Gains and Losses

Well you win some and you lose some, and some times you win by losing!

This last Thursday I succeeded in losing my 'super hero socks' which is a win because now I can take showers again! (much to the relief of, well pretty much every body).

We also won by 'losing' the battery on our seven year old weed eater (it died). For about $15 more than a replacement battery we got a new weed eater (which is cutting better than the old one (even though the old one has the better replacement cord and the new one has the cheap line that came with it out of the box). The new one also came with a new, better charger that has auto shut off! This has really sped up doing some of the yard work.

I am also continuing to lose weight (which is a win unless you count the fact that I am too small for my relatively new suit coat and really need to think about buying new, smaller pants).

Of course sometimes when one person loses others lose too. Like when the person on the Tor book printing line 'lost' just over thirty pages of one of the books I ordered with birthday money... I lost too because I had to send it back and get a replacement (which delayed my reading the book).

Seriously, thirty pages! Take a look...

It jumped from page 6 to page 39...

Of course there are some just plain wins too. The other day as I was celebrating my 'lose' of my super hero socks I decided to get something silly for Lisa. I found some cheap 'taco plates' that made her laugh (win). And then this happened...

(also a win...). Of course Lisa had to try to 'out healthy' me, so this happened...

So, she's going to be around for a while longer (another win) (Note: she still has sour cream on there she just hides it better!)

One of the other things that I've tried to do is drink more water and less soda (hah! that might result in blood in my caffeine system, that can't be a good thing...). Of course I can't just have a bottle of water like a normal person (ok... I can...but I don't want to...) so this happened...

The chainmaille water bottle. Ok this is where it gets complicated kids... It's a new design I invented myself (win). It didn't work the way I planned (Lose!). But in the process of figuring out how to make the design more what I wanted I have an excuse to buy the rubber rings I've been wanting to play with (Win!!!). The mark 2 (in the works) will have a strap. The mark 3 (which happens when I get the rubber rings) will fit tighter to the bottle in ways I like better. The rubber rings will also go into a remake of my chainmaille belt (making it lighter and more colorful as well as stretchy).

Lisa really is working on her dissertation (win). She got out a statistics book and everything... of course the mere presence of the book rendered college students two doors down unconscious (actually also a win (when they're asleep they can't park like idiots...)).

Part one of my novella I'm working on is pretty ready to go. Part two is taking a lot of work at the moment but moving, but it' getting there. I have full confidence in my ability to sell books! (which results in royalties (super dollar sign win...!).

Well that's about all the wackiness for this week (WIN!!!!! (sniff sniff, yeah for you guys...I was having fun (Oh wait! I still bet to bug people on my other blog (WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Ok... actually I forgot one uber wacky thing I found this week...



That absolutely preposterous little tank is an FT 17... it is a tiny cramped two man number that can be taken out by an M2 heavy machine gun (I'd like to say 'lose' but keep in mind that it is the first modern style turreted tank... back in '17 nobody had ever built one before (heck mass produced cars were really, really new!) so it was really a win!). Compared to the British things that took an eight man crew and weren't much better armed or armored it was actually not bad.

Have a good week. Lisa should be writing next week and if not I'll be back in two...

Why does it never go smooth?

Well to  answer my own question sometimes it does go smooth. Those are the times I suspect I'm walking into an ambush...

Once again working on the house. Today I got to play locksmith and replace the handle mechanism on the screen door. Part of the mechanism managed to break so that there was no way to open it from the outside and opening it from the inside was a bit of a trick. But now we have a brand new handle and lock set and a screen door that actually locks! Definitely will help with air flow this spring... and I got to play outside with metal objects in freezing temps... bonus!

The writing continues...
Making progress on my novella, and developing a minor level of fame (notoriety?) doing it... mostly among the people who work at the Carls Jr that's one of my favorite writing spots (diet Dr Pepper on tap... Just wish they hadn't taken the chili fries off the menu (just today...  :(    ). My biggest (according to my interest) non fiction project is going to take longer than I thought, but I want it to be GOOD! (more about that latter).

Anticipating Lisa will be presenting at another conference this spring (up in Washington state this time...) and she is continuing to work on her Dissertation.

This weekend is our stake conference and the stake president has asked our ward to provide the choir for the adult section Saturday night. So, Lisa will be playing piano in stake conference. As for me... I wish I knew whose butt I burned...I'm going to be talking in the clerk training for the leadership meeting. On the one hand it's pretty cool. On the other hand... why me? On the other other hand considering my big favorite non fiction project is a book on record keeping it makes sense!!!

I'm also working on the never ending project of fixing our ward list, training new leaders, and generally annoying cocky people who assume they must know more than I do because I'm 'just the clerk'.

