Greg Rogers

Ralph, It's funny you mention about heating with wood may have taken time off your life... Another retired friend of mine and I were talking about heating and other subjects. We also talked about how some of our retired friends just sit around and get out of shape with nothing to do... My friend heats with wood and has 25 acres of woods. He gets his firewood from that land. He has old pallets he stacks the firewood on and covers with tarps- he knows which row is from 2019-2020,etc, very organized. Anyway we feel happy to have things to do after retirement, I think all the cutting, stacking and feeding the fire actually keeps him limber and heathy- maybe adding years to his life. He has a propane furnace but that never runs, unless he is gone for a couple days. So usually his heating bill is Zero, except gas for saw and tractor, etc and LOTS of labor. My propane bill was about $2500 in 2022.!!

Jamesbo

If you cut your own firewood ya get warm twice

Koda

James, good point on the renting planes, boats, and women.

Some day I would like to do the great loop around the Mississippi, the Gulf, the Atlantic, and the Great Lakes. Perhaps I should lease the boat and the woman.

Vintage Chief

Jim - I've heard nice things about DONZI. That's a 22x? DONZI factory is located just North of me in Washington, NC.

Vintage Chief

Jim - Looks delicious. Growing up our family picked wild asparagus each year. Rarebit reminds me of one of my all-time favorites Mom made all the time after picking - creamed asparagus on toast. Delicious.
Tee-time 11:11am - tad chilly here.

Vintage Chief

John - I had planned to do the Great Loop prior to selling my C-Dory. Just never happened. I hope you'll do it. Sounds like a really nice trip. I've done parts of it - wish I'd have done the entire loop.

Jamesbo

One of my best friends growing up did it in a 53 Hatteras. She really enjoyed everything but the boat $$ going into the water. Glad she did it wouldn't do it again/ Norm If you decide to make the trip I have a few thousand floating practice ***** to keep our game in shape

Koda

Ideally I would need a pair of identical twin redheads that are into sharing EVERYTHING, if you know what I mean.

Dream67Olds442

Greg - The large Wood stove I had, had a blower on it, but was not hooked into my central duct work. However, since we lived in a Ranch style home, it would pretty much heat the whole house, and the primary furnace would rarely come on. Fire wood was outrageously expensive near me, so I would buy it 120-miles away and haul it home in bulk on a 20-ft dual axle trailer, plus the bed (6 & 1/2 ft) of my truck. I could safely haul about 3 rank (1 & 1/2 cord) per trip, and would do that 3 to 4 times per season. The wood was seasoned oak & hickory, but most was not pre-split, I did that myself with a maul or sledge/wedges.

Tedd Thompson

I have heated with wood all my life, just second nature to put another stick on the fire, several today, man it's cold, with a little snow on the ground. I have free wood, we have 6000 almond trees, so something is always dying or falling over, but now I pay someone to haul it up to my house in the mountains anymore. On the downside, wood is dirty dusty(when you clean out the fire box or bring it in from the outside). Now that I'm the maid, I notice these things. Still cheaper than propane.Tedd

slantflat

Good morning everyone.

I love cutting firewood. Cutting it up, splitting it, stacking it, very therapeutic. I ran the wood stove in my house for years. I considered it supplemental heat, but it really cut down on my heating bill. This is my old house. Mom won't run it, she says she's afraid of fire in the house.

Busy this morning at work. A guy I worked with years ago stopped by, so good to see him. We talked quite a while, caught up a little bit. Good start to the week.

Well lunch. I think we're doing the laundromat after work, what fun. It's raining so nothing outside, that's for sure.

Have a good day everyone.

Vintage Chief

I feel the same way about cheese.

Dream67Olds442

Hi guys
Nice day here for December, sunny and 55°.

