1969w3155

Norm, you are right, AGM, that was my mistake. (A little more of the memory everyday). Jeff, my auger works fine, the blower will not go forward or backwards. I never heard or felt anyhting let loose on it, but I'm thinking that the drive belt let loose. That's if it uses that method to drive it. I replaced the auger belt on the Toro that I used to have, not a real big deal, but I knew that it was the problem, as I had encountered a buried 2" dia. branch. It started sqealing and gave off a burnt smell, so I had a pretty good idea on where to start. Anyways, the guys that i use have me on their pick up list, and will call before heading my way.

1969w3155

Mike, looks like you're up Saturday night:

Vintage Chief

No worries, Dan. I thought maybe the dealership/mechanic said ADM, not you - which is why I asked if he was smoking a fatty.

Vintage Chief

Played a very pleasant 18 - the guys I played with made it pleasurable. I put together a foursome, divided us into two teams, and played match play (with handicap) - best ball wins hole. We played the entire match even and lost on 18. Fun day.

Just finished boiling down tomatoes for the marinara. Added the marinara to the browned meat sauce. Sauteed mushrooms, red bell pepper & red onions - added those to the marinara meat sauce. Seasoned w/ sweet basil, Italian oregano & salt. The marinara meat sauce will now simmer covered for a couple hours & refrigerated O.N. for amalgamation. Tomorrow I'll make stuff - blueberry topping vanilla cheesecake & pasta noodles - I'm thinking fettuccine.

Dream67Olds442

Sounds just like the intro to an episode of "The Galloping Gourmet"!

slantflat

Aloha

Good first day back. Things were slow. I had 4 by first break, 6 by lunch. The lead lowered the number by over half, and we achieved that around 2. He keeps telling us how far behind we are and how busy we will be this summer, yet there are no wheels being delivered and none in the back. Well hey, we in the front can't pull them out of thin air.

Dan that picture is awesome! You know I never did like "mike" as the abbreviation for microphone. It should be "mic." Eh, no one asked me. Wonder what they'll find inside me? Shoes, an anchor, a tire maybe.

Greg don't kid yourself. The dealership will check anything and everything that will net them some extra money. One time the trans shelled itself on my pickup truck and the only option I had(I was out of town) was to have it towed to the nearest Chevy place. Cut to the chase I was back home and they called me on the phone, yup, the trans is toast. Oh by the way, so is your differential. When we were pushing it into the shop we heard a noise and took the cover off and saw wear. Really? At a 1/4 of a mile an hour you heard a noise, and were aghast to see wear on a 190K rear end. Sheisters.

Was nice today. Ran a couple errands after work, got bent over at the gas pump, went and took in the garbage can at the other house. Good, good afternoon.

Regular time tomorrow, so I can stay up a little later, and sleep a little later. Win.


Peace

Vintage Chief

Mike - Sorry you had a good first day back (I generally look forward to you bitching & whining), sounds like you enjoyed yourself at the pump.

slantflat

No not particularly. I hear all the political news and whatnot about the various people and parties. I really couldn't care less about most of it because I'm going to live my life regardless of what "those people" are trying to pull over our eyes. But gas prices are important to me, because I do a lot of driving. Today 12 gallons of gasoline cost me 40 bucks. Two days ago 12 gallons of gas would have cost me 34 bucks. That's substantial. And a year ago... oh I don't want to get all riled up before bed.

So, what to bitch and whine about work. Weak lead. Check. Young people who don't want to work. Check. Finishing up and then sitting an hour. Check. Seems it's all there.

Jamesbo there's also a 52 ****** in Bham for 12K. Don't think it's the same guy. It's red.

Twelve gallons of gas would have cost 22 bucks a year ago. Okay a year and a week. **** knocker.

Vintage Chief

Remember summer 2008? I was paying $4.25/gal. road diesel. I was paying $153 to fill my truck (36 gal.). My *** was sore for months.

Fun71

Seems as if there should be a license plate as well.

Koda

My theory on politics and national events is that the right course of action will present itself, it just varies how long it will take and how much carnage will have to occur before it does, so, I try to live in a place, and in a way, where I will be least affected by the carnage. I don't live around certain people, or in big cities with crime and importance that attracts drama; I save money; do useful hobbies; mind my own business, and effectively live in way where whatever Bad Thing comes, it will hopefully be elsewhere first and be stopped by the time it gets to me. I doubt I'll leave the country again for at least the next ten years.