Relating to a couple of those things... a chance for you guys to rant! If you have had questions/ideas/frustrations about records or record keeping... or good or bad experiences being or dealing with clerks or secretaries in your church organizations I'd love to hear about them! Most of the people who read this know how to get a message to Lisa or myself, so if you don't want to post it as a comment then email us... as with many of my projects this is about helping people to learn, grow and get better.

Well, that's it for today.

Till next time...
remember...
My mind does not wander...
It just goes on self guided voyages of discovery!

Things are calming down...are things calming down?

I have been the slacker in not taking my turn in writing on the blog.  Hopefully things will be calming down a little bit and I can get my voice added to the mix.

(I honestly don't think things will calm down, but I can hope.)

Last week I was at the Quality Matters Conference in Baltimore.  I gave two presentations - one on our Introduction to Online Teaching course and another on the delivery side of online teaching.  The second presentation was a bit of surprise, (I had been planning on a short "pop-up" session, but discovered it was on the schedule as a 50 min presentation first thing Wednesday morning!) All, in all, it turned out fine, and I even learned (or relearned) some things about myself as a presenter.  I won't bore you with the details of the presentations, but I will show off the presentation for the first one.  (A special thanks to Marisa for helping me with the magnifying lens graphics!)

(The presentation is not wanting to embed, so you will have to click on this link to open the presentation.)

I did not see much of Baltimor, but here is a picture of the U.S.S. Constellation docked in the harbor.  I didn't have time to actually tour the ship, but it was cool to see it from the outside.

Patrick has been doing an amazing job patching our foundation.  This last wall has been the worst, using lots of concrete and flinging shrapnel, in the form of rocks and bits of nails.  The best part of this last wall is the Gru shaped patch. (Can you see him?  He is the lighter gray.)

I mentioned a hope of things calming down, but with work, writing for dissertation, trying to get a committee together for the dissertation, re-writing based on the feedback I will hopefully get, the NWeLearn conference in two weeks, the usual things with work and church, it most likely will not really calm down.  I will say that with how intense this past summer was, I am feeling more calm now than I was just 3 months ago.  It is all about perspective, right?

Something that has definitely helped was this past weekend with General Conference.  I really enjoy conference and am grateful for the ease at which we can watch it from home.  I like being able to talk about things with Patrick, which would annoy others if we went to a church building or down to Salt Lake City.  Perhaps one year we will go down to the conference center, but for now I like having Patrick's biscuits and gravy or sourdough pancakes during the morning sessions.  I also knit the entire weekend.  Some of the projects I worked on can't be shared just yet, but a recently finished project is a scarf for Patrick.

As I have a great interest in technology, it is amazing all the pieces that come together to make General Conference happen.  It is transmitted via radio, television, satellite, and internet; and it is translated (live!) into 94 languages.  And for the first time, several of the speakers spoke in their native tongue with subtitles put on the screen in the conference center and the internet, radio, and television broadcasts switched to the English translator.  As we are working on closed captioning for the videos at work, I know how much time, effort, skills, and technology is needed to accomplish this.

In addition to all the broadcasting, and live translation, the entire conference is made available online, almost immediately afterwards. So, if you want to check it out you can  go to https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?cid=HPSU100514465&lang=eng (that will default to English, but you can pick any of the other languages on the top right!)  David A. Bednar is always one of my favorites - he is towards the end of the Saturday afternoon session.

Well, that is it for now.  Hopefully, you'll hear from me again in two weeks.

backwards and forwards

First up, a correction and final report...last week's reported bees were actually hornets (I did see a couple of bees in the area leading to the misidentification, but the nest I dealt with was hornets (they are also now dead...))

We go directly from the dead bugs to the project that's been "dead on" bugging me! I actually got the doorway removed and that part of the wall fixed this week, and that bought me to this weeks philosophical moment... the inverse iceberg principle! We've already talked about the iceberg principle, basically for any project there is more to do than what you see... Well, the inverse iceberg principle is that sometimes there is less under the surface than you think... in this case the studs between the foundation wall and the door frame were less solid than the door frame (literally only one nail was left not rusted through and the bottom of the post had rotted). Once I got the door frame out, I removed the post with one hand. The old door frame looked like an early pre-hung door, unfortunately the bottom edge was actually under the cement of the floor and the frame didn't survive removal. So, I'm either building a new frame of buying a new pre-hung door (since I could use this door to replace one on  the outside workshop I'm leaning toward buy a new one). speaking of the door frame here's what I found under the door frame and post...

The little room has a separate slab floor that was poured at a different time from the rest of the basement. That bottom layer is actually dirt...

Here's the thing about the inverse iceberg principle, when it comes to projects the inverse principle proves the iceberg principle (there's more work than you see because there is less structure than you see!).

So, I got the doorway out of the way and did the cement work. The floor is now solid there and, if I drew a nose on it, the repair looks like the outline of Grue from Despicable Me (which is OK, because certain people (Lisa) have called me Grue...)

