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Thread: Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

  1. #1
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    Creeker's Past Week's Accomplishments

    27 Jul 2020

    Greetings,
    This past week has been a busy one with the day job as well as getting the 2 full sized doors done for The LOML's new kitchen pantry. The doors are finished and now hanging on their tracks so the doors slide from side to side. We didn't want doors that swing open so space would not be invaded each time the doors were open. The decision was made by me to simply put the doors in as sliders. Works good! Been developing a software tool kit for me and my team at the day job. Lots of changes in the works and I'm coming up with ideas to develop software tools to use to help make things easier down the road for us. Like many other companies, ours has been hit pretty hard with COVID impacts and my senior manager was "let go" last week. His last day is this coming Friday and I hate it...he's one of the best "leader" that I've ever worked for. I won't talk about who they put in his place, because I have nothing nice to say about the new person at all.

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

    Best of weeks to you all.
    Thanks & Happy Wood Chips,
    Dennis -
    Get the Benefits of Being an SMC Contributor..!
    ....DEBT is nothing more than yesterday's spending taken from tomorrow's income.

  2. #2
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    'Hope things work out at work for you, Dennis. The door idea for the pantry sounds nice!

    I didn't really do all that much this past week other than helping Professor Dr. SWMBO further complete moving her office to the new room and some related things. I now believe I have a workable plan for renovating the room she vacated. Most of the existing floor is sound enough to stay in place and become the "subfloor" for the new floor surface which saves money on materials and time on the job. The plaster repair is a bit more involved, but it's likely that I"ll do rough patch and then cover the affected wall with green board rather than trying to make a lot of extensive patching look good. A previous owner had the long wall done that way already and there's enough reveal on the window frames that it will "look seamless".

    Not much going on in the shop right now...I'm focusing more on these home improvement projects...but outside work is difficult because of the heat and humidity we've been experiencing. Even that work may have to pause briefly while I deal with a sudden vision issue with my right eye...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  3. #3
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    Last week was one filled with obstacles that made it tough even to meet my day job obligations, much less enjoy much time in the workshop. I did manage to complete a project that, while quite crude in design and construction, has been a big hit with the client:
    Water Contraption.jpg

    On one of my early morning neighborhood walks last week, I came across an old Kennedy 7-drawer toolbox a neighbor had set out on the street. I got it home quickly before the scrappers found it. It's old and shows it, but there's nothing significantly wrong with it. A piece of paper left inside, listing the toolbox and its original contents circa 1955, strongly suggests that it began its life in the maintenance department at the K-25 uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A pretty neat find and possibly a fun restoration project later.
    Chuck Taylor

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Taylor View Post

    On one of my early morning neighborhood walks last week, I came across an old Kennedy 7-drawer toolbox a neighbor had set out on the street. I got it home quickly before the scrappers found it. It's old and shows it, but there's nothing significantly wrong with it. A piece of paper left inside, listing the toolbox and its original contents circa 1955, strongly suggests that it began its life in the maintenance department at the K-25 uranium enrichment plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A pretty neat find and possibly a fun restoration project later.
    I would try to make sure the box has been “swiped” and is not hot. Having worked at a national nuclear lab years ago (Los Alamos), they didn’t know then, what they know now. A lot of things left the facility that shouldn’t have.
    Just saying.
    Please help support the Creek.


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  5. #5
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    Learning a few new skills.
    We've started pickling cauliflower and red onions, to go with our yearly brine-based cukes.
    Hand fitting mortise and tenon joints, putting together a couple of stands for the religious institution, replacing the old hatbox style units with 90 deg. corner plus, doors to augment storage.
    It's hot here this week (don't laugh), about 25 deg. C which is most unusual. I'm having to water the tomato plants in their containers 2x per day, so they won't wilt.
    Starting to get a little more information regarding school openings this September. On-line doesn't work for my 13 YO, so I'm hoping that as he goes into a special needs small class, he can go 5 days a week.
    Young enough to remember doing it;
    Old enough to wish I could do it again.

  6. #6
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    Dennis, I feel for you. I've had the good fortune to work for several really good managers in my career and it made even a so-so job a relative pleasure. OTOH, I had one really stink-o manager at what had been up to then a great job. I left after a few months. Hope things work out for you.

    Jim, Vision issue sounds scary, hope it's not serious.

    Charles, tell us more about the dog sprayer/fountain? Does it sequence? Random? Looks like the pup loves it!

    Another week of splitting time between the shop and outside chores for me. Plus we were on staycation last week so each day did some vacation-ish activity. Did some new-to-us hikes with the dog, played mini-golf, went to the Akron Zoo, did a lighthouse tour along Lake Erie, stuff like that. Not exactly a real vacation, but we enjoyed it anyway.

