Making it through another year '21-'23

[firefighter ontheside]

I have heard too, that an aspen grove somewhere is the largest single living thing.  I read an article about it and it mentioned that Aspen rarely propagate from seed and mainly from roots sending up new shoots.

[Old Greenhorn]

I have heard too, that an aspen grove somewhere is the largest single living thing.  I read an article about it and it mentioned that Aspen rarely propagate from seed and mainly from roots sending up new shoots.

Bill, if you check out the link aigheadish posted, it lists a bunch of things and those Aspen are in there as well as the fungi thing. You decide. :D ;D
Doc, I think you just threw down a gauntlet or soggy sawdust covered glove or something. Let's see if Howard bites on this one. ;D (and how hard.) I smell steam or smoke or something else wafting up on a south wind, so he is likely pondering it. :D
 I am sure other ideas will pop up, I just need to let it percolate in my head for a while and not push it. The best ideas come on their own.

[Resonator]

Booking entertainment at parties? Call the Catskill fun guy! ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Ha! Yeah, gonna share that one with the right guy! Just for the record, Catskill Fungi is a partner, It's not me. But it is a catchy name, isn't it? He had said he like some of my cards on his display table at his workshops, so that was how I came up with that idea.

[doc henderson]

well, I see he clicked like, but said nothing!  hmmmm.  

[Old Greenhorn]

He's conjuring.

[WV Sawmiller]

   My ears are burning so youse guy's must be talking about me (again).

 Since the topic of laser engraving is an issue I don't do, I know nothing about, and know I know nothing about it I couldn't see no reason to comment none about it. :

 The cards look nice but kind of like Dolly Parton said on Straight Talk "A fish and a bird can fall in love but where they gonna build their house?"

  It is a novel and no doubt memorable approach to business cards but how much of a return do you expect from them? I thought putting the basic information on the front and adding a 1/4" Log Scale on the back (An idea I believe I stole from Tom The Sawyer) was sufficiently creative, practical and inexpensive enough for me to hand them out en masse at flea markets or wood shows or leave on the counters at likely businesses. And my simple paper cards are stuck on fridges with magnets all over my area. (I wonder how the wooden cards do under fridge magnets? ???)

 Now when you can inoculate them with mushroom spores and have them start growing mushrooms in people's wallets I think you will have really nailed it. ;) :D 

  Did you know ... (Oops - wrong thread.)

[doc henderson]

I think you could embed a magnet so they can read it right on the fridge.  good idea Howard!  ;)
I still think the guy that does the board electrocution should start a thread!  

[WV Sawmiller]

I think you could embed a magnet so they can read it right on the fridge.  good idea Howard!  ;)

Send me one and I'll stick it on my fridge. ;D (Send me 3 - I have an upstairs fridge, a downstairs fridge and one out in my log barn.)

[Old Greenhorn]

I ordered some adhesive backed magnetic sheet this morning and I will give it a try. Good idea.
 I expect no return from these. They are expensive to make and were a gift. I will hand a few out to special friends and maybe repeat clients, but am thinking on higher uses for them.
 I am off to the mill to get back in the groove.

[aigheadish]

Just when I thought WV wasn't coming up with anything he drops wallet shrooms. Good stuff.

[Old Greenhorn]

Wallet Mushrooms, I like it. We will have to grant Howard a paten on that one. ;D He owns it now.
----
 Well I will mark today as a great day. It's hard to throw your leg up to the stirrup for the first time in a while but today I got back on the horse and got the mill running again. I knew it would be a slower start trying to figure out where I left off and what parts were done on which orders, etc. But you gotta start somewhere, right? I threw my gear in the truck, filled a few gallon jugs with water for the lube and bypassed the toolcat and just worked out of the truck. 
 I got everything checked and the lube filled, fuel topped off, checked my cut list and was off. A little slow for the first hour getting my hands retrained, but it all fell in eventually. This 1-1/2" material is making me nuts because I can't take 2x or 1x off as side boards in the same slab. I can't wait until this order is done! So I diddled around a bit trying to maximize the yield from these nice logs and not waste a lot in the opening slabs. Only 300 BF (billable) for the session but a bunch of 2x4's and 1-1/2 x 4's thrown in the truck, which I don't count against the paid work. I'll use those for the drilling stands I have to build (4x) and the bunks I am building for lumber storage.
 The weather was just a perfect day with almost no wind and the temp hit 71° around 3pm. I went form jacket/vest/shirt/t-shirt down to a t-shirt in about 2 hours. When I sat down to have my lunch (2 boiled eggs, an orange, a bottle of water, and a cigarette) it was SO quiet and peaceful I could have just spent the rest of the day like that.
 Just a very enjoyable day all around and there are few things better than that. In fact, it might have been the perfect day.
 Tomorrow they are calling for a rainout. I was hoping to get that run done to Woodmizer, but they aren't open on Saturday. Maybe next Thursday will be a good day for that. In the meantime, I will send the day in the shop tomorrow making Loginators. :D ;D

[aigheadish]

It's nice to hear of a good day for you after some of the struggly ones Tom! 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well any 'struggling' I may do still weighs in as a much better day than that *&^%# job I retired from 2 years ago. :D

And the good days continued.... Saturday rained, but nothing near what was predicted. I stuck to my plan (for a rare change) and worked in the shop. In the morning I cut a mess of parts for the 2 loginators I needed to build. Then painted the parts before lunch. My wife even came out to help because she likes to paint. I don't think I mentioned it, but I HATE to paint. I had parts spread out on every saw horse in the shop.



