Things have been happening around here, but I have stopped posting regularly. Reading Divemedic’s consistent posts has been pushing me to get back into it.
What happened, in general, is that I’ve been getting healthier. I’m still losing weight, and my mental health has been improving. In addition, a change in other medications is also helping.
My wife’s job now includes a long commute. This means that when she gets home, I’m done on the computer. I’m out there in the living room with her. Spending time with her is more important than anything on my computers.
So what’s happening?
- The woodworking shop is a considerable step forward. The front window is installed. We have most of the downstairs insulated; we have more than 1/2 of the shop paneled in 1/2 OSB. I’m currently priming the OSB.
- We have the Multibuild panels ready to be installed in the wood shop as soon as the panels are fully painted.
- We have 700 board feet of lumber I milled air drying. The moisture meter says they are ready to use when I want.
- The tripod crane is built, and I’m working on the leg extensions. Currently it has 7 ft. legs. The extensions will add 3 1/2 ft per extension, and I am working on 6 extensions. This gives me 7 ft, 10.5 ft and 14 ft leg options. With the 14 ft option, I can use this for lifting heavy loads into the truck or trailer.
- We now have a 5.5×9 trailer with a ramp. This makes me less dependent on my son for moving heavy things. I can roll the snowblower or lawnmower onto the trailer to take it for servicing.
- The chainsaw has been upgraded from 0.325 pitch to 3/8 (0.375) pitch, which provides me with access to ripping chains and longer bars.
- My local metal supply people are now working with me and I’m getting good prices; basically, I’m buying steel by the pound. Though it is difficult to remember to say “Hot rolled” and “Cold rolled” when I’ve been trained to say “A36 hot rolled” or “1018 cold rolled”.
Home Depot was selling 1.5″ sch40 black pipe for $7+ per foot. My supply house sold me 21 ft sticks for $60 each. Much cheaper.
- We are nearing the end of SCOTUS OT2025. I have a predictions on the 5 platform cases while we wait for the opinions to issue on the vampire rule out of HI and §922 canabis prohibitions.
- I’ve finally established a good working relationship with my AI tools.
I will fill out some of these soon. Mostly the SCOTUS cases and the AI.
Meanwhile, I’m getting closer to being back to building steam engines.