1st job down, started another

[Tom]

I finished my first after-surgery "away" job today, finally.  It was a real chore.  Trucks breaking, sawmill breaking, help not showing up, you name it and I think it happened.   Ended up with over 7800 feet on the ground though and that feels good .  

I left at about 2PM and drove west to Sardis Church to saw that big pine I was telling you about awhile back.  Got the sawmill set up and got a ride back to town to get my other truck from the other job.   Stopped at the Shell truck stop North of Folkston to get gas and a coke and I'll be dad blamed if some low down son of @#$%^&*(  stole my camera.  This is an honest to God work truck that seldom leaves my property.  The bed is full of old batteries and tires and spent blades and whatever.   The cab is full of old towels that I use to fill the hole in the driver's seat and miscellaneous tools, etc.   I usually use it to tour the swamp behind the house.  Never would I think that it would be something that a thief would be interested in.   The camera was on the floor on the passenger side pushed up against the seat where it wasn't too visible.....I thought.  The doors weren't locked but they were closed with the windows up and I couldn't have been in the store more than a couple of minutes..just long enough to get a coke and sign for the gas.  Dad-gummit I hate a thief.   I've spent the afternoon imagining what I could have done to this  SOB  if I had caught him in my truck.  I carry a pretty good sized pocket knife and keep it sharp.  I could have had him castrated before he even realized that his pants had been cut.  Ah well...........

My wife has a little camera that she is going to loan to me so that I can take pictures of Sardis Church and the big pine.  I love this historic stuff.  This ended up being two big Loblolly pines that are over 100 years old.  I counted 80 rings and ran into two areas on the outside of the tree that were so tight that I couldn't count them.  Must have been a bad time for the trees for some reason.  I'll have to try to research the weather and see if that may have had something to do with it.  It seems like a lot of years for bad weather though.

I cut the first length into (12) 2 1/2 X 8's, 24 feet long.  At least they were supposed to be 24 feet long. I have found that my mill will cut 26 feet with about 8 inches to spare. That's good to know but I''m not advertising it.  :-/  It was so close that my drag backs wouldn't get hold of the timbers.  This stuff is going to repair an old 100+ year old barn and will be floor joists for the loft.

I still have outside cuts that will produce about 4 more of these timbers plus some 2x4's.  The customer is really happy but can't be there tomorrow because his business is being audited.  He runs an insurance company.  I'm glad I'm cutting wood and not working in his office.  :D

Somehow I've got to figure out how to get two trucks back home. :D

[whitepe]

Several years ago some lower life form stole a
laptop computer out of the back seat of my
car when I stopped at the gas station to buy a candy bar.
I was only in the station about 2 minutes.
I locked the driver's door but forgot that I had unlocked
the back door to throw in the laptop. It was CAT's laptop
and reporting it stolen at work and getting it replaced
was a humiliating experience.   I had a hunch that one
of the guys who worked at the station took it cause
I remembered he was coming out the door with the
stick in his hands to measure the underground tank levels when I was walking in the door.  He seemed too concerned
about my loss not to have done it.  So I thought, I am gonna
have some fun with this guy cause he didn't strike me
as being too bright.  Since I also stopped at the
gas station for coffee in the morning, he asked about
the computer for a couple of days and that's when I figured
that he had probable taken it.  So, I told him that
No, I had not recovered it but wait till the guy who took
it turned it on finds out that there is an embedded
GPS device in the laptop and it will report it's location
to CAT corporate security.  His face turned as red as a beet
and you would have thought he was gut shot.  He sheepishly responded that he had wondered about that the night it was stolen.   A couple of days later he quit his job at the gas station.  
A couple of years after that, I had stopped at the Radio
Shack to buy something for my kid's science fair project
and somehow I found out that the kid working at the Radio Shack was the 18 year old son of the guy at the gas station.
I asked the kid what his father was doing and he responded
that he didn't have a job and that he wasn't a very good
dad cause he was always in trouble with the law. The kid
was staying with his grandmother. Somehow I wasn't surprised by the kid's answer.   :

[Fla._Deadheader]

I agree. I think a thief is the lowest form of life.
  We had problems once, when we lived in Pompano Beach. My son and I went riding, with 2  12 Ga. shotguns. Good thing we never caught up with them !!!!!!!!!!

