The Rest of Boat Works Stuff

When we left off last time, the centerboard had made it into the boat, but was propped up by a timber.

This of course would not do for the long term-

or even the short term.

(The need to get back on the trailer)

It was necessary to provide a way to raise, or lower the thing as needed.

So a Temporary Winch Arrangement was provided.

This would serve while the rest of the work on the boat continued.

This pix shows what was finally put together.

But several earlier attempts were not as successful due to the weight of this massive piece of steel.

This winch is what will be used when finished, but probably not in this exact set up.

The final arrangements will be made as the boat is finished up.

But this will work for now.

All that was left now was to get her back onto the trailer.

This of course was the reverse process of taking her off.

And eventually accomplished.

The Fuzz would like to thank everyone involved, for letting him observe.

He does have a bit of interest in the subject.

Who knows?

Perhaps someday he may be involved in these things himself-

But probably not on this scale!

New Cover

A number of years ago- quite a number in fact, The Fuzz's Sweetie made him a present of this little Bible.  Well, The Fuzz has used it for years now and it had gotten to the place where the cover was pretty much worn out.  
The original cover (which we regret not to have a pix of) was blue leather and had a flap which snapped over it to keep it closed.  This was a nice arrangement and The Fuzz liked it.  But it was history.
Well, The Fuzz and his Sweetie have been looking into bookbinding some in the last year or so, and this looked like a prime candidate for a new cover.
Fortunately, the binding itself was intact.  All that was needed was a replacement cover.  The Fuzz is fond of leather and over the years has collected a bit of scraps and samples*.  So he pulled out a piece of a convenient size and went to work.
The first thing was to remove the old cover without ruining the binding.  This was a slow go, but eventually (with some good advice from His Sweetie) it was accomplished.
Then, the end papers were cleaned up and any damage repaired.
A piece of leather was selected, and trimmed to fit.  Since The Fuzz prefers a soft cover for this "Carry Bible", no additional stiffening was needed.  But this leather was much too thick to fold over the edges and was left as it was.  He simply glued it together, and left it pressed under a weight overnight.

Rather than trying to mount a snap, The Fuzz opted for a leather lace.  It holds the book closed nicely and is not really too much trouble to fasten with a simple knot.

The Fuzz is considering running a line of stitching around the edges.  But at this time it does not seem necessary.  It is holding up fine so far, and The Fuzz is quite pleased with it.


*One of the perks of the trash profession!

Fun With Computers

Part of the fun of a new computer* is trying to get your stuff to work with it.

The Fuzz had been having a time with the printer and the old mac.  He had kinda hoped things would be different with the new one.

He finally got to the place where it was time for the "Test Page".

This is what he got.  

It seems that the "Congratulations" were a bit premature, since the thing didn't quite finish the job.

Apparently there are still a few issues with this.

*We will have more to say on this in later posts.

Things Still Continue to Move Along

The Fuzz is continuing to work on these doors.

Now that the tracks were up, the next step was building a frame.

Wanting things to be as stable as possible, he decided to take the extra time to make some lap joints at the corners.  
But with the table saw at the Old Place, he had to improvise as usual.

So he used the old "Multiple Saw Cut"* technique to cut the frame pieces, and cleaned them up with a chisel.

After laying the frame out, he covered it with a piece of plywood, and used screws to fasten it all together.

Mounting the hardware got a bit tricky, hence we have no pix of that part,  (Our Photographer's attention being occupied with other matters at the time)

Once the drilling, countersinking, and hunting for the right wrenches was finished, it was time to hang the door.
Our Fuzz had to struggle with the heavy thing, but of course being a guy, he insisted on doing it himself.
But he didn't hurt himself seriously, and we are able to post some pix of the first door in place.

Of course there is still the other door to take care of.  But that should be easier since now The Fuzz has some idea of what he's doing.

And we even have a pix of the interior.

*Crude, but effective.

Complications

Well, when The Fuzz went to mount the rails for the sliding doors on the shed, he found that this one had a dent.  Said dent was bad enough so that the rollers would bind.  It was possible to force the rollers though.  That might have been the easy way, but it wouldn't be the cowboy way!

