Running Bear's January 2023 Coffee Shop


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Good morning!

My bartering spree continues. A couple weeks ago, I listed a Samsung Sound Bar online. Long story short, a guy asked if he could do any work as barter. Turns out he's a pretty good mechanic, and so far, here's what we've done after only 2 visits:

  1. Took apart and fixed the rear PTO valve on m John Deere Tractor. A piston was seized. no new parts needed, just cleaned up and a roll pin pushed back in that had drifted out by itself.
  2. Replaced the front brakes on my wife's Odyssey
  3. Repaired my chainsaw. The brake cable was broken.
  4. Fixed the ignition switch and starter relay on my zero-turn. The thing is older than dirt. I have been jumping the relay with a screw driver for over 7 years.
  5. Fixed teh emergency brake on the zero-turn, which has never worked in the 7 years that I've owned it.
  6. Serviced my 16 year old gas powered EZ-GO golf cart.
  7. Started to trouble-shoot one of our 4-wheelers that is starting to hesitate on throttle.
  8. He's also done some other repairs to the zero-turn that are too hard to describe.
All of that for $200 cash (plus the cost of parts myself), and 2 used Samsung Sound Bars that are probably worth around $300 on the used market. I also gave him our old 65" Samsung TV. It's on its last legs, and I was going to donate it to a sober living house. But I feel like this guy is not just your typical "will work for food" type looking for handouts. He has not batted an eye about working for what he gets, and he has had plenty of opportunities to steal, and so far, he's proven to be trustworthy.

He's coming back out this evening to do some work on our guest house. We had to replace the sump pump last year, and there's still the "emergency" corrugated hose that carries the water outside the house. I've run out of things to barter, so I'm going to pay him $20/hour. After he does that, I'm going to have him tackle a couple of downed trees that need attention before they block a stream and cause a backup.

I'm a bit torn, because I know I can do most of this stuff, I just don't have time. And even if I did, it would have taken me a lot longer than it has taken him. He knew exactly what was wrong with the rear PTO valve. He described it to me before he fixed it. So I know he's experienced.

Anyway... I'm hoping that Karma is looking out for me here, as I'm going a bit outside my comfort zone, putting trust into someone I really don't know.
 
Boris said:
Yeah, the Eagles really kicked butt, eh?
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Were the Eagles that good, or did the 49ers get snake bite?
From missing the chance to challenge the reception on fourth down to the fumbled snap and more. It was one self-inflicted disaster after another. We certainly did not see the best of the 49ers.
I'll give the Eagles credit for making far fewer mistakes.
Gonaway said:
I was disappointed in the score of the first game yesterday - someone forgot to bring their gloves and bats?
However, I did like the second game and the outcome - I feel that Andy Reid deserves a few winners; I used to feel bad for him as a coach - seemed he was always on the losing end of the stick?
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I don't like watching lopsided games either.
Andy Ried makes me think of Marty Schottenheimer. Great coaches are often a victim of their own genius. They can elevate good-mediocre teams to play far above their heads. In the playoffs most coaches are more than adequate. It comes down to raw talent many times. Great teams usually win.

Go Chiefs!!!

Bill Belichick is the exception to the rule. He had that cast off DB, Malcom Butler ready for that slant at the goal line in Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle.
You can argue the call, but no slant had been picked off at the goal line in any game that season.
You can't argue the genius of Bill Belichick having his team ready for anything!
Not to mention the unabashed greed of the NFL!
 
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Boris said:
I observed a former Grace Line passenger liner (Santa Rosa, maybe?)
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Those Sunday drives I mentioned, usually started on Riverside Drive. Pier 2 had the NYFD fire boats, and then as you drove north you passed all the ocean liner terminals. It would have been the late 50's early 60's. USS United States, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and SS Italia were seen at one time or another. My dad would get very quiet when the Queen Elizabeth was in. I later found out that he returned from WW-II on the QE1. My first full time job put me down on the Battery. I got to see some of the last of those magnificent liners.
 
Gonaway said:
CHAD - All those "painted boxes" on wheels - looks as if an Easter Egg hunt is in order?

Just funnin with you - (they are nice looking) - Good luck with the temps and the upcoming pour!
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If you want to see more you can go to railcolor.net . Tons of pics including special liveries for European locomotives.

A lot of European and Japanese trains run in special liveries (especially in Japan) and I am a sucker for special liveries. US rails also do special liveries but don't seem to do as many... 2 of my 4 US locomotives are special liveries (the UP "Powered By Our People" and Veterans liveries)


When it comes to "Suicide cabs", in the last 10-15 years the safety standards were really improved in Europe from what I understand and new "crumple zones" and other modern safety features are now required (I know this as new models become available with new versions of locomotives -- same Taurus locomotive but now BR 183 instead of BR 182 for example).
 
Up to 13F at 11:25am. Went to Taco Bell for breakfast this morning -- first time eating out for breakfast in 12-18 months and it was 8F out when I left and 10/11F when I came home. Bright blue sky and sun but so cold... (Taco Bell was offering double points for their loyalty program for breakfast purchases through tomorrow)

Anyway, on the house front. My BIL and his son came down Saturday. It took awhile for me to get ready Saturday but we got there and the framer had a guy working in the basement to get the non structural stuff done. He mostly framed in a bathroom (but I had to point out that the in-wall toilet frame was not accounted for and the toilet docs were missing a width so I went and got one out of storage for him to look at -- by the time we got back from storage he was cleaning up as he said he needed the laser and he didn't have it). Still a little more non structural to frame in in the basement.

Anyway, my son and nephew worked on adding the second side of the blocks we were rebuilding on the wall between the garage and house and adding in the rebar and the wall straightener bits and adding another layer of foam. My BIL and I helped some on this as well with them.