[DanG]

OOOOO! You're getting close, Harold. That was post 999. Try to think of something cool to say for #1000. ;D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Hey DanG. I made it !!!!!!    Hadda wait till this AM !!!
  I sat at the keyboard for 30 minutes, last night, waiting for some place for me to chime in. NOBODY posted ANYTHING for me to add to. Got 'er done, NOW !! ;D ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) :D ;) :D :D ;) :D :D 8)  Man, the woods grows up fast around here. :D :D :D :D :D ;) ;)

[Bibbyman]

7800 bf in one day is a lot!!  Even if you're making BIG BOARDS.  You must have had some help pulling boards and slabs, etc. Right?

Over the long weekend, Mary and I sawed over 7,000 bf of 4/4 walnut.  Mostly out of small and short logs.  I went to the office on Tuesday - got home and she was re-stacking it.  She was about half done.  I thought it was stacked good enough but she said the customer wanted it 500 bf bundles 40" wide.  I may have to have her shoulders worked on.

[OneWithWood]

So, Tom, how do the shoulders feel?

[Bibbyman]

Tom,  You know Father's Day is only a couple of weeks away.   ;)

Good excuse to go buy a really nice camera and send the bill to the boys.  :D

I'm sure they would appreciate knowing they got just the right gift and didn't have to leave the convenience of their own homes to shop for it. ;D

[Tom]

I wish the 7800 feet was all in one day but it wasn't.  I've had a lot of "help" problems and it's difficult when working so far away from home.  The shoulders Hurt.

I burned up the clutch on the mill today sawing that big pine at Sardis Church.  I observed something drop out of the housing onto the mill at the end of the log and shut down to see what it was.  It was melted aluminum.  I picked up a handful of it from the chase that runs the length of the mill.   The clutch is now welded pretty solidly together inside so I'm still sawing. It makes the engine starter turn the big heavy steel band wheels when I start up and turns the engine over when I shut the the fuel off.   Guess it won't hurt anything if I don't go crazy.  Kinda like having a Jake brake. :D

I quit work early and called the factory but everybody had gone home.  The receptionist accepted my request that parts send me an email tomorrow.  I don't know exactly what to do since this is one of those items that is not in the owners manual.

I don't think my boys would appreciate a camera bill.  They would wonder who was sending it to them since they don't know who I am. :-/

[OneWithWood]

Tom, are you taking any Glucosomine?  It sure helped stop my aching shoulders and knees.
Take a picture of yourself to include with the bill as a reminder ;D

[DanG]

He can't take a picture...he ain't got a camera. >:(

There's 2 things that really pith me off,  and both of'em is a thief.  The other 2 is a kissass, but that's another story. :-/

[OneWithWood]

But he would if he followed Bib's advice  :D

[Tom]

The surgery actually did away with the aching shoulders.  My problem is that there are physical barriers as I reach up or out that have the same feeling as I would imagine a transmission has when you miss a gear.  There is  lot of grating and grinding and the muscles detach from my brain and do what they want.....usually just quit.  The pain is so sudden and severe that tears come to my eyes and then it doesn't leave right away. I have to wait for the calming. I'm hoping it will get better as I use the arms but so far little success.

I took glucosomine for 6 or 8 months before the surgery and didn't recognize any benefits.  Perhaps I will try it again.  Right now, an Ibuprofen based anti-inflammatory prescribed by my doctor is what is keeping me going.   That stuff scares me though and I don't want to learn to live on it.  Liver and stuff like that can suffer.

I had to climb up into a big Ford tractor today many times and between my shoulders and worn out knees had to quit.  I finally got a water bucket to use for a step and that helped but Leon had to move it so I could drive and then put it back so I could get down.   :-/ :-/

What I need is a new body. :D

[chet]

Ain't never heard of a body transplant.  :-/  If it works let me know, I could use a newer one dat ain't so dinged up too.  ;D

[Tom]

Chet,
At this point, I don't think I even care what it looks like as long as it works. :D

[chet]

I'd be a little more picky. Wouldn't want to get stuck with one of dem dar sissy type bodies.   :D    A little more hair on the noggin wouldn't be all dat bad nether.  ;D

[OneWithWood]

Hopefully you will be able to replace the Ibuprofen with glucosomine in time.  That searing pain is probably the muscles that were cut during surgery.  It will go away.  My arm is just now about 80%.  I still can't lift what I used to and turning a screwdriver causes the arm to tighten up.  But it is getting better.
Don't be afraid to slack off a bit if the pain is that bad.  Remember it took years to do the damage and it may take a year to come back.  JeffB could chime in any time.
As far as a new bod goes, you've invested heavily in the one you got so just give it some TLC and keep on truckin'
 :D :D ;D

[Gordon]

There is no worse feeling than being ripped off. There is no good side to it. Yes those scum balls keep me in a job and it seems the way society is going I've pretty much got job security. But that sure doesn't get your camera back now does it.

