Saturday Coffee 1-30-10

Good morning! Come in....stay a while....tell us a story. This morning the coffee is made from Eskimo beans. Fiercely fresh fast frozen beans are stone ground into a fine dust that makes the best coffee north of the arctic circle. The reason it's called Eskimo coffee? Instead of stones to grind it, solid dry ice is carved into grinding wheels and used to turn our beans into the drink we so desire. There are no impurities because as the stones wear, they evaporate! What a concept.
Brrrrrrr.... one below zero as I type. The full moon always brings a cold night. It wouldn't be so bad except there's a stiff breeze also. I heard that there was an ice storm way down south? I hope no one was hurt. Up here in Maine it's just a normal winter, but everywhere else it appears to be a record breaker.
This weeks story: Our big dumb dog....the "cute little brown one" that my wife brought home a year ago, the one that is now an ox in a dog costume, the one that got into the skunk....well...he got stuck. Yup. Last Monday night we had a huge rain storm. The next morning he went out back and he heard water running under the snow. When he got over "the stream", the snow fell through, and there he was....legs in water and slush, and he could not move. We broke a shuffled trail to him and he still couldn't get out! He had to be pulled by two people for three feet before he could get enough traction to move. What a numma!
Hope you all have a super weekend!

Finally made it for coffee but I have to have hot chocolate, coffee makes me pee too much. -7 here this morning and NOT wanting to go out and feed the horses but I guess I better. Thanks Freddy.

Morning all,

Finally, got we have a little winter to deal with. Thursday we were at 54* but today it's not expected to get above 23*. This has been such a weird winter. Next week we are told to expect highs in the mid forties... again. All the ups and downs have really messed up my burn plan for the winter. In the fall I brought more nut then pea coal - thinking I'd just be topping the nut off with the pea to create range coal. Instead I've been burning through the pea like a bear through honey because I've been idling so much. DK, esteemed keeper of the checkbook, wants me to make a coal run sooner rather than later so we have the right mix on hand and will be ready for FEB and MAR which are typically our coldest months. He’d rather finish the year with left overs then come up short. On the other hand, the house has never been more comfortable. I think I’ve finally got the hang of this thing called coal.

We are heading up to the church for a Primary Activity. Thankfully, it should be over just as the snow hits us - not that we are expecting much snow. To the South of us is going to get whopped, though. Richmond is expecting a foot or more. It will be a good day to stay inside and watch a little B-ball. Stay warm and be safe, Lisa

I'm enjoying some 8 O'Clock Coffee and the new "Grind & Brew" coffee pot we purchased after last weeks disaster.

Thermometer reads -8...just went downstairs to check on the hand-fed...fire is 90% out. The wind must have been terrible last night, I topped off the boiler with about 80 lbs of nut at 10 pm, and it consumed all of it before 0600. Oh well, I'm taking it as a sign that I need a stoker.

Beer makes me pee too much too ... so I drink the rocket fuel!

It's a little too early for that ... even by my standards, so I'll try the eskimo coffee. The name fits the climate here this morning

Ahhh yes, pets: an endless source of entertainment ... At least your a responsible pet owner, Freddy. Some of the people I used to live around would just let their dogs roam ... and wouldn't even know if they were under a bus! They also leave them chained outside for 18 hours a day with no one paying any attention to them ... or even bringing them inside during single-digit temps! This one dog used to howl all night long when the temp dropped that low. I wanted to punch this guy (owner) in the face!

Ok ... happy thoughts ...

It is three tenths of a degree below zero this morning. Stove is cranking away, barely maintaining 61° in here. The coils are maintaining 67° in my TV room without any help from the oil burner. Not bad, considering it feels like a window is wide open in here right now. Feet are chilly! I was up until 3AM a couple nights ago working on that damn GMC Jimmy again. I don't know whether to curse the truck, or Al Gore & his environmental set. Check engine light came on AGAIN!! Was throwing a P0300 ... which is random/multiple cylinder misfire. Yaay! I needed to fix that ASAP, because I spent $550 back in '08 for a brand new cat/Y-pipe setup for this. Misfires will load the cat up with raw fuel & send it's temperature over & above what your coal stove's are reading right now! I'm all set spending another half-a-grand on a part that I consider TOTALLY useless!

Ended up changing the chinese cap & rotor I bought back then for cheap at the local Wal-Mart of autoparts stores. I bought the good one this time. Made in USA. Gold contacts! Also replaced the wires, cleaned the MAF sensor, & decarbonized the EGR valve. Scan tool showed zero misfire count, so we're back in business, no thanks to Al Gore! His set is costing me money!!