Came home early from work, needed to scan some mortgage docs that I forgot to take with, and move some money around. Ran a few records through my cleaning machines, hauled my humidifier upstairs, got it rolling with a new wick, and it feels better in here. Better on my skin, better on the wood floors, to be 60% humidity, not 45%. Then I grilled chicken in the cold.

Jamesbo

Cooked some corn beef for about 8 hours, The tossed in the cabbage

Funniest thing my Irish Catholic bride [ nor any of her siblings] will touch the stuff Myth has it "Black Irish" are descended from ship wrecked Spaniards from the defeated Armada Who knows

Leaves more for me

John, My view is most things swing like a pendulum The further it goes out one way, the further it goes out the other when it returns

Mike, I guess I'm stuck in some kind of time warp. I flatly refuse to pay 70 K for a new pickup truck or 15 K for a 60+ YO military vehicle that will only go 40 MPH and has no creature comforts

When I was younger, Most every weekend, during hunting season I'd drive my open top M 38 A 1 from Buckhead to New Hope [above Marietta] to pick up my bird dogs the to Social Circle to hunt on a friends farm then reverse the drive. Those days for me are long gone

Norm, True confession time. Is the home made pasta really worth the trouble?

Greg Rogers

Brrr... Thermometer out side kitchen window sz -11 @ 6 am. I can tell when it is really cold out, house starts to creak and pop.
Talked to surgery doctor on phone yesterday evening. He says tumor was cancerous but was all contained and he doesn't think anything else will pop up. No chemo or radiation needed. That is good news, but I can't help but feeling- or guessing- that once a growth is started, even if completely removed- isn't there a propensity for cancer to grow again? Start somewhere else? Well we all are born terminal, the grim reaper will get us all. Anyway, I have a phone visit scheduled with him on March 7 then he will tell me about observations, etc. I feel really good- better than I thought I would. No meds at all now. I did take some OxyContin and Tylenol at first then just Tylenol and now nothing. Oh yeah, I did get the dreaded constipation from the Oxy, I guess, You don't want to hear about that....
Took a few pics of Impala, still haven't opened hood as I don't know if it will latch back after opened. I think I will be good enough to look at it with a buddy this weekend. We are going to get another car, this apparently is one of the worst times to buy a new or used car- we'll see. I guess I don't really need to be in a hurry... I'll try to post those pics. See yas!!

Greg Rogers

Jamesbo

Greg, My mother used to drink Sauerkraut juice Worked like a charm

Vintage Chief

James - It isn't difficult to make homemade pasta. Prior to owning the attachments about 25 years ago I made pasta the old fashioned way rolling the dough batter via rolling pin and cutting the pasta into strips w/ a knife - very easy. Not much different than making a pie crust. Fresh pasta is worth the effort. The texture & taste are quite different than store-bought dried noodles - in my opinion it's definitely worth the effort. Using the KitchenAid mixer/tools is probably not worth the effort for making a single serving of fresh pasta though. I guess a decent analogy is similar to buying a package of mass-produced industrial croissants versus buying croissants from a neighborhood bakery fresh out of the oven - a significant difference in texture/taste.

I spent so much time sampling/tasting/seasoning my marinara meat sauce last night I let time get away on me - I ate far too much of my marina, watched a movie then went to bed. I had a terrible case of indigestion & never felt like getting up to grab a bicarb. Right now I'm recovering from that indigestion & I don't feel like cooking anything. So, I think I'll work on other indoor activities today - food doesn't even look good at the moment.

