RowdyRebel

Back to the power hacksaw to cut the ball mounts off the drop hitches.....

....some assembly required.

Damn near lost the Ranger on Friday when I dragged it behind the Mack to the shop for work....bumper was literally hanging by a thread by the time I got there. Luckily I use safety chains on the draw bar, but no telling if they would have been strong enough to prevent a run-away truck had it come apart on me. Anyway, I got back last night from a weekend on the road and decided I had better get it fixed. I started out picking up a few supplies on the way into town....a pair of 12" long 2" receiver tubes, a pair of 6" drop receiver hitches with a perpendicular drop (instead of slanted), and some spring tie plates. That and some scrap I had laying around I got to work with the power tools... Gotta cut stuff to length with the power hacksaw. This thing is awesome....prefer using it to a cutting torch, since it makes a much cleaner & more precise cut. This WAS a 48" long piece of 2" receiver tube that I was cutting down to use as a cross member...

...when ya got work to do and the weather just ain't cooperating.

I was just up there in your neck of the woods this weekend...rode my motorcycle up Western Ave with several thousand others & had a blast. I never would have thought the words "I think I'll take the liners out of my SUMMER riding gear for today's ride" would slip off my tongue before a ride through Chicago on the first Sunday in December...but they did. I ain't complaining...usually I'm so bundled up I can barely move, so it was especially nice this year. I'm definitely a BIG fan of global warming.

I've always been tempted to bring along a couple of my old Forestry books in the truck with me. (Yes, I've got a B.S. degree in Forestry from a state university...even hauled logs for a year or so, which is the closest I've come to actually using my degree....but I digress.) I would LOVE to see the look on the DOT cop's face when he asks for my "log book" and I ask him: "Which one you wanna see?" Of course it'd probably confuse him...at which point I'd start handing him log books and explain, "This one will tell you how to grow the logs....this one will tell you how to measure the logs....this one here will tell you how to identify the logs....." I've never quite had the cajones to try it though....I usually just tell 'em I ain't got one when they ask....explain the 100 air-mile-radius exemption a dozen times or so and try to talk 'em out of needing to see it. I've never been written a ticket for not showing them my log book. I only get in trouble when I hand it over...so if I can avoid that, ya damn well better believe I'm gonna try.

The only budget he's ever signed is the one he blames Bush for....signed into law March 11, 2009 to cover FY2009. Since then, there has not been an actual federal budget...only continuing resolutions.

...and I'd take the lump sum payout. Federal taxes on the "rich" are gonna jump here in a couple weeks...gotta claim it while the taxes are still "low" or else you'll lose another 4% to the feds. But then again, if somebody wanted to give me $550,000,000....and I could have it all right now if I would accept 35% less, that would STILL be $357,500,000 more than I've got right now...and if the feds want their 35% cut, I'd still be left with $232,375,000 more than I've got right now. But of course the state would want their 5% of the $357,500,000 too...so that's another $17,875,000 off the top which would STILL leave me with $214,500,000 more than I've got right now. Take the $107,136 that I owe for stuff right now (mortgage, student loan, etc.) and I'd have $214,392,864 left to do whatever the heck I felt like doing with $214,392,864. At $3000/acre, that would buy 71,000 acres (just shy of 111 square miles) with $1,392,864 left over. Of course if I could find land cheaper, I'd buy more of it. Take $250,000 to build a modest home and decent size shop right smack dab in the center of that acreage, and I'd still have $1,142,864 left over to live off of the interest. I'd LOVE to have a 20+ mile long 2-track dirt road for a driveway...a driveway so "bad" that ya gotta either have a 4x4 or a Mack to get up to the house. Of course it'd have to be "off the grid"....solar, wind, and backup generator for power...my own well for water, and septic for sewage. Cell phones wouldn't reach the house...so no phone. Yup...that's what I'd do if I won. Like I said, I'd have all but about $1 million spent by the end of the week....get the acreage into a timber harvest rotation so I'd only pay ag rates on the property taxes (not to mention the extra income from the timber sales) with the intrest off that $1M to pay to fix stuff when it broke.

If I win I could afford to take the rest of the week off. Ya know what? Screw it...I'm taking the rest of the week off whether I win or not. I'd just be able to afford it if I won.

