So if you didn't do anything airgun related what did you do today?

[Madd Hatter]

I survived the 91 freeway to Orange county and back. Most of it wasn't too bad (that is it was flowing nicely) the last 12 miles on the way there was stop and go up to 27mph or so .

On the way back the first 20 miles was backed up and slow. The FasTrak helped a little bit. 

 The drive was no fun but, it is done and I got home at 8:58 PM

I used to drive that Monday through Friday for 16 years from almost San Bernardino to Anaheim.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Tonight I fired up the big snow blower... and made sure she was ready.
We are supposed to get 8-10"" by Thursday morning.

[A.K.A. Tommy Boy]

Tonight I fired up the big snow blower... and made sure she was ready.
We are supposed to get 8-10"" by Thursday morning.

Hi Scott.

I got one of those last Saturday and averaged 10 inches of snow.
The snow depth at my place ran from 8 to 12 inches.

Fortunately I get a pass on this... "snow event"
I am above this storm that is headed your way.
Back Roads is going to get this one too.
No snow here in MN.. just cold


Best Wishes - Tom

[Blowpipe Sam]

I fired up the Billygoat blower and towed it through the park blowing leaves off the roads.  It was overcast but the temps were in the mid seventies.  I piloted two riverboat tours and I was surprised at the number and variety of wildlife we saw.  Both trips started off pretty low key but by the time we hit the turnaround things picked up.  There were plenty of waterfowl of course but we saw river otter on both trips and even though the weather was warm and the river was turbid everyone on both tours got to see manatee and baby alligators.  I had to fill in in the ranger station in the afternoon.  I got a rocket from district about midmorning.  The APM had to chew me out for getting a complaint from a visitor.  I felt sorry for him.  I could care less about the complaint.  If you don't get complaint's you ain't doing your job.  But feces flows in response to gravity when negotiating a slope.

[buellm2]

I decided that I didn't feel like replacing the  blown engine in my 30+ year old snowblower.  It's also got a bent auger shaft, leaking differential, no lights and the moveable chute is so worn it feels like it's about to fall off.  So today I bought a new Ariens snowblower.   I don't think this one will last 30 years.   I'm not too likely to last 30 years either.   Unfortunately they can't deliver it until Monday.   I'll be shoveling the next couple snowstorms until delivery.   That's OK, I like shoveling snow until it gets deep. 

[avator]

The Z360 is all back together and operating as it should. The Kawasaki 23ph motor is strong and drives the mower noticeably faster and more powerful than the 18hp. I can definitely feel the difference.
I didn't run it much because I don't have the exhaust on it yet. Nobody in town had the 1 1/4" flex pipe in stock. Adrienne is the Chief of Police's wife. She recently opened a NAPA based auto store here in town. She was my last stop. She didn't have it but said she was going to Troy this morning and would call around and see if she could pick up a hunk for me. She finally talked to a guy at the O'Reilly's in Opp Al. They will delivery special parts to her if she needs. He didn't have any but said he could order it in rolls and have it to her tomorrow. She ordered a whole roll so I could have a 1 1/2 foot hunk of it. Once again.. it pays to live in a small town. You don't find folks that help each other like that in larger cities.
Just think.. how often is there a call for 1 1/4" flex exhaust pipe? How long will it take her to sell a whole 25' roll of it?

Oh and BTW... Chief is a very lucky man.   

Pics or it didn't happen, right?

[Lt. Dan]

The Z360 is all back together and operating as it should. The Kawasaki 23ph motor is strong and drives the mower noticeably faster and more powerful than the 18hp. I can definitely feel the difference.

I didn't run it much because I don't have the exhaust on it yet. Nobody in town had the 1 1/4" flex pipe in stock. Adrienne is the Chief of Police's wife. She recently opened a NAPA based auto store here in town. She was my last stop. She didn't have it but said she was going to Troy this morning and would call around and see if she could pick up a hunk for me. She finally talked to a guy at the O'Reilly's in Opp Al. They will delivery special parts to her if she needs. He didn't have any but said he could order it in rolls and have it to her tomorrow. She ordered a whole roll so I could have a 1 1/2 foot hunk of it. Once again.. it pays to live in a small town. You don't find folks that help each other like that in larger cities.
Just think.. how often is there a call for 1 1/4" flex exhaust pipe? How long will it take her to sell a whole 25' roll of it?

Oh and BTW... Chief is a very lucky man.   

Pics or it didn't happen, right?

Just a thought. Take your mower to a muffler shop and they should be able to bend and shape a pipe to connect exhaust to muffler.

[avator]

The Z360 is all back together and operating as it should. The Kawasaki 23ph motor is strong and drives the mower noticeably faster and more powerful than the 18hp. I can definitely feel the difference.

