Ulu

The one on Belmont east of town. I forget the name, but they have a drive-thru milk window.

California has cautionary signs everywhere now. Every store, building, and stinking outhouse has one like this: "Caution! The State of California has determined that this facility contains blablablah...which can cause cancer or...blablablah..." The signs state whatever evil cancerous agent is sold at that particular store (restaurant, gas station, whatever...) or just the general message that it does contain such things, without itemization of them. They even put the signs at various places inside the stores. So on the lumber aisle at Lowes I saw (approximately) this: "Caution! The State of California has determined cutting wood causes dust, and dust is known to be a source of cancer..." etc. Ummm, just what place doesn't contain dust? Dust is everywhere! What about air? You can die from breathing our air. They don't advertise that one. Maybe we just need one really big sign on the border as you cross in: "Caution! The State of California has determined that it contains DUST everywhere. It's all over, and lots of other stuff that can cause cancer too! If you don't want cancer turn around and go live somewere else!" ...And don't you guys even THINK about bringing any dangerous and illegal dust into our state! (edit...spelling)

Rabbit hole indeed! LOL Ummm....you can buy lots of things here you wouldn't want to ingest. BTW, do you guys still get Coke in glass bottles? You can buy cases of coke here in glass, but it's bottled in Mexico. All the glass bottling plants are closed AFAIK. (You can still get milk in glass bottles, delivered, but no milk in glass bottles at the stores.)

Not to go too forcefully OT, but regarding salt, I spent an idle moment comparing salt content per calorie of several brands of crackers and in many flavors. Of all the various fancy flavors of crackers, the one with the lowest salt content was Sea Salt flavor. The irony was unsettling.

Mainly it's a matter of research. Look up the stuff on the web & find the instructions to dump it. Some stuff is harder than others of course, so it pays to do the homework. But if someone's figured out a way, it'll be posted on the web.

My programming experience falls completely outside these matters, so for me it's mostly a matter of trust. Or lack of it. I have a very hard time believing in Google.

Cleaning electrical contacts?

Not bad (but he mispronounced sinusoidal.)

My opinion: Do things in batches. Use a real spray gun. Buy the best paint you can afford, because the prep labor is the real cost here. I often use spray cans to paint stuff temporarily, so it won't rust while waiting for a real paint job. I've done whole custom motorcycles with spray cans (ummm...but I shot the clearcoat with a Binks) and they turned out OK, but I did that because I was using 12 different colors. I didn't want to buy quarts of paint just to shoot 3 oz and then clean the gun again. But I agree with Don, that spray can paint is likely to rust faster because it's cheaper and doesn't go on as uniformly as with a real gun.

Really? Now this I'm interested in. I chew a lot of gum with fake sugars in it. Xylotol, manitol, sorbitol, nutrasweet, etc. Do all of these affect joint health?

Oh Oh... Where's that?

Well that would sure be a blessing. Bloatware tops my list of reasons not to buy from some companies at all.

My house has 2x4 studs with empty cavities and exterior stucco over styrofoam insulation board . I could get lots of insulation around the pipes that run in the attic, but the wall plumbing is limited by the wall cavity, which is only 3.5". I believe a recirculating system wants about twice what will fit in there. Since we live in the desert, ideally I could move the water heater from my garage to an outbuilding. That'd save on cooling costs & I could get the heater closer to the baths and kitchen. (Couldn't be farther away right now, and still be indoors.) But the permit costs are unreasonable, and they'd certainly make me have one. Assuming that arrangement would satisfy the local plumbing code. It might not be permissible.

Well they tell you it gets rid of google, but don't be too sure. Google's got deep roots. Remember trying to get rid of Norton, after it became crapware?

I remember the whole base at Duluth (and Baudette, both very cold weather stations) had hydronic heating , but from a central plant. There were insulated water pipes overhead everywhere. That system makes great sense for a big installation. Nobody out here puts them on a house. (Well maybe 1/10,000 do. Maybe.) Hell, it was almost 90F yesterday. Why am I thinking about heating?

This is my first time hanging sheetrock, so everything is an adventure. That one spot won't be staggered, because I didn't want to put in extra framing. There's a dutch gable with a special set of trusses and jacks above the area I've paneled, so the framing is a bit odd above the panels. The rest of the room is almost all 24"o.c. trusses, so the joints are easily staggered. I probably should have blocked all the joints, but none of the ceiling joints are blocked in the whole house. Had I blocked the joints, I could have cut out those corner braces, too, but I'm just going to plaster them with a bit of metal lath. I bought tape & mud & a nice set of stainless drywall knives today. New tools are always fun, even if they're for a job I'm certain I will never never never wish to do again in my lifetime. The actual paneling will continue next weekend.

