Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day and 250th.  

 

I finally got around to pulling out the weed whacker.  I had a spiky tree that was hitting the truck going up and down the driveway.

 

While I had it out, I also pushed this back a bit so I can see when I pull out again. 

 

Last week I also finally got the Troy Bilt working.  To be honest, I am not sure why it gave me problems earlier in the spring.  The battery needed a boost (but wasn't dead), and it smoked a bit when I first fired it up, but it is the first time it ran in about a year, so a little smoke was expected.  I didn't have to do anything special to start it though.  My phone didn't capture it well, but the haze in this picture was all smoke.

It gave me a rough go the first lap around the yard as is its way, but once it settled in and warmed up, it mowed the entire yard with only one more stall.  Both sections of the front, and even the far back which hasn't been done yet this year.

 

I figured I would reward it with a proper tune up, but apparently my Tractor Supply has decided to stop selling parts.  I couldn't get an air filter for it (they only carry one Kohler air filter now), and they don't sell any spark plugs at all.  So it is only getting an oil change, a new fuel filter, and a new fuel shutoff, since that has started leaking too now.  I did pull the air filter, while it is worth a change, it isn't bad.  Next year it looks like I will have to order everything online.

 

Other than having a mini-cookout, I didn't do much myself.  I did attempt to do the next stage of the carport.  Turns out my tractor doesn't have nearly enough lift.  

 

I did come up with a better idea than what is in the video, just build a wood jig for it.  Or just bite the bullet and round up some help.

 

Other than that, I made a milkshake, watched some fireworks (admittedly there weren't as many as I expected), and that was about it.  After some brief discussion with Matt, I am looking at a total of 3 possible composite panel construction techniques.  The first is traditional, with two layers of plywood sandwiching a foam polyiso core.  This gives me wood on both sides to work with; if I want to hang recovery boards off the side, I can do that.  It also gives me the least insulation.  The next would be sandwiching plywood interior, and diamond plate aluminum on the outside.  It forces me into a thicker diamond plate sheet for the exterior, which would look kind of weird.  But after chatting with Matt, I think I might be able to use a regular roll of metal from Mansea for the exterior, attach it to an extruded aluminum frame, and then seal everything together with a spray foam kit.  That gives me the strength of a real frame, an exterior I can paint, and the best possible R-value (spray foam is better than foam boards).  Intriguing idea.

 

Seeing Dad post pictures from his vacation made me realize that I need to make reservations for mine.  I am also going to make the first big payment of the year on the mortgage.  I am still on track for the long term plans

Back from BBQ

I apparently forgot to write a post last week.  The big thing from two weeks ago is that the truck is back.  This time with a front license plate holder.

 

One thing I didn't miss about the truck.  This fill-up will likely last until September though since I am not driving the truck much.

 

I also got my bike back with brand new tires.  I got a little bit more tread on these since the trails in NH aren't as well groomed as what I used to ride on in Syracuse.  Bike tires cost a lot more than I thought they did, but I looked it up and he was cheaper than what they cost on Amazon.  Still a bummer for over 50 bucks a tire for a bike. 

 

I was poking around a bit with the repairs, there is only one thing I am not a huge fan of; the drivers door doesn't swing very well.  I think it just needs grease though.  I will pick up some white lithium tonight when I go shopping.  I vaguely recall using all mine up last year.

 

I was surprised to see while the skin of the door was replaced, they didn't actually replace the door.  All the stains from before are still on the interior part of the door.

There have been lots of deer about and the young'ens are about now.

 

Last weekend I went to Krass' on Long Island for a barbeque.  I took a different ferry this time, one that was recommended by Jake (one of my coworkers).  It is slightly further, but I didn't feel like CT should be removed from the earth forcibly afterwards.  I would even dare to say that the drive was actually pleasant. I didn't realize this, but apparently the ferry ships are large enough for semi trucks.  Impressive.

This ferry actually had real food too, which was nice.  It was roughly Panera caliber, so not like the day old microwave burger I got on the Bridgeport ferry.  This is grilled chicken and pesto with mozzarella cheese with garlic aioli on a ciabatta bun.  I got a big pretzel on the way back.

 

As I was milling about the ship, I noticed that my camera neck band is looking a little sad and flaking apart.  I have all the pictures downloaded and sorted, I will edit this post with the link. UPDATE - here is the link: https://photobucket.com/share/8f4842fd-8a3c-4109-9b80-c34c6925e5cd Here are the highlights though: 

 

 

The new route took me to the very end of Long Island, but the drive across the island wasn't bad (I avoided the LIE).  The sunset was rather pretty.  I didn't get a good photo of it.  It also surprised me how many farms are out there, and with large Argyle-caliber fields.  I had always assumed that land on Long Island was too valuable to be used for farming, and it would have been sold off to develop by now, but not yet at least.

 

The cookout was excellent.  Krass did have some excellent burgers too.  He uses his own meat blend for the ground which is pretty good.  Dan brought a cheese platter which was also excellent.  

 

The main event was brisket though.  This was round 2 (and I had already eaten the chunk that produced the fatty bits).  Brisket makes an amazing sandwich.  The beans were smoked for 5 hours and were also really good.

 

I have a short week this week, but the yard needs mowing, so my week is pretty much taken up already.  I am working late on Wednesday unless I can weasel out of it.  I need to replace some hardware in our build room and don't want to take everything down during normal work hours.  I don't have any plans for the long weekend currently unless I decide to go visit Tim or someone though, so it isn't a big deal.

Truck is getting close

Since I sold my ebike, I pulled out my old bike and got that tuned up.  It was nice to have a bike that actually isn't a piece of crap, everything pretty much still worked, even though it hasn't been out in a couple of years now.  On a side note, I pulled the bike to the outer mount on the bike rack, and just tuned it up while it was on the car, which made it surprisingly easy to do.