The pretrip would be NOTHING compared to the POST TRIP....my pretrips are nothing more than lights, tires, make sure the 5th wheel is still latched, air lines properly connected, dolly legs up, and roll out...usually takes about a minute or two. Post trip is where I go over the truck with a fine tooth comb...want to find anything wrong when I have time to fix it before I need to roll out again. The only exception to that rule is if I hook to a different trailer...then I go over it with a fine tooth comb to find any problems with it BEFORE I get out on the road...and since the trailer is at the yard, any problems can be fixed by the shop before I get on the road with it. Besides, if you show time for a pretrip, it starts your 14 hour clock. If you flag a pretrip and wait until your post trip to show the time, you can extend your day beyond the 14th hour all you want on line 4....you just can't drive.

Well then in that case, you're f#$%ed.

I'm just thinking how much more I'D weigh if he didn't eat the last bite of all of my sammiches & cheeseburgers.

Hell, the first time I went, I was there for 8 and a half hours...so I'm getting better. That store is just SO big, and they have EVERYTHING (well, ALMOST everything....no guns, no ammo, and no beer, but pretty much everything else)...so I've got to wander around and start putting price tags on the various projects I want to undertake. I'll do the same at TSC, except it is a MUCH smaller store, so it usually only takes me an hour to make my rounds there. Hell, most of the time when I go to TSC, I'm helping other customers find stuff because I've been there so many times and know where everything is. Of course when you live alone...and your choice is to wander the store where you might find people to talk to...or go home and not talk to anyone...well, that might have something to do with it, too. Heck, I got in trouble at a fuel stop the other day because I fueled up my truck, then got sidetracked on my way in talking to another driver. Next thing we know, the clerk is walking out thinking somebody pumped & left without paying because it had been AN HOUR since I had hung up the pump & still hadn't made it inside. 3 days later, I got to talking to a farmer inside another fuel stop while paying for my fuel for about 45 minutes before I made it back out to my truck. That worked out nicely, though, because it let the fog burn off a little so I could see where I was going when I left. The fiance hates that about me...if I can find something to talk to somebody about, the conversation can last forever...she deals with idiots all day, so she's content with not talking to anyone. To each their own...

Took Dozer to the vet today for his annual checkup. Wasn't expecting this:

They take the concept of "fake" Christmas trees to a new level at Menards....

Well, I'm getting better. Funny thing is, even though it was only my 2nd trip to the store (and the first time was almost 5 months ago), several of the employees recognized me. Anyway, went in there to start my Christmas shopping. Saw something last time that I wanted to get for mom & dad...and bought a 2nd one for myself. It is a hot water faucet, with a 1/3 gallon tank under the sink that will dispense 40 cups of 200 degree water per hour...so mom won't have to wait for the tea kettle to heat up water for her tea in the morning, and dad can have his coffee quicker too (they have the coffee singles just like the tea bags...or he can use instant)...or oatmeal....or hot cocoa....or anything else that needs hot water. I also bought a chair...it was on sale. I bought a computer desk a few days ago to put in the spare room that I'm cleaning out to turn into an office....got to get this silly computer off the coffee table. I waste more time in front of this stupid thing than I should...mostly because I can see both the TV and the computer monitor, so I sit here on the floor with my back to the couch and play on the computer while I watch TV and nothing else gets done. I figure if I move the computer into the spare room...maybe add a file cabinet or two...I can start keeping things a little more organized. Probably going to get a freezer for that room too...not sure if I'll go with an upright one or a chest freezer. Since the fiancy is short (5' nothing), the upright would probably work better for her....probably couldn't reach the bottom of a chest freezer without falling in. Also for that room, it's going to get a new door to the outside world.....a door with a window that has the blinds inside, and a doggy door for Dozer and her dog to let themselves in and out. Going to get a storm door, too, that has a doggy door on it....figure 2 doors with 2 flaps will do a better job keeping the weather out than just 1 door with a single flap. Then I priced rolls of chain link fencing...thinking a 6' H x 50' roll or two to fence in a good size chunk of yard off to the side of the house so that we can leave the dogs at home if we want to go out riding our motorcycles for a day or even go out overnight with the horses somewhere...and the dogs can let themselves outside to take care of business and let themselves back in to their food & water. Of course that'll also mean building either a deck or some steps outside of that door, too.... I also found some number stamps...I've had letter stamps for a while...but since these numbers were smaller than the letters I had, I bought the letters too. Now, when I build another trailer, I'll be able to stamp the VIN on it myself instead of taking the tongue & title to a locksmith to have him stamp it. Oh yeah....and they had the single nozzles for the pressure washers. I had lost my soap nozzle the first time I tried to use it and Sears doesn't sell them individually....gotta buy all 5, which would really piss me off every time I see a duplicate that I shouldn't have had to buy sitting there on the shelf. ....and I priced some ladders. I've got a 6' ladder that's pretty decent...and an extension ladder that reaches up about 20' that might be suitable for a 10 year old kid to climb up....but not me. I was looking at some that reach 22-26 feet...some with multiple settings that can be used as A-frame ladders, extension ladders, scaffolds, etc...others that are just extension ladders....all of the ones I've been looking at are 300# rated, which is enough for me and a chainsaw with a little left over. Anyway, like I said...I did better this time. I was only there for 6 hours today....

