Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2011
Jenna
Got a new Hartshorn last week, Jenna Hartshorn. She was born at 12:53 PM on 6/21/2011 and was 19-3/4 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. Congrats to Jon and Patty (and Phillip for being a great big brother!).
Monday, September 21, 2009
It's Over
Well, as of now the divorce is final. The paperwork needs to be typed up and filed, but effective about 5:15 PM today the divorce is final.
No winners here. Looking back over the 28 years (plus a few months) that we were together, a great deal of everything that we built is now gone. However, trying to be positive about it, we did raise 4 children to adulthood together. There were quite a few mistakes along the way; and if I could do it over again I would change a few things, but we were successful (I think) in raising four productive members of society. That in itself should be ranked as a pretty good accomplishment considering society these days.
However, I'm coming out of this with some huge debts, no job, and almost nothing in the way of resources in an economy that is the worst it has been in my lifetime, I think. This is very depressing, especially when I look back to a year ago and remember that we were sitting on top of the world, with a great job, property, and almost no debt.
I still don't know where I'm going to go from here. I really can't live in my car much longer, but I also have no prospects for work at the moment. I have no income, no medical insurance. I'm now out of the anti-depressants and tranquilizers that I have been taking for the last few months trying to get thru this, and no way to buy more. I need to find someplace to put the few belongings that I have been awarded in the settlement, but don't know where. I was looking forward to possibly retiring in a few years, but that is out of the question now.
So, at this point I need to take stock of who I am, what I have, what I am capable of, where I am at, and decide what I will do.
This will be quite the challenge.
No winners here. Looking back over the 28 years (plus a few months) that we were together, a great deal of everything that we built is now gone. However, trying to be positive about it, we did raise 4 children to adulthood together. There were quite a few mistakes along the way; and if I could do it over again I would change a few things, but we were successful (I think) in raising four productive members of society. That in itself should be ranked as a pretty good accomplishment considering society these days.
However, I'm coming out of this with some huge debts, no job, and almost nothing in the way of resources in an economy that is the worst it has been in my lifetime, I think. This is very depressing, especially when I look back to a year ago and remember that we were sitting on top of the world, with a great job, property, and almost no debt.
I still don't know where I'm going to go from here. I really can't live in my car much longer, but I also have no prospects for work at the moment. I have no income, no medical insurance. I'm now out of the anti-depressants and tranquilizers that I have been taking for the last few months trying to get thru this, and no way to buy more. I need to find someplace to put the few belongings that I have been awarded in the settlement, but don't know where. I was looking forward to possibly retiring in a few years, but that is out of the question now.
So, at this point I need to take stock of who I am, what I have, what I am capable of, where I am at, and decide what I will do.
This will be quite the challenge.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Great!
Busy weekend. It's the last weekend in July, so it's time for the swap meet and car shows at the fairgrounds and at the IRA. That usually takes up my entire weekend, Friday afternoon thru Sunday afternoon. However, I've double the pleasure this weekend, because Betty and I are taking a shot at reconciliation, so I'm moving back to the Farm to my own little mini apartment there.
Say a prayer for us please that we will be able to communicate with each other and understand each other. It won't be easy, because we have both been changed a great deal over the last 6 months, but we both feel it is worth a serious attempt. We have a great deal to gain by staying together, and a great deal to lose by divorcing.
Say a prayer for us please that we will be able to communicate with each other and understand each other. It won't be easy, because we have both been changed a great deal over the last 6 months, but we both feel it is worth a serious attempt. We have a great deal to gain by staying together, and a great deal to lose by divorcing.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Divorce
I was speaking to a co-worker this morning and I came up with what I think is good advice:
"Don’t let little irritations turn into big problems in your marriage, resolve them while they are little. Divorce is hell."
This comes under the heading of "Experience is knowing a lot of things you shouldn't do again." Oh yeah, that's the point of this blog, isn't it?
So many of our problems started out many years ago as little tiny irritations or annoyances, and I let them slide because "it wasn't worth the battle". Well, I shouldn't have, because as time went on they became bigger irritations, and then mutated into problems that have become insurmountable obstacles.
People ask me "when did your problems start?" And, over the last month I have come up with various answers: 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years ago. Really, after a lot of introspection, I believe that they started soon after we got married, if not before, because we both were willing to "let things slide". Both of us dislike confrontation and avoid it whenever possible.
Many times, avoiding confrontation is a Very Good Thing. But, there are times when it becomes necessary, and I am beginning to believe that facing confrontation in a marriage from the beginning is a Very Good Thing.
If I could do it over again I'd have fought the battle back then. Or at least started looking for a solution or a compromise. Individually, in the beginning, all of them could have been solved and we wouldn't be in this situation now.
It's kinda like a cancer. If you catch it soon enough it can usually be solved with some kind of treatment; minor surgery or medication or radiation. But if you ignore it long enough then amputation and/or death will result.
Divorce is hell.
"Don’t let little irritations turn into big problems in your marriage, resolve them while they are little. Divorce is hell."
This comes under the heading of "Experience is knowing a lot of things you shouldn't do again." Oh yeah, that's the point of this blog, isn't it?
So many of our problems started out many years ago as little tiny irritations or annoyances, and I let them slide because "it wasn't worth the battle". Well, I shouldn't have, because as time went on they became bigger irritations, and then mutated into problems that have become insurmountable obstacles.
People ask me "when did your problems start?" And, over the last month I have come up with various answers: 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years ago. Really, after a lot of introspection, I believe that they started soon after we got married, if not before, because we both were willing to "let things slide". Both of us dislike confrontation and avoid it whenever possible.
