Text 1360, 434 rader
Skriven 2012-07-27 07:45:23 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
   Kommentar till text 1337 av Richard Webb (1:116/901.0)
Ärende: Darwion award candidate
===============================
27 Jul 12 02:24, Richard Webb wrote to Roy Witt:

 RW> <air leak in truck>

 Roy>>>> Might be a cracked hose too.

 Roy>> You could externally pressurize (10psi) the system instead and use
 Roy>> some soapy water to test for leaks.

 RW> YEah thinking about that one too,
 RW> got to find a small air compressor yet,

Mark ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 RW>  I've been looking for a good small one, jsut when I've seen a couple
 RW> money was going somewhere else, otherwise I'll borrow one from a
 RW> friend of mine and do that.

8^) you have at least 6, maybe 8 in that truck already. Pull a spark plug
and use cylinder pressure to do that.

 RW> INstead I've been just stopping and doing the air it up when I check
 RW> tires before it goes out.  But, was thinking all along that soapy
 RW> water is the way to find that bad boy. Funny how that's effective in
 RW> finding all sorts of leaks.

[singing] I'm forever blowing bubbles. Bubbles is forever ehhh [/singing]

 RW>>>> I think it was aftermarketed to just use hydraulics for the
 RW>>>> brakes, and I'm not sure that was such a great idea.

 RW> <snip>

 RW>> Technically anybody but it's owner has to have a cdl for this bad
 RW>> boy.

 Roy>> Technically, if you're using the truck in 'not hauling for a fee',
 Roy>> anybody can drive it.

 RW> USed to be that way, but I think that some states see that
 RW> oen a bit different.  Texas law still says that.

California too. All that is required is a sign of some sort pasted on the
door that says "Not for Hire" ...

 RW> Even though it's not hauling, but what happens in it is for hire.
 RW> Even though what happens in the box on the back isn't happening when
 RW> it moves. According to our insurance carrier that's what Tn state law
 RW> is on it.  Dad says he thinks Iowa law is too.  That's where they get
 RW> you I think, Tx, La. and iirc Ar. are the way you and I look at it,
 RW> but this state's a bit different.

Aren't they all. i.e. 48 out of 50 states have will-issue concealed carry
permits (actually two or three don't require a CHL at all), but not all of
them are the same. Thus the congressional bill that calls for a National
CHL provision...

 RW>>>   I don't know what I'm going to do when it needs more work, my
 RW>>> favorite big truck mechanic around here retired, lost his lease and
 RW>>> threw in the towel,

 Roy>>> That happens to a lot of em...

 RW>> yEah, and the good ones hang on as long as they can just
 RW>> cause business is good, but when he lost his lease thanks to
 RW>> landowner's kids thinking they were gonna make big money selling it
 RW>> for housing development he just said to hell with it.

 Roy>> I know where he's coming from. When my lease came up for renewal,
 Roy>> business wasn't doing as well as it had in the past 10 years, so I
 Roy>> opted to not renew it and sold off the shop I had. Besides, I
 Roy>> needed to make an income that was a lot more than I reported at tax
 Roy>> time in those 11 years I was in business. SS wise, that increased
 Roy>> my SS income to max when I retired.

 RW> Can relate.  Seen that in lots of businesses.  HE lost his
 RW> lease just about the time it all started going, about '08 he knew the
 RW> end was coming.  Had the leaseholders (inheritors of the land) been
 RW> smart they woulda kept him on there. Thing is, the young guy he had
 RW> working for him wasn't bad either and was now going to lose his gig.
 RW> I asked youngster last time we went out there for some routine
 RW> maintenance stuff wehre he was going, we'd patronize that shop, he
 RW> said he was going back to school.  <oh
 RW> well>

Did he say that it was an automotive repair school. That's about the only
way to get certified these days. The grads coming out of those schools are
taught well enough to take on a job like that after graduation.

 RW>> YEah I'm sorta resembling that remark myself these days, but this
 RW>> guy's pushing 80 or already passed it by.

 Roy>> When you get to that age, your muscles and bones don't let you
 Roy>> forget that you've been working in the automotive field. I still do
 Roy>> it, but I'm not as agile as I was even 7 years ago when I
 Roy>> retired...

 RW> YEah I know.  I'm wantign to see the next generation in
 RW> digital audio come along that ships multi channel audio down cat5
 RW> cable digitally instead of hauling that heavy copper with 28 channels
 RW> of balanced audio line in from the truck.

Or better yet, all of that digital stuff being sent by radio from one to
the other. I've done the 'portable' speaker thing with RF interfaces
(beats doing all of that wiring) for quite some time, but now I see that
you can buy it at Home Depot for under $60.