Went to pick up a Vintage (~80-yrs. old) Bassett dresser for my wife over the weekend. Previous owner was moving to Boston and didn't want to move it, and essentially gave it away for $15. My wife did some online research, and the folks selling it obviously didn't know what they had. My wife's research revealed the piece in pristine condition is worth $1,200 - $1,600. The one we brought home is far from pristine, and she will have to work her magic on it, but to anybody who knows what it is, she should easily get $600 - $800 out of it. She's learned so much since starting this as a hobby during the Covid years, and is now getting contract work, I'm pretty proud of her!

Pretty slow day around here, no appointments, errands to run, or "have to do's". I can handle that! Hope everyone had a great day!

slantflat

I always get a kick out of this song when it comes out around Christmas. Very funny. But lately I've been thinking it's kind of a documentary for us northern-type folk. I remember seeing cars like this all the time growing up.

Dream67Olds442

Been there, lived that, for many years!

slantflat

Good morning everyone.

I'm still working on signing my first wheel, two hours after getting to work. The operating system is not working. It's called GEM/MIRS, if that means anything to anyone. Lately it's been rather slow, I wish I knew where their office was I'd go visit them.

Rainy again this morning. I'm tired of this game. If I were rich and had a lot of money, I'd travel from place to place, whenever it would start raining I'd go somewhere it wasn't raining, and just keep that up.

Nothing really going on for this Tuesday. Hope everyone has a good day.

Jamesbo

Chris nice score

Well along with tomorrow being pearl harbor day, it's also the day of the worst hotel fire in America. 12/7/46 119 people perished in the winecoff hotel fire in Atlantahttps://library.massasoit.edu/americanfires/winecoff

Dream67Olds442

Thanks Jim, I'll let my wife know, that's all her!

Thanks for the link about the hotel fire, I learned something today. Just horrific!

I've always considered myself a patriot, with reverence for all who have served, especially those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. I have to say though, that I now have a much greater appreciation for Pearl Harbor Day since I visited the Arizona Memorial there. My experience there was almost out of body, hard to explain other than to say tears flowed! Certainly a Memorial I wish everyone could experience it they get the chance.

Jamesbo

Koda

To be fair, you would get the same thing at Hiroshima.

Vintage Chief

Wonderful weather. Finished the hub/rotor assembly. Will take it for a spin in a little while. Tomorrow tee-time 8:26am. Tomorrow expected to be 72F w/ 2 mph wind. I’ll take it.

Vintage Chief

I was looking at my Dad’s discharge papers the other day. He was awarded eight medals. I’m not sure he recognized the significance of his Naval awards - he never spoke of his awards. Besides several basic/rudimentary awards, he was also awarded a medal for the Philippine Liberation. His ship left Norfolk arriving at Liverpool to stage w/ the British before crossing the English Channel. He took part in Omaha Beach invasion. After Omaha, he travelled to North Africa then Philippines. Not many engaged in both WWII theaters, let alone survived either of them.

Dream67Olds442

Norm - Great job on the hub/rotor work. Did you finish the touch-up painting on the wheel already? Will it need a re-alignment just to be safe?

72F tomorrow there sounds wonderful, hope ya have a great day on the links!

slantflat

It was well after 9 before the computers started working, and then it was slow as molasses. For the past two hours I signed a whopping 13 wheels.

I would love to visit the Arizona Memorial. Last I heard it was closed because of some structural damage to the Memorial itself.

I just walked past the roll up door and it isn't raining. Maybe that will be the end of it.

Okay lunch.

Dream67Olds442

Norm - Your Dad's service was very honorable and impressive!

Dream67Olds442

Mike - I had not heard that, so I checked on it. It reopened for visitors back in September of this year. The actual Memorial was not damaged, but both the dock that accepts the skiffs from the mainland and the bridge that visitors walk across from the dock to the Memorial were, and have now been repaired.

slantflat

That's good to know. That's not something that needs to be closed too long. We as a people need to be reminded of war and what it does to us, regardless of the aggressor. There's a saying, there's nothing more dead than yesterday's news. As time goes on it's hard to keep things relevant.