Speaking of Lisa, she has safely arrived in Baltimore and will be doing two conference presentations this week. Next week I'm planning on having her report on the conference and why it is better to order blue crab in Baltimore than in Pocatello.

Ok, so nothing uber exciting this time, but that was this week... maybe I'll do a mid week report with something cooler... in the mean time, for those of you  who haven't met Grue (or those who think he's funny)



Have a great week

Naturally?

Ok... so... the cement work that I said was going down two weeks ago... well it's happening later this week... this time for sure. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls with the help of weather and these so called humans, didn't get the cement work done as planned, but it is coming.

I actually did get the demo of the wall started, then I discovered that the folks that put the HVAC in decided the top of the door frame was an effective way to support the HVAC line, so I had to stop and get a hanger for that... weather and drama ensued and it's going to happen this week.

Two other pieces of sad news... the weather issues included an early freeze that took out the tomato and pepper plants. (Luckily I already have plenty of cayennes drying :) .

As an additional part of the fun I had a run in with a beehive today while trying to cut the lawn... five stings, no anaphylaxis... Vengeance will be mine! (actually everything is in place for vengeance I'm just waiting for first thing in the morning where low light and low temp will have the bees at their least active)

{um Patrick... you do posts with pictures, where are the pictures} Tired of looking at the wall... The above is all the fame the bees get, but yes there are pictures, and a shop experiment of the week!

Back in the good old days you could walk along the beach and find beach glass, pieces of bottles (and better yet glass fishing floats) that had been broken and worn by the sand. Unfortunately as time has moved on  less glass is being used and more people are picking up trash on beaches, so there is less beach glass to find (oh, and I don't live anywhere near a beach!) So, last week I set out to create "beach" glass with my tumbler.

This is some of the first batch... The process works and I'm working on improving it.

Now if you are interested (crazy?) enough to do this you'll need some tools. I've already mentioned the tumbler (see previous posts for info on tumblers and silicon carbide grit) and you'll want some course grit (I use 60/90 split grit for this).

You'll want some other tools too...

Safety gear is a must! And no I'm not kidding with the face shield and goggles. Shrapnel constantly drives scientists and engineers nuts because it just doesn't follow the same "laws" of physics as the rest of us! And we will be making shrapnel. In fact meet our shrapnel makers!

The five gallon bucket contains as much shrapnel as possible but some will get out the top. And yes that is a good old "daddy class persuader" my eight pound sledge hammer (note if your man hood (or woman hood I don't discriminate!) is threatened you could use the 16 pounder, but I want to work a little more precise and detailed than that (er...um...precise and sledge hammer in the same sentence...???))

Now collect some glass bottles to put in your bucket.

Remember the total glass we need for one load will fit in a quart container (for a 3lb tumbler), but you might want to break more bottles to get some variety in color and shape... Now release some frustration with that hammer! While you're doing that try to make some interesting shaped pieces (sorry we don't have a definitive size answer yet... that depends on your tumbler and what you want to make...)

 There we go, some nice broken glass... now wash that shrapnel out of your hair... and off your cloths... mop the floor... now we can load some in the tumbler barrel. For the first batch I filled 2/3 -3/4 full and used a standard charge of grit. I checked it after one day and ran it for another two.

I'm reasonably pleased with the outcome... but why not experiment more (since I have more glass and all...)

Doing a little research and thinking I decided to try to thicken the slurry, so for batch two I ran three tablespoons of grit and six tablespoons of sugar for two days...

Not really pleased... the grinding wasn't as good (I think one day on the first run did better), so I tossed it in again with more grit and I'm running it till I change the other barrel I'm running, on Saturday...

Some of batch one already has projects waiting and I'm thinking about other ways to play with this: varying time and grit as well as dragging my diamond saws in the mix to control the shape of the pieces that are going in.u
What will I do with it? Well, sculpture and jewelry with brass, bronze, copper (regular and enameled), stainless steel and aluminum (BA and anodized) wire (possible some chain mail in the mix). If I find some stuff that's really worthy I have some silver laying around...

In other news... we are going to pre forgive Lisa for not posting next week (come on, we can forgive her being compelled to give a 50 minute conference presentation at 8:00 AM is punishment enough!). So, I'll take next week and make her talk about her trip when she gets back...

Until next time remember... attack at dawn, that way if things go bad you haven't wasted the whole day!

Update: 9/23/14 Nailed the buggers! In a predawn strike I dumped a whole can of spray on them... No damage to our forces, battle damage assessment on the enemy to be carried out later today (Note: for any NSA/KGB/what ever other forces of paranoia read this I'm talking about stinging insects in my back yard not people! GEEZ! get over yourselves!)

Saw this coming...the simple things are always hard...

Ok... so... my week again...
Last time I talked about needing a new saw...
Well, figured out the best saw for my needs. And that's where it all got complicated...

