Month: March 2020

March 31, 2020 – Junkyards as a resource

March 31, 2020 /

My rash of car issues seems to be continuing. Last weekend when I was pulling bushes out of the yard, the battery light came on the pickup. I wasn’t sure whether it was the battery, alternator, ground or some other electrical issue. The pick-up gets light duty these days, even though I have been driving it more due to recent other car problems. It is the other vehicle that we have that can carry us all at one time.

Since we are not going anywhere these days, I waited for more definitive signs of the problem. When I was moving brush on Sunday and it was clear that the battery was not going to make it. The voltage gauge was almost visibly going down. As it turned out, I got all out of the charge that I could and the pickup died at my friends property.

My friend charged it up for twenty minutes and the battery seemed to respond well. I barely made it the mile home, bucking and stuttering into the driveway. Sunday night, I gave the battery a full charge and started to diagnose the problem on Monday. I couldn’t really reach all of the terminals and test points on the alternator due to positioning, but I was reasonably sure the problem was in the alternator.

Suspect alternator

The last alternator I replaced was around $50 for a rebuilt unit. That was my expectation going into sourcing this one. I started seeing prices in the $150 range plus a $40 core charge and I reconsidered my approach. I wasn’t completely sure the alternator was the problem, I didn’t want to wait (or pay for speedy delivery) from RockAuto and I didn’t want to pay AutoZone $200. Maybe the junkyard was the answer?

It has been a while since I bought anything at a junkyard. In fact there are two here in this town and about 10 more locally. Part of my hesitation is I really don’t like to buy electrical components used, they are somewhat of a wear part and junkyards often don’t guarantee the viability of electrical components. Also, it is one of the businesses that get a fair amount of tire kickers, looky-loos and how to questions. My experience with the counter people have not been overly pleasant.

I found one locally, that I could have today. I got it for $30 and he gave me thirty days warranty with it. When I went to pick it up, he said “I’ve got brand new batteries for $40. You need to come back.” I thought, I do need to come back. My son’s Cougar needs a lot of things like a stereo, speakers, battery, etc. The counter guy talked my ear off for thirty minutes before fortunately another customer showed up and I was able to escape.

I wont claim that I made an inside connection. That takes time and consistency as a customer. But, it renewed my willingness to use junkyards as a resource. It also got me thinking about putting them higher on the list of places to check if I need something quickly. I got the alternator replaced on the pickup in about two hours and it was putting out 14.6V while running. A job complete with a happy ending.

By the way, I took the voltage regulator off and one of the contacts was completely worn out. I could have bought a new one for about $40, but I still would have had to take the alternator out to do it. The alternator I replaced looks to me like it was a rebuild or aftermarket because it wasn’t embossed as Motorcraft. I expect to get a few more years out of this repair.

March 30, 2020 – Cabin fever… deep (and I mean deep) spring cleaning

March 30, 2020 /

Have you ever moved into someplace brand-new, or even had a new car? Everything is pristine. Fast forward three years and when is the last time you dusted the baseboard? You know the spot in the shower that is not easy to clean the mildew off without removing the shower door? The blinds are dirty, the light fixtures are dust collectors.

This is the one thing about being a landlord that I really don’t like. Tenants never return the place in the pristine clean condition that it was received. And there really isn’t anything you can do about it. So, it is the one chore that has to be done on each transition. It’s also the kind of clean that you really cant pay someone for.

Getting ready for the bathroom

I am suggesting that part of this quarantine time can be used for a really deep cleaning. Think about windows, cabinet fronts, light fixtures and walls as well. It takes a lot of effort and nobody really wants to spend their time doing it. But when it is done, you feel a lot better about the space that is now clean.

March 27, 2020 – Nearing the end of Spring Break

March 27, 2020 /

We took this week to have a stay-cation being that it was supposed to be Spring Break. Our plans were to meet up with another family and spend the week on the coast for some rest and relaxation. That changed first with them coming down with suspected Covid-19 and then the state lockdown.

Next week, we are instituting a much more rigid schedule that will include personal development (self paced learning, reading, art/music, etc.) time, earlier bedtimes and wakeup times. This will be in place until we get word that life will be returning to normal – hopefully April 28.

I am sure everyone that is enduring this period seriously is finding aspects of the quarantine challenging. I am a person that treasures my alone time and personal space, that has been hard to find. But I am also a person that thinks family time is valuable. Here are some of the ways that we have been enjoying the time together.