Many times, avoiding confrontation is a Very Good Thing. But, there are times when it becomes necessary, and I am beginning to believe that facing confrontation in a marriage from the beginning is a Very Good Thing.
If I could do it over again I'd have fought the battle back then. Or at least started looking for a solution or a compromise. Individually, in the beginning, all of them could have been solved and we wouldn't be in this situation now.
It's kinda like a cancer. If you catch it soon enough it can usually be solved with some kind of treatment; minor surgery or medication or radiation. But if you ignore it long enough then amputation and/or death will result.
Divorce is hell.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Too confused/busy to blog the last few days. I managed to get off early on Christmas Eve and took Christmas Day and Friday off. I was actually carrying the Master Pager for the group and only got one page the entire weekend, and the problem was solved before I could return the call; so "work" was not the problem.
We'll start on 12/21, when we finally setup the (fake) Christmas Tree.
I think the picture is much prettier with the flash turned off:
Then we move to Christmas Eve, We had a couple of snow storms and some very cold weather, so on Christmas Eve (and Day) the roads were very icy. Driving past the neighbors house I noticed an eagle sitting in the tree looking out over the road and field beyond.
On Christmas Day the roads were still very icy, but the scenery was beautiful.
Spent most of Christmas Day in Bemidji with the kids. This was Phillip's first Christmas. I really remember very little about my childhood, but I do remember that I loved Legos (still do, actually). I have a set of Legos that were always at my grandparents, if you look thru the "Slides" you can find at least one photo of me playing with them. One of the first gifts I gave our kids was Legos, and I decided that would be my first Christmas Present for Phillip, start his collection of Legos. I got him a simple Duplo set to get started with.
Phillip played with Matt and Evolena a bit, he's getting quite the winning smile now.
Matt made up some more burned plaque; Jon got a Dragon and Patty a Mermaid, that face each other.
Evan got a plaque also, the Lord's Prayer - in Finnish.
Evolena also got a plaque of a Dragon
On Friday we took it (more or less) easy. On Saturday Matt and I (and a couple of helpers) went over to Jim's and installed a frost plug block heater in Vger. Haven't had to use it - yet. Tomorrow night we have a forecast for -20, so I'll get to test it then.
Went bowling Sunday with the neighbor's; I figure it's the first time in nearly 20 years I've tried to roll a ball at some pins. I did manage an 86 with a strike and a couple of spares and several gutter balls.
When we got home from Bowling I found Bear under the Christmas Tree
Gas in GR went to 1.659 on Friday, I believe Bemidji was at 1.629 on Christmas Day.
Until Later!
We'll start on 12/21, when we finally setup the (fake) Christmas Tree.
I think the picture is much prettier with the flash turned off:
Then we move to Christmas Eve, We had a couple of snow storms and some very cold weather, so on Christmas Eve (and Day) the roads were very icy. Driving past the neighbors house I noticed an eagle sitting in the tree looking out over the road and field beyond.
On Christmas Day the roads were still very icy, but the scenery was beautiful.
Spent most of Christmas Day in Bemidji with the kids. This was Phillip's first Christmas. I really remember very little about my childhood, but I do remember that I loved Legos (still do, actually). I have a set of Legos that were always at my grandparents, if you look thru the "Slides" you can find at least one photo of me playing with them. One of the first gifts I gave our kids was Legos, and I decided that would be my first Christmas Present for Phillip, start his collection of Legos. I got him a simple Duplo set to get started with.
Phillip played with Matt and Evolena a bit, he's getting quite the winning smile now.
Matt made up some more burned plaque; Jon got a Dragon and Patty a Mermaid, that face each other.
Evan got a plaque also, the Lord's Prayer - in Finnish.
Evolena also got a plaque of a Dragon
On Friday we took it (more or less) easy. On Saturday Matt and I (and a couple of helpers) went over to Jim's and installed a frost plug block heater in Vger. Haven't had to use it - yet. Tomorrow night we have a forecast for -20, so I'll get to test it then.
Went bowling Sunday with the neighbor's; I figure it's the first time in nearly 20 years I've tried to roll a ball at some pins. I did manage an 86 with a strike and a couple of spares and several gutter balls.
When we got home from Bowling I found Bear under the Christmas Tree
Gas in GR went to 1.659 on Friday, I believe Bemidji was at 1.629 on Christmas Day.
Until Later!
Friday, December 12, 2008
12-Dec Colder
The thermometer at home said -20°F, the NWS says -10°F. I was shivering too much to read the thermometers in town.
Ran ourselves out of propane at home; not sure how. I'm sure the gauge read 30% last Friday, but it is empty now. Might have something to do with all the house cleaning and traffic thru the house all week.
Vendors have been sending "Customer Appreciation" gifts of fancy chocolates all week, I'm eating myself sick.
When I call my UniCel phone I get a message that service has been suspended. All the cell phones owned by the hospital say that when you call them.
Gas in GR is still at 1.699. We'll be going to Bemidji tonight, see what it is there.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
4 Dec
Gas this morning is at 1.829.
Temp this morning is at 5°F with a light dusting of snow. Forecast is -3° tonight, first below 0°F.
Pain level very high this morning; don't know how much longer I can sit at my desk; may need to go home and take some pain killers.