 Careful measurements showed The Fuzz that the track was supposed to be 1 3/4" wide.  

 So The resourceful Fuzz went to his toolbox and found his 1 3/4" spacer. (which also happens to be a 30mm socket*)

 But of course with the ding there, the socket wouldn't slide into the position where it needed to be.

 A piece of scrap* left over from the framing (The Fuzz has a tendency to hang on to these things) was driven into the slot.  This enabled The Fuzz to position this special tool correctly.

 Pounding against the plywood floor was ineffectual, so the rail was backed up* with this splitting maul.

 The Fuzz then hammered around the original ding, thus bringing the rail into a reasonable semblance of what it was supposed to be.

 It worked, and now there is no problem with the rollers or track.  

*Another handy Techno-Tip

 

More Adventures in Laundry

The fuzz has mentioned being involved in some new pursuits these days.  Well one of these involves the mysteries of the Laundry Room (and it's equipment).  
 With His Sweetie off in town, he decided to tackle the seemingly simple task of running a couple loads of laundry.  This pix may help to illustrate this adventure.

 This is a dryer.  You will notice a knob, some pliers, and a lot of black fuzz.

 First the knob.  In order to operate the dryer, one must first set the timer with the knob.  This would seem to be a simple enough thing, but somehow Our Fuzz managed to screw up the knob in the process.  He hopes to someday find a replacement.

The pliers were used by The Resourceful Fuzz to get the dryer to work so he would not have a huge pile of wet clothes when His Sweetie returned.

Now about the black fuzz.  It seems that on a recent trip to one of the Super Duper Thriftstores, the Young Daughter* had acquired a large fuzzy jacket of some kind.  Not wishing to half ass his laundry chore, The Fuzz included this item in the load of wash.  When he opened the washer, and started to remove what he expected to be clean clothes, he found them all embedded with this black fuzz!  Now what!

It is amazing the things that can complicate a simple thing like washing up a few dirty clothes.  We are happy to relate, that after a trip though the dryer (with several cleanings of the lint filter) all that fuzz did come off of the clothes.  Now The Fuzz just has to find a new knob somewhere.  Are there washing machine junkyards?

*The Fuzz toyed with the idea of blaming her for this trouble.  But that wouldn't really be right.  Like Harry Trueman said, "The buck stops here".  

Questions?

The question has been raised as to just what the sign on this bridge means.
Well, sad to say The Fuzz does not know for sure.
But he did find the pix below, on line.
Unfortunately, he could find no explanations of the different signs.
His best guess is, No Passing!

New Week

Just so you know, we have not dropped off the face of the Earth here. Suffice it to say that The Fuzz has been busy elsewhere. But now for the exciting part. Our Fuzz has taken this week off from the garbage business to work on the Shed Project!
Last week he made arrangements to have the tin delivered. As you can see below, it is here.
But when he saw it (he was not home for the delivery) he noticed* a discrepancy. Although he had ordered 10' tin, here we see 12' tin!
But the design (and framing) calls for 10' metal up there.
On consideration, it was thought that extending the eaves the extra 2ft, could provide some useful sheltered space to store garden tools and such out of the weather. So our Adaptable Fuzz picked up some materials to add some light extensions to this roof.When it gets light, and he has finished this post, The Fuzz will get started on this. We will attempt to keep y'all informed on the progress of this exciting project.

*This was discovered by noting the difference between the 10' ridge pieces, and the 12' stuff!

The Story Behind It

Is kaput.
That thing there on the trash pile is our ceiling fan from the living room here. It is kaput. And this is a bad time for that sort of thing. But The Fuzz is a resourceful sort of fella. Back at the old place, we had a pretty nice one, and of course it was not being used any more.
So when he got off work Monday, he slipped over to the old place and removed it. Since he was traveling by motorcycle, he had thought to leave the disassembled thing there for a later pick up. But then, he got to thinking about it. It seemed that the motor part might just fit into the saddlebag if the shaft was left sicking out. And it did! It was then a simple to fasten the paddles on with those always useful bungee cords. He was just ready to head for home when the rain started. Well, a little rain this time of year is a blessing, so he sat on the porch and waited it out. When it quit, he headed for home.
But it was a trick. The rain was only waiting to get him out in the open. And then it cut loose again. He did make it home, but he had already had his shower.
The next day he did get it installed. And he only shocked himself once. And here it is, in action! And that, people, is the story behind our Mystery Pixes

High Finance and Kitty Cats

The Fuzz was listening to the radio the other day. Someone was explaining the financial world system. The best he could make out was it works like this.

