Coffee 2-23-2013

Enter....don't be shy. Stay a while and share what you might. The coffee is rich & hot. Real sugar & real half & half. Even a few tea bags left for those that desire. There's Splenda for the diabetics, but I don't want to see weight conscious people using Splenda then having a double helping of bacon and sausage!

It's Saturday! Maybe it's time to take a whole day & do nothing. Hang out, watch the DVD's we got for Christmas. Yaaaa, I'm liking that idea. Do fast food places deliver? I mean deliver, like to my recliner.... I don't even want to go to the door.

I did a fun little project in my spare time this week. Uncle Bill's birthday is coming right up. What do you get an ol' codger? Well.... he, as many older folks do.... he get's confused when he wakes up if it's dark out. He can see the clock, but can't tell if it's morning or night. He'll come down the hall but doesn't know whether to ask for scrambled eggs or meat loaf. So, here's my invention: An AM-PM clock. I made the body of my CNC machine out of scrap counter top Corian, got a timer, a relay, some LEDs....the rest is history. The letters are 2 inches tall & easy to see day or night. Glowing , but not stupid bright.




I hope you all have a smooth weekend. Stop by & visit if you can....would love to have you.....but let yourself in as I'm not answering the door.

Morning all,

Freddy, I'll have to agree with you that today would be a great day to spend inside - it's wet and chilly out. Doing next to nothing beside the coal stove is inviting but I've got other plans. DK and I are driving up to CoalKirk's place north of Baltimore to pick up the used Mark I for DK's mancave. I'm excited to get this stove but don't think I'll get it hooked up before next fall; our winter here is just about over except for the occasional 2 or 3 days of wet, chilly air. Those reminders of winter won't last long; next week’s forecast calls for highs around 50 degrees and lows falling to the mid-fifties. The ground temperatures will be too warm to let any white precipitation stick. So it's back to my other project - the bees.

Last weekend DK and I assembled the first of two Top Bar Hives that I hope to establish this spring. Its huge when compared to the square hives everyone is familiar with; one foot deep, 21 inches wide and 48 inches long. The bees build their nest horizontally in a TBH, not vertically from stacking boxes one on top of the other. The positive of a TBH is you don't have to disturb the entire brood nest while you are inspecting or removing the honey; far fewer mad bees flying around. There's not as much lifting required either - that's the part I'm looking forward to the most. Anyway, that's going to keep me busy for that next few months. DK is happy about that; he hates it when I get bored.
Take care, Lisa

I can clearly see that your a man with way to much time on your hands whilst the rest of us down here in MA are gearing up for yet another whopper... I guess we are heading for 4 feet of snow this month and its starting to wear on me Never thought id have to drive to Maine/Canada to get away from all the snow

It must be nice to have the day off for some of you. I am supposed to go to work today but that is to be determined. I was sick with the stomach bug for the past two days and since yesterday afternoon the toilet is my best friend. The greasy bacon and sausage does not appeal to me either, nor does coffee.

Nice work on the AM PM clock. Work uses a 24 hour clock as if it were the military just to confuse everyone, like we don’t know the difference between AM & PM.

Y’all have a good day, I’m going back to bed to try to catch a few more z’s

Mornin all, outstanding day to sleep in I guess--cause I did it:) Ahhh, nice coffee Freddy & that sausage hits the spot. DVD's sound good for today. A frumpy day indeed. Freddy, will you ask Marty if I can move in with you guys when the time comes? Real nice deal on the clock. Have a good week end people. Feel better gaw! Lisa, that Mark I should work well for DK's man cave:) dc, maybe some of them thar trees will come down on their own???

Hi Freddy,

Like I tell the kids on the bus - good job! In this instance for the clock. I remember with my dad the loss of his ability to tell passing time was the most disconcerting factor for him as he aged. You guys catching that will make a huge difference in Bill's comfort level. Well done! Take care, Lisa

Morning all.
Chilly outside, but raining cats & dogs so it must be above freezing. Toasty inside with the stoves running.
Thanks for the Tea Freddy, my ol body feels sooo much better after droping coffee and the creamers. I am only drinking green tea with 1/2 teaspoon of honey per mug. Its ok if the green tea has a little ginseng it in, but NO GINGER for me

Good work on the Day/Night Sign, Freddy. Hopefully that solves alot of confusion. Who hasn't falen asleep in the evening, only to wake up later, wondering if it is night or day?

Last Sunday, we went out target practicing, so my wife can continue to get familiar with her Concealed-carry weapon of choice, a Luger LCP .380. Nice tiny defense weapon, that I like to carry around in my back pocket.. Well my wife decided to practice with my .357Mag LCR, and would you believe she liked it better! I think the power of the recoil convinced her she had a better chance of stopping an intruder with it. Sooooo, since I don't think I will be seeing my .357Mag anytime in the near future, I went out and bought another little toy. My dream pistol, a Ruger Super Redhawk, Alaskan version, in .44Mag. Only a 2 1/2" barrel, so it is easy to walk around with.
A shotgun in a confined home intrusion scenerio? No Thanks, not us!