It's for minimal conditions only. I also have the 2 ceiling fans and a big door. Ventilating the garage is no problem, but keeping it cool/warm is the big deal. Sooo..I sprung for some R-30 insulation and I bought exterior grade drywall too (which for some reason is purple instead of green now.) I had to put gear oil in the jack, and it still drips, hence the diaper and catch-can, but otherwise the whole thing worked well. I got 8 panels & 4 big bales of insulation up, and the panels are all let in to the corner braces, lights, and hangers, and all insulated. I did have help loading the truck, but otherwise I was able to hang panels alone no problem. I did use styrofoam shims & blocks taped to the ladder to level things & get extra clearance around obstructions etc. I'm out of panels and the garage is a mess, but the Mancave PC is up in emergency operating mode.

Hey, here's the can lights I put up in the garage. I put 6 in cans and hung 2 more LEDs from the fans on simple aluminum brackets I made. I also put up this exhaust fan to cut down on the fumes. I was going to rent a panel lift, but I decided that I'd try to rush the work, so then I figured that I'd just buy one for about $190 with tax. But it comes in a kit you have to assemble with 30 little bolts. I decided then that I was just going to build one myself, and I made this attachment for my old engine hoist, all made from junk I had laying around, and it works great. It only has 4 bolts and 3 u-bolts. Basically I used a ladder and the leg assembly from a folding table, and I made a couple struts from light conduit. The upper hinge attachment was a trick, as I didn't want to drill any holes in the ladder. Everything there is just wired together. The hinge is 2 shaped wood blocks, with short 3/4" ID tubes u-bolted to them. The tubes slip over a long all-thread, bolted through the end of the boom. The wood blocks are then just wired to the ladder (as is the folding leg.) I wired the brace so the leg won't fold. Here I'm testing it with a 4x8 sheet of plywood & it works like a dream, except that the old jack is dripping at the pump. I've got some teflon packing to stuff under the globe nut, which may quell the drip. Tomorrow I start the sheetrock.

Congratulations on finding the short circuit. Not always easy, but usually easier on these old cars than new ones. One other thing that'll drive the ammeter bonkers is if the fat generator wire gets loose. When this happened to me I tightened the terminal nut, and the ammeter stabilized. Driving on a bumpy road, the ammeter was jumping up almost every little bump from that loose wire. And if the battery ground strap gets lose while driving the ammeter can peg as the regulator freaks out at seeing a miniscule battery voltage and goes to full charge mode. This happened to my '47 one day. I just tapped that terminal tighter on the battery post, while the car was still running, and ammeter immediately dropped back to normal.

I have no problem with electric vehicles, in their place. My place is not that place.

BTW, I've finished re-lighting my garage. I went from 320 watts of regular old 4' florescent tubes to 960 watts of modern cool LED can lights, which only draw 168 watts. 3x the light for half the power. Now that's an energy upgrade. I've replaced almost all the lights in our house with LEDs now too. Even my aquarium lamps.

OK, I lied. Here, it's mid-March and the Plymouth has been virtually untouched. I did pick up a few new trim bits from eBay and some new tail light lenses. Mainly I've been trying to get my garage fixed up so it's clean enough for assembly work. I'm going to hang sheetrock on the ceiling Saturday, and I've spent my spare time for the last weeks getting it all ready. All the old florescent lights are gone and 6 new flush LED can lights are in the ceiling. I spent a lot of time cleaning up the old wiring and added two more junction boxes to relieve some serious wiring congestion. There are now LED lights on my ceiling fans too now, and I installed a 90 cfm exhaust fan in the ceiling that exhausts thru little louvers in the roof gable. Judy came home just in time to see me roto-zip a 4" circle thru the wood siding LOL I did go out with a pick and go over Edith's floor. I was able to punch through pretty much everywhere I expected to, but the damage seems very localized, so I'll probably just get by with several small patches rather than replacing big floor panels. The weather is warming up a lot here. It'll be in the high 80's by Sunday. Paint will bake well in Clovis this summer.

Lotta clutch tales... I had to do the "trooper start" business with my old VW fastback. The hook on the clutch pedal assy that pulls the cable was worn and just broke off. Not the first or last time for the trooper trick. I somehow made it across Fresno (at night) and at least 24 intersections were involved. I remember telling my dad that I blew the clutch in his pickup, and it wasn't until I got it all apart that I found I had actually broken a rear axle shaft. The power-loc differential was actually able to get the truck home with one axle but it felt like a badly slipping clutch in motion. The hydraulic clutch on our Scouts used brake fluid, same as the brakes. Damn clutch slave cylinders kept leaking so I put jack fluid in the clutch. It never leaked after that. Why the clutch always leaked & the brakes never did I can't fathom. (BTW, Don't ever put jack fluid in your brakes unless it's an emergency. It'll make seeping brakes stop leaking, but it boils too easily when hot. Also it may eat up the seals eventually.)

We have one at work. I think they're better in cold climates. I dunno but they eventually ended up putting in Insta-Hot tankless heaters at every sink.

Basically we'll pay more for a smaller one that fits, or buy a bigger one that costs even more. I've wanted to put aux. tankless heaters in my kitchen and master bath, as they are far from my tank. It takes too long to get hot water when you just want to wash the hands. That's my greatest efficiency issue now.