I have restarted scanning the slides, my new scans are much better than the old ones, so I will be replacing the old with the new. I'm doing good to get between 5 and ten slides an evening; takes nearly 10 minutes to do each one. These scans are approx 3000 x 2000, I will be posting approx 800 x 600 but originals can be emailed or made available for download upon request. Here's a sample:
The filename is 19790632-M-LoneCypress.jpg. Format is YearMonthNumber-size-Info; in this case the date and sequence number printed on the slide indicate that it was developed June of 1979 slide number 32, Medium size (could be Original or Small) and I happen to know that this is the Lone Cypress. Info may include what is written on the slide or the names of the people or place pictured when I know it.
Temp this morning is at 5°F with a light dusting of snow. Forecast is -3° tonight, first below 0°F.
Pain level very high this morning; don't know how much longer I can sit at my desk; may need to go home and take some pain killers.
I have restarted scanning the slides, my new scans are much better than the old ones, so I will be replacing the old with the new. I'm doing good to get between 5 and ten slides an evening; takes nearly 10 minutes to do each one. These scans are approx 3000 x 2000, I will be posting approx 800 x 600 but originals can be emailed or made available for download upon request. Here's a sample:
The filename is 19790632-M-LoneCypress.jpg. Format is YearMonthNumber-size-Info; in this case the date and sequence number printed on the slide indicate that it was developed June of 1979 slide number 32, Medium size (could be Original or Small) and I happen to know that this is the Lone Cypress. Info may include what is written on the slide or the names of the people or place pictured when I know it.
Friday, November 28, 2008
SVCHOST Finale
Well, I don't have svchost errors anymore.
Disabling the "server" service stopped the errors from happening, but it also stopped a bunch of other stuff that I wanted. So, I was going to do a repair install of XP and brought a CD home to do it with.
I have two types of WinXP CD's lying around; I usually keep them labeled appropriately. One type is just a basic, standard CD that is slipstreamed with current patches (at this time, up to SP3), and the other is my "rebuild the PC and get it on the floor CD" that automatically boots, reformats, installs, and configures everything to our desktop standard so that when the install process is done in about an hour it can go straight to the floor. As I said, I try to keep them labeled, but I grabbed an unlabeled XP CD and it was my auto CD. Most of the data is backed up to about 2 months ago, so it isn't a total loss, and it is probably better this way anyways, clear up a bunch of junk.
Had a great Turkey Dinner yesterday at Jon and Patty's place. After dinner Jon showed me a book he got recently; an Anthology of Dragon stories. The first story was by Anne McCaffrey. I've just never gotten around to reading any of her writing, but after reading that short story (the beginning of the Pern saga) I realized that I've been missing some great reading. I'm going to have to get the "Dragonflight" book and start reading about Pern.
Jon and Patty gave me the latest Mannheim Steamroller CD, "Christmasville". From the Mannheim Steamroller Website:
"This record was born out of a once-in-a-lifetime project: Universal Theme Parks commissioned Chip Davis to create music WITH vocals-- for a holiday show called 'Grinchmas'. Thus, for the first time, you'll hear Mannheim Steamroller with voice as the final instrument"
I'm afraid it's not one of the better Mannheim efforts. Actually, it's the worst Mannheim Steamroller Christmas Album yet. It's very short, about 30 minutes. Only two (I think) of the tracks are actually Mannheim Steamroller, the rest are some kind of a bastard Mannheim/Universal cross.
Chip, I really hope that this is indeed a "once in a lifetime" album.
Gotta remember to pick up the head for Stripez at the machine shop today.
Gas in Bemidji was 1.719, in GR 1.899 on T-Day.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Winter's (almost) here
Gas in Bemidji Saturday was at 1.919 while GR was at 2.199; today gas in Bemidji is at 1.869 while GR is at 2.069.
Whatever.
'Bout 1/2" snow last night, quite chilly. Just enough to make everyone slide around the street.
Got the (correct) Alternator swapped out on Vger. O'Reilly's kept trying to sell me the NipponDenso alternator when mine requires the Chrysler Alternator. Slight differences in the mounts. Afterwards we realized that it has been noisy for a very long time. It sounds so much quieter now. I hope to see some increase in fuel mileage as an incidental byproduct.
Finally got the living room put back together after completing the inside part of the Window Project.
Got Evan's Tempo here (Saturday's project). The cable that runs from the shift lever to the auto trans is broken. Dealer-only item, about $250. Here's another instance where I will need to decide what we want to do. I've already got close to $2K in it and it needs the shift cable, driver's seat belt mechanism isn't working properly (about $800), and I don't yet know what else might be wrong. Oh, and it needs new front tires ($120) and maybe an alignment ($50). Is it worth it?
I'm getting ready to migrate our old DHCP server to a new (recycled) (temporary) box. Our current DHCP server is also the AD controller for a domain no longer used, and it is also our primary SQL server. I need to demote the server and join it to our current domain. I figure the SQL auth might be my biggest problem, and if I can get the DHCP moved to another box that will be one less item to worry about. Time to start writing the plan for the migration.
I hear that a lot of folks on Face Book are getting scammed by people hi-jacking the account of a friend then asking for money to help out "hey, I need $100 for ??". Don't fall for it!
Did you see the news item about the Oregon woman that was scammed $400K in a Nigerian scam? I still can't believe that someone is stupid enough to do that. http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html.
Whatever.
'Bout 1/2" snow last night, quite chilly. Just enough to make everyone slide around the street.