1) A borrows 10 bucks from B.
2) A gives B IOU.
3) B sells IOU to C at a profit*.
4) D borrows 10 bucks from E.
5) D gives E IOU.
6) E sells IOU to C at a profit*.
7) C staples the IOUs together and sells them to F at a profit*.
8) F sells the lot to G at a profit*.
9) G sells to H at a profit*.
10) A&D skip town.
11) H sells to I at a profit*.
12) I can't find A or D to collect on IOUs.
13) Congressman J borrows 25 bucks from China to give to I.
14) I gives congressman J 5 buck campaign contribution.
15) Taxpayer U owes China 30 bucks.

At least that's the best he could make of it. But we have to remember that The Fuzz is just a dumb-ass garbage man so we shouldn't expect him to understand these things.

But we do have this pix of some of the Kitty Cats trying to keep warm out here this globally warm winter.



*Just where this profit comes from is one of the things The Fuzz doesn't quite get.

First Night

Since we finally got our approval from the county, we were getting ready to move in.
The Fuzz took some vacation time from work for some preparations. We are not exactly moving in, but will be spending many nights there. One of the first things on the agenda was to get rid of some of the construction debris. Here's a trailer load ready to go.
In celebration of our First Night our there in the Woods, The Fuzz and His Sweetie put up the Party Lights. There's still a lot to do, but as you can see, we are making progress here.
Of course, there is no Internet out there yet, so if these posts get a bit erratic, it's just one of those complications of modern life. But we will keep you posted with all the latest news.

Exotic Furniture

Now that the county is out of our hair (Yes we passed!) it's time to make things livable. We've had this box sitting out there for a while, waiting for the right moment. Since that moment had finally come, The Fuzz opened it, here's some of what was inside. Next all these pieces had to be properly assembled into they're proper form.
In times passed, we had purchased a similar unit from Wally World on line. When The Fuzz went to pick it up at the local Wally Mega World, he realized it was a piece of crap. But since they had also damaged it in shipment (although they tried to keep this a secret) he was able in good conscience to refuse it. After standing in several lines to ascertain that his funds had been returned, he went back on line and found this little item all the way from Brazil. It looked better and was less expensive. (We won't say it was "cheaper" because Wally's was definitely a piece of cheap crap.) But we had never actually opened the boxes till now. I am pleased to report that it was pretty nice, made out of real wood and all. But it still needed to be assembled. The Fuzz was quite happy to find that everything necessary was already in the boxes, even the glue. All he needed to supply was a screwdriver. The instructions were completely pictorial, which was good since The Fuzz does not read Portuguese.

Here's a look.

Nice ain't it. The table isn't in this pix, but you can get the idea.

It still needs some finishing. The Fuzz's Sweetie helped put the 1st coat of varnish on it today.

And also, The Fuzz wanted me to mention a Brand New Easier Mystery Pix coming at Midnight! So get ready.

Guilty?

Well, so far the vote is going against this little feller. His refusal to make eye contact is working against him. Maybe he needs a better lawyer. The jury is still out, but it looks bad.
If you haven't had a chance yet to voice your opinion, there's still time.
In the mean time, let's just say that the whole litter was banished from the porch, which seemed to have a good effect. But don't think of this as a cruel punishment thing, it was more of a chance for them to begin to experience the wider world out there.

Multiple Choice

Now that we've dealt with those troublesome "Monkey Pods", we can move on to more pressing matters.
To our right, you will see "Exhibit A". This is only one of these items being found daily on our back porch. For any who might be a little inexperienced, this is what is known as a Cat Turd.
Now this is not intended to be one of those "Cute Kitten" pix, although I suppose it could fall into that category. It is rather, a roundup of "The usual suspects". But the question remains, which is the perpetrator?