Greg - Necrosis can cause disease of a particular organ and lead to the organ's failure or promote further disease of the organ. Necrosis is most often confined to the organ it has infected. Necrosis can develop from cancerous tissue growth within the infected organ, inside the organ or attached to the organ. It sounds like (from what you've described thus far), the tumor you had was externally attached to a kidney. If the cancerous growth (tumor) is "contained" (doesn't grow outside of its surroundings) within a very well defined select area, and removed through ablation (surgery) there is an excellent chance the cancerous growth will not return. However, that's what the surgeon & oncologist will try to determine after ablation. The terms you have not identified (as yet) though are either benign or malignant. You had a tumor (cancerous yes) but was the tumor benign or malignant. Benign it's contained, malignant it can spread. They'll be reviewing lab tissue samples and imagery to determine if it is benign or malignant. Metastasis is the continued growth of malignant cancerous cells which infiltrate other body tissues/organs far removed from the originating cancerous growth (tumor) site. Many, many, many people have cancer - many forms of cancer are never detected as they are benign. The type of tissue which developed the cancerous growth (tumor) is very important to understand, as well i.e. a fatty tissue bulbous cancerous growth (tumor) is easily removed and often never proliferates outside of the defined area. Whether ablation is "reasonable" depends on the growth rate of the tumor, tissue type of the tumor and location of the tumor (which could compromise the organ or nearby organs). Location of any tumor determines whether surgery increases risk to patient or assists patient. So, many tumors can be easily removed if they are benign (very well contained). Uncontrolled cell growth by itself is cancer - determining if it's benign, malignant or metastatic assists in determining prognosis. The type tissue (fatty, connective, etc.) where the tumor occurred is important. March 7 will be a good review day for you. Fingers crossed all goes well and they nipped it in the bud.

Vintage Chief

I have one brother who was a building supply sales person for numerous building supply companies - he covered all of the U.P. of Michigan and all of Northern Wisconsin (North of Green Bay over to the Mississippi River). For many years he drove with an attached topper. He carried building supply samples in his truck - hard metal, steel bumpers, etc. The truck became burdensome loading/removing samples so he bought a full-size van - could haul more samples and easier to load/unload samples. Because of his daily driving everywhere he would hit and kill roughly 3-4 deer each year - comes with the territory when you're driving in heavily populated deer infested country. I think it was sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s when he bought the van. I was visiting when he had just hit/killed a deer with his van. He said to me Norm you have no idea the sound it makes when you hit a deer at 50 mph in one of these vans with the plastic bumpers and fenders - it sounds like a bomb going off.

Dream67Olds442

Greg - I am not an oncology doctor/specialist either, but my oldest daughter is an oncology nurse/nurse educator and I described your cancer to her from your description in your 1st post. She told me with that type of cancer as long as it was self contained (margins were completely clear around the entire tumor), there is less chance of seeing another one like it, than having a mole turn cancerous from sun exposure. Also, another really good sign is no follow-up chemo or radiation, they would go definitely go with the overkill if there was hardly any chance of it coming back, so I wouldn't worry about it. I know, I know, easier said than done right?

Dream67Olds442

Good morning guys,

Not as cold as Greg's -11°, but still really cold for here at 5° this morning and not supposed to get much above 20°. At least there's no snow or ice in the forecast. Got to take my wife to a doctor's appointment though this morning early and not looking at going out in it.

No big plans for today! Hope everyone has a great day!

Vintage Chief

I had family/friends (Oshkosh, WI; Milwaukee areas) report -13°F (wind-chill -20°F) this morning stating they could see people fart.

Greg Rogers

Thanks Norm and Chris. Yeah the margin was clear, he said. So on we go... Friend is getting ready to decide what to do with his Chevy Traverse at end of lease. I may be able to buy his car, I'm sure a lightly used 2 year old car, prolly more loaded than I would buy and thus more $$. But we'll see. I am used to no car payment and on top of that no collision coverage payments. So costs will go up dramatically. It's only money....

Dream67Olds442

Greg - Funny you mentioned the Chevy Traverse, I was just behind a newer one on the road to take my wife to her Dr's. appointment, and thought it was a really nice looking SUV. Is your friend's an AWD model? I would think you might want an AWD up there?

Vintage Chief

Car/Truck prices scare me to death. Equally equipped (although there is more interior equipment contained in the newer models) as my current 2003 F-250 Lariat 8' Crew Cab Two-Tone Paint Diesel a new 2021 sells for $83K.

Dream67Olds442

Norm - $83K, that's F'ing insane! My BIL recently bought a new leftover 2021 GMC AT4 (All Terrain Package) Crew Cab with 6 & 1/2-ft. bed. Beautiful candy apple red truck, but even highly discounted as a leftover 2021, it was still $54K. Still incredibly insane!

