Busier week than last week!

 Hello everyone,

This week, even with the holiday was much busier than last week. I thought retirement meant slowing down! Guess not.

First things first, I had some little repairs on the red golf cart, which is the newer one. Nothing big, welded up an adjuster for the seat brake, put in some new bolts and tightened some others up so it doesn’t creak when you’re driving it.

Next, stripped some more old fencing sections to do floors for the new platform. By the end of the week the platform part was finished, still have more to do and it already needs an addition for the cable ride.

Fished up my wiring holder in the new cabinet, that cleared up a little much needed space and I also sold all my old Cat tools to a friend I used to work with at Cat, he still works there.

The wife and I bought a van for traveling in. We want to build in a bed and a few things so we can sleep in it when we travel. My wife is not exactly a camper. We’ll see how it goes!

Last, but not least, I bought a new drill press. Hasn’t arrived yet, probably towards the end of the week, maybe early next week. I want to redo the rolling cabinet it going to sit on. I’ll try to get to that this week so I can just mount it on there and start drilling.

I’ll post some pics of that next week.

We’re supposed to get our first snow of the winter today, and so it begins!

Well, I think that’s it for now.

Talk to you soon,

TVI

Quite a few things going on!

 Hello everyone,

Well, it’s been a pretty busy week this week. I had to give up, I think, on the four wheeler. I’ve tried everything I knew to try and fix it but it still does the same thing. So, I put it all back together and made an appointment at the motorcycle repair place in town.

I did get the truck fixed, and indeed it was the thermostat.

The rubber seal had come apart and it would not bypass. Changed it and put in new antifreeze and, just like that, good as new.

Started on the workbench top and the new cabinet. Got the cabinet all put together, and got the top on the workbench on. The top needs to be squared up a little bit, but that’s done .

I’ve got some finishing work to do on both of them but they’re up and functioning for now. 

When the weekend came the grandson came along with it. We had bought him a new BB gun and he got to shoot it for the first time. We were out on a golf cart ride and he spotted an old hunter’s platform, asked if he could have one. So, we put our construction hat and started that project!

It also isn’t quite complete, but I’ll probably get to that for the next few days. We had a skyline type thing in the woods and a tree fell on it a couple of months ago. So, I went over and got it and will try to put it up using this as the jump off point. It’s only about eight feet off the ground so we won’t be going to fast!!

So it’s been a pretty busy week, so busy in fact I almost forgot my birthday!! Turned sixty- seven this year. Did manage to go out to eat but this was a little nicer:

morning coffee with the wife and a fire! Nice!!

Well, I think that’s all for now, we’ll see what this week brings me!

Talk to you soon,

            TVI

Working on the shop and more hats,

 Hello everyone,

This past week I got some drawers installed in one of my old workbenches and I also made a sliding shelf under the same bench for one of my old tool boxes. That box will hold tools I don’t use very often but that I’m not ready to part with just yet.

Where the grey cabinet is sitting on the bench is where the next project gets started. I’m going to build a new cabinet there to hold all my wiring stuff. That bench also gets a new top.

In the process of trying to multitask, and clean out some things, I made a rack to hold all my pry bars.

I had some two by two aluminum angle that I’ve had for a few years, so I used it to make the holder. I bolted it to the side of my old tool box. 

I received the parts I ordered for the four wheeler and am still having issues. Today I took my truck up north and it’s overheating! I think it’s the thermostat, so I stopped and picked one up. I’ll get to it tomorrow.

This past weekend the wife and I went to Shaker Village in Kentucky and spent a very nice weekend doing nothing! It’s an historical village that we volunteered last year to help prepare for Christmas, and we had volunteered again this year but they cancelled it because of the cooties.

The first picture is us by the fire on Saturday eating chocolate pecan pie and drinking coffee with bourbon cream. The second one is just one of the many restored buildings.

So, this week I have to have a four wheeler mechanic’s hat and a truck mechanic’s hat! Plus, hopefully a cabinet builder’s hat! We’ll see how it goes!!

Well, I think that’s it for now.

Talk to you soon,

TVI

A little more of this and that

 Hello everyone, 

Finished up the air compressor install, ran almost all of the lines and drops for the piping system. Turned out very nice. I used a system called Rapid Aire for most of the drops. A little pricey, but a breeze to put up and looks nice also.

The blue plastic tubing and the nice aluminum block are part of the system. The cooler I made didn’t turn out as smooth as I would have liked but, it works perfectly.

And, after all that monkeying around, it works very well. I purchased a new saw blade for the metal chop saw, it works quite well also.

The wife and I spent a couple of days doing day trips, drove over to a large discount center near us and bought some back up groceries and assorted other goodies. The next day we just went for a ride, ended up near Plymouth. Ate a nice lunch, sitting outside, drove the whole day with the top down on her convertible. The weather has been absolutely amazing the last week or so for November in the Midwest. 70’s for the highs and 40’s for the lows.

I also had to add another hat to the collection this week when my four wheeler broke down. I’ve narrowed it down to the carb. Ordered parts and they should be here on Thursday.

Well, I think that’s all for now. 

                       Talk to you soon,

                                    TVI

A little of this and a little of that

 Hello everyone,

Well, I’ve had to add a few more hats to my repertoire since I last wrote. Appliance repairman, and air line engineer. I’ve spent a long time trying to figure out the air piping setup I want in the shop, and I finally came up with a drawing and parts list. Went yesterday up to the big stores to make an all out purchase and came home with about half of what I needed! Surprise, surprise! Well, went back today and traveled around a little and got about 90 % of what I need. I think what’s left will be an add on for a little later.

The compressor is all done, just the bottom drain line needs to be hooked up.

It’s also in its new spot. I’m going to make a copper cooler to cool and hopefully dry out the air going to the drops. I have some extra dryers and an oiler setup, which is why it took me so long to figure out all the plumbing.

I spent some coffee drinking time putting the labels in the new toolbox to mark what’s in the thing. I have to say I’m doing some things I’ve never had the opportunity to do before and it does make things nice.

Spent a few days and evenings enjoying being retired this week. Went to my grandson’s house last Thursday and carved pumpkins.

Friday night we spent the night in Chicago, went to Fitzgerald’s Night Club and watched a band play. One of the guys in the band is in Heartsfield, the band that played at my retirement party. Came home Saturday and went back to the grandson’s and passed out candy while his parents to him trick or treating.

That’s him and grandma!

So, I’m on landscape patrol today, so tomorrow I’ll start on the plumbing part, unless the oven controller comes in, in which case, I’ll put on my appliance repairman hat and do that project.

Well, I think that’s all for now.

Talk to you soon,

TVI