What did you do today?

[highup]

Helped a friend yesterday and today. His Ford Ranger wouldn't start. The starter didn't even click. I towed him 12 blocks from the grocery store to his house the day before. He's 80 and that concerned me a bit.
Traffic was unbelievably light and the tow couldn't have gone smoother.
The next day, yesterday, we started checking on it.
The wire to the starter solenoid received no voltage when the key was turned. We checked wires, relays, fuses. I even bought a new battery cable end, then re-cut the cables so that there was fresh new copper on the battery clamps.
I had his battery on my charger the whole time.
I look at the lockout switch on the transmission, I look for a lockout switch on the brake pedal. Please check everything and everything seemed fine but for some reason the solenoid wire got no juice.

.......last resort. Crawl back under one more time.
This time with my Eswing 20oz hammer
I gave the starter a half dozen tappy tap taps and had him hit the key.
......started right up.
He restarted the truck four more times and it starts fine now.
It's a temporary fix, but at least we know what the problem is.
As long as he keeps a hammer in his truck, he will rest assured know he can make it home.
.........for the time being.
Hammers aren't just for nails.

 

[highup]

Since I was reminded that the compressor has a handle on it, I was able to get it down. Haven't tried to use it yet though.
I'm all about the naps. I have to take multiple per day.

Naps......
....not just for breakfast anymore

 

[highup]

Left the grocery store ann noticed the bridge of a ship behind Safeway.
I definitely had to check that out.
I drove a couple 10th of a mile along the main drag and parked.
I got out, walked across the railroad tracks and over to the public walkway by the bay.
One of the larger tugs and a second one we're turning a ship around to dock it.
This is the very end of the Bay. There hasn't been a ship dock there for 5 years I'll bet because nothing's happening there.
Anyway it was a bit unusual so I sat there and watched for a while.
I need to do some investigation because I have no clue what they're loading on to this ship. There's less than 600 ft long and the only thing on that dock is a conveyor system.
The stock used to load lumber on the ships, 2x4s 4x4s 6x6s 10x12s everything. The lumber mill and the loading facility has been there for 50, 60, 80 years ..... I don't know.

That facility closed doors and a nickel ore mining facility begin operating at this location because of a large supply of nickel ore from about 80 mi away.
The nickel market went away so that place closed.
Another company built a large concrete silo to dry silica sand near one of the local beaches 30 miles away. They separated the silica from the garnet from whatever else is in the sand and sold those materials in bulk.
I took a couple years to get the facility up and operation but then I don't think that lasted a year before it closed down.
I'm curious as to why the ship is being docked at this location.
It's an unusual ship because the bow goes straight down, no angle whatsoever. Just because I ship has cranes on it like this one does doesn't going to mean no cranes are going to be used. The cranes can offload the hatches, then the cranes swing out of the way and materials such as grain, gravel, cement, you name it can be poured into the holds of the ship. Ships are multi-purpose.
Anyway I tried to shrink this video down and we'll see if it works.
The two tow boats are in the process of spinning the ship 180° and then pushing it towards the dock. It's an extremely quiet and relaxing process to watch one of these large vessels get moved and positioned. The tugboats make virtually no sound at all until they live their engines up but still it's very muffled and a soothing sound.
The ship makes no sound at all.
It's kind of fun watching something relatively close and relatively large being moved around with such ease and precision.
When I say precision, I'm speaking of two tow boats pushing a 600 foot long ship towards a dock without damaging the ship or the dock. Just fun to watch and you sometimes have to be in the right place at the right time to know that it's going to happen. Tonight was one of those nights.
Now the burning question to me is why after all these years are they docking a ship this particular dock.
Hell maybe it's a load of hemp.
I mean, this is Oregon

 

[Tile Tom]

Great time last night at the showtime fight at turning stone, Verona NY. Boxing hall of fame weekend.
I met Micky Ward!! My kid got a pic with Maciej Sulecki from Poland who got a 2nd round KO last night!! Awesome weekend!!!!
Also just had a nice conversation with Roberto Duran!

 

[zannej]

Broke up a cat fight. Ushered a cute wolf spider off my bed and tried to get it somewhere it won't get squished. It has been crawling all around my desk area looking for something. Either a place to make a web or something to eat. I hope it finds some flies. It was crawling toward my pillow when I first saw it, so I had to divert it away gently. Last I saw it went behind my fan.

I've continued to work on trim. Scabbed another PVC scrap on to the side bc there was still a large gap. I glued & stapled the scrap on (used construction adhesive). Then used construction adhesive on a scrap tear-away strip to bridge the gap a bit better. When the adhesive dries a bit more I will try to put some reinforcement behind the looser ends of the tear away strip. I resorted to spreading adhesive with my finger. Dipped it in mineral spirits after and it got all of the adhesive off of my hands. Then I washed it off with soap and water.
I really need to clean the floor and will still have to caulk the gap, but its better than it was before:

I obviously need to clean the floor and will have to put some scrap vinyl under where the mouse chewed because the very edge of the hole is still visible under the baseboard trim.

