Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

[Dennis Peacock]

8 Apr 2019

Greetings,
The back is improving and I went to the dr on Monday to see what he says. He stated that I injured my sciatica joint and irritated the sciatica nerve near the joint. He said that he estimated that it would take another month before I would be able to return to normal activities. I make a bad patient anyway and I'm so ready for this to be over and done with. I have things I need to get done and I don't want to do them in the summer heat. :)

Back to oncall duty this week and I'm hoping and praying for a quiet week.

That's it for me, so what did YOU do this past week?

Best of weeks to you all.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm sorry to hear about your injury. I was in a bad bicycle accident when I was a kid- I absolutely know back pain. It's no fun. Follow doctor's orders! I know it's not easy to not be in the shop working.

This weekend I wired up my new 220v bandsaw, and wow- it's amazing. I fired it up and the closest thing at hand was 3/4" marine grade ply, so I did a few test cuts on that and it cut through it like a hot knife through butter. I'm so happy. It's a little scary how quickly this thing cuts. One slip and your finger is gone.

I also helped a guy install a new pump for his cistern. We got done and it still didn't work. I checked the outlet where it plugs in, and there was a fried lizard in it. We put in a new plug and it STILL did not work. I checked the pressure in the pressure tank, and it was at 10 PSI. Now here's where it gets interesting. The homeowner, a friend of mine, told me that he had a plumber out working on the pool pump, and the plumber said, "Hey, by the way, your water pressure pump doesn't look like it's going to last much longer- you might want me to replace it for you." Well, that sounded odd to my friend, so he said no thanks. Later on, there wasn't any pressure so he checked the pump and the guy had turned the pressure down. He turned it back up. Later that day, the pressure switch gave out, causing the pump to keep running, and it burned up the pump. We believe that not only did he change the pressure setting to make it look like a bad switch, but also he let the air out of the pressure tank (the tanks are preloaded with compressed air to set the pressure) to make the water pressure lower so the homeowner would have to call him back. This kind of thing happens here a lot- there are a lot of shady folks, and I have seen a lot of shoddy work both in electrical and plumbing. This is why I do all my own work.

[Jim Becker]

Glad you're feeling a little better, Dennis!

I finished up the build and finishing for the TwinXL over Queen bunk bed commission this past week and just had to do a little metal fabrication for some brackets to stabilize the "stairway to heaven" piece of the project which I did today. Once the paint is dry on those brackets, I'll do the final test configuration of those and then send the client the final bill. They are picking this monstrosity up on Saturday to transport to their shore home in NJ. It will be nice to get my shop space back as things have been extremely cramped over the last week and I have some small CNC jobs to do. I will post more details about the project in the Woodworking Projects Forum area once I gather things up for that purpose.

Outside of that, I finally got started on clearing all the downed ash trees on the property so I can have more lawn to mow again. :D Of course, I'm paying the price physically for playing lumber jack...no surprise there. :o Also helped Professor Dr. SWMBO assemble and place a new composting solution near my herb bed.

[Gregory King]

Well Malcolm, what the heck. Maybe not the proper forum but let's share a transmission story. Going back a few years we had a 1986 Chevy Celebrity. When the temperature dropped to the -15 C. temp and colder, the car's transmission would smash and drop in a lower gear raising the RPM's. when travelling. After several days of that, I thought it best to go see a transmission shop. Dropped it off and they called back later to say the transmission needed to be torn down for repair. Long story short, went to pick it up with a bill of $800.00. Manager tells the wife what a smart husband I was for not delaying the repair. Got in it to drive home and said to the missus, It's going to do it again. Sure thing. Next day back to trans shop for recheck. They confirm what they did was good. Needless to say I just put up with the problem for most of winter. Until one day a retired neighbour hood Mechanic asked me how it was working. Told him the problem. He looked me straight in the eye with a smile and said, why don't you change your thermostat?. I swear the air went out of me. Twenty bucks later, problem solved. Live and learn.

[Gregory King]

Dennis, hope the back heals well. Fortunate enough to only have stretched a few muscles in mine from time to time. Installed a cabinet in our local church today after competing most of work last week. Birch ply with solid birch edging and varnish finish. Used 4 full extension 100 lb. drawer guides on one side only to house a 6' pullout tray for signage. Tray weighed in at 68 lbs.plus 30 lbs. of signage. A little trim to finish soon.

[Derek Cohen]

It is a busy time of the year, enough to make my head spin. In between presenting a paper on neuroscience at a national conference last Thursday (the culmination of months of preparation), and then running demonstrations on handtools and handtool use at a woodwork event on the Saturday, there are submissions to complete for proposed changes to the Medicare system in Oz .... and this while running a full time private practice, which requires any diagnostic reports are done in the evenings as there is no time during the day. Sunday was great in that woodworking friend from Melbourne came to visit. He was in town to run workshops on turning ... and this weekend is returning to give me a personal workshop on turning bowls, something that I have not done yet. Yahoo!

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Von Bickley]

I need surgery on both knees and my right shoulder. Talked with my cardiologist about having surgery and he told me that with my heart, surgery is out. Last May they did surgery on my defibrillator while I was awake. They numbed it up, put a rag over my face so I couldn't see what was going on, and started cutting & sewing. Old age is not for sissies.

[Mel Fulks]

Von, I should have taken some medicine before just reading what you have gone through. I hope that you get some
relief. Thank you for serving.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Thursday got the stint between my kidney and bladder removed. It was installed after kidney stone removal. Would have been done a week earlier, but picked up a staph infection during procedure to remove stones. It's so much of a relief to not have to go every time I stand up. Friday picked up a pig (108#) for a pig pick'n for SS class on Saturday. Almost went into sticker shock when I learned the pig would cost me $1.99 a pound. The last one I bought was only $0.99 a pound. Hurricane Florence and recent flooding in upper mid west has drive pork prices thru the roof. Saturday, cooked pig, made both banana pudding and peach cobble for desserts. When I drove up in front of shop, Saturday night, head gasket on truck let go. At least I was home. Sunday went back to church to help with "Precious Jewels" dinner. Sunday night wife took me out for dinner, so I wouldn't be in the kitchen. Today, started cleaning and putting away from pig pick'n. This afternoon worked on final report on sister's estate. Enjoying the rain right now, though I wish we would have some wind to get rid of pine pollen. UPDATE, today was able to get inspection mirror and found that leak was coming from intake where it connects to block, so maybe just a new gasket will solve the problem. This solution would be about $1000 cheaper to fix.