Just put 'er in the low hole & walk it out.

Why would you still have the screens up? Don't you know it is winter time? Those should have been replaced with the storm windows by now...

I'm jealous....all we have here is C-C-C-COLD-D-D-D!!! 30 degrees now...going up to 44. I wish it were AT LEAST twice that....60 up to 88 would be a nice, cool day for me...about as cold as I care to have if it isn't gonna snow. That plow truck is a HUGE waste of taxpayer money. Ain't enough snow to worry about yet....as I always say, if'n ya need to shovel the driveway in order to get in or out, its time to buy a bigger truck.

With this bunch, there wouldn't be an adult table...

LOVE the cinder block...my first truck didn't have a functional parking brake, and the drivers side floor had rotted out. I'd drop a 1/4 chunk of cinder block out through the hole in the floor, then while my right foot was holding the brake, I'd reach down with my left foot (through the hole in the floor) and kick the cinder block piece up behind the front wheel. Whatever works, right?

If I don't turn the dish off overnight, it needs to download the program guide info....and you can't watch TV while it does that. ...and my dish remote won't control everything....TV, amp, dish, DVD, VCR...and these universal remotes are getting pretty good at being able to turn everything on and change the input settings (i.e. tv/video on the TV) with the push of 1 button. My TV doesn't have sound (which is why I got it free), so I have to use the stereo for that... Anyway, I FINALLY got it working..I think. Had to get the original remote from the stereo to try to "learn" the new remote....but it didn't work anymore, and new batteries didn't help. So, I used the universal remote I've been using and it learned the new remote just fine....took a while, and I'm still not sure it was worth the hassle...but it seems to be working.

Well so far, my opinion of the thing is that it is absolute JUNK! 2 friggin hours later and the thing STILL isn't set up. It kept booting me out of the setup program saying there was a problem connecting to the server...and now, it is having trouble sending the programming info over to the remote. MUCH more of a PITA than it is worth...everything I have is Sony, except the Dish receiver and the TV...and the TV will be Sony, too, if I ever stop being such a penny-pincher and buy one. Sony remotes work out of the box with other Sony products, so I'd just have to program in the dish receiver. What took me so long on the last universal remote was programming it to turn on the TV & switch that to the video input, turn on the amp, and turn on the dish all with the press of one button...had to get the timing down so that things would all turn on correctly....get the sequence of button pushes correct. This one is all computer connection related....and that's where I have problems. Everything is plugged in and it SHOULD be working...but it ain't.

...so the old "universal" remote that I've been using for a while has finally quit working. Well, not COMPLETELY...just a few of the most commonly used buttons. So, I've been having to keep multiple remotes (the original ones that came with the devices) on hand to pick up the slack where the universal remote fails to work. Anyway, I wasn't thrilled with having to replace the remote because it took a while to figure it out and get it programmed....although it was easier since the TV and the Dish receiver are the only non-Sony appliances, so a Sony remote only has to be programmed for those 2 devices. Still, I had to "learn" the universal remote in order for it to work like I wanted it....but I got it figured out so many years ago. Anyway, I was at the Walmart yesterday and I found a remote...made by Logitech...that plugs into your computer. You go online and look up all of the devices you want the remote to control, and it programs the thing for you...so the remote shouldn't have any unused buttons and all of the features on the OEM remote should be available on this one....so I decided to give it a try. I'm waiting for the program to download....we'll see how it goes.

Stouffer's roast turkey breast (with cornbread stuffing in a homestyle gravy with mashed potatoes) will be done in 10 minutes. Just got the canned yams in the pan on the stove...dang buzzer...time to get the corn in the microwave. Dinner in 10. WOOHOO!