BTW.... we are hosting a neighberhood 'Social' tonight at our house, so y'all are invited. We provide the snacks and softdrinks. Friends showing up with Legal Concealed Carry or Open Carry are welcome.

Stay warm.

Morning guys and gals hope all is well,can't stay long I found out pop's is moving back by the end of March so I have some work to do before he does and since I only have the weekends it's not much time.

Freddy wrote: I don't want to see weight conscious people using Splenda then having a double helping of bacon and sausage!

Boy isn't that the truth,just like getting a BigMac,fries,and a apple pie at McDonalds and ordering a diet pop .
Freddy,nice job on the AM PM indicator.

Lisa keep us posted on the Mancave heater,I have to ask If you are going to show him how to tend a handfired stove or does this mean you have two stoves to tend now
Well I have to run,stay safe and take care.Keepaeyeonit

Morning all. I'm at work today. And wouldn't you know it, central station won't let me put the damn system back online because they haven't received "restoral signals". Well, that ain't my fault your system either doesn't receive them or is too damn slow to get them. My system is normal and I want it back on being monitored so I can go to the book store, get breakfast and go the hell home. Damn Freddy, that's pretty awesome.

I've wanted to build me a Nixie Tube Clock. Problem is, the kits are expensive and if I were to go the DIY route, it's still crazy expensive since circa 1950's Communist Nixie tubes are not cheap. http://www.store.tubeclock.com/

Lisa, I think that Mark I will be perfect for the man cave. Good choice.

Imonfire.... I looked at all kinds of clocks over the last week or so. It's amazing how many kit clocks are expensive! You'd think they'd be cheaper if you had to assemble it, but the kits run $65 to $200, easy. That's a lot! I got, let's see.... $16 for LED's... $6 timer.... $5 relay.... $5 power supply...scraps of Corian. It adds up fast, until right now I thought I had $20 in it, but it's more like over $30. I kind of wish I got an electronic timer, but they were $17, the mechanical one was $6. Besides, I thought I needed two timers and actually bought two. I wasn't about to spend $34 on two electronic ones. When I started construction I realized I could use one timer & a relay. I'd like to build another....I'm looking at the "Arduino" thingy for the heart if a home made electronic clock.

It's snowing!

Well Lisa and DK were just here to pick up the mark I. I think they were pleased with it. Like 99.9% of the folks from the coal forum I've met in person they are real nice folks!

Morning all, breakfast this morning was at local democritical committee fund raiser. GF,s son is secertary, web master or thier website. Interesting to hear what elected locals have to say about things. Then off to get a year old REM700 .243 for gopher thinning, and some plinking.Was (still) looking to find a winchester 70 xtr .243 see theres some nib ones out there, but prices are really way too much.Never should have sold the one i had back in divorce. Now i need a decent scope.Next was off to JD to pick up baler parts...seems they have them, but can't locate in stock room, ordered in for me. Guess they will wait till stockroom person comes in monday and finds where he hid them. Still got things to disassemble for rebuilding baler, weathers starting to get warm enough to start work on it again. Boilers been idling more recent week, which is good. Nascar season has arrived... soon the local dirt tracks will open and i will be happy. Nothing like the smell of race fuel, damp dust, and close racing on a friday evening.

Nice work with that Freddy! That would've taken me a year to figure it all out in my head where the diode goes, and the rest of the electronic "magic beans" you solder to the board ...


Just another February day up here in the not-so-great state of MA. About 30°, so not too cold. Spring isn't even on the radar yet. Got a storm on it's way, with another due to hit Wednesday. This one today has been downgraded from 10"-18" down to 1" with rain. Like they say about the weather - just wait 5 minutes ...



Chris got himself a nice piece there! SWEEET! Good day for guns (that's every day!). Today I got to shoot the MIGHTY Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum!! YEAH!! A HAND CANNON in every sense of the word. Was like getting struck in the palm with a 4lb. sledge full force! We're using Magtec 325 grain ammo - $3 EACH round! Had one ricochet back at us (we were a safe distance back) - check out the pic of it. Found it after seeing a huge hole in the snow headed our direction.

I also got to test the Ruger LCR in .30 Special - check out my vid.

SMITTY wrote:We're using Magtec 325 grain ammo

Is that the one in the pic? It's a monster!! And.....that fits into the first pistol pictured? I can't imagine pulling the trigger. Yowza!!

Keepaeyeonit wrote:Lisa keep us posted on the Mancave heater, I have to ask If you are going to show him how to tend a handfired stove or does this mean you have two stoves to tend now

DK has picked up more than he wants to admit. I guess we'll have to see how that works out although I'm hopeful that this stove will be run at a slow idle 99% of the time so it won't be that big a deal. Although this stove is a great find - Thanks again CoalKirk! - I will have some work to do before I can hook it up. It will be my summer project after the bees hit the main honey flow in Apr; after the there's not much to do with them until SEP.

Hey Chris that revolver looks a lot like my .38 except my .38 has a vented barrel. That attracts a lot of attention on the range because it spits fire when you shoot it; it's loud and very obvious to anyone at the range. It has started many a conversation.

I hope everyone has a great rest of the weekend. Lisa