Puzzles an games for hours
  • Puzzles – This 1000 piece puzzle pictured above took us three solid days to complete. This is a staple activity for our vacation time. It allows everyone to participate and interact for long periods of time
  • Games – I went back in the waaaay back machine to dig out old role playing games (from the 1980s!), build characters and adventure. We also have played Monopoly, poker and Mind Trap.
  • Family movies at night – We have been working our way through the Twilight Series and in honor of Kenny Rogers we watched ‘The Gambler’ the other night.
  • Swap Day – The kids were the parents and the parents were the kids. They planned and executed all of the meals as well as led the entertainment decisions for the day.
  • Cooking- We have been making comfort foods. We have been doing the activity with different family members and involving them in different aspects. A lot more baking and deserts have been made recently.
  • Create parody video – We wrote, acted, filmed and edited a video that was a lot of laughs. We are still in the editing phase, but should be up on YouTube shortly.
  • Make-over time – Not really, but my wife has been bugging me to shave my head for years. So I did, to see what it would look like.

I have to say that a lot of these things I would normally not want to spend time doing. But it seems as though forcing the issue has made something like Monopoly enjoyable. As we head into next week, hopefully it will be an empowering time teaching the kids that they don’t need school to learn and find interest in pursuing their personal projects.

March 24, 2020 – Cabin fever… remodel your yard

March 24, 2020 /

This may not work for everyone, depending on your climate. I know that mine is pretty iffy on nice days in March. I suppose die hards could get-r-done in the wet and cold, but if you pick and choose your timing, a soft wet ground is to your benefit for digging and shrub removal. A caveat to these post is that this applies to my USDA zone.

I mentioned in January that it was time to think about pruning. Well now it is time to think about wrapping most of that up. I still have a week or so, but almost everything is budding or about to bud. Some flowering plants like the Camelias that set buds for next year would be better to wait until after they bloom or in some cases, the fall.

If you hate weeds and like chemicals, get your pre-emergents out because the weeds have yet to take hold. This is a good time to overseed grass and do you soil adjustments if you participate. Don’t forget that grass is starting to wake up from the winter slumber and mowing can almost be done twice a week.

I know several people that have built fire pits in the last week. I built mine about five years ago using landscape pavers from Home Depot. Forty-two pavers, three rows of 14 make a nice looking fire pit about three feet in diameter. That cost me about $75 compared o the $300 and up kits that are sold. Make sure it is level to start and use a bead of construction adhesive to hold the courses together.

The Fire Pit

Tool maintenance anyone? Clean and sharpen your clippers and cutting tools using a file, stones and grinder. Knock the rust off steel with a wire brush and oil with a lubricant like WD-40. Oil your wood handles with linseed oil or other suitable wood protective. Change the oil and tune up your gas powered equipment with spark plugs and filter changes. Mind you I would recommend doing this in the fall before your store everything, but hey we are fighting cabin fever here.

This is a great time to start working on the wood pile if you use firewood. Wet (green) wood takes one full summer to season (dry) properly. It is also a good thing to do when thinking about pruning and tree removal. I find splitting is easier when the wood is green as well. So, clean up and remove trees before they leaf out and create a much bigger mess with leaves and needles.

This last weekend, we removed a whole bunch shrubs that we were just tired of. They were flowering dogwoods that had been haphazardly shaped over the years and just out grew their space. They also did very little other than flower for a few weeks a year.

Brush removal carnage

There is still time to plant summer bulbs. Landscaping plants can still be put into the ground or moved. More permanent irrigation can be designed and installed even though it is not necessary at this time.

So many things in the yard – from junk removal to planting and this is the prime time to do a lot of this, in the next couple of weeks. It is a good family activity as well providing 1) something to do 2) physical activity 3) exposure to the outdoors 4) learning opportunities and skill building.

March 23, 2020 – Cabin fever… start a ‘Victory Garden’

March 23, 2020 /

If you are new to this, then there is a lot more than just putting seeds in the ground. I am going to approach this from a very basic level in case you need those details. If not, skip this and get started.

From Wikipedia: “Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany[1][2] during World War I and World War II. In the war time governments encouraged people to plant victory gardens not only to supplement their rations but also to boost morale.[3] George Washington Carver wrote an agricultural tract and promoted the idea of what he called a “Victory Garden”.[4] They were used along with Rationing Stamps and Cards to reduce pressure on the public food supply. Besides indirectly aiding the war effort, these gardens were also considered a civil “morale booster” in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens a part of daily life on the home front.”

Location: Use the space that you have available. If you live in an apartment, you can still grow in a pot or a window-sill. I have even planted along the landscape buffer next to the house because I have really good south and west exposure. I also grow some things in the front yard because we rarely use that space.

If it is outside, it needs to be in a location that you are going to frequent maybe not every time you leave the house, but you need to be able to see it. Ideally, you are going to have sunlight at least 12 hours a day from mid-spring to late summer, the prime growing season. You should also have access water for irrigation. I know the temptation to do it tomorrow is strong and tomorrow turns into a week.

Conditions: The experts would say that the ideal soil is 1/3 clay, 1/3 sand and 1/3 organic material. I would wager that there is no place on earth with this combination. So, start where you are at. Maybe not every plant will work, but this is how we learn.