Got the (correct) Alternator swapped out on Vger. O'Reilly's kept trying to sell me the NipponDenso alternator when mine requires the Chrysler Alternator. Slight differences in the mounts. Afterwards we realized that it has been noisy for a very long time. It sounds so much quieter now. I hope to see some increase in fuel mileage as an incidental byproduct.
Finally got the living room put back together after completing the inside part of the Window Project.
Got Evan's Tempo here (Saturday's project). The cable that runs from the shift lever to the auto trans is broken. Dealer-only item, about $250. Here's another instance where I will need to decide what we want to do. I've already got close to $2K in it and it needs the shift cable, driver's seat belt mechanism isn't working properly (about $800), and I don't yet know what else might be wrong. Oh, and it needs new front tires ($120) and maybe an alignment ($50). Is it worth it?
I'm getting ready to migrate our old DHCP server to a new (recycled) (temporary) box. Our current DHCP server is also the AD controller for a domain no longer used, and it is also our primary SQL server. I need to demote the server and join it to our current domain. I figure the SQL auth might be my biggest problem, and if I can get the DHCP moved to another box that will be one less item to worry about. Time to start writing the plan for the migration.
I hear that a lot of folks on Face Book are getting scammed by people hi-jacking the account of a friend then asking for money to help out "hey, I need $100 for ??". Don't fall for it!
Did you see the news item about the Oregon woman that was scammed $400K in a Nigerian scam? I still can't believe that someone is stupid enough to do that. http://www.katu.com/news/34292654.html.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Deer Season
Well, Deer Season came in with a BANG!! Sitting out on my stand, about one minute after my watch said "time", from all around I heard bang! bang! bang-bang-bang-bang! bang!
I haven't seen anything yet. Matt, hunting with his friends a couple of miles away, tagged a nice doe and a button buck first thing this morning. He took the button buck with one perfect shot through the lungs; it dropped and never moved. Should be some good eating there.
Thursdays rain was part of a large system centered down near Sioux City. The center stayed there most of Thursday, wrapping Gulf moisture and warm air up and around onto us. Overnight Thursday it moved East across MN and Friday we continued to get some rain and drizzle as the temps began to fall. Saturday (Deer Season Opener) started out with some mixed snow and drizzle, but the ground was warm enough that the snow disappeared right away.
Today, Sunday, the ground has cooled enough that the snow is staying. We are only getting a few flakes at a time, and the puddles aren't frozen solid yet, but it's about 20 degrees F out right now and that North wind is coold.
Gas is at 2.259 this morning.
I tried to buy a pair of 195/75/R14 Winterforce tires at L&M on sale, but they were sold out Thursday night. Said they would transfer a couple from another store and I could get them Friday afternoon. Stopped by Friday afternoon and then later that evening, still haven't arrived.
Decided to pull the pair of Winterforce tires off Stripez. They don't have many miles on them since Stripez blew the head gasket soon after it got the new tires. They are on Vger now. While I had the front drivers tire off Vger I checked the trans oil, it was down nearly 2 quarts. Trying to remember when I checked it last and topped it off, hopefully I blogged it (no, I didn't. September?). Still have a funny noise under the hood anytime the engine is running, suspect that I'm about to lose the alternator or waterpump soon; or perhaps the timing belt idler? Hope not. Too cold to mess with it right now, it needs to keep running until we can get Stripez back together.
Need to pickup the head for Stripez from the machine shop, $220.
Need to pickup the starter for the Allis-Chalmers from the rebuild shop, $195.
Need to put a pair of Winterforce tires on the front of the red Horizon, $100
Got a bit of a shock Thursday afternoon. My current Auto Insurance policy was due to be renewed Friday, and I asked my insurance agent to check around for a better price, was paying $900 every 6 month's for 5 vehicles and 4 drivers.
Well, Evan's car is titled in his name, he is not a student, and he lives in Bemidji. Jon has his own family, is not a student, and lives in Bemidji while driving Betty's LeMans. Turns out that, although we have been paying for the insurance coverage, if they had an accident they wouldn't have been covered. So Betty gave the title to the LeMans to Jon and they are not on our new policy, which dropped the price a bit.
Here is what we learned. If the driver is a full time student and/or lives at home, they can be covered under our policy. If the title to the vehicle is in mine or Betty's name, it can be covered under our policy. Otherwise, NOT.
So, when Matt gets his truck running, we leave the title in my name, and he is living at home, then he and the truck will be covered under our policy. When Matt titles the truck in his name he will then need to get his own insurance. When Matt leaves home, he will need to title the truck in his name and get his own insurance.
OK. Didn't know that. And we've been paying for Jon and Evan's insurance that wasn't going to cover them. Thank God they didn't have any accidents.
I haven't seen anything yet. Matt, hunting with his friends a couple of miles away, tagged a nice doe and a button buck first thing this morning. He took the button buck with one perfect shot through the lungs; it dropped and never moved. Should be some good eating there.
Thursdays rain was part of a large system centered down near Sioux City. The center stayed there most of Thursday, wrapping Gulf moisture and warm air up and around onto us. Overnight Thursday it moved East across MN and Friday we continued to get some rain and drizzle as the temps began to fall. Saturday (Deer Season Opener) started out with some mixed snow and drizzle, but the ground was warm enough that the snow disappeared right away.
Today, Sunday, the ground has cooled enough that the snow is staying. We are only getting a few flakes at a time, and the puddles aren't frozen solid yet, but it's about 20 degrees F out right now and that North wind is coold.
Gas is at 2.259 this morning.