 RW> Those 300 foot runs of 28 pair cable get kinda heavy to wrestle, in
 RW> fact age and arthritis was a big deciding factor in me not remaining
 RW> in the live sound reinforcement business.  Wrestling those road cases
 RW> racks and speaker stacks tells on you.  When I take a gig with enough
 RW> stage hands it isn't bad, but sometimes ...

There used to be a guy in San Antonio who did that at the AT&T center
(maybe he still does, I don't know). He was also the moderator of the HAM
echo at one time. Jeff Edmonson and his little gal friend did a lot of
manual labor in setting up shows there. He was never forthcoming with that
kind of info, but she just couldn't help herself...

 RW> <snip>

 RW>> Nah, and you're right about the one, he's got all the
 RW>> farmers' work it seems,

 Roy>> That's what my dad and my uncle experienced when they had a garage
 Roy>> in lower Wisconsin. My uncle was a farmer for 30 years before he
 Roy>> partnered with my dad in the garage. He could fabricate and the
 Roy>> farmers in the area knew his work, so business was good.

 RW> Can relate to that.  IF we were located in southern Iowa I'd know
 RW> three or four good ones just for the same reason, my dad knows them,
 RW> guys I know who farm etc. know them.

Might be a good place to leave your truck for a while.

 RW>> cause he's fairly good, and I don't know about the other guy, I
 RW>> wasn't happy with the way he treated me on the big truck, or on
 RW>> something on my old GMC van, he tried blowing smoke up my tailpipe
 RW>> and got caught.

 Roy>> 8^) That sounds like some of the 'automotive' shows on TV...they
 Roy>> all talk a good line of BS, but anyone with a history of being a
 Roy>> car nut can pick their stuff to pieces...I often do.

 RW> Yeah I've seen that with a few.  HE thought he saw me
 RW> coming.  See below.

 RW>> They tell me he's one of the best in the area if you need an
 RW>> automatic tranny rebuilt though.

 Roy>> That's a plus. A lot of them will blow smoke and give you something
 Roy>> that won't be right. A good transmission re-builder is a great
 Roy>> find.

 RW> I also think that's really all he wants to do, but Kathy's
 RW> choice for mechanic when we first brought it up here, and
 RW> discovered the shoddy work on the braking system did the
 RW> midnight disappearing act, and since he already had money in hand
 RW> from us he basically left him the truck, the balance of what we'd
 RW> given him not yet taken care of and our phone number.  Kathy and I
 RW> had probably one of our worst disagreements over her trusting him to
 RW> do the work in the first place.

I got ripped like that just once. I was 16 and saw a 38 Ford coupe'
sitting the yard of an automotive shop. I inquired and the guy I talked to
told me it ran good and was for sale @ $100...I plunked down $50 and went
back later to finish paying it off and take delivery. That guy didn't even
work there. I did't even have a receipt to prove the loss...

 RW> <snip again>

 RW>> back off where my Schotze couldn't get to it.  IF my rottie
 RW>> would've got loose though it would have been little dog
 RW>> munchies.

 Roy>> One of those, eh...I would have let the Rottie off the chain and
 Roy>> watch that little loud mouth run home or be eaten.

 RW> I really would have too, but Kathy was more mobile and agile at the
 RW> time and she grabbed our dog.  i was also fairy new in the
 RW> neighborhood, and was trying to not be too disagreeable.  I did tell
 RW> her next time that's just waht I'd do though.

When Andrew comes over, he brings 3 of those yappers with him. My dog will
sit at the front door and if there's someone on the property, will let me
know about it. His dogs sit on his lap, looking out that same door and yap
at everything that passes by. If mine isn't growling or barking, I know
theirs is a false alarm. Mine is just a small Blue Healer, but she's very
aware of what's going on.

 Roy>>> I did a pre-move scouting trip to Texas in 03 by Grey dog and
 Roy>>> swore off of the dog after the trip home. I prefered the previous
 Roy>>> trip by AMTRAK vs the dog.

 RW>> YEah I know, it's much more friendly to the body.

 Roy>> In 04, I drove the older Z28 to TX and when I left, I had a friend
 Roy>> look after it. When I returned in April of 05, it had been sitting,
 Roy>> untouched, for 5 months and wouldn't start (dead battery). I wasn't
 Roy>> very happy about that. He was supposed to start it and let it run
 Roy>> for 30 min every week. He never touched it.

 RW> That would bum me out a bit too.  When Kathy went down to
 RW> get the truck in hOuston after the mechs down there finished with it
 RW> she rode the dog too, and wished she had taken a train.  I had a
 RW> sound gig for a friend of mine from California who was performing in
 RW> Memphis, so I didn't go down with her.

