pathetic body, block by block. Quick math tells me I loaded 7,500 pounds of block, and I unloaded 5000 pounds! I guess the old fart is a little superduper too!

For the first load, I pretty much picked them up and put them in the truck, and then unloaded them when I got home. The second trip took almost exactly twice as long, a lot more rest time, but I still got them in and out, block by block. The third trip was almost comical. I was so worn out, I could barely lift the blocks. I made a stair step out of three blocks, just below the tailgate. I rolled the blocks on the ground up to it, and then I rolled each block onto the first step and then on to the second step so then I could then flip them over into the bed. I had to stop and bend over and put my head between my legs to let my blood recover two or three times for each block. And none of them are unloaded yet from the third trip.

The real trick was the solid blocks, which were all on the last trip. That’s when I had the idea for the stairstep. At about 120 pounds each, I had to take a break in between each time I just flipped one over on the ground, and then when I flipped it on the first step and flipped it on the second, and then into the truck.

View attachment 142598

The whole time, Lincoln was looking at me like “and why are we doing this?”

When it comes to the details on the truck, you guys know I like those little bitty things that nobody else would think of. So when I get the cape, I’m also going to get one my size, and I’m going to get one that’s Lincoln’s size. I will only wear them when we’re wearing T-shirts with a picture of the truck loaded up with the block.

Right now, I’m on beer therapy for my aches and pains, but a little bit also and celebration. And just think, now I have another big project hanging over my head.

Those solid block are for making outside corners in a wall. But yeah, they are expensive and they are heavy. I’ve built a few retaining walls with those sorts of block. I’d really like a mini excavator with the lifting tools they make for those, even being younger they are a workout.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Yesterday I took another attempt at sealing water leaks in dad’s Ranger, supplied dad with a couple things for fixing his lawn tractor, and tested out the farm tractor and brush hog on my property. There’s a learning curve to using an antique tractor and brush hog to mow a small property. I also need to do something about better skids so it doesn’t want to dig in so much but that’s low on the priority list. But it works.

So now the repair space in front of my shop is empty finally other than the little stuff that needs handled at some point (three lawn tractors and a commercial freezer that’s slated to become a smoker). The repair section for my green Ranger has made its way onto my workbench and I started laying it out for building a repair cap.

Today I have a bunch of running around to do including a township meeting tonight so it will probably be little projects today and tomorrow they are calling for rain so maybe by Thursday I can get to cutting steel. Be really nice to get back to finishing the Green Ranger project.

 

[Rick W]

Today was a day of adventure and realization, truly inspiring. Where do I start….

Let me start with the downside. The Missing Linc got “blocked up,” and it was very sluggish when I was trying to pick up my latest score.

View attachment 142593View attachment 142594View attachment 142595

First, second and third trips…

As part of cleaning up the deferred maintenance, I’ve been looking for some of those stacking retaining blocks to help with some drainage in my yard. I don’t know if I ever mentioned it to you guys, but I love Craigslist/marketplace.

I found a bunch of the 18 x 8 x 12” commercial size stacking blocks FOR FREE close by if I just went and got them. Those big boys are 36 to a pallet, and a pallet is $933. I got about 75 of them. I also got about 20 of the 2 1/2 inch thick by 18 by whatever solid cap stones. I also got six or seven of the 18” x 8” x 9-1/2” solid stacking blocks. All of this stuff is concrete, not cinderblock. Also a half dozen of those concrete footers that you use for posts on a deck. Also some two by fours. Also, some rebar…. I think just the stone added up to about $2500 if I went out and bought it.View attachment 142596View attachment 142597

I probably should’ve used the F250, but it has a cap, and they were close by, and I figured I could make a couple trips in the Missing Linc and get them all. Well, I made 3 trips, and I’ll have to make another trip tomorrow. But I realized I don’t have a good ole Ranger. I have a super Ranger! No, not a super Ranger, a super duper Ranger!

The face blocks are 80 pounds each. The cap blocks are about 60 pounds each. The 8 x 18 solids are about 120 pounds each. I loaded about 30 in the truck for each trip. I figure it was about 2400-2500 pounds per trip. I boogied down the road at a whopping 25 or 30 miles an hour in third gear max with all the code 3 lights flashing, but it didn’t miss a beat. I’m going to go to the upholstery store and get a big Superman cape made for the truck with “SDR w/HHP” where Superman’s S would be (super duper Ranger with house hauling package).

But the really amazing part? I loaded three loads with my 71 year-old broken and worn out pathetic body, block by block. Quick math tells me I loaded 7,500 pounds of block, and I unloaded 5000 pounds! I guess the old fart is a little superduper too!