Is it suspect "A"?

Suspect "B"?

Or, suspect "C"?

This is the question we need answered. Not knowing how to determine this, The Fuzz suggested that we leave it up to some sort of a vote, maybe like that American Idol thing on the TV. And so, we leave it up to you, our many loyal readers. Which of these sneaky little Shitty Kitties is responsible. Which looks like the type that would commit such an act of desecration.

Slight Hitch Cont....

Enlarging the access hole didn't seem like the best approach since this might weaken what goes for a frame.
Perhaps this would be insignificant, but since this area would have to bear the additional strain of a (possibly overloaded) trailer The Fuzz decided to use another approach.
The piece on the left A will take a ride on the bench grinder, the one on the right B has already had it's turn and now is able to slip up into this "frame". This stuff has to go in one hole and end up with the bolt sticking out of the other.
This could get tricky.
But there is a little trick to accomplish this amazing feat. They have provided this ingenious technique utilizing this "Fishing" wire to pull the bolt into the flat thing which will already be inside the "frame".
Note how securely the bolt threads into this specially designed wire. The Fuzz was expecting the worst, like maybe loosing all this stuff inside that "frame". But I'm happy to report that he was disappointed, and every thing worked just as planned. The bolt slid into that flat piece and then the whole thing slid right down though the proper hole with only a minimum of jiggling. This was repeated on the other side, and then the hitch was lifted and bolted into position.

And here is the finished project.
Now we'll have to find a suitable trailer.

But There Was a Slight Hitch

With all the trouble we've been having with that sorry truck, we thought it might be time for a backup plan. So The Fuzz went online and ordered this Trailer Hitch Kit from a famous Mail Order Automotive Outfit whose motto is "Everything Automotive". It arrived pretty quickly. (But we're still waiting for the motorcycle tire.)

The rather large box also included these instructions.

After carefully reading them, The Fuzz thought, "This should be easy" and crawled under the car. This was when the rain began. But The Fuzz is not one to be intimidated by a little shower.
The first thing was to lower the muffler. This turned into quite a struggle, but was eventually accomplished. Next the now saturated Fuzz turned his attention to the actual installation. The holes all lined up perfectly, but now, there was a slight hitch. The part at the left (also seen at B on the diagram above) was just slightly too wide to slip up into the "Access Hole" at A. Unlike the diagram, this bit of what goes for a "frame" on these little cars, is completely boxed in. The instructions called for running a "Fishing" wire in one hole, and out the other thus pulling the bolt and this "Square Hole Spacer" across to the other hole, and then down into position to bolt the hitch to the "Frame". But this of course, presupposes that one can actually get the piece in there.
This was the point where the now thoroughly soaked Fuzz packed it in for the day.

To be continued.....

Roofing & Shingles

We had a Family Gathering at The Son's House this weekend.

This is the house. You may notice what appears to be a bare strip at the edge of the roof. This is , in fact, the case. This "Gathering" was not strictly for fun and games, it was our way to assemble the Labor necessary for Roof Repair. This was not the first time for this sort of thing, and is one of the advantages to a large family.
The Fuzz got off of work a bit early Friday and drove over there to help get a jump on things. As the Son had removed some of the shingles at the edge, he had discovered some rotten wood. He determined that the best course was to replace this lowest strip all the way around. So after removing this, he and The Fuzz made the first of many trips to the Home Improvement Store. There, the appropriate wood was purchased. He decided to go with that "Treated" stuff because of the dampness.
Next, they went about installing these replacement boards. This was no simple task as the boards had to be first ripped to the right width, and then trimmed to the (uneven) lengths required.
Fortunately, this Son is well equipped for this sort of thing with a Table Saw which made all this ripping a (almost) simple task. They worked at this 'till dark, and then broke off for the evening, and a Delicious Dinner.
The next part of the job would have to wait for another day, and a lot more helpers.
These are some of those heavy shingles that would have to be carried up the rickety ladder on the morrow.