Off Topic

[32t]

My daughter is suppose to visit this weekend. I asked her to bring her light. We tried it on a few rocks I have and it didn't show anything. I have some Sodalite and some opal. If I remember we tried the sodalite. I don't remember trying the opal.The opal I have is a type that I got from my father and was told you have to boil it in sugar water to bring the colors out. They arent to bright at the moment. I will have to look that up again. It has been awhile!

 

[32t]

The opal especially the higher quality stuff showed up under the black light. If the light was shined on it for a shortime like 10seconds then the stone glowed for about 2 seconds after the light was removed. I tried to take a picture but it didn't work well.

 

[32t]

The toilet near the bedroom is now working. My wife is happy.

A temporary fix as it is working for now but will have more work nearer in the future than I want.

I probably will be dead before this needs the next repair.

I am thinking about making a frame and an accsess panel to make it look alright for now and maybe lower the cieling later when a complete replacent is needed.

My first house was apraised at more for the lot with the house gone. After I sold it it is now a parking lot......

I am wondering if this one is similar?

I think my repair turned out well.

 

[32t]

Around $50 for parts minus cieling repair and labor but one outfit had a bid of over $30,000 to redo the whole house.

 

[Bruno]

As i am getting older i find myself thinking more often along the lines of 'i can fix it now for x and it will be good but if i ever need to fix it again i will have a lot of work' and 'i can fix it for xxx, add an access panel and use easily accessible parts anif i ever need to do it again it will be easier'

 

[Bruno]

My roof needs to be replaced in September.
Quite a big project because it's 200 square meters in total, plus there is an asbestos underroof that needs to be removed and insulation to be added.
Today they dropped off the new rooftiles: 17 pallets in total.

 

[32t]

That is a long time to store the tiles.
I was under the impression that they could reuse the tiles.

 

[Bruno]

That was the original plan. However several roof guys including one that is a friend have told me that mine are really end of life. Reusing them would be more costly that replacing them because they'd need to be taken down one by one. And sometime in the next 10 years they'd give up the ghost completely.

Idk how the materials market is in the USA but over here it is madness. Not only have materials gotten a lot more expensive, but there are long and unpredictable lead times. We had hoped to receive them in december before the price hike, but here we are in March. The wholesaler asked us if he could sell these on to another customer who needed them sooner than september but I refused. At rpesent, a re-order would have them delivered in August, right before work commences. If nothing happens in the meantime.

It's a lot of time to have them sitting here but thankfully they're rooftiles so sitting outside isn't a big problem.
17 pallets in total. 9 big ones up front

 

[cangooner]

I think some of the supply chain issues are slowly ironing themselves out here, but it is still definitely an issue. I have a friend who had to replace some house siding after a big wind storm last year. They ordered their colour (the siding that was damaged was only a couple of years old, so an exact colour match was theoretically possible), waited several months, had the wrong colour delivered and were told that was all that was available and they could take it or leave it.

They now have a big blue-grey patch on their brown house.

They were frustrated/annoyed of course but accepted that it keeps the wind, rain, and snow out and considering the insanity of the last few years, it's not the worst problem to have to deal with.

 

[Bruno]

That happens here as well. Plenty of people building a house currently are told that their chosen color rooftile is not available, and they can choose between vomit green rooftiles or no tiles

 

[32t]

I would also do what you are doing Bruno.

If I had to make due with blue siding I would try to make a smiling face out of it or something! LOL

I had an Opel race car that I gave up trying to match the white and every repair was painted blue. I don't have a picture handy but here is what it looked like when it was white.

http://www.comicozzie.com/gallery2/v/2000/JPS/00JPS-142.jpg.html?g2_jsWarning=true

I wasn't driving this one in the picture but I later bought it.

http://www.comicozzie.com/gallery2/v/2000/JPS/00JPS-149.jpg.html

I can see in the pictures why Mike would beat me as he is pushing the corners a little more than I did.

 

[32t]

While I am reliving the past with the pictures . I Helped Bob convert this one from a street car into a race car.

Bob Youngdahl's Super Production Elva Courier

www.comicozzie.com

 

[RezDog]

Living on an island with very limited roads I have never gotten into cars much. 4X4’s a bit when I was younger. I may venture back that way. I kind of miss driving the beaches.
As for the building materials, it’s mostly the same here, unless you can afford wood, then you can get cedar cut how you want it.
A funny story from days gone by. When I built my first home, I did the interior in cedar because I couldn’t afford drywall. Cedar was really cheap then.
Wise choice on the roofing tiles Bruno. It would not take much for your roofing to be delayed and then you would not have material when the contractor showed up and you would likely have to reschedule for next year, and have to store the tiles longer in that scenario.

 

[Bruno]

I was just informed by a mutual friend that my friend Jenes Sandor passed away.
He is the razor maker from Hungary who had just started using my damascus.
Last time we communicated was 2 weeks ago when he said everyone is his family was sick with some kind of strep infection and they were on a lot of meds because it didn't want to clear, but he expected full recover in a couple of weeks, then.
It moved very aggressively shortly after and while he fought until the end, eventually the disease won.
He died much too young. Still in his 30s I think.

Rest in peace Jenes.

 

[cangooner]

Terribly sad news. My wife's manager who is a young guy in this early 40s lost his wife to strep about 18 months ago. In the time of COVID it seems like such an odd way to go - and indeed there is a chance her doctors were tunnel-visioned on COVID at the beginning. But those other damn bugs haven't rested.

 

[32t]

Sad news indeed. Makes one think about how fragile life is.

 

[Bruno]

This afternoon I welded up the first meteorite billet. Then the forge was hot and I decided to go ahead with the billets I'd intended for Jenes. After the 1st billet I was ready to call it a day (it was a 5lb billet). But somehow I kept thinking 'life's too short' to waste and I finished the 2nd Jenes billet as well. Then I finished a humungous billet intended for a very special pattern (it was stupid big. At the limit of what I can manage even with my press and forge). And finally I made a 2nd meteorite billet.

 

[Bruno]

In the top pic, the right hand bar is the humungous one. It is over 6/8 thick still. I need to cut before i can draw further

 

[cangooner]

I once had the brilliant idea to use a tool steel wrecking bar as the stock to make a gift for my sister and her family. It involved making a thing with a section about 20"/50cm long with a series of around 10 steps forged in. This was before I made my press, so it was all hand forging on my own, and the bar was about 1"/25mm square. I got about 2 steps in before thinking "I've made a huge mistake...".

It was the same idea as this kindling splitter (not mine - this one is from Lee Valley), just bigger.

Nothing like tough steel to get a good workout! Good luck with the billet: can't wait to see what you have planned for the pattern.

 

[Bruno]

In Berlin now. Took the train which was supposed arrive at 5 but because of a detour it was past 8. And of course thd bar cart was closed due to personnel issues.

Otoh for the first time in years i had cause to give away 2 business cards to 2 friendly girl my daughters age who were sitting across us and also traveling to Berlin.