I found a decent price on a water cooled diamond bladed band saw. It also has optional wood and metal cutting blades (just make sure the clean up is done right!). The thing is it will need to stand on something. Lisa had the idea to put it next to the new drill press that is on my shop list. Then, she suggested I get a bench model drill press and mount both on a new workbench...

Space wise the bench should work out, and would give me a spot to move my swap top rock set up away from some other stuff, and give more storage for the hoard of tool boxes and other goodies that crop up. It turns out that some of the motors for the better bench top drill presses equal the power of the ones on a professional stone carving flex shaft (for those not familiar it's a Dremel on steroids (seriously a Dremel with a 1/3 horse motor and flexible shaft attachment)) and cheaper than the floor model that I was looking at. So the budget works...

The problem is that that wall needs a little cement work...
The first part is no problem, but I might as well get to the whole wall while I'm at it... The thing is this wall is the one that we had some water leakage on early on. It hasn't been a problem because we fixed the outside of the wall, fixed the drainage up to the wall and the mangled hose bib that was leaking against the wall, everything but work on the part inside the wall. It hasn't given us any serious problems since and I've had a couple hundred thousand other things to deal with, but now's the time.

The thing is the inside damage really is inside the wall...

As in it is center mass behind where this inside, happily non load bearing, wall buts up against the cement. That means I get to pull out a door and door frame (hinge pictured); pull out the crappy old (rotted at the bottom) 2x4s on the side; fix the cement; put up new 2x4s (I'm going pressure treated, non rotting, can live against cement 2x4s) and then put the door back up. As you can see there are some webs there so some spiders are making a living on something in the area (but the webs are dust covered and not really maintained so the food source may have dried up when I fixed the outside of the wall). By the way this is in a basement back room that is only used for storage I.E. this is not normal housekeeping!

So good news... New toys coming. Bad news... I'm involved in a work on the house adventure of the kind that is never as simple as you think (Er, um... isn't that all of them [Lisa] {Patrick hangs head} Yes, but this one I can already see is more complicated...)

While we're on the subject of crazy things in basements...

We have here a telephone wire (it's 2014 some people reading this aren't used to land lines) and next to it a fixture of mystery: it's ceramic with a circle that would say old light but instead of a screw in it has three blades inside... I have no idea what it is, but since it's not actually attached to anything I'm not worrying about it, I just want to know what it is... The bit of weirdness  is over where the new bench will be and is right in front of another little thing I forgot about.. we have an extra 220 line that ends in a box with a switch (it's safely shut down but could be reactivated if we want to use it (professional checked! I don't mess with that kind of voltage!)). It had been run out through the back wall to a back yard hot tub the last home owners had and was turned off and shut down when they took it out , but I could get a plug mounted on it and have a workshop 220 line... (now I just need $9180 plus shipping and handling and a space for...

A truly ridiculous, but just about the biggest power tool to live in someones home, diamond saw with 36" blade and power feed system! Seriously I have nowhere to put this monster right now... but I still want one! And yes if you get one you need a power feed system... that's a diamond blade it can cut anything, but it's speed is measured in inches per hour and at that rate I don't have the time or patience to shove a two foot long rock into the blade.

Ok, back to reality... We did our version of Titos beef last night... used our first Dragon Cayenne peppers. Definitely hotter that the yellows, and very good!

Back to I can't believe this is really reality... I'm going to be submitting an article for publication this week. So if my next post is completely neurotic I blame the publishers!

Have I put a joke in the post yet? Ok, Two missionaries and the Pope are out fishing...[at this point Lisa shut down the post... See you next week (kidding I shut it down myself, but still see you next week!)]

Update (Tuesday 8/26) I hate being right! (only some times though!) Never quite as simple as you think, but feels good to get stuff done!

What the 'Trek?

Ok, a couple of important and interesting (yeah in my dreams) things today folks...

The wars continue... The ornamental peas have been subdued (Ok, after clearing the ones around the roses I got really happy on the others with the string trimmer!). We have moved on to one of the classic enemies, spiders. They  love to come in in the spring and fall, and find places they like to stay in the basement and stairwell (note: most of them have the sense to stay out of the active workshop area, but less active spots are nice terrain for them). So I have taken to using glue traps...

And some of the spiders have taken to attacking other spiders stuck in the glue traps... Apparently I've brought the La Brea Tar Pits with me and the spiders think they're saber tooth tigers!

They are definitely trying to impersonate LA traffic (actually I was singing while working in the basement (everyone (and everything!) is a critic)).

Second item... As I mentioned last week I started a new blog. Unlike last week, I'm thinking I might put some thinky stuff in this one still as the mood strikes me. The new blog is meant to be a more professional blog for me as a writer and researcher. There is an will be some interesting and cool stuff there (I just won't be talking about rocks and setting things on fire (too much that is!). I'm planning on doing posts for the new one on Fridays (posting schedules help!). Here's a link: http://wordsmeanstuff.wordpress.com/

Third item... Getting ready for the reunion... in addition to working on the plan for the food, I decided to see how some of the amethyst from the reunion mix would 'cook up'...