I didn't run it much because I don't have the exhaust on it yet. Nobody in town had the 1 1/4" flex pipe in stock. Adrienne is the Chief of Police's wife. She recently opened a NAPA based auto store here in town. She was my last stop. She didn't have it but said she was going to Troy this morning and would call around and see if she could pick up a hunk for me. She finally talked to a guy at the O'Reilly's in Opp Al. They will delivery special parts to her if she needs. He didn't have any but said he could order it in rolls and have it to her tomorrow. She ordered a whole roll so I could have a 1 1/2 foot hunk of it. Once again.. it pays to live in a small town. You don't find folks that help each other like that in larger cities.
Just think.. how often is there a call for 1 1/4" flex exhaust pipe? How long will it take her to sell a whole 25' roll of it?

Oh and BTW... Chief is a very lucky man.   

Pics or it didn't happen, right?

Just a thought. Take your mower to a muffler shop and they should be able to bend and shape a pipe to connect exhaust to muffler.

Yeah I could do that but we don't have a local shop that does that kind of stuff. I also don't think they would have 1 1/4" pipe on hand. I think the flex will work just fine. I'm just waiting on the call from Adrienne that she got the pipe and 2 clamps.

[avator]

Adrienne called from the parts store and said she got the flex pipe in. She asked if I could bring something to cut it with. I took a hacksaw and headed on over... it's only a half mile down the road. I measured 16" of the 25' roll and cut it off. But, they only sent 1 pipe clamp so she said she would have the other one tomorrow. $9 total.
I got home and cut another 5" off with the cutoff grinder and bent it around to mate the manifold to the muffler and clamped the manifold side on with the U bolt.
It's already 50% quieter than it was and it will be another 50% quieter with the other U bolt clamp on it tomorrow. Reminded me of putting a silencer on an airgun...   

[bReTt]

Worked for the residents of Seattle to keep the lights on. Came home.  Working on the bath/laundry project.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel

[Madd Hatter]

Just got off the phone with my oldest daughter. It's her birthday. She just turned 49 years old. Dang I feel OLD!!!! My son in law is turning 50 in a week. My other son in-law is a senior citizen!! 😊

[buellm2]

Cleared my driveway and neighbors also.  Only about 1-1/2 inches but waterlogged so it was an excellent shoveling workout.   Snowblower doesn't work all that well with waterlogged snow anyways.   My new snowblower wont be available till monday so I'll be shoveling for a few more days.   More snow coming this weekend.

[airgunaut]

Went to the hospital lab for annual blood draws and urine sample.

At the second reception desk, where the attendant handles insurance cards and ID, she sneezed three times. Oh, BOY; this is why I loathe going to any medical center other than orthopedics and other noninfectious fields. 😡😡😡

The person drawing the blood was very young and, evidently, very inexperienced. She exclaimed that I had "tiny veins," something that has happened on two other occasions when someone really botched the draws. Bad omen. I asked her if they were OK, and she assured me that she had stuck lots of tiny veins.

I doubt it. She stuck my left arm, waited and waited, and then called for help from the next room. A much older person came in and told her to remove the needle and try again. They taped cotton to the hole and I suggested trying my right arm.

Same thing. This time, the older worker watched and told her to abort mission sooner. They prepped a second vein in the right arm, and the young dufus said this time she would use a smaller needle. Well, duh, why didn't she use the smaller needle when she saw the left arm's "tiny veins"? The third attempt finally got the results.

That's not the end of it. I just got a call saying one of the numbers was low enough I need to return either tomorrow (big snowstorm coming tonight, tomorrow, Saturday) or first thing next week to do another blood draw. Grrrrr.

[Blowpipe Sam]

The aggravations of being old!  I played another round of phone tag with the orthopedic surgeon’s office. Still no appointment for surgery.

I ran the waterfront and piloted a couple of boats between thunderstorms.  At home I tied mom’s canoe on top of her car for her. She can’t get the boat on or off the car by herself but her paddling buddies will help her at the other end.  She’s off with her new camper to canoe with friends in west Florida for a week. 

BTW mom is 85 and paddles an Mohawk solo canoe that was designed for her by the guys at Mohawk back in the eighties.  It went into production as the Mohawk expedition 12.

[Madd Hatter]

Went to the hospital lab for annual blood draws and urine sample.

At the second reception desk, where the attendant handles insurance cards and ID, she sneezed three times. Oh, BOY; this is why I loathe going to any medical center other than orthopedics and other noninfectious fields. 😡😡😡

The person drawing the blood was very young and, evidently, very inexperienced. She exclaimed that I had "tiny veins," something that has happened on two other occasions when someone really botched the draws. Bad omen. I asked her if they were OK, and she assured me that she had stuck lots of tiny veins.

I doubt it. She stuck my left arm, waited and waited, and then called for help from the next room. A much older person came in and told her to remove the needle and try again. They taped cotton to the hole and I suggested trying my right arm.

Same thing. This time, the older worker watched and told her to abort mission sooner. They prepped a second vein in the right arm, and the young dufus said this time she would use a smaller needle. Well, duh, why didn't she use the smaller needle when she saw the left arm's "tiny veins"? The third attempt finally got the results.

