Shop Projects Day

When I retired I gave all my welding shop equipment to my son-n-law(SNL). After 10 years of use with little or no maintenance there are several items of equipment in serious need of a bit of tender loving care(TLC).

SNL has recently acquired an older Snapon model 230sl MIG welder that is not feeding wire nor welding as it should. I think it needs to have the gun polarity reset from electrode negative to electrode positive.

Hobart model 175 MIG welder is not feeding any wire to the gun. Not sure but I suspect the trigger switch has a broken wire or bad contact at the trigger. So I will dissemble the gun and re-solder the trigger wires. If that fails I will check the trigger it’s self and replace the trigger if need.

The 9 inch angle head grinder also has a sticking trigger problem. Most likely it needs to be disassembled, cleaned, lubricated and reassembled.

I’m sure that the larger air compressed has not had water drained from it’s air tank this year so I will also drain the air tank before our first day of freezing weather.

SNL works in town, so I will have him pick-up a small order of 1/4 inch rod and an assortment of 1/8 inch by 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch wide flat steel and a new bottle of CO2 gas for the MIG welder.
If you only do a small amount of welding using flux core wire is fine but flux core wire cost 2 or even 3 times as much per-pound as solid wire. However CO2 gas is required as a shielding gas when using solid wire.

UK – Gardening for Victory and Survival

Eighty years ago at the declaration of war, Great Britons leaders knew that one of their highest priorities was to feed the citizens of Great Briton during the war no matter how long the war lasted.

Digging for Victory: Gardening in World War Two. (BBC News Service) A photo gallery of UK War Time Gardens 1940 to 1947.

UK’s War time Ministry of Agriculture initiative to help to keep the population healthy during food and fuel rationing following the naval blockade that saw food imports drastically reduce.
By 1943, most households had their own garden plot

This a unsung and mostly forgotten event that not only fed millions of fighting men but also fed citizens of both countries during WWII war years a history that was playing out in America as well as Great Briton.

Maurice the rooster – crowing over judges verdict

French rooster cleared by court after lawsuit accused him of making too much noise.

The 4-year-old rooster’s dawn crowing exasperated its neighbors, a retired couple who moved to the small island of Oleron off of France’s Atlantic coast.

The judge not only decided to allow the 4-year-old rooster to stay with his owner, Corinne Fesseau, but also ordered the couple to pay 1,000 euros ($1,103) in damages to her for reputational harm, plus court costs.

Maurice’s case was the most high-profile. Local residents even brought a “support committee” of roosters and hens from around the region to the trial venue in Rochefort this past July. The case elicited letters of support for Maurice from countries around the world, including the U.S.

What did you do at school today?

First day at school has been really challenging.
Mother post photo’s of daughters before and after first school day pictures.

A long, long time past – before WWII, before WWI

On this day, Aug. 22, 1902 Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to ride in a car.

Daughters …. Why do they do things like that?

Getting ready to shower I realized that the skin from my knees to my toe’s was really dry.

After a long hot shower and some time drip drying I was ready to put a good ‘coating’ of hand lotion from knees to toe’s.

A few day ago I ask my daughter to get me a new container of lotion. The last container she got for me made me smell like a field for blooming lavender. Not a good thing for an old guy but I could live with smelling like a blooming flower pot of lavender.

Without ‘reading’ the lotion bottle instructions, I struggled until I could get that little pump thing to operate and dispense lotion.

I quickly applied a liberal coating of lotion to my legs before I realized that I now smell like a fresh made party drink from one of the Caribbean islands. Eeeek … Pina Colada.

Why do daughters do things like that to their poor old daddy’s?

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Eat Well From Your Garden Summer and Winter

Reading a post by Tammy Algood about preserving her Butter Bean crop put me looking for more useful information on DIY freezing fresh foods.

Here’s what I found that I think will be useful by many Home Gardeners.

National Center for Home Food Preservation has a website that list all the information on How To Freeze your summer garden and orchard harvest.

Their How To DIY charts and other useful information covers everything from Apples to Zucchini and is useful by even the most experienced Home Gardeners.

Eat well all winter from your summer garden and orchard harvested fruits.

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Millennial’s have few or no friends

There seems to be a direct link to millennial’s social life, happiness, depression and loneliness associated with living at home being clothed, fed and given an allowance from parents.
Not being employed, not living in your own house or apartment, not paying your own way leads millennial’s to social isolation, depression and loneliness.

Market research firm YouGov said “Social media-savvy millennial’s may make up the loneliest generation in America.”

A poll of 1,254 adults aged 18 and older found that 27 percent of millennial’s have no close friends, 25 percent have no “acquaintances” and 22 percent have no buddies at all.
A third(33 percent) of the 20 and 30 somethings reported feeling lonely often or always, compared with 20 percent of Gen Xers and 15 percent of boomers.

49 percent of millennial’s said they had one to four “close friends” and 70 percent said they had at least one “best friend.” Although, based on the other stats, that best friend is possibly their only friend.

The high rate of loneliness in young people may be because many find it tough to find companions: According to the survey, a third of Americans feel making friends is difficult. For 53 percent, it’s because they’re shy, 27 percent claim it’s because they don’t ” need friends.”

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology links social media usage with a lower quality of life. “the bottom line: Using less social media than you normally use social media leads to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness.

Hint: Get a job, get a pet I recommend a dog or cat, get your own house or apartment. Get a hobby, gardening is rewarding, takes up little of your time and gets you out of the house. Limit time using social media sites.
Turn off your do it all phone. If you miss or don’t respond for several hours or even wait until the next day the world you and I live in will not come to a catastrophic end. The truth is your really not that important, missing a few calls or text messages will not effect our daily life’s.

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Life and Death in Southwest Oklahoma

The months of June and the first 15 days of July, (45 days), has seen 2.47 inches (6.27cm) of rain fall. All but the hardiest plant life is dieing or going dormant waiting for the fall rains to bring it back to life. Even the heat loving drought resistant Sun Flowers are needing a drink of cool water.
The soil is hot, dry and hard as sun baked adobe bricks.

Those boys and girls at the National Weather Service located in Norman, Oklahoma say I can expect to see more of the same for the next 10 days or so. No rain and temperatures at or very near 100 degrees with low or very low humidity and high to very high UV index.

All and all about normal June – July weather for my little part of Southwest Oklahoma.

About the only thing not showing signs of drought stress is my Mesquite trees. Those boys at Texas A and M University tell me mesquite trees have been known to extend their root system 200 feet below ground and horizontally far beyond the plants canopy.

I have started using tap water delivered via water hose to keep my newer planted trees from dieing from lack of water. I water slowly and deeply putting out about 3 to 5 gallons per hour of water targeted at the trees active root zone.

On the bright side we have had very few 100+(37.8C) degree days so far this season. That translates to money saved by needing to run the AC fewer hours each day to keep my living space cool.

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A Walk Down Memory Lane

Looking back it seems that I made my first Word Press blog post in June 2009. Wow 10 years and 1,145,766 hits later I am now moving into my 11th year on Word Press.

I have made over 1,400 postings. Covering most things vegetable and fruit gardeners seem to need or at least want a bit of helpful hints on.

Search my blog for everything from Asparagus to Zucchini. Apples to Raspberries.

Composting seems to be a favored subject for many bloggers.

You may have an interest in chicken coops, sexing day old chicks or maybe raising rabbits for pets or as a food source.

There is even a good starter recipe for a good beginners Rumtopf (rum pot).

Give my blog a search for area(s) that interest you. Grin, all you have to lose in a few minutes of your time.

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Why is Common Sense so Uncommon?