 

This is just after a rough tumble. I'm going to say it's coming out pretty nicely! I had plenty of good stuff to fill the medium barrel...

With leftovers!

 

The batch included a couple big enough to be carvers, some smalls that would be reasonable ear ring size and some pendant stones that I really don't want to have to wait the whole process time for (but I do so oh well!)

Item the fourth...
Some of you know and some of you don't that I am a convert to the church. Something fewer of you know is that part of what lead me to accept what the missionaries were teaching me was an episode of Star Trek the Animated series. What this episode provided was the idea that truth and learning was spread out through out the world, but no one had all the truth, no one had put the pieces together. I came to the conclusion that this also applied to the Christian religion, everyone had parts but no one had the whole of it. I chewed on this idea for a couple years, then I met some friends who introduced me to the missionaries. It was at that time I first heard the story of Joseph Smith. In that discussion I received confirmation that I was right, parts of the truth had been spread through out the earth; however, I was also wrong! Someone else (many someones really, but one in particular) had been looking for that whole truth and was told, as I believed, that none of the factions of his day had the whole truth. That someone, Joseph Smith, had the privileged to be the first modern prophet of God, the first prophet of the restored church of Jesus Christ on the earth. Thanks to him and the prophets and apostles that have come after the church has been restored in our day with all the pieces Heavenly Father sees fit to give us, in the proper place.

Now why did I bring this up?
1: I think it's kinda important!
2: Hulu has recently picked up Star Trek the Animated Series. So, for the first time since 1987 I got to watch the episode! (I'm including a link because it did not want to embed in the blog : (  http://www.hulu.com/watch/638128)

Well, that's it for today...
Already have at least one cool item for next week (two actually). And there's one more that I want to do for next week, but there's only one problem... for weeks I've been wanting rain, and now I need it to stop raining!

War... and Peas?

That's right... Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls last week I declared war against an implacable foe bent on world (or at least backyard) domination... the ornamental pea plant!

 

Sure they don't look like much but they do spread, they grow quickly and they like to wrap around and climb things (especially when you don't want them to).

What crime did they commit? Why would I formally declare  war???

Well...

That would be one of my rose bushes!!!

As you can see the bush is up against the side of the house and for some reason (yeah 'some reason' - Lisa) the city and the insurance folks won't let me fix this with my weed burner torch! So I had to go in by hand. Remembering there is a rose bush in there that I'm trying to save, and it is spider season...

And so, after a surgery in which I extracted the pea plant (which was actually so intent on climbing that I ended up ripping out a couple of young rose canes in the process : ( ) Here's what's left...

Yes they need more work! But on the good side what I had thought was one rose plant is actually two (I cut out some rose dead wood in the same battle). This explains why the rosebush was a little schizophrenic about flower colors!

In talking with Lisa we're considering transplanting one or both to spots up at the front of the house. Any advice would be much appreciated!

So, yay for roses and boo to pea plants. Trust me ornamental peas will take over your yard and your life and not in a good way!

In other news...

1. I am not going to talk about Bowe #$%$#@^^$#$#!!! After what the men in his unit have said (and what his dad said) I really don't feel like stating the obvious! (and anyone feeling like he was 'swift boated' unfairly can tell it to the families of the people who died looking for him)

2. I don't recall if I mentioned it but Lisa got a second publication accepted.

3. I'm submitting some stuff I feel is pretty killer. (Lisa agrees.)( And Lisa did write that.)
4. Completely forgot four!

5. I'm actually starting a new blog (which I will probably release the address and so on next week). I have no idea what my posting schedule for it will be yet, but it will be a lot more of the 'thinky stuff' while this one stays more house and project based. This arrangement allows me to be more thinky (and cover more serious topics) in the one and have the other be more fun and expirimental/sciency/diy.

6. ...Tahiti is not in Europe! I'm going to be sick...
(cool points to the person who can place the movie reference (and bonus points to the person who figures out where I ran into it (Sorry Lisa, no points for you!)))

Well, I know this one is sorta short (and there were no videos or fires!) but have no fear...

For soon...

I shall spring into action!

 Deal with many sticky situations!

Face the heat!

And generally seek to...

 

Rock the world around me!!!

And for those of you who can't handle the adventures (or the jokes)...

Just focus on the pancakes.

Whose side are you on???

I know, I know people like happy things like pancakes and cool projects. Well, we'll get to those but there are a few other things to say first...

Lately a polling rep took note of the fact that I'm not affiliated with either major party. I could tell in talking with him that he really wanted to know why I'm  not a member of his party... "after all we have a number of views in common..." Well, to quote Tree Beard (and for what ever NSA spook is reading this that would be the JRR Tolkien fictional character Tree Beard) "I'm not all together on anyone's side because no one is on my side". One party has Barak Obama (do I really need to say anything else?). The other party has Idaho's attorney general who signed a legal opinion stating that there is no right to bare arms in the second amendment!