I tried to buy a pair of 195/75/R14 Winterforce tires at L&M on sale, but they were sold out Thursday night. Said they would transfer a couple from another store and I could get them Friday afternoon. Stopped by Friday afternoon and then later that evening, still haven't arrived.
Decided to pull the pair of Winterforce tires off Stripez. They don't have many miles on them since Stripez blew the head gasket soon after it got the new tires. They are on Vger now. While I had the front drivers tire off Vger I checked the trans oil, it was down nearly 2 quarts. Trying to remember when I checked it last and topped it off, hopefully I blogged it (no, I didn't. September?). Still have a funny noise under the hood anytime the engine is running, suspect that I'm about to lose the alternator or waterpump soon; or perhaps the timing belt idler? Hope not. Too cold to mess with it right now, it needs to keep running until we can get Stripez back together.
Need to pickup the head for Stripez from the machine shop, $220.
Need to pickup the starter for the Allis-Chalmers from the rebuild shop, $195.
Need to put a pair of Winterforce tires on the front of the red Horizon, $100
Got a bit of a shock Thursday afternoon. My current Auto Insurance policy was due to be renewed Friday, and I asked my insurance agent to check around for a better price, was paying $900 every 6 month's for 5 vehicles and 4 drivers.
Well, Evan's car is titled in his name, he is not a student, and he lives in Bemidji. Jon has his own family, is not a student, and lives in Bemidji while driving Betty's LeMans. Turns out that, although we have been paying for the insurance coverage, if they had an accident they wouldn't have been covered. So Betty gave the title to the LeMans to Jon and they are not on our new policy, which dropped the price a bit.
Here is what we learned. If the driver is a full time student and/or lives at home, they can be covered under our policy. If the title to the vehicle is in mine or Betty's name, it can be covered under our policy. Otherwise, NOT.
So, when Matt gets his truck running, we leave the title in my name, and he is living at home, then he and the truck will be covered under our policy. When Matt titles the truck in his name he will then need to get his own insurance. When Matt leaves home, he will need to title the truck in his name and get his own insurance.
OK. Didn't know that. And we've been paying for Jon and Evan's insurance that wasn't going to cover them. Thank God they didn't have any accidents.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Busy Weekend
Very busy. Replaced the living room window.
Rain off and on all weekend, I would guess close to .5" (couldn't see it in the dark this morning). More T-Storms on the way now. It was nearly 70 yesterday, 60 overnight, pushing 50 right now. Low tonight supposed to be in upper 20's. Need to remember to put away the rain gauge before it gets broken.
Gas at 7 AM this morning was all over, one station at 3.079, another station at 2.899, another at 2.819, but most stations are at 2.849.
Noon addition: Raining pretty hard right now, temp in upper 40's.
Rain off and on all weekend, I would guess close to .5" (couldn't see it in the dark this morning). More T-Storms on the way now. It was nearly 70 yesterday, 60 overnight, pushing 50 right now. Low tonight supposed to be in upper 20's. Need to remember to put away the rain gauge before it gets broken.
Gas at 7 AM this morning was all over, one station at 3.079, another station at 2.899, another at 2.819, but most stations are at 2.849.
Noon addition: Raining pretty hard right now, temp in upper 40's.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Ketchup
or catchup or something like that. I promised a while back that I would get some pics of the tractor show and the wedding up; here they are.
The day before the wedding we had an informal get-together at Veterans Park in GR for family members, mostly so that we could chat with our relly's and relax for a few. I hate to say it, but the only memorable photo I got from the picnic was this of a squirrel peeking out of the trash can:
The NCMFAAA show was a lot of fun. I mostly drove my tractor around pulling the "people wagon", but I took a few snap-shots as I went of things of interest to me. I missed the parade on Saturday because of the wedding but drove in the parade on Sunday, so I don't have any pictures from the parade.
Something new this year, Bruce Gould made a train out of a lawn tractor and plastic drums for the kids to ride around in. I think he was having as much fun as I was giving rides out:
Here's a photo of my tractor parked on the line:
Here's a restored W4, the "little brother" of my W6:
Here's an MD, which is the cousin of the WD6:
Here's an interesting configuration; an Allis-Chalmers C with a half-track setup:
Here's an interesting mess, a John Deere 5600 that has a Detroit Diesel Turbo engine installed. I don't know how much horsepower it has, but it makes this tractor scoot, and it makes quite a wail. Don't know if it's any good as a tractor anymore, though.
There are some other modified tractors also, how about a Ford with a Flathead V8? Those were available as conversions kits right from some of the dealers (so I'm told), but how about a Ford with a Lincoln V12? I'll bet the dealers never thought of that one.
Here's an old Allis-Chalmers WC. Why is this in here? Because it used to be ours, we swapped it and some cash for another WC that I could (and did) fix. This one had rims so rusted out that the tires couldn't stay on. There's been quite a few other changes to it, but the engine and frame and front gear were once ours. This tractor actually went out and ran a threshing machine for a few moments until it blew a crank seal right out of the block.
Not the greatest photo, but here is (l-r) a Ford, my W6, and an Allis Chalmers WD plowing a field together.
Almost forgot the wedding. Here's Corey and Kendra smooching at the reception:
Remember a while back I had photos of the watertower getting painted? Here's the finished product. In case you can't read it, it says
Grand Rapids
It's in Minnesota's Nature.
And in the place of honor, here's Phillip, who's looking so happy because it's time to call it quits for a bit.