Andrew's mother comes down from Minneapolis to visit every winter. What
started out as a two week stay has grown to a two month stay during Feb
and March. Last time she rented a small travel trailer on the river in
Sequin, just 14 miles south of here. The first time I was aware of her
coming ca2006, I rode along to the train station in San Marcos, about 15
minutes north of here. Sitting on an open waiting platform at trackside in
the Texas winter evening hours wasn't too bad, but then when we got word
that the train was stuck just above Austin because of a freight train
break down, it got even colder. If it wasn't for cell phone technology,
we'd probably still be waiting.

 RW>>> STill, did some train traveling with my grandmother as a kid, and
 RW>>> always liked it much better. Get up and move around more, go to the
 RW>>> dining car to eat, etc.  Iirc they even had a bar car where Grandma
 RW>>> could ahve a libation when I went to Chicago with her a couple of
 RW>>> times.

 Roy>>> Nancy and I did that from San Diego to Portland, OR and across
 Roy>>> Idaho, Montana, N Dakota and Minnesota to Madison, WS...met a lot
 Roy>>> of interesting people in the piano-bar car, dad picked us up
 Roy>>> there...after the Grey dog dropped us off in Chicago and we stayed
 Roy>>> in a hotel overlooking Lake Shore Dr and the lake for a few days,
 Roy>>> the trip back to SD was just as interesting.

 RW>> YEp, much better, and, back in the day if you wanted to
 RW>> spend a few more bucks you could even get a bunk.

 RW>> We didn't do the bunks, but we agreed to a compartment if we ever
 RW>> did a trip like that again.

 RW> I could see that.  The compartments are nice if you're
 RW> traveling with a companion, but even a bunk's nice on the
 RW> long trips for sleeping.

That trip we spent in the recliner seats, but only for an evening. The
rest of the time we wandered about, to the scenic car for a view and the
piano car for a sandwich and a beer or the dining car for a meal.

 RW> <snip>

 Roy>> Science and Industry was the most interesting. Grandma wasn't that
 Roy>> interested, but I was. If you took the 'coal miners' elevator to
 Roy>> the lower elevation, there was an entire mock-up of a 1920s city
 Roy>> scene, which grandma was familiar with, having played piano in the
 Roy>> silent movie houses of that era.

 RW> YEah they still had that, that's the one I was thinking of,
 RW> not natural history, science and industry.  The model of the human
 RW> heart you could walk through was kinda cool too I thought.  My
 RW> grandma enjoyed it too though.

My grandma got worn out early. She had heart problems, even at 40-45yo...

 RW> <snip again>

 Roy>> Some of G-ma Witt's family came from that area, but they lived in
 Roy>> Indiana...

 RW> YEp, that uncle moved over across the line into Indiana
 RW> eventually, Crown Point at the last.  They kept having to
 RW> move when they outgrew their old quarters.

Those people were her mother's side of the family and although they were
great to see, that only occured once a year at a Scott/Dahm family
reunion...they had a lot in common with my dad, being in the automotive
repair and truck stop business in Indiana.

 RW>> Makin' all them babies tends to do that.

 Roy>> I used to call that 'f**kin' yourself away from the table'...mom's
 Roy>> side of the family was like that; all the kids and mom were
 Roy>> healthey specimens and gramps was as skinny as a rail. Could'a just
 Roy>> been that cigar he held between his teeth though. Never saw him
 Roy>> without one.

 RW> That'll do it.  YEah I still call that the same thing you
 RW> do, but was trying to be nice to the more sensitive among us <grin>.

OK.

 RW> I remember when he left that company in Chicago and started his own
 RW> with a partner in Bessemer, Al.  They rented this big old 13 room
 RW> mansion basically, and used most of the bedrooms <grin>.  I'll still
 RW> remember freaking my mom and my aunt out climbing up the clothes
 RW> chute from the basement in that house and tapping on the door on the
 RW> second floor.

LOL! That would have freaked my parents out too.

 Roy>>>> I think I'm the only one in town who does custom machining that
 Roy>>>> has an 18" by 24" granite plate for checking the parts I make. It
 Roy>>>> would be nice to have a set of 'jo blocks' to go with it. Not
 Roy>>>> that

 RW> <snip>

 Roy>>> I was asked to quote on a motorcycle job from one of my highschool
 Roy>>> machine shop buddies, just last week. Some guy in Fredericksburg,
 Roy>>> TX was advertising on a BMW motorcycle blog that he needed
 Roy>>> handlebar risers. My friend gave him my phone number, but I never
 Roy>>> heard from him.

 RW>> I'll catch this guy, he was out of town for a couple months
 RW>> up north, and I missed last radio club meeting, but sooner
 RW>> or later I'll corner him.  OFten you gotta catch him early
 RW>> though as he helps out with the ve exams before the meeting
 RW>> then splits right after the business meeting and before the
 RW>> program, so you gotta move fast if you want to catch him,

 Roy>> I'd leave him a message with the VE head guy...he's sure to get it
 Roy>> and follow up on it, if he's a mind to.