 

[C.J.]

Left my last van deck in Phoenix, told myself I’d build another one when the time came. The time came.

My days of carrying around a thousand pounds of tools in my van are over. I need a safe place for my levels and my tracks. I’ll prolly throw a couple pack outs and my saws in there until I get or build some shelves.

I got the bottom done today. I’ll finish it off tomorrow with a top layer of 1/2” whiteboard.

 

[JPfloor]

Nicely done.

 

[highup]

Those EMPTY center areas are just for supporting the whiteboard?

 

[zannej]

Looks great, CJ!

 

[C.J.]

Those EMPTY center areas are just for supporting the whiteboard?

Pretty much. I had my straight edges taking up that empty space on my last deck.

 

[C.J.]

I hustled and got my van deck finished up before the rain starts this afternoon. I set my saw horses up right behind the van, makes sliding the pieces in n out real easy while scribe fitting them. Not sure how I want to finish off the side door reveal so it looks like it looks for now.

After loading all my tools back into the van you wouldn’t know I was trying to cut down on weight

 

[zannej]

It looks great, CJ! At least the stuff in the back is more organized than stuff in my house. LOL.

Realized I didn't have the right size brad nails and the don't sell them locally so I went up to HD to find them. There was another customer there who kept thinking I was walking in a certain direction and I thought he was going a different direction and we kept doing a little dance just about. Had a good laugh about it. We were both looking for the exact same thing. I found it and showed it to him.

I was going to try to work on stuff when I got home but as soon as I started getting out of the truck my body said "Nope" and I felt like I could barely move.

Ate a salad and am currently cuddled up with kitties.

 

[kwfloors]

Working on carpet in a house in one of our gated communities. Painters from LA are here since the client has connections there. This Mexican music is driving me crazy, knew I should have brought my boombox.

 

[Don Monfils]

That would drive me nuts too

 

[DarisMulkin]

Working on carpet in a house in one of our gated communities. Painters from LA are here since the client has connections there. This Mexican music is driving me crazy, knew I should have brought my boombox.

When my stpson worked for me he would go nuts when Rap music was played. To the point sometime of going out and sitting in the van.

 

[Csason]

Today I made the last payment on my E350 box truck. I guess you could also say I finished 21000 sq ft of Armstrong LVT in a medical center new construction




That’s the easiest way to show some of it

 

[C.J.]

It’s nice not having monthly payments!

 

[havasu]

Today I made the last payment on my E350 box truck. I guess you could also say I finished 21000 sq ft of Armstrong LVT in a medical center new construction




That’s the easiest way to show some of it

What an awesome job!

 

[Csason]

The final clean up is Monday I’ll get a better video then . There are two large areas we did in 18 by 36 LVT with a nine inch border as one is seen here.

 

[zannej]

If that's your voice in the video, you have a nice deep voice. Man, that flooring looks neat! That's a lot of work! Interesting how the different flooring got merged in and then transitioned over. That must have taken quite a bit of planning.

Been exhausted from heat. Friend dislocated his thumb at work. I still am having problems with my index finger that I smashed a couple weeks back. And now I got a papercut on the middlefinger next to it. It doesn't hurt but it itches.

My window has a gap in the glass from tenants breaking it and replacing the glass with a piece too small. At least a 1" gap all along the edge. I cleaned it up and put some clear tape on first and then some hvac foil tape over that. I knew the foil tape would be too weak on its own. As soon as I peeled the paper off the back it rolled up and stuck to itself. Got all wrinkly. I cut my finger trying to smooth it out. Doesn't hurt but it itches like a mofo.

Dogs got into the trash outside so I'm going to have to clean that up when its not hot as hell. Went to the grocery store for a few things and came back overheated. There's some ice cream in the freezer but I'm saving it til later. Still working on tweaking my trim in my bathroom. Caulked some seams on some pieces I put together. Keep trying to get my brother to help me with putting together the tablesaw but he's always playing games or sleeping instead.

Watched the newest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I'm enjoying that show. Right mix of action and comedy.

Talked to a family friend who works at Walmart. Used to be a manager but now is a greeter due to health issues. Both of his parents died of cancer. His little sister has had cancer a few times. Now his older brother has stage 4 lung cancer and was put in hospice. He's only in his 50s I think. Early 60s at the oldest. Never smoked but was in the army and transported nuclear weapons. He apparently joked with his army buddies that they were all going to get cancer when they got back home. Apparently one lung already collapsed and he keeps getting fluid buildup that causes excruciating pain until it is drained, but whenever they drain it, there is some sort of mass that starts bleeding. Required 5 blood transfusions in the last draining. They told him the treatment is not sustainable and its best to send him home and make him as comfortable as possible. Really sucks. :-(