The day before the wedding we had an informal get-together at Veterans Park in GR for family members, mostly so that we could chat with our relly's and relax for a few. I hate to say it, but the only memorable photo I got from the picnic was this of a squirrel peeking out of the trash can:
The NCMFAAA show was a lot of fun. I mostly drove my tractor around pulling the "people wagon", but I took a few snap-shots as I went of things of interest to me. I missed the parade on Saturday because of the wedding but drove in the parade on Sunday, so I don't have any pictures from the parade.
Something new this year, Bruce Gould made a train out of a lawn tractor and plastic drums for the kids to ride around in. I think he was having as much fun as I was giving rides out:
Here's a photo of my tractor parked on the line:
Here's a restored W4, the "little brother" of my W6:
Here's an MD, which is the cousin of the WD6:
Here's an interesting configuration; an Allis-Chalmers C with a half-track setup:
Here's an interesting mess, a John Deere 5600 that has a Detroit Diesel Turbo engine installed. I don't know how much horsepower it has, but it makes this tractor scoot, and it makes quite a wail. Don't know if it's any good as a tractor anymore, though.
There are some other modified tractors also, how about a Ford with a Flathead V8? Those were available as conversions kits right from some of the dealers (so I'm told), but how about a Ford with a Lincoln V12? I'll bet the dealers never thought of that one.
Here's an old Allis-Chalmers WC. Why is this in here? Because it used to be ours, we swapped it and some cash for another WC that I could (and did) fix. This one had rims so rusted out that the tires couldn't stay on. There's been quite a few other changes to it, but the engine and frame and front gear were once ours. This tractor actually went out and ran a threshing machine for a few moments until it blew a crank seal right out of the block.
Not the greatest photo, but here is (l-r) a Ford, my W6, and an Allis Chalmers WD plowing a field together.
Almost forgot the wedding. Here's Corey and Kendra smooching at the reception:
Remember a while back I had photos of the watertower getting painted? Here's the finished product. In case you can't read it, it says
Grand Rapids
It's in Minnesota's Nature.
And in the place of honor, here's Phillip, who's looking so happy because it's time to call it quits for a bit.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Itasca County Fair
Well, we survived the Fair another year. Here are the highlights as I saw them.
There was a small booth that I thought was pretty well hidden. Matt says that the booth has been at the fair many times, but this is the first time I've seen it. This guy was playing several different types of pipes, here he is playing the Pan Pipes. Extremely good I thought; I went so far as to buy two CD's featuring his work. As soon as I can remember his name I will edit this post.
There was a small booth that I thought was pretty well hidden. Matt says that the booth has been at the fair many times, but this is the first time I've seen it. This guy was playing several different types of pipes, here he is playing the Pan Pipes. Extremely good I thought; I went so far as to buy two CD's featuring his work. As soon as I can remember his name I will edit this post.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Wabe - Again!
And I don't know when I will get a chance to catch up.
Gas has dropped, a penny at a time, over the last week to 3.639.
The tractor show was a blast, got to take the W6 in even though Matt thought he had permanently destroyed the tranny (he didn't). Got a few great pics.
My niece got married Saturday afternoon, got some great pics there.
Got to spend a few moments with my bro (wish it was longer, Mark!), I'm really hoping that we can drive down to Rice Lake and visit more real soon.
Jon, Patty, and Phillip were also here, got a couple nice pics of Phillip.
Fair entries start going in today. Filled the Gladiator up with gas for the first time since June, $70, OUCH!!!
Evvy leaves for school in Bemidji in a couple of weeks, got to get her a PC built soon.
Matt and I (again, mostly Matt!) got started working on the red '89 Horizon brakes again, hope to have that done before Matt starts back to school in a couple of weeks. I thinking I'm going to yank the drive train out of the '77 Catalina and pop it in the '70 Ventura to get that cleaned up temporarily.
Rained some overnight last night, just enough to settle the dust when I was last outside.
As soon as I get a chance I will elaborate on all the above. Maybe next week?
Later!!!!
Gas has dropped, a penny at a time, over the last week to 3.639.
The tractor show was a blast, got to take the W6 in even though Matt thought he had permanently destroyed the tranny (he didn't). Got a few great pics.
My niece got married Saturday afternoon, got some great pics there.
Got to spend a few moments with my bro (wish it was longer, Mark!), I'm really hoping that we can drive down to Rice Lake and visit more real soon.
Jon, Patty, and Phillip were also here, got a couple nice pics of Phillip.
Fair entries start going in today. Filled the Gladiator up with gas for the first time since June, $70, OUCH!!!
Evvy leaves for school in Bemidji in a couple of weeks, got to get her a PC built soon.
Matt and I (again, mostly Matt!) got started working on the red '89 Horizon brakes again, hope to have that done before Matt starts back to school in a couple of weeks. I thinking I'm going to yank the drive train out of the '77 Catalina and pop it in the '70 Ventura to get that cleaned up temporarily.
Rained some overnight last night, just enough to settle the dust when I was last outside.
As soon as I get a chance I will elaborate on all the above. Maybe next week?
Later!!!!
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wabe
Way behind, that is.
GAS: starting last Friday (I think), gas dropped to 3.979/gal, then Saturday to 3.899, then Sunday to 3.839, now today it is at 3.799.
We've had a few minor showers and t-storms over the last few days, nothing to get excited about.
Big news of the weekend was that we acquired a pool table thru FreeCycle, just had to pick it up and then find a home for it. With a LOT of help from Matt and Evolena we got the garage re-organized and found enough space to put the pool table in the middle of the floor. Need to keep it tarped when not in use to keep critters and weather off of it since the roof leaks and there are no screens or glass in the windows and no door in the frame.