Glad to hear your sawing again. Just don't RUSH it. Takes time to get back in the full swing of things.

Take care
Gordon

[CHARLIE]

Tom, if you do decide to get a body transplant see if they can do something about that face while they are at it. ;D  It's gotta be hurtin' you as much as your shoulders. :D  I'm mighty sorry to hear about your camera getting taken. Those things are expensive too and you had a good one.  Sure wish you could find the S.O.B. that took it. I can't stand a thief!!! >:(

[BY THE WAY EVERYBODY! THIS IS MY 1000 POST! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[Fla._Deadheader]

Way to go Charlie. Made mine over a week ago. Thought sumpin excitin was going to take place ??? Guess not : :

[Tom]

I think one thousand posts and stuff like that, you have to record for yourself.  You guys have done it and now everybody will know where it happened :D

Charlie I've been told that I need to replace my head.  It seems that it hurts everybody else worse than it hurts me.  :-/ I can't see it  :D :D

[hawby]

Tom,

Sorry to hear your still hurtin' so bad. I work at the place that invented Ibuprofen... and I would advise you to have your Doc change ya over to Celebrex or Bextra. They are a lot better for your GI tract ( that ain't a soldiers property either). While they are not over the counter, they are much better for the filters of your body (ie. liver and kidneys). Bextra is the better painkiller of the two. I take Celebrex daily and it took a few days to feel the benefit, but it does relieve the chronic problems I have with Arthritis.

Glucosamine is a beneficial supplement, but not everyone seems to receive the same benefit. Some of us metabolise it and pith it down the drain.

good luck

hawby

[DanG]

Thanx for the info, Hawby. I've long been suspicious of Ibuprofen, and refuse to take it. My liver and kidneys take quite enough of a beating with my natural drug habits. :D  I'll have to speak to the local Quack about the other stuff, but I gotta hurt worser than this before I take anything.

[CHARLIE]

I take 400 milligrams of Celebrex a day. 200 in the morning and 200 in the evening. I also take 600 mg of Tylenol along with it. I get to a point where I don't think it is helping at all until I miss a day's dosage. ;D

[Furby]

DanG thief!

 I had my hands full as I got out of the car the other night, so I pushed the door close and planned to come back out for the rest of the stuff.
 After I went inside I saw supper on the table, and then logged on here, never again thinking about going back out to the car.
 The next morning as I walked up to my car I saw stuff all over my seat. In the dim light I didn't see that the door was closed just enough so the light would go out, until I got right up to it. Then it hit me,   WOW I left the car UNlocked last night, first time since I got the Explorer in December. It took me a minute to figure out what had actualy happened. The stuff had all been taken out of the center counsel and glove box. After looking around and seeing only the stack of quarters in the coin thing-a-ma-bob were missing and feeling a little stupid for leaving the doors unlocked, as well as thankfull that about $4k of stuff was all there, I put everything away and went to work.
 I called home later on and made sure all the other cars had been locked, duh, they had. Then I went out to make sure my papers for the car were still there, because I couldn't figure out why they passed up all the equipment and even another quarter, a stack of nickels and a stack of dimes, and only took the stack of quarters ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

 After work, I went to work on my house and the phone rang after a while. My mom called to tell me I should come home and call the police because it seems a friend of ours a few houses down, had her whole car taken. It was the same story as mine, the car had been ransacked, they even threw her stuff in the neighbors yard. I guess she left a spare key in her car (I'm glad I don't do anything stupid like that :), and they found it and off they went!!!!!!
 I guess I got REEEEEEEAL lucky I only lost $3 in change. Whew!

 I still don't know why they passed up all the other stuff though ??? ??? ??? Would have been easy money!


 I HATE a thief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!