Can't, won't and shouldn't vote a straight party ticket for either party. Like so many other things in life one needs to make informed personal choices in voting. Short and sweet why would you choose the guy who doesn't represent your beliefs and interests? Choose the guy who is the best fit for what you want and hold him or her to what they say.

A couple of years ago Lisa and I made it down to LA for a graduation... at the time our sister in law was running for the local school board. Guess what, even though we don't agree on everything, if I were voting for the school board in that area I would have voted for her. It has nothing to do with whether she has a 'D' or 'R' after her name. Actually I'm not sure which party she belongs to (if any!) and it really doesn't matter. If I were voting in that election what mattered was that she was an actual mother of children in those schools who wanted to improve the education of her children. She was someone I could trust to actually look into policies and programs and make the decision that would best benefit her children. I would much rather that than someone who's going to just pick whatever seems popular because it's a stepping stone to the real office or job they're looking for.

Progress is made in this country when every day citizens make informed decisions (not educated because that has a slightly different meaning (and communists, fascists, cult leaders, etc. just love to 'educate' people)). Why do we need the EPA making rules to cut carbon emissions when people are already going that way? For example, people were upgrading to 90+% efficiency heating for a number of reasons that have nothing to do with government regulations even before some of the rules were made. (this time I really do mean educate) Educate people, provide them with good information, teach them how a particular path benefits them, show them what the options are (and the results and consequences of those options), and then back off and let them choose. True some will choose the wrong way, but they know the consequences and get to deal with them. In the case of the heater I'd much rather have the 90% (or better yet 95%) efficiency model than the old 70-80% models that are floating around out here. The higher efficiency ones are cheaper, more efficient and can be vented with a piece of PVC pipe which makes set up and operation cheaper and easier! In the case of elected officials I want the one that will represent my values and principles; that does not necessarily mean membership in a particular party... (actually some days I'd like to elect a Dalek to office... that would make for an interesting filibuster...)

Well enough said on that, well one more thing... we need to be responsible for the choices we make. And how we do that can have fun and interesting results! For example today I was clearing some weeds and putting in some bark mulch. I had some old mulch that I had previously purchased but I needed some more, so I bought some. Unfortunately I chose not to take the time to check on color... so, my old mulch was brown and the new is red... Really didn't feel like returning mulch so I needed a new solution...

solution...

Create a pattern! Now if I do the same thing on the other side it looks like I did something artistic on purpose rather that just "he screwed up and got the wrong mulch"

Ok, for those of you who like pretty stuff or just don't want to deal with scary things like making choices...

The first rose of the year... Just meditate one that...

For those of you who are more adventurey... I kind of uncovered a major ant hill in the yard while I was working outside today. Haven't dealt with it yet but I'm considering something like this...



Ok, so I've got something for the voters, choosers, meditators, artists, adventurers...so how about something we can all (or mostly all) agree on...

 

Pancakes!

Saturday I actually achieved criterion fluff-age!

I realized that my starter was being a bit thin and liquidy and that the eggs would make it more so, so I added a couple tablespoons of flower to the mix just before the eggs and got the seriously fluffy and tender sour dough pancakes I'd been looking for.

Found the Fluff Sourdough Pancakes by Patrick

The night before cooking mix up
2 Cups flour
2 Cups milk
1 Cup sourdough starter

Use a fairly large bowl 1) you'll be adding more to the bowl and 2) if its warm enough, your starter is strong enough, and the bowl small enough it will try to take over you kitchen! Let it stand over night at room temperature (I like to cover it with a towel to help control it's environment and prevent ideas of world (or kitchen) domination (I hate competition especially from single celled organisms!))

When you're about ready to cook heat up your pan or griddle to 400F.

When the cook surface is just about ready mix into your batter
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Butter your griddle/pan
I use 1/3 cup portions and it makes 12 pancakes that way, but use your own initiative on size of cake and when to flip
The extra flour added structural integrity without adding toughness. You could probably add the 2 tablespoons of brown sugar from my last recipe, but I didn't and they didn't seem to need it (I tend to go for jam or syrup so they don't have to stand entirely on their own sweetness).

Ok, figured it out and just in time for berry season!

That's it for today...

As for next week... Lets see... pan, torch, random aluminum... "Zeek, git the propane"

Memorial day, life and more

It is Memorial Day...

For those of you who don't remember my last post (and those who do) let's start with a video...