For the first load, I pretty much picked them up and put them in the truck, and then unloaded them when I got home. The second trip took almost exactly twice as long, a lot more rest time, but I still got them in and out, block by block. The third trip was almost comical. I was so worn out, I could barely lift the blocks. I made a stair step out of three blocks, just below the tailgate. I rolled the blocks on the ground up to it, and then I rolled each block onto the first step and then on to the second step so then I could then flip them over into the bed. I had to stop and bend over and put my head between my legs to let my blood recover two or three times for each block. And none of them are unloaded yet from the third trip.

The real trick was the solid blocks, which were all on the last trip. That’s when I had the idea for the stairstep. At about 120 pounds each, I had to take a break in between each time I just flipped one over on the ground, and then when I flipped it on the first step and flipped it on the second, and then into the truck.

View attachment 142598

The whole time, Lincoln was looking at me like “and why are we doing this?”

When it comes to the details on the truck, you guys know I like those little bitty things that nobody else would think of. So when I get the cape, I’m also going to get one my size, and I’m going to get one that’s Lincoln’s size. I will only wear them when we’re wearing T-shirts with a picture of the truck loaded up with the block.

Right now, I’m on beer therapy for my aches and pains, but a little bit also and celebration. And just think, now I have another big project hanging over my head.

I unloaded the third load this morning and went back for the fourth. The fourth was only a partial load, something like 1500 pounds. In hindsight, I wish I had put every box in the truck myself just so I could say I did that, but the concrete crew working on the house showed up when I had about a half dozen to go. It was a crew of some pretty solid and stocky Hispanics, one of which was probably 6 foot two. He looked like a giant. They threw those blocks in the back of the truck like they were Styrofoam. And the giant picked up the last two of the solid ones like it was a 12 pack.

Another trip home at 25 miles an hour, and then I did unload them when I got here.

Then I had a guy come by and buy the donut spare tire from the cute little brunette’s Subaru Forester, which she sold a couple years ago. She got a full-size tire right after she bought it, and the spare sat her garage the whole time, like new. I got $30 for it. The only reason I’m mentioning that spare tire is because the guy who bought it is going to use it on a Pontiac Fiero. Yes, I did say that correctly. He put a big GM V6 in it with fuel injection, etc., and he has Corvette brakes on the four corners. Those 5 x 100 donuts fit around the brakes, and he’s using them as rollers until he gets the mechanical done and then buy some custom wheels. What a hoot!

The poor little Missing Linc is dirtier than the day I grabbed it up in South Carolina and dragged it home.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I unloaded the third load this morning and went back for the fourth. The fourth was only a partial load, something like 1500 pounds. In hindsight, I wish I had put every box in the truck myself just so I could say I did that, but the concrete crew working on the house showed up when I had about a half dozen to go. It was a crew of some pretty solid and stocky Hispanics, one of which was probably 6 foot two. He looked like a giant. They threw those blocks in the back of the truck like they were Styrofoam. And the giant picked up the last two of the solid ones like it was a 12 pack.

Another trip home at 25 miles an hour, and then I did unload them when I got here.

View attachment 142652View attachment 142653

Then I had a guy come by and buy the donut spare tire from the cute little brunette’s Subaru Forester, which she sold a couple years ago. She got a full-size tire right after she bought it, and the spare sat her garage the whole time, like new. I got $30 for it. The only reason I’m mentioning that spare tire is because the guy who bought it is going to use it on a Pontiac Fiero. Yes, I did say that correctly. He put a big GM V6 in it with fuel injection, etc., and he has Corvette brakes on the four corners. Those 5 x 100 donuts fit around the brakes, and he’s using them as rollers until he gets the mechanical done and then buy some custom wheels. What a hoot!

The poor little Missing Linc is dirtier than the day I grabbed it up in South Carolina and dragged it home.

I’m not 6’2”, but there was a time that I could carry four 10” block at once, two in each hand. Then I got older and more beat up. Also was able to take two bundles of shingles up a ladder at once back then.

Those old timers that used to carry 500# cast iron tubs up steps by themselves though… yikes… my grandfather was able to bend an 8” steel spike until the ends touched with his bare hands…

 

[Blmpkn]

Frigged around with the dirt bike I brought home as a project last year.. was kinda figuring it was smoked even when I picked it up but nah.. seem to have gotten lucky (so far anyways)

Adjusted the valves.. fired right up and idled well awesome, it didn't wanna start for shit OR idle when I got it so..

Took it for a rip.. running stronger than ever.. buuut started to run like a bag again after a mile or so boooo.

Get home.. take the side cover of the air box off.. and at least 8 ounces of gas come pouring out

So.. carb disassembly & inspection next time I want to deal with hands that smell like gas for 2 days I really hate carbs. At least it's a real keihin and not some china crap.