I've wanted a pool table for 35 years, but never had time or space or money for it. Didn't get anything else done with the yard or hay or cars or anything else, but I can play pool anytime now by walking out to the garage. Just got to ignore the mosquitos. It's a mass-market cheap 6-1/2 foot table, the top has a tear or two in the felt and the balls don't always go where you expect them to go, but it sure is a lot of fun.
GAS: starting last Friday (I think), gas dropped to 3.979/gal, then Saturday to 3.899, then Sunday to 3.839, now today it is at 3.799.
We've had a few minor showers and t-storms over the last few days, nothing to get excited about.
Big news of the weekend was that we acquired a pool table thru FreeCycle, just had to pick it up and then find a home for it. With a LOT of help from Matt and Evolena we got the garage re-organized and found enough space to put the pool table in the middle of the floor. Need to keep it tarped when not in use to keep critters and weather off of it since the roof leaks and there are no screens or glass in the windows and no door in the frame.
I've wanted a pool table for 35 years, but never had time or space or money for it. Didn't get anything else done with the yard or hay or cars or anything else, but I can play pool anytime now by walking out to the garage. Just got to ignore the mosquitos. It's a mass-market cheap 6-1/2 foot table, the top has a tear or two in the felt and the balls don't always go where you expect them to go, but it sure is a lot of fun.
Friday, June 13, 2008
11 PM sitting in Betty's hospital room; she's back on oxygen.
Trip to Bemidji went pretty good, got oil & filter changed on Jeep (99 Cherokee), Cricky (81 LeMans), and RumJohn (92 Tempo). Driver side mirror on Cricky was broken, replaced with a cheap plastic aftermarket mirror. Still need to lube them, and RumJohn appears to be running rough once it is warmed up, need to look into that problem. Vger ran like a champ.
A couple of pretty heavy showers went thru Bemidji while we were there, causing a couple of short breaks in the action.
Bought some gas while in Bemidji, paid 3.819 there, it is 3.919 here in GR.
When we got back home we fired up Stripez (92 Voyager) and went grocery shopping. Runs pretty good. I had forgotten, but just before everything turned sour with Stripez I had purchased new belts and hoses for it; still need to get those installed. Also, the steering rack seals are leaking, need to investigate the options for repairing that. Stripez uses nearly a quart of Power Steering fluid a week, that will get real expensive real fast.
As near as I can tell, it didn't rain at home while we were in Bemidji.
Trip to Bemidji went pretty good, got oil & filter changed on Jeep (99 Cherokee), Cricky (81 LeMans), and RumJohn (92 Tempo). Driver side mirror on Cricky was broken, replaced with a cheap plastic aftermarket mirror. Still need to lube them, and RumJohn appears to be running rough once it is warmed up, need to look into that problem. Vger ran like a champ.
A couple of pretty heavy showers went thru Bemidji while we were there, causing a couple of short breaks in the action.
Bought some gas while in Bemidji, paid 3.819 there, it is 3.919 here in GR.
When we got back home we fired up Stripez (92 Voyager) and went grocery shopping. Runs pretty good. I had forgotten, but just before everything turned sour with Stripez I had purchased new belts and hoses for it; still need to get those installed. Also, the steering rack seals are leaking, need to investigate the options for repairing that. Stripez uses nearly a quart of Power Steering fluid a week, that will get real expensive real fast.
As near as I can tell, it didn't rain at home while we were in Bemidji.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Sitting in Betty's hospital room right now. Very rainy and windy outside, gusting to 60mph. Betty tells me that the power was out briefly just before I arrived here; I passed 2 downed trees on Golf Course Road.
Found a tranny for the blue Horizon, it will cost me about $300 to get it here including shipping. More than I wanted to pay but definitely worth it to get a car that gets 40 mpg running.
Filled up Vger at 3.959. Some stations are at 3.969 and some at 3.959, a slight pullback from Monday’s high.
Paging system down right now, nobody told IS until I did just now. Nurse has been trying to get a Doc here to see Betty but no response to the page; I paged myself and didn’t receive it. Our in-house repeater gets the signal from a repeater in Coleraine which gets its signal from another repeater which gets its signal from another repeater which gets a signal from the transmitter in Duluth. With weather like this any one of the repeaters could be down which will put us down. The paging company had a problem last year with the backup generator in Coleraine not coming on line, wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again.
Found a tranny for the blue Horizon, it will cost me about $300 to get it here including shipping. More than I wanted to pay but definitely worth it to get a car that gets 40 mpg running.
Filled up Vger at 3.959. Some stations are at 3.969 and some at 3.959, a slight pullback from Monday’s high.
Paging system down right now, nobody told IS until I did just now. Nurse has been trying to get a Doc here to see Betty but no response to the page; I paged myself and didn’t receive it. Our in-house repeater gets the signal from a repeater in Coleraine which gets its signal from another repeater which gets its signal from another repeater which gets a signal from the transmitter in Duluth. With weather like this any one of the repeaters could be down which will put us down. The paging company had a problem last year with the backup generator in Coleraine not coming on line, wouldn’t be surprised if it happened again.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Not too bad of a weekend. Ground VERY soggy after the rain last week, but sunny and breezy. Got the engine/tranny ripped out of Da Vench and returned to its owner today.
Gas is back up to 3.899. Talked to my mom in SoCal Saturday; she paid 4.45 for gas that morning.