Vintage Chief

Chris - Thanks. No alignment necessary. Pretty simple disassembly/reassembly - nothing involved steering components. I did not touch-up/refinish/re-paint the wheel. It looks much worse in pictures - much of it not visible after lug nuts installed. I wanted to get it on the road right away for a road check which it passed. I have to replace an inoperable convertible top switch sometime this winter requiring (yet another) dash panel disassembly so I'll wait until then. My brake fluid is miserably cloudy. I think I may flush the brakes during the same time period. Brakes work exceptionally well. Someone did a brake job on this car prior to my purchase. Tons of meat remain on both the rotors & the shoes/pads.

I'm still (somewhat) confused why anyone would pack nearly the entire interior of the wheel hub w/ grease. I did not during reassembly. I packed the bearings w/ high temperature grease, packed some grease into the races, a little more grease around the washer which contains the dust cap and that was it. Road test of 15 miles at highway speed with some turns yielded nothing unusual. No smoke & no heat (certainly nothing excessive) on the hub/rotor assembly after road test. Sill can't figure out why someone would pack grease on the entire inside of the hub though. Oh well - maybe they figured it was an amphibious vehicle?

Vintage Chief

Thanks, Chris. You're correct.

Vintage Chief

Mike - If you could drop by after work I could knock out a brake flush real quick. Just need you to pump the brake pedal. I'll buy you a pizza, you can sit in the car while eating it.

Dream67Olds442

I didn't know the extent of any of your torquing or banging on the hub/wheel/bad lug and nut that might have been enough force to possibly effect camber/caster on that unit. Glad it won't require the re-alignment!

Koda

Packing with grease serves as an anti-corrosive because it's a coating as well as a lube, but also eliminates water intrusion and occupancy, as in it can't get in and has nowhere to go. However, stuff can be overpacked and lead to heat failure. This is why boat trailers have bearing buddies.

Vintage Chief

John - Completely agree with your statements. Additionally, too much grease could cause grease to be pushed out of the seal. As you said, too much grease can lead to heat failure, as well - especially if someone used the incorrect grease. The spindle is well lubricated (internal side & external side), IMO that should be adequate.

Vintage Chief

I think it's funny because I very often hear a boat trailer (lots of boats pass by the front of my home) passing by & say to myself they'll be lucky to get another ten miles before that wheel falls off. You'd think boat owners with trailers would have some common sense. A couple years ago a guy pulled into the area alongside my home off the road - bearings went out on his trailer. Thankfully he stopped where he did & I offered to jack his axle and supply him w/ some tools while he headed out to find a new hub & wheel assembly.

Koda

The POS Hobie Trailer I bought off the Great Lakes and towed to FL for my boat to have a trailer again has had the following done: New hubs, bearings, wheels, tires. Then I towed it to FL. Put the boat on it and the springs were DONE. Sawed off the fenders. Made it to Mom's place with the boat wallowing like a drunken sailor. Left it there. Got new shackles, U bolts and plates, leaf springs, and resprung the thing. I have now replaced everything suspension related but the frame and the axle bar. As it is a titled trailer now, I will get it to Indiana, and heavily modify it by replacing the frame.

Jamesbo

Norm, My wife dad served aboard a destroyer in the Mediterranean sea and later on a PT boat in the Pacific

slantflat

Norm some people just think everything needs to be packed full with grease. I had a friend in high school who thought that. During a brake job he'd pack everything full including the cap. Never thought to tell him the bearings would get too hot with that much grease.

I'll be right there. I'd do just about anything for pizza.

The computers alternate going fast/going slow. We have about 35 to go by 230. Not something we will attain.

Vintage Chief

Mike - What kind of pizza - deep dish/thin crust? What toppings?

Vintage Chief

I ordered a deep dish Pesto Cheese pizza - should be here in 10 minutes. Hurry up.

Dream67Olds442

Mike's gonna need to catch a bullet train!

We're doing it the easy way this evening, Stouffer's frozen lasagna, which I love! Love the leftovers too, even cold, like cold pizza!