 RW> Might do that too, but might look at those universal hitches you were
 RW> talkign about at Walmart, see if that might negate all that.

You might have better luck at an automotive oriented store, but you might
get lucky and find one at Walmart. It has the usual insert with a locking
pin, but it also has a verticle piece that can be adjusted up and down and
pinned in place. The verticle piece is meant to raise or lower the ball
height to match your trailer level...

 Roy>> After having your machinist friend make a tapered insert to slip
 Roy>> into the bottom of the pipe, place it on a piece of plywood under
 Roy>> the antenna mast and use it to ease the task of rotating that mast
 Roy>> and antenna from a sitting position at the operating table. I
 Roy>> havn't thought this whole thing through, but you could also use a
 Roy>> rope with a couple of turns around the pipe and each end tied to
 Roy>> each end of a 'steering' stick at the center tent pole for easier
 Roy>> turning of a heavier antenna, like a beam.

 RW> YEah that would work good!  mOst of the time for these apps
 RW> though if I'm using a beam antenna it's in an application
 RW> where it's an aim it and forget it deal, such as a vhf
 RW> yagipoitned at a repeater or net control on simplex.

That's no fun.

 RW> IF it's being used for net control then I'm using an omni.

That works.

 RW> This is if I take the van.  If I take big truck, I use the
 RW> frame that holds the hvac unit over the cab to anchor a mast with
 RW> some U bolts, and then the top of my mast is at about 25-30 feet
 RW> depending on how many mast sections I use.  For that application when
 RW> the mast goes up top section has a pulley and rope on it, so that if
 RW> I want to pull up the center of a wire dipole or something I can just
 RW> attach it while standing on the ground and haul away.

That's cool. I like that setup.

 RW>>> I was quite sure of that one.  I thought I was taking a
 RW>>> shortcut down a hillside in the woods one afternoon, ended
 RW>>> up going down what was vertical bouncing off the rock after
 RW>>> I belly flopped when I tried to run off the cliff,
 RW>>> unbeknownst to old blind man.

 Roy>>> Ouch!

 RW>> That's kinda waht I thought, but i figured if I hadn't been
 RW>> slightly inebriated it probably would've hurt worse.

 Roy>> I thought of a friend of mine who, years ago, was out in the
 Roy>> desert, riding his dirt bike, when they both went off a cliff. The
 Roy>> bike landed on two wheels, but the bike collapsed under his weight.
 Roy>> He was hurtin' for quite a while afterwards.

 RW> Bet he doesn't want to repeat that ride!!!

He was laid up for quite a while from that one. Last I saw him, I was
moving out of San Diego to a small town just north of SD and he was moving
to the east county region. Might have seen him off and on in the meantime,
but lost contact with him years ago. When we met, he had a brand new 1970
Firebird TransAm and I was driving my 63 Corvette. Last I saw him, he had
broken the rear end of that bird and he was driving a POS Honda car, w/air
cooled engine. His wife was a buyer for Jack-in-the-Box coorporate, just
across the street from where I worked at the time. Lot's of memorable
lunches with her.

 RW>>> NOw if i don't carry the white cane in the woods I've got a good
 RW>>> sized trekking pole that I can use to feel around in front of me
 RW>>> <grin>.

 Roy>>> Blind men aren't supposed to be trekking through the woods on
 Roy>>> their own...get a seeing-eye dog for that... 8^)

 RW>> OH yeah?   PRay tell why not <grin>.  USed to do it all the
 RW>> time.  SOme of my favorite fishing spots couldn't be reached any
 RW>> other way <grin>.

 Roy>> I take it you can see objects, but not make out what you're seeing.
 Roy>> Kinda like some of my friends during their better days; blind in
 Roy>> one eye and can't see out of the other. 8^)

 RW> Basically that's it.  A dog can help, but even when I had a
 RW> trained dog I still like the trekking pole in the back
 RW> country.  Remidn me to tell you stories about me training
 RW> that dog for guide work myself some time <grin>.

OK...during the mid-60s, I rode bikes with a guy who had really thick
glasses and the poorest eyesight I've ever seen. While riding down a road
lined with cornfields on both sides, he rode off into a cornfield and
wasn't seen for about 5-10 minutes. Then, out of the blue, there he was,
pushing over corn stalks with his Triumph, trying to get back on the road.

After a ride like that, everyone would gather at his house for BBQ steaks
(bring your own) and Sunday evening color TV programming; Doris Day
show, Bonanza, etc...


                R\%/itt

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