    In the shop, I got all my drawer box side insides prefinished and dovetails machined. Still have to route the slots for the bottoms and cut and prefinish the bottom panels; then they'll be ready for glue-up. Once they are done, I will go ahead with installation of the cabinet boxes and drawers and roll-outs. That will let us unload the temporary (for, like, 10 years) shelves and move the stuff to the new cabs and shelves. That will make it easier to empty the rest of the room to replace the flooring, paint, etc. I will do the cabinet doors and drawer fronts when I can, but the cabs will be perfectly usable without them.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Jim, Vision issue sounds scary, hope it's not serious..
    I seem to have developed a macular hole in my right eye...a small hole in the surface of the retina which affects vision. And that sucker is centered such that it makes me feel almost cross-eyed, especially at the computer and when driving. My brain is shifting to favor my left pretty well in the meantime, but it needs fixed. I meet with a retinal surgeon Tuesday to see what next step is. It's fixable. I just don't know the method yet. For most folks, this kind of thing apparently comes on gradually, and maybe it did for me, too...but I only noticed it about a week and a half ago when suddenly things were very wonky.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Charles, tell us more about the dog sprayer/fountain? Does it sequence? Random? Looks like the pup loves it!
    Making everything random was the quickest thing to program. The next valve to be opened, the time it's open, and the time between them are all chosen at random. It's controlled by an Arduino Pro Mini, with enough supporting circuitry to drive the 12V valves. You can see I spared no expense in the construction--the "waterproof enclosure" for the circuitry is a Ziploc bag.

    Yes, Dexter the pup can't get enough of it. We can give him 15 minutes or so of fun before he and the water begin to tear up that part of the yard, but he'd be entertained for most of the day if we'd let him.

    I need to modify it to take its power from a lawn mower battery instead of a power supply on the end of an extension cord. That way there's a little less to drag around the yard (namely the water hose) with it.
    Chuck Taylor

  9. #9
    Finished up storm door project, plus painted doors behind storms. Got my water storage tank back online. PVC fitting at the top of the pump failed, so had to replace it. Worked on a couple, actually three power washers, all of which were given to me. One had a bad cam, another had leaking fuel pump, and last one was a bear to fix. Motor just wouldn't run. Checked everything, including cleaning out carburetor, checking valve clearances, timing of cam and spark plug. When checking cam timing, noticed that motor had a new timing belt, not an OEM one, so I rechecked the timing. When pulling rope, had nice blue fire at spark plug. Finally tried a new plug, and she fired up on second pull. Old plug resides in trash now. Gave the dog a bath. Had daughter and grandson over for burgers on Sunday evening. Made a chocolate meringue pie just for grandson. He's a chocoholic. Wife and I did take out seafood on Thursday night, with the left overs on Friday night Had thunderstorms several nights, so dog had to go into shop during storms. She is 15 years old, doesn't hear well, and is terrified of thunder, which she didn't used to be. Went by vets, and picked up her heart worm medicine ($143 - ouch!)
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 07-28-2020 at 8:54 PM.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    I seem to have developed a macular hole in my right eye...a small hole in the surface of the retina which affects vision. And that sucker is centered such that it makes me feel almost cross-eyed, especially at the computer and when driving. My brain is shifting to favor my left pretty well in the meantime, but it needs fixed. I meet with a retinal surgeon Tuesday to see what next step is. It's fixable. I just don't know the method yet. For most folks, this kind of thing apparently comes on gradually, and maybe it did for me, too...but I only noticed it about a week and a half ago when suddenly things were very wonky.
    Still sounds scary Just having to go to a doctors office seems scary these days. It's good that it's treatable though, best of luck.
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Charles Taylor View Post
    Making everything random was the quickest thing to program. The next valve to be opened, the time it's open, and the time between them are all chosen at random. It's controlled by an Arduino Pro Mini, with enough supporting circuitry to drive the 12V valves. You can see I spared no expense in the construction--the "waterproof enclosure" for the circuitry is a Ziploc bag.

    Yes, Dexter the pup can't get enough of it. We can give him 15 minutes or so of fun before he and the water begin to tear up that part of the yard, but he'd be entertained for most of the day if we'd let him.

    I need to modify it to take its power from a lawn mower battery instead of a power supply on the end of an extension cord. That way there's a little less to drag around the yard (namely the water hose) with it.
    Very cool, I may have to add something similar to my some day list. I've got plenty of hardware around, except maybe the valves....
    --I had my patience tested. I'm negative--

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul F Franklin View Post
    Still sounds scary Just having to go to a doctors office seems scary these days. It's good that it's treatable though, best of luck.
    I saw the surgeon yesterday to confirm diagnosis. Yes, treatable with a 90% success rate. Recovery is a pain because of the need to have one's head facing down for the first five days...a gas bubble acts as the "bandaid" over the small area they do the work on to repair the hole and as everyone likely knows...bubbles rise. No airplanes for many months because of said bubble, too, but that's not an issue for me. Aside from the normal risks, the need for cataract work generally accelerates after this kind of surgery. Not having it is also an option...but it comes with the cost of pretty much ineffective vision in that eye long term. I go back in two weeks to discuss further and schedule a Friday for my eye to entertain Dr. Ie. (Yes, that's his name, LOL, although it's pronounced "Eee")
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  13. #13
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    Well I wish you the best of luck and hope for a full recovery. I've pretty much lost useable sight in my left eye following an injection that gave me a staph infection, so I'm working with one good eye and about 30% vision out of the other.

    Getting back to this week accomplishments, I spent a lot of time sanding, priming, sanding again and then final painting, but I got the first four of fifteen, Platnation Shutters, installed in our dining room.

    The wife is happy with them, which is all that matters.

    Before the shutters


    After

  14. #14
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    The shutters look great, Chris! (And it sounds like you can appreciate what I'm dealing with around having one wonky eye...driving me bananas!)
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  15. #15
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    Jim, I wish you luck with the eye problems. Never any fun when you cannot see clearly.

    I spent another day in the spray booth. Between life and laziness, this silly project never ends. One more batch of 30 to go and maybe I will get to a finished picture.
    CAB_DOOR_BATCH2.jpgCAB_DOOR_EX1.jpg

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