 

Unfortunately though, I can't fix this, so it will be going in for new tires sooner rather than later.  Those are the original tires (from when I lived in Syracuse) and have thousands of miles on them (the center ridge tread was worn off years ago).  I did ride on it with the tires like that, and they did actually hold up, but that is playing with fire.  All the darker lines are cracks from age.

 

I also early last week went and picked up some tires, not for the bike, but that will fit Dad's Camry.  They were in Wilton.  It is a rather pretty town.  

 

I had some entertainment while I waited for the guy to show up, there were two beavers munching away.

 

I put them in the back for the ride home, but I am pretty sure that they will fit on the bike rack if I get creative with the strapping.

 

Last weekend was incredibly unproductive, but apparently the guy down the road was testing out some fireworks, so I got to see a show.  It was pretty much right down the street, maybe 50 yards from the end of my driveway.

 

 

 

I didn't realize that the audio on my phone was so bad, but these were obnoxiously loud, and I could feel them inside (it is was what caused me to come out in the first place)

I did try to put the legs on the carport, but I didn't like how it was twisting all the plastic connectors.  I think I will need a second person so I can lift the whole thing at once to put the legs under it.  

 

A couple of other odds and ends from last week: my trackball made me angry, got flung, and is no more.  I bought an off-brand replacement that was half the cost, and frankly I like it better.  The old one had the classic Logitech button failure.

 

The bird in the shed had a bunch of little ones.  

 

Yesterday I got a call about my truck being ready, so I went up and took a look at it.  It looks nice.

 

I went and knocked around in the wheel well a bit, and everything is nice.  The deer finished killing it, but it was starting to come apart even before the deer.

 

There is only one missing piece: the front license plate holder.  They ordered one and should be able to get it installed hopefully today.  Other than picking up the truck this week, I need to start mowing again, so I will have to decide whether to push out the mowing and try to fix at least one of the mowers during the week, or just bite the bullet, and do another round with the push mower.  It isn't as bad as last time, so it shouldn't take literally all week like the last mowing did.  

Initial haying, err mowing complete.

It has been a bit slow at work since I am transitioning projects, so I have started working on the front end for the software for the box truck.  You may recall I built a mspaint mockup.  I have now recreated part of it in Python.  Python is on my list of things to learn this year at work conveniently, so I am doing this as part of my Python training.

The mowing went on throughout the week.  I finished up the front during the week.  By the time I finished the thicker and faster growing parts were taller than the handlebars on the mower.  I literally had to mow it by going 10 feet, shaking the mower to get the discharge unclogged, go backwards over it, and then go over it again, then clear the discharge again.  Every ten or so feet in the thicker spots.  And it still came out looking bad.  

Late Friday, I even got the side done.

Saturday was wet and stormy, but I got the back yard done before it started.  It thankfully wasn't as thick as the front so it didn't take as long.

Saturday night I organized the splices and stuff I bought.  I have been waiting for work to refill their stock, but Fastenal seems to be sitting on their laurels about it.  They aren't expensive, so I ordered a kit online.  They didn't pack the container very well, so I was able to fit all the splices (the container in the back) into the spade connector container, so it is one less floppy container to spill everywhere.  It is surprising how cheap the cases have gotten.

Sunday morning I went out and observed the storm damage.  I had a couple of trees come down.  This was the only one in an impactful area though.  I will now need to cut this up before I finish the carport.  Ugh.  That tree was on the list of ones I wanted taken down this year anyways, perhaps I should mark them and get Barry to come chop them down. I was originally going to wait until I got the big carport I built moved out.  

Since it was off and on drizzling in the morning, I decided to take the tractor out.  It has been a while since it ran, but it fired right up.  I got a spot leveled.  This was the the only place I hit a rock when mowing.  It is where the hand dug well used to be; the dirt has settled in and that log and rock were now sticking up enough to catch the blades.  It is now reasonably flat.

The big boulder and log.

I could hear thunder at that point, so I decided I wasn't going to start working on the carport.  So instead I filled in another chunk of driveway before the rain got too hard.

I also tried digging in the back yard.  I will need to scrape an inch or two off this area before I put down the landscape timbers and whatever finish I decide to use (river rock or whatever) so it is all lower than the slab and thus drains into the french drain I installed instead of running under the house.  I am undecided about what to do with the tanks.  I could probably lift them with the tractor, but to be honest, I don't particularly want to disturb the propane.  I will need to put down landscape fabric underneath them though, so I will have to move them.  They should be lite enough at this point though that hopefully I can at least tip them if needed

This week thankfully is supposed to be nice.  I can probably go another week before I need to mow again.  I can dig out the Troy Bilt mower (the Craftsman is behind the excavator, which I do need to pull out and tune up), so I might pull the carb off it this week and see if I can figure out what is wrong with it.  It basically bogs really really bad under load, and then doesn't really recover when you unload it.  It can take up to a minute to clear up.  The current theory is a sunk float and it is just flooding itself real bad.  It also has issues with the solenoid shut off; if I don't turn the gas off via the shut off in the line, it will leak out an entire tank in a day or so.  The leak likely means a gasket is bad.  I had debated just selling it and buying another one (that Troy Bilt doesn't owe me anything, I got several years out of it and it was a cheapo), but cheapos are surprisingly hard to find this time of year (most were sold off in April/May), and until I get my truck back I can't pick it up anyways.  The truck is still claiming end of June for completion.  I believe everything is done but the door, which Ford has on backorder.  I might stop by their parking lot and see if the truck is outside so I can look at it.