Also relating to last weeks post a serious injustice was done in local elections by a whole 80 (that's eight zero) votes with roughly 10,000 votes cast. Now, other than the injustice part (which is an issue for another day...), my problem with this is that only 34% of the registered voters voted. So, for those out here in Pocatello land (and any where else in our country for that matter) who didn't vote... IF THE ELECTION DIDN'T GO THE WAY YOU WANTED BY THAT CLOSE OF A MARGIN AND YOU DIDN'T GET OFF YOUR BUTT TO VOTE IT'S YOUR FAULT!!! As for myself and Lisa we voted our conscience and will follow our beliefs and understanding of truth what ever the road ahead.

Ok, on to other and somewhat more fun things... But first... Jail Break!!!

 

Yep, ol' SUDDEN DEATH!!! managed to finally get away from me this week after trying to play dead... maybe I should have named it FOOLED YOU!!!

As far as the whole birthday thing... Thanks for the presents, cash, gift cards, good wishes and so on!

Some of you know I'm a Dr Who fan and I ended up with seven full story arcs of classic Doctor (mostly Doctor Four and one Doctor Five) and the "Five Doctors" special that aired for the 20th anniversary (two disk set, 20th and 25th anniversary versions (do your research... flippin fan-boy wannabe ('cause you know there's one out there...)))

I also got... My second sonic screwdriver... Here's a picture of the two of them...

One of them is more sonic and the 4th Doctor model... The other is better at driving screws, so it works out over all.

Also in the news this weekend we got the tomatoes and peppers out and in our little garden...and for the first time in our back yard... Garlic (With a nod to my dad and Frederica up in the North East and Popsie). I have also been putting out some new grass seed.

Now...

Question...

If I string these up on the line around the newly seeded area will it help people take the hint and not step on the new grass?
(Yes, I actually own a set of mine flags (what part of "I shop at surplus stores" is hard to understand?))

For those who worry about such things... yes there are more rocks, fires and other fun stuff comming!

I now have my Lortone which is in the rock shop, and a new tumbler for the metal shop...

For those staring in wonderment at why I would buy the Harbor Freight version... the barrels on the first Harbor Freight I bought have held up well and two equivalent barrels from Lortone would cost more than this whole machine (including the extended warranty). I have also learned a lot about maintenance and care for the little devils since then. And since this one is destined for the metal shop not the rock shop the primary run time would be one barrel (3lb) for two hours (with a max around two barrels (6lb) for two hours ) as opposed to 1 large and 1 small (4.5lb) or three small barrels (4.5lb) (with a max of two large barrels (6lb)) for ten (10) days. Trust me this lil guy is going to spin up a lot of shiny metal and steel shot before it's 'shot' (and if it doesn't I take it back and they give me a new one)

For the professional and mental accountants out there (and people who buy machines), I don't just say yes to the extended warranty or protection plan; I make the determination on the basis of unit cost and the likely hood of me blowing the thing up!

Well, that's it for now... next week: ummm, it's Monday of this week, do you mind if I wait to worry about next week till after lunch!

Fire and pickles?

Back when I took over the blog I started out with working on rocket stoves and at last report I had accidentally turned my favorite design into a mini charcoal cooker... well, that experience was do at least in part to me being impatient and not loading it well. So this week I'm picking it up again with the goal of learning to load it better (and as part of an ongoing struggle to learn patience...). This time I started with smaller sticks and no bigger stuff (again) and the new lighters I found. It started quickly and then I waited (and waited and waited (several whole minutes at least)) and then...

sideways fire achieved!. I started loading in some wood that was a bit bigger and almost put it out. I added some more small stuff with the medium in and it picked right back up. Over time I added more of each and it kept going pretty well. I added the largest couple of pieces (1-2 inches in diameter) and almost killed it again, but again more small stuff brought it back. There were some wind gusts and it seemed to go out a couple of times but each time it would bounce back with at most some more small material for help.

I have heard rumors of these things getting 'iron banging' hot. I tried testing this with a piece of rebar I wanted to use for a project.

No luck on getting it hot enough to pound out, but it definitely got hot enough I needed my gloves to hold it.

It more or less stayed running over an hour, still taking more attention than I would like, not getting as hot as I would like, but better than before. I finally ended up putting it out with water resulting in lots and lots of steam.

Analysis from this test:
1. feed small material first and build up.

2. never assume it's out unless you've doused it very well.

3. it definitely gets hot enough to generate steam and you can probably cook on it (though that will wait for another test...)

4. I still have tinkering and learning to do (and hope to get it hotter))

But wait there's more!
when you are working with metal sometimes you need to take the oxidation off the surface  a standard tool for doing this for jewelry and small sculpture is pickle. Pickle is an acid compound that is usually kept in a slightly warmed bath. It's a really useful and nice thing, sort of. The problem is most pickles used today are pool ph- (sodium bio-sulfate), sulfuric acid or similar products; these are not chemicals that you want loose in your home, around your kids or pets, or in less than highly controlled conditions... not to mention they are not exactly what you would call eco friendly.