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My BIL and I worked on a corner in the garage but w're not yet done as we need to fasten it with wood bracing to the house foundation layer as they don't quite line up due to some bulging in the basement layer when poured (they didn't do the best job) and other small damages. I don't really care about this as it is below grade and we just need the new level to be all correct and then the transition between them to be all water tight and water proofed etc. -- we're just talking about the insulation blocks not quite lining up -- they are all one concrete core with rebar between the layers etc). The corner needs rebar and straightener added, which I'll do with my son today, and then when it gets warmer, we'll screw in wood bracing. I want it to be warmer when screwing into the walls as I think the plastic inserts in the foam might be a bit brittle in the extreme cold.

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The week is supposed to be precipitation free and by the end of the week mid to up;er 30s or even low 40s so I want to get the garage poured. A small amount of work to do for that still but we should have it ready for inspection by Thursday.
 
Texas Hobo said:
USS United States, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and SS Italia were seen at one time or another.
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The long Defunct Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co, and it's shipping company clients, caused my interest in ships of all kinds. My front porch, I had a clear view of #2 Drydock, and the South repair basin. I got to see some really neat and interesting ships more or less up close and personal, including Sea Train Car Ferrys, Navy destroyers and cruisers, I witnessed the Light Carrier Belleau Wood, the Heavy Cruiser Minneapolis, and the Light Cruiser Columbia scrapped, literally right before my eyes. Sun conducted an open house when the "modern" break-bulk carrier Mormac Pride, was ready for delivery to Moore McCormick Lines. Ship had accommodations for 12 passengers, and was in the US - South American trade.
They also built the USNS Comet, the first "Roll on - Roll Off" Ship for the Navy Department. (Both were laid up on the James River in 2006). Sun also converted the Supertanker S.S. Manhattan into an Icebreaker, so it could access Alaskan oil via the "Northwest Passage". Finally, they built the "Glomar Explorer" which was used to attempt to recover a sunken Soviet submarine in deep water Pacific. The story line was that it was ordered for a Howard Hughes underseas mining endeavor, but that was a front for the CIA).

Speaking of liners, Sun overhauled and converted the American Export Lines liner S.S. Atlantic to a Cruise ship, equipped with swimming pool and other amenities needed for the cruise trade. It was berthed next to the Mormac Pride, so I got a good look at it during the self guided tour.

While I was still working, (before 2008), I took a close look at the S.S. United States, stored at a pier in South Philadelphia. It was in very bad shape then, and I understand it is worse than that now, and still tied up at the same place. FWIW, it is too old and past its prime to be economically viable, and really should be sold for scrap.


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SS Manhattan with Ice Breaker Bow. Original bow was retained and reinstalled after the demonstration voyage - Image from Wikipedia

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American Export Lines - SS Atlantic, sporting what was then the largest swimming pool at sea! Circa 1962
Image from http://ssmaritime.com.
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MV Glomar Explorer aka USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer - Image from Smithsonian Magazine
 
Afternoon All,

We got back home around 2 pm yesterday. Our week vacation was really nice. We visited friends in southern SC. While I was gone my Westerfield resin kit and KD trucks came in. I was reading the directions-yikes! :oops: The instructions say it should take 6-8 hours to build. I'm thinking more like 6-8 weeks. Anyway, I ordered micro drill bits and phosphor wire after reading the directions.

Joe- Prayers and well wishes for your procedure. I looked it up to see what was involved. Great ship photos.

James- WOW. What a haul. Good for you.

Karl- Happy belated birthday.🎂

Sherrel- Great 1:1 photo.

Jeff- He sounds like a great guy.

I hope everyone has a good night.
 
We had a nice sunset
Unusual clouds,
but the rhyme says
red sky at night shepherds delight so hopefully another sunny day tomorrow, today was nice I got a couple of the bays i the polytunnel started for spring sowing, needs more but pretty pleased.

I need to lay off the water to keep the humidity down for the wood for the stoves, so I popped the strawberry baskets outside and watered, and a couple of herbs, but they say the cold will be back so they will need to come back in, not difficult and then the extra warmth may mean I get a good crop in May rather than June. We’ll see.

I suspect Willie will be on the prep case very soon.

I will probably pop out peas Feb, but potatoes will be an issue several I left out are smothered in potato worms. Anyone any ideas on how to get rid of the beggars. Else I will need to start fresh pots. potatoes are likely good soon for earlier, although I bet a lot of people have already had theirs in for ages. I need to see how the chatting is coming along.

The other half is not too far off his weight goal, and once no longer trying to lose weight just maintain weight we can broaden our diet, the weight training is giving him heavier muscle which is stopping the weight loss LOL. He is even popping up blood vessels as the fat disappears.
 

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Today my son and I were out in the 15-17F bright sunny day for a little over an hour. He had to add hydraulic oil to the rebar bender and then he bent two bars for me. I had to find scrap bars of about the right length as I didn't want to cut anything today and I added a few inches of foam on the end of one piece of the corner bits we did on Saturday (see above pics). Doing that, clipping, and installing the rebar, and talking to the framer who came back to do more of the non-structural partition framing in the basement took a little over an hour.

No new pics because it was the same corner as over the weekend :)
 
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Hey gang

The Etsy box arrived today! The craftsman selling the grade crossings got Covid, and was bed ridden for a bit, but is all better now. I order 3 sets of 3D printed grade crossing signals, received same plus a Dodge Charger police car!
It only took a few minutes to liberate the 1st set, had to share. The plan is to paint, illuminate and animate them eventually.
I know, with a million other projects!
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