Took most of Saturday to get everything together; had to find a relatively level place that wasn't under water and where the cars wouldn't sink into the ground; then had to mow that place and put the car there, then transport the jack and engine hoist to that spot.
While I was prepping Da Vench Matt replaced the fan belt and radiator hoses on the WC, also replaced the radiator and rebuilt the carb. The WC nows runs the best it has since we've had it here. Still need to complete the carb adjustments. Need to adjust the carb under load, kinda hard to do that when you don't have anything to run off the PTO so the only way to load it is to pull something, and it's kinda hard to adjust a moving object.
Because you can't roll the engine hoist on the grass, we rolled the car out from under the engine, then I backed VGer up to the engine while Matt swung the engine inside. Good thing VGer has the overload springs; it was squatting pretty good. I was VERY glad to have the load out of VGer when we unloaded.
Photos in "Da Vench" Gallery.
BBQ'd Beef Ribs for dinner last night; hamburgers tonight. Got a little bit of the yard and the shooting range mowed tonight, now it's raining pretty good.
With all the rain last week the grass and hay are growing fast, and the bloodsucking mosquitos are multiplying faster than I can spray them away.
I have to run to Duluth Monday morning; going to see an Avaya Unified Communications demo and visit my friends at Sisu (www.sisunet.org). Then I have the rest of the week off while Betty has surgery.
And yes, these are photos from my new camera. Couldn't find one that met ALL of my criteria, but this one meets the most important ones and I got a bargain on it. More on that subject later, when I get more time.
Ta ta!
Gas is back up to 3.899. Talked to my mom in SoCal Saturday; she paid 4.45 for gas that morning.
Took most of Saturday to get everything together; had to find a relatively level place that wasn't under water and where the cars wouldn't sink into the ground; then had to mow that place and put the car there, then transport the jack and engine hoist to that spot.
While I was prepping Da Vench Matt replaced the fan belt and radiator hoses on the WC, also replaced the radiator and rebuilt the carb. The WC nows runs the best it has since we've had it here. Still need to complete the carb adjustments. Need to adjust the carb under load, kinda hard to do that when you don't have anything to run off the PTO so the only way to load it is to pull something, and it's kinda hard to adjust a moving object.
Because you can't roll the engine hoist on the grass, we rolled the car out from under the engine, then I backed VGer up to the engine while Matt swung the engine inside. Good thing VGer has the overload springs; it was squatting pretty good. I was VERY glad to have the load out of VGer when we unloaded.
Photos in "Da Vench" Gallery.
BBQ'd Beef Ribs for dinner last night; hamburgers tonight. Got a little bit of the yard and the shooting range mowed tonight, now it's raining pretty good.
With all the rain last week the grass and hay are growing fast, and the bloodsucking mosquitos are multiplying faster than I can spray them away.
I have to run to Duluth Monday morning; going to see an Avaya Unified Communications demo and visit my friends at Sisu (www.sisunet.org). Then I have the rest of the week off while Betty has surgery.
And yes, these are photos from my new camera. Couldn't find one that met ALL of my criteria, but this one meets the most important ones and I got a bargain on it. More on that subject later, when I get more time.
Ta ta!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Beautiful Weekend! Summer has at last arrived in Northern MN. Temps in the mid to upper 70's, sunny skies, occasional t-storms, and now MOSQUITOES are here.
We got the new pasture fence completed Saturday, a huge relief. Finished off the last bale of hay Friday night. We cut some hay Saturday morning, gave it to the animals, and then set out to finish the fence before the hay ran out. Had to run to town twice for supplies, but we did it.
Fan belt broke on the WC last week. To replace it you must remove the lower radiator hose. So, we ordered both upper and lower hoses from Steiner Tractor, as well as the fan belt and a carb rebuild kit. We are hoping they will arrive before the weekend so that will be the main project next weekend
Spent part of Sunday crushing the old fence into the old topper shell. We put the shell upside down on the big trailer and Matt is filling it with scrap metal. Even though we gave away a LOT of scrap metal last year, I figure we might still be able to make 3 or 4 trailer loads, all of which will go towards his Europe trip.
Worked on the garden a little bit, it is now well plowed, well disked, and fairly level. It would be nicer if we could till it. $33 to rent a walk behind tiller overnight. Might consider it.
Still don't have my shop organized yet.
Gas was still at 3.899 this morning.
Mostly sunny and 61 outside, so says the NWS. I haven't been outside in 6 hours.
We got the new pasture fence completed Saturday, a huge relief. Finished off the last bale of hay Friday night. We cut some hay Saturday morning, gave it to the animals, and then set out to finish the fence before the hay ran out. Had to run to town twice for supplies, but we did it.
Fan belt broke on the WC last week. To replace it you must remove the lower radiator hose. So, we ordered both upper and lower hoses from Steiner Tractor, as well as the fan belt and a carb rebuild kit. We are hoping they will arrive before the weekend so that will be the main project next weekend
Spent part of Sunday crushing the old fence into the old topper shell. We put the shell upside down on the big trailer and Matt is filling it with scrap metal. Even though we gave away a LOT of scrap metal last year, I figure we might still be able to make 3 or 4 trailer loads, all of which will go towards his Europe trip.
Worked on the garden a little bit, it is now well plowed, well disked, and fairly level. It would be nicer if we could till it. $33 to rent a walk behind tiller overnight. Might consider it.
Still don't have my shop organized yet.
Gas was still at 3.899 this morning.
Mostly sunny and 61 outside, so says the NWS. I haven't been outside in 6 hours.
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