Had a huge full moon last night -- was like twilight all night here. Now I'm looking at an amazing sunrise. Clear, calm and colder than ice. Perfect conditions.

Morning all. I'll rub my nose in some eskimo coffee. It's a balmy 18 here this am and the wind is clam. They are getting slammed to the south of us for once. We may get an inch or so they say. Last nights full moon is the brightest of the year. I took out the trash and recyling to the end of the driveway about 11:00 last night and it looked like dusk. The sky was lit up like...me and smitty.
I think I've finally sold the mark II I've been trying to sell since Late October. A fellow forum member is supposed to confirm today that he's coming to get it on sunday morning. Now I will be able to go into my shop and actually turn around. Yea!
People who leave there dogs outside in winter should be beaten with a stick. Why bother having a dog? We are extreme in the other direction. My girls sleep on the couch during the day and on my bed at night.The black dog is a Bernese and she loves the cold. but I'd never leave her out in this weather.
Freddy your brown dog just likes to have fun! Stuck in the stream has to beat sprayed by a skunk, right?

Mornin all. I'm off to the DMV this morning and then to the inspection station. Usually quite painless, but you never know.

Yesterday I woke up to a house that was 58*. I knew it was cold outside and I know my house isn't insulated at all, but something was up. Boiler supply was 180*, the return....123*. I checked the lights on the zone control panel, the fire bed, all valves, etc., and all was good. I went to work and when I got home 12 hours later, the house was at 59* I go downstairs and nothing was changed by the resident ghost. I decided to manually open the zone valve, but it was already open (had been all day). Then I decided to change the head on the valve as soon as I did. Wooooooosh, the water was flowing and the temp in the boiler shot down. I cranked in the feed nut and got a roaring fire going to warm up. This morning...7* outside, 65* inside

*grabs coffee and splits

Have a wonderful day

A number of years ago, we had a Sheltie that was my walking buddy.
Ichabod and I traveled the area as a team. From time to time we
would have a tree fall across the creek that would give us access to
the other bank. It's a good size stream.
On a very cold Saturday, I decided that we should venture across and
do our exploring. Half way across, Ichabod slips and fall on the up
stream side of the tree. Under he goes and gets sucked under a branch.
He's full under and stuck. Not much choice but to jump in after him.
I now have to go full under just to get him out from under the branch.
Once he is out and on the bank, he shakes off and is no worse for wear.
I on the other hand am soaked to the skin and half a mile from home.
The wet clothes were not as bad as the constant squish of my boots with every step.

Morning all. Coffee is good. A little french vanilla creamer this morning. 1* right now and the wind is just howling. Must be at least -20* wind chill. *72 in the house. Glad the dog is ok Freddy. Have a great weekend everyone!

Bob

Lucky 13 here this morning, calling for mid 20s for a high. Today is the perfect day to defrost the freezer. I have 4 ton of coal coming around noon or before, that should see me ‘till October or November.

Time to make another pot of Starbucks.

Still -8 out side, don't even want to think with 15 to 20 mph winds last night how cold it got. The koker didn't ever break sweat maintained 72 with out an issue.

Hey Smitty, I have same unit. Actually a very amazing piece of equipment.
I have the anemometer mounted on top of my auxillary unused chimney. Don't be fooled by the interior temps. It's hanging on wall next to exterior door. Another cold day and w/e. I need to get out and do something. I have cabin fever.
But the coffee is black, hot & strong.

17 Minutes to renew my registration, drive to the inspection station and pass. That's gotta be a record in New Jersey.

*grabs another cup

Cap wrote:Hey Smitty, I have same unit. Actually a very amazing piece of equipment.
I have the anemometer mounted on top of my auxillary unused chimney. Don't be fooled by the interior temps. It's hanging on wall next to exterior door.

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Another cold day and w/e. I need to get out and do something. I have cabin fever.
But the coffee is black, hot & strong.

That's just how I like my women! Black hot and strong!
Damn Cap, 55 in the house? You run out of coal?

one point six degrees now with wind it says -16!! Glad the doggy is ok!! reminds me of fly fishing one time on the green river up on Mt Ranier for steelhead. slipped and fell in , filled the waders with glacier cold water and instant paralysis. thank God my buddy picked me up and drained me and carried me to town in the jeep to the hardware store with the big pot belly stove.

a few coffees and dry clothes we went back and man those steelhead salmon are the toughest sob's a swimmin...

hot ginger tea with fresh lemon and honey for this endless head cold for me....