Vintage Chief

My 2003 sold for ~$50K new when I bought it new in 2003. That's an annual avg. increase of ~$2777.00/year over 18 years. I guess there's a reason I spend $$ in maintaining it.

Weezer

Greg, what year is the Traverse you are looking at? GM refreshed the platform for 2018, so you know the theory about avoiding first year of a model update...

Also, since those SUV's are so big and heavy, you'd probably be fine FWD only. I have several friends with FWD of that platform, and they have no issues. My Enclave that I just got rid of was AWD, never any issues in snow, nor with the powertrain. Although that trans was due for a rebuild, and the 3.6 was ready for a timing chain at 191k. Stick to synthetic oil and 3-5k mileage intervals if you buy it.

Dream67Olds442

Norm - My 2000 Ford F150 XLT SuperCab that I bought new has the 5.4L (larger V8), tow package (oil and trans coolers), off road package, limited slip rear end, and pretty much otherwise loaded, and sold for $30K when I bought it. If a new 2021 or 22 costs around $55K now, I'm seeing about the same inflationary mark-up you're seeing on your big diesel. I guess it wouldn't be so bad to buy another new one if you knew you could get another +20-years of dependable service out of it, but I don't think you can count on that these days unfortunately!

Jamesbo

I'm gonna drive my truck til the wheels fall off, the I'm gonna buy new wheels. Truck prices [new and used] are completely insane

Vintage Chief

James - I'm driving down the same highway as you - I'll wait for the wheels to fall off and get new wheels.

Fun71

Which stuff? The corned beef or the cabbage?

I read that corned beef started as an American thing because over in Ireland all the beef went to the canneries for the British Navy, and the indigenous Irish folk didn't get any. Not until they moved to America, that is.

If they won't touch the cabbage, this third-generation Irishman agrees with them.

Dream67Olds442

I'm on the same highway as both of you, with no off-ramp in sight!

Jamesbo

Kenneth, Neither the corn beef or the cabbage

I don't even believe their Milk man was Irish.

Norm. Chris, My 2500 Cheby 4X4 crew cab just hit 310,000 miles. Last year, I put a fuel pump on it, a new power steering pump and this year a new crank case sensor

These parts totaled wouldn't pay the sales tax on a new truck

Vintage Chief

You know why there are no Irish lawyers, don't you?

Vintage Chief

Now everyone runs to Google to find the answer....

Vintage Chief

That's called cheating, BTW~~~!!!

slantflat

Aloha

Beautiful out, probably high 40s and sunny. Need to find something to do.

Greg that doesn't look all that bad, but once the bumper cover and hood are off, who knows what else it will need. A bowtie for sure
If it still steers straight you're money ahead.

I think Verizon has decided it's time for me to buy a new phone. It still works okay, but it now takes about 2 1/2 for it to charge. I'll plug it in and it will say an hour and a half to fully charged, then an hour later it will say and hour and 15 minutes. I can only guess at what tricks it will come up with when this doesn't convince me.

Sorry Norm, another good day at work, and I didn't go to the gas station afterward. Two more good days and I'd be pretty happy.

I've owned my Silverado about 8 years, I wouldn't get rid of it for love nor money. That dude is what I would have ordered had I bought it new. And if it ever gets busted up I'm buying another truck like it and transferring all the heavy parts to it. Well, I would have ordered power windows. That's a long seat to reach across to crank down the window.

Okay off to do something. Whatever it is it will include Tiger. Maybe we'll just play ball. Or go chase the pterodactyl.

Peace

Vintage Chief

No Irishman can pass a bar....

Vintage Chief

Mike - You might only need a battery (which it sounds like).

slantflat

Norm that's an old one. I won't spill it.

Or you can post the answer while I'm writing that I won't say the answer.

I'm not sure my phone's battery is serviceable. I should take it out of its case and look, that would be a heck of a lot cheeper than a new phone. I think I'll go to Walmart and get a Trac-phone and pay per month. Verizon is a little too proud of their equipment and services these days.

Vintage Chief

Mike - Don't remove your phone battery UNLESS you know what you're doing. You could lose all your contacts, phone numbers information etc.