That's not the end of it. I just got a call saying one of the numbers was low enough I need to return either tomorrow (big snowstorm coming tonight, tomorrow, Saturday) or first thing next week to do another blood draw. Grrrrr.

I always ask them to use the butterfly needle. When they use the normal needle it never goes good. In fact last Tuesday is the first time the phlebotomist had to stick me twice in a lot of years.

[Rabbit\Squirrel Killer]

I browsed YouTube and eBay and had a couple of Hot dogs earlier.

 I just got back from our favorite Taco Shop where I had two shredded beef tacos, rice, and beans and some raspberry iced tea.  What I did today and what am I eating is pretty much the same thing as I navigate this rainy day. 

[Sqrl Klr]

Yes... I agree about PB but WD was all I had on hand without running to the parts store.

Anyhow... I spoke too soon when I said everything should line up. I had to drill 2 new motor mounting holes in the motor plate and splice in one connector. The exhaust won't fit the way it was either.
But the good news it... IT's ALIVE !!
I still have to put the pulleys and PTO on it and replumb the exhaust with some flex tubing but it runs.   
I could probably put the exhaust manifold from the other motor on it and use that exhaust but I know my luck with manifold bolts.  If there are 4 I will snap at least one off. I test fitted the pulleys and PTO when the motor was hanging and they went right on so that will be an easy job in the morning. Then there is the clean up.
I sure don't miss the grease monkey days.

Sounds like a harley with the pipes off plus you can see fire. Have ear plugs will travel.

Worked for the residents of Seattle to keep the lights on. Came home.  Working on the bath/laundry project.  I see the light at the end of the tunnel

Good! Any more pictures?


My mother's old vacuum stopped working well and was burning a rubber belt stinking the place up with toxic fumes so instead of her blowing over $100 to take it to a shop out of town to service it I did. Took it apart and found the roller brush was completely clogged with debris so I pulled that off and brushed a ton of dust off the thing too then reinstalled it with the new belt I found in a storage slot on the bottom of the vacuum. Runs and works like a champ again after 20 minutes of working on it. I found two US made belts for it for only $5 so I got those online. She remembers 15yrs ago being charged $20 for a replacement belt and $100 in labor when her parents had it. No wonder that shop isn't open anymore.

[airgunaut]

The aggravations of being old!  I played another round of phone tag with the orthopedic surgeon’s office. Still no appointment for surgery.

I ran the waterfront and piloted a couple of boats between thunderstorms.  At home I tied mom’s canoe on top of her car for her. She can’t get the boat on or off the car by herself but her paddling buddies will help her at the other end.  She’s off with her new camper to canoe with friends in west Florida for a week. 

BTW mom is 85 and paddles an Mohawk solo canoe that was designed for her by the guys at Mohawk back in the eighties.  It went into production as the Mohawk expedition 12.

WOW to your mom! Yes, picking up and racking heavy boats up high is the first limitation to paddling as age races forward. I got coaching from a guy who said each year two senior regulars (husband and wife) would hire him to accompany them on multiday kayaking trips. He said they could still paddle very well but had trouble with the twice-daily regime of hauling boats ashore to load and unload them, making sure to move them high enough that predicted high tides would not float the boats out of reach, or worse yet, AWAY AWAY never to be returned intact.

[airgunaut]

Went to the hospital lab for annual blood draws and urine sample.

At the second reception desk, where the attendant handles insurance cards and ID, she sneezed three times. Oh, BOY; this is why I loathe going to any medical center other than orthopedics and other noninfectious fields. 😡😡😡

The person drawing the blood was very young and, evidently, very inexperienced. She exclaimed that I had "tiny veins," something that has happened on two other occasions when someone really botched the draws. Bad omen. I asked her if they were OK, and she assured me that she had stuck lots of tiny veins.

I doubt it. She stuck my left arm, waited and waited, and then called for help from the next room. A much older person came in and told her to remove the needle and try again. They taped cotton to the hole and I suggested trying my right arm.

Same thing. This time, the older worker watched and told her to abort mission sooner. They prepped a second vein in the right arm, and the young dufus said this time she would use a smaller needle. Well, duh, why didn't she use the smaller needle when she saw the left arm's "tiny veins"? The third attempt finally got the results.

That's not the end of it. I just got a call saying one of the numbers was low enough I need to return either tomorrow (big snowstorm coming tonight, tomorrow, Saturday) or first thing next week to do another blood draw. Grrrrr.

I always ask them to use the butterfly needle. When they use the normal needle it never goes good. In fact last Tuesday is the first time the phlebotomist had to stick me twice in a lot of years.

Thanks for that tip. I will look up butterfly needle. I was told to ask specifically for the experienced worker by name to avoid another bad experience.

[Back_Roads]

   Did yawl miss me, seems someone sneezed and I got the stomach bug, laid me out for 24 + hours. Had a nice break while others helped with firing up the wood boiler and blowing the main driveway out. Building up strength to battle the next bought of winter