So, I spent a little time looking for a less difficult to store, easy to obtain and a bit friendlier solution. One solution that is testing out nicely is a vinegar and salt mixture. My start mixture for testing is two tablespoons of salt to one cup of vinegar (my online research yielded a wide range of mixes and several arguments on the subject.

For this test we are starting with some copper wire that I am annealing (softening) for another project.

Copper oxidizes quickly and so a good pickle is really necessary (when your sterling silver oxidizes, it has a lot more to do with the 7.5% copper than the 92.5% silver).

Here one of the two bundles has been annealed and the other was left untouched for comparison. After I annealed it, the second one was just as black. And then into the pickle!

the pickle here is fogged up do to my bad habit of quenching the metal in the pickle... and after I bring it out...

Here is the copper after a short time in the pickle. It is no longer mirror shiny because of what's happened to it but it is a bright copper color again and so soft you can bend it with a thought.

Test evaluation:
Vinegar and salt does work as a pickle.
It's a lot safer around pets, kids, spouses and so on.
Both components are available at the grocery store or a decently stocked convenience store meaning it is more available (making mixing some up 'on the spot' a lot more doable, and saves on shipping).
It's mild enough you can safely get cooled metal out with your fingers (thus saving the dreaded "somebody used steel tongs in the pickle!" emergency. (that's a whole 'nother post) 
The one thing it's probably not going to do for you is acid etching (not nearly strong enough).

And as for another kind of 'pickle' entirely...
If you're actually living life every once in a while you find yourself with an, "Ok, how did that work" situation (aka Holy #$@#$#@%$#@! What happened there?)

For me one happened on Friday as I was closing the roll down door to the outside shop when... Whoosh Bang!

One of the springs in the door mechanism popped off, passed within a couple inches of my head and slammed into the door.

On further analysis the end of the spring actually snapped off! So a chance for bodily harm passes and a new home repair adventure begins! (Hey I get to play fix the door! That's great, I didn't have any projects to do... oh wait... nuts).

While we're on scary things let me put in a plug for safety equipment...

 This is one of my welding gauntlets after pressing down on the wire (after it had stopped visibly glowing!). Trust me on this folks if you work on hot metal without proper safety gear you will experience "brand awareness". (And wear the safety glasses too).


Well, more food, fire, fun, and shiny things (and hopefully less opportunities for unintended decapitation) next week! See you then.




 

Cue the music.....

The adventures continue as we search each corner and uncover each of the oddities of.....the house. While many of the previous episodes reveal the mix of old and new, professional and not so professional, this episode reveals a part - mostly unknown until now......

The coal room. Stuck in the corner of the basement, under the portion of the kitchen that is at a slight downward slant. One of the portions of the house we believe was an add on. Between the mold, the cover up paneling, the peg board and the variety of not so professional shelves, the interior of the coal room remained mostly a mystery.


With the light bulbs replaced in various odd light fixtures in the basement and the halogen work lights in from the shed, Patrick armed himself to enter...the coal room.

Behind the door, at first glance it just appears to be left overs from the previous owners. And yet behind each corner more of our house revealed its uniqueness.


A view to the left shows us that the base of the foundation was laid with huge rocks - similar in size to the ones Patrick likes to bring home from rockhounding trips. What's that green barrel you ask - an old water storage container. These vestiges are not from the previous owner, she was only in the house for 4 years. These must be left overs from an even older owner.


To the right of the door is a shelf of miscellany. Can you find...the candle, the molding, the coat rack, the cannon ball, the iron hook-thing, the electrical cable, the buffer wheel, the insulation?


Further to the left is a box labeled electrical. Without further investigation we are uncertain as to which decade these components belong. The halogens could not reach this far in. These curiosities will need closer investigation under the lights and away from possible spiders.


A few of the things that were excavated from the debris...the cannon ball. Not sure if this is true ordinance, but what else would you call a solid ball of iron-like metal?

A slow motion (only two pictures) shot of Patrick experimenting with the iron hook-thing. With a fairly easy turn of the back handle opens the two pronged hooks.


Opened...closed...abierto...cerrado...ouvert...fermé...geopend...gesloten...opened...closed...geschlossenes ...geöffnet...ανοιγμένος...κλειστός...閉鎖した開けられる...chiuso...aperto... I was lucky to get a picture of both and he tested the weapon possibilities.


Here is the coat rack - or at least part of it emerging from the coal room. Not one of those modern things - this one, while appears to be pieces that screw together, is still pretty solid wood.


Here is the collection of long pokey things that emerged from the room. Guesses anyone on the metal tools? Patrick's guess on just about anything of this nature almost always turns to...instruments of destruction.

And so ends today's adventure with Patrick off on another adventure...off to do some home teaching.

Stay tuned for the next episode of the House Adventures - when we display some of the curiosities discovered in the house. There will be a prize for the person who knows what the last item is. So come back and perhaps you'll win!