 

[Things2do]

I did a large load of laundry today, and it was warm and sunny enough to hang it outside to dry. During our last snowstorm I rolled a friend of mine's car with a half a roll of really thin single ply that he left down in my apartment as penance for coming down and using our good toilet paper. He responded by putting the same toilet paper, after it had dried, along with some dirt and gravel from the parking lot underneath my sheets and inside my pillowcase. Luckily he failed to put any in my wool blanket. When my mom was little it belonged to my grandparents, it wasn't new then, they all say it could be over a hundred years old, and I would most certainly be handing him that $40+ dry cleaning bill. As it is it just cost me the $1.25 for the washing machine.

Then I went to enquire at a mechanic shop that a guy from my church introduced me to last year. The owner said that he could keep me busy if I had some time last summer, but that was a year ago now. He went home early with a cold before I got there today.

And then I went gold panning. I just picked a random spot and took the surface sediment from under a rock so I wasn't expecting much. I had a real pan that my dad bought in the '80's and a thrift store serving spoon to shovel with. After about 45 minutes I had one or two tablespoons of black sand with maybe a flake or two of flour gold in it. But it was a nice day to be squatting next to a sunny section of a creek in a canyon.

The collision was about 1-1/2 miles from my suburban subdivision home. The intersection was on the northbound service road for Peachtree industrial Boulevard at the intersection of Jimmy Carter Blvd. PIB is 17 lanes wide where I was hit (yes, SEVENTEEN!!!). But I don’t want to make my situation sound bigger than it is, the center lanes are elevated, and the service road at that point is only five lanes wide. I was in the far right lane going straight with the right of way making a right turn. She collided with me from the lane to the left of me because she had the right to make the right turn before me, apparently instilled at birth.

I can’t go into any detail and post it here because we’re already two lawyers deep, several doctors, and now this sheriff, and that’s just on my side and this thing is probably going to jury trial because now I’m looking at surgery on my knee. But I thought you country boys would get a kick out of the “crossroads.“

View attachment 142515View attachment 142516

Atlanta has grown a lot since I arrived. In 1970, PIB was one lane on each side, and that intersection was a four-way traffic light, but the northbound leg of the intersection was blocked with illuminated barricades since it changed to a dirt road at that point in the intersection. You could only go left or right. I arrived nine years later when the Metro area was turning 1 million people. The metro area is now creeping up on 7 million people. I came down to work at Herman Lay’s flagship Frito Lay chip plant about three or 4 miles south of that intersection, but at that time I lived in Stone Mountain to the east.

Don’t think I’m just blue skiing and blow harding about the tiny size of that intersection. It’s in the county plans right now to add to it to make it more serviceable to the neighborhood and rush-hour travel (seriously).

Someone was just telling me about the Katy Freeway section of I-10 in Texas the other day. Including frontage roads one part of that one is 26 lanes wide.

So I’ll be plugging along with all the entitled woke people who run daycares and hospices down here for the foreseeable future. And, BTW, if any of you guys were traveling through, you’re welcome to stop by and stop for the night. That attitude is the Atlanta. I moved to in 1979. We’re not all bad down here.

But let me close by saying that, after 47 years here, I’m still considered a “damn Yankee.” Who knows the difference between a “Yankee,” and a “damn Yankee?”

One is a baseball team and the other is a band. Damn Yankees aren't just the ones that stay, they're also the ones that Come Again.

Unless it's the middle of the night we usually bypass Atlanta to the west. I think it's about 45 minutes slower in ideal conditions, but 45 minutes is easy to lose in Atlanta. I don't think I've seen that city in the daylight while just passing through since they started building the elevated lanes alone I-75.

Crows are also incredibly smart and can be taught more words than a parrot…

They can also somehow convey information to other crows and to their offspring. I read somewhere that if you walk out to a murder and swing a dead crow over your head their yet unhatched kids will still attack you years later.

It’s all relative…

I had an apartment in Shanghai for a while. City limits were 23 1/2 million people in a metro area that was 150 million people. New York City was a hamlet compared to that….

That's wild to think about. I grew up outside of Chattanooga, TN. The whole Chattanooga MSA is about a half a million people in 2,000 square miles and it meets my definition of "too big." So, naturally, I went from there to the Front Range of Colorado.

Fat tailed rats that will do anything for a couple peanuts…

This one used to take food out of my hand.

Frigged around with the dirt bike I brought home as a project last year.. was kinda figuring it was smoked even when I picked it up but nah.. seem to have gotten lucky (so far anyways)

Adjusted the valves.. fired right up and idled well awesome, it didn't wanna start for shit OR idle when I got it so..

Took it for a rip.. running stronger than ever.. buuut started to run like a bag again after a mile or so boooo.

Get home.. take the side cover of the air box off.. and at least 8 ounces of gas come pouring out

So.. carb disassembly & inspection next time I want to deal with hands that smell like gas for 2 days I really hate carbs. At least it's a real keihin and not some china crap.

I'd rather mess with gasoline than onions. It takes over twice as long for my hands to quit smelling like onion as it does for them to stop smelling like gas.