 

After lunch I cut the transition ramps I needed (above) and painted those, the did touch up paint on the previous stuff. I put the basic sawhorses together. The I did a little figuring on how to make the cover support for whole rig. and worked the design. I finished up after dinner.

 Sunday I cut all the parts for the cover supports and painted those. Then I started finishing the loginators making the backstops, and assembling it all on the sawhorses with the wheels. I am now out of wheels. My son got a used ATV and bought new rear tires for it. He brought those over and between my work I help him mount the new tires (great fun!). Then I assembled the cover supports. The shop is a crowded mess now with parts everywhere.



 

After dinner, I went back out to finish off the weekend goal of getting some more bunks made for the sawmill. I had enough to make 4 more of those and here is a poor photo of them waiting get get thrown in the truck.


 

 Sometime Saturday morning I discovered this bump thing on my elbow. I have no idea where I got it or why I have it. There is no pain and was no injury. I consulted with my highly regarded medical team and we are pretty sure it is bursitis. But no idea why. We are calling it an 'El-boob'. We'll just see what happens. It should go away in a few weeks.


 

Today I am off the Harbor Freight for needed supplies. But I just found out the oil burner ain't working, so I have to dig into that first.
 Just another day in paradise. ;D

[doc henderson]

the projects look good.  what idiot came up with that name?  and for God's sake, put some clothes on that thing!     :D :D :D

[aigheadish]

I had an uncle with an el-boob. I don't know if it was bursitis but he didn't have any issues with his either and it went away, I don't remember if he had to do something to take care of it or not. Maybe it's holding beer or bourbon for later?

[doc henderson]

which side is it on?  if that is your beer drinking arm, maybe you wore it out!

[Old Greenhorn]

It's my left arm, but for consumption tasks I am ambidextrous and sometimes bidextrous.  ;D When I put a compression wrap on it in the evenings it does hamper my ability to use that left arm for the purpose for which it was intended. I will live. At least my ear is nearly clear with just a touch of vibration when I talk.
-------------------
BUT, things went from really good to really poor pretty quickly. My post this morning ended when the heat went out. It didn't take me long at all to figure out that the tank was empty. We had a recent delivery. I will say no more about this (and hopefully neither will y'all) except that after a lot of scrambling and humping today, there is a replacement tank all set and waiting for an oil delivery tomorrow and the house is running nicely off a 5 gallon jug. End of story.

 But wait, it gets worse. When taking a break from leveling some ground and setting blocks I walked out to fetch the mail. While walking up the driveway I am thinking that the rear right tire on my wife's van don't look right. Sure enough, the rear axle is rotted through and the tire is at an angle. I have no idea what to do about it yet. Too much to handle in one morning. Maybe I could find somebody to replace it, maybe we gotta replace the vehicle, I just don't know yet. My mechanic is out of town on vacation. I looked around a bit, but I am not sure what all is involved in getting an axle. The process for new we can live with but the shipping is another $300 on top of that. Then all the work to replace it. I just don't know. My head is spinning. :(

Once I remediated the first disaster and while pondering on the second I just got in the truck and ran down to Bill's to see how they were making out. They are spending today and tomorrow putting the raised seam metal roof on his shop extension. This is 5 years in the making and we just missed the window in early winter but just the paper on it anyway. Today they have the material and the machine and are rolling out sheets as fast as they can. It looks really good. It did me good to see it. When that is done, we start blowing and going on the B&B siding, windows, then doors. Then the radiant heat loop in the floor will have to get charged and turned on. 5 years, one section and piece at a time between jobs. It did my heart good to see it.

 Then I ran out to get milk and put some gas in the truck (which is also painful). I needed something to make ME feel better about the day. So I have needed a sign I can put at the end of the driveway to help folks find me when they are coming. A couple of weeks ago I ordered a sign from Vistaprint that is easy to see and colorful. It's on coroplast and I wanted to make a decent wood frame to hold it that looks nice. Something with feet I could carry out and set there, then bring it back in. I don't want a full time sign. A lot of guys here know what kind of issues that can bring. So this afternoon I started working on that and the next thing I know, the wife is texting me to come in for dinner.

I never got to Harbor freight today.

Some days are harder than others. Tomorrow is another one.

[WV Sawmiller]

  Sorry for the bumps in the road today. Hopefully tomorrow will make up for it all.

  If you need us to help take some of the heavy load off your plate I can contact Doc and Nebraska and the rest of design crew and I am sure we can come up with a killer design for your sign. :D :D

   Good luck.

[thecfarm]

We are not from the government, but we are here to help.  ;D

[WDH]

Yes, your entire Design Helpers Team is sitting on Ready. 

[doc henderson]

READY!...

[Nebraska]

First we need to see said sign...

[Old Greenhorn]

OK, but let's wait until I am nearly done like we usually do. :D

[aigheadish]

Hang in there, Tom. 

I'm interested to see the sign too!