I probably cannot help here if you live on a sandy beach or gravel bar, but even there some things will grow. As an alternative, I have seen elevated planters that you fill with potting soil, raised beds are an option to mitigate poor native soil.

It is helpful to add compost to the place that you are going to garden if you have access or the ability to do so. Add as much as practical or possible because it breaks down over time and plants will grow in nearly straight compost. My first year, the beds were 85% and every couple of years I refresh them.

Plant/Seed Selection: Not everything is going to do well everywhere. Things that are considered easy are things that grow to harvest quickly like greens, radishes and summer squash like zucchini.

Even those things can suffer from pest and disease so be prepared to roll with the punches. Chemical treatments can be helpful if you know what you are doing, have access and are willing to use them. I typically do not.

Some items are best to start in the ground directly and others you need a head start. Check your average annual frost dates, read your seeds average date to maturity and back calculate to today’s date to determine whether you should plant seed in the ground or make starts.

My seed starting operation

My average annual frost date is mid-April so I am starting some things by seed namely tomatoes and peppers. You can get a head start on more frost hearty crops like cabbage if you like too.

If you lack the facilities or equipment to start seeds, you may be able to buy starts at a nursery or box store, if you can get out or your stores are open. You are going to pay between $1-$4 per plant vs. the same cost per seed packet. Seed packets will yield thirty to 100 plants and are sold by weight.

If you cant and only have seeds just do that. Your enemy may be time but try anyway. If you don’t have seeds, maybe you can get some from somebody locally; ask on Nextdoor or Facebook. You can also order them by mail order.

Heirloom vs Hybrid: Practically speaking, heirloom means that the seeds of that plant will grow true to type. Hybrid may or may not, it is a gamble. Starting from store bought stock should yield no appreciable difference in taste, disease resistance, vigor etc. However, if you save seeds from plants year over year, you can conceivable achieve a significant yield improvement by taking seeds from plants that display traits that you are most interested in and adapted to your specific garden.

Plan for yield, prepare for failure: When I am planting things, I am thinking about what happens if it does really well. Meaning if I put in 20 cabbages, can I handle that. Will I be able to use it or give it away? There is nothing worse than putting in hundreds of hours to see it go to waste.

I usually start 50% more seeds than I want. I try to give away the starts after I plant what I want. If I cant, I might stick them in the ground or I might just toss them depending on the response.

I really hope that this is not your only hope for survival, unless you already know how to do all of this. This is meant to teach and develop a skill. You learn what does well based on climate, conditions and location of the garden. Year over year, you plant more of what you like and prospers and then you try more experiments and techniques to improve your failures.

Harvest Time: Learn to cook and preserve. I enjoy the challenge of trying to handle bounty. Also take time to document the season and develop plans for next season. Hopefully, you will learn to do something good for you and enjoy it as well as a way to eliminate cabin fever.

March 20, 2020 – Life as a slum lord

March 20, 2020 /

This is going to be a foreshadowing of the life in the future. Recently, I had tenants move out of an Accessory Dwelling (AD). That is a fancy way of saying that we have a small house that we rent out.

This was their version clean (most of the furniture doesn’t belong here). Over the years, I have put in quite a bit of work on this place. After each vacancy, it seems like I need to start over with paint and flooring and finishes. Not to mention deep cleaning. I will announce my final plans at some point in the near future, but for now this is the next project.

March 19, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

March 19, 2020 /

The good news is that everything is relatively orderly. People are being helpful, friendly and even kind. Stores are rationing high demand items to distribute them as widely as possible. The bad news is that if you weren’t ‘prepared’ before this it is a woeful time to do so.

One of the categories that is manic right now is firearms and ammunition. I went to a chain sporting goods store just to see the local scene today and there was literally a line to the gun counter, with lots of buyers, not just lookers. I am not sure what people are expecting to happen or why there is panic buying.

I remember the ‘good old days’. Before 2009, ammunition was always available, plentiful and generally pretty cheap. As soon as Obama took office, the shelves were bare. It took two years before a box of ammunition was seen on the shelves. The supply lasted for a year or so and then in 2012, the Sandy Hook tragedy occurred and 22LR was literally absent for four years.

I have talked about my typical consumption in previous posts. So, of course I want to make sure that I can pursue my hobby in the next four years. But, adopting a prepared lifestyle means that you purchase in times of plenty so that you can ride out the lean times. It means that you don’t stand in line or panic buy just because other people are doing it (kind of like paper products as well).

Supplies acquired through the years

Whether building a pantry or pursuing your hobbies, the principles of preparedness are the same. Evaluate your long term usage, set your thresholds, replenish when convenient and plentiful and leave the panic buying to the tin foil hatters and less fortunate.

There are people out there that think they will take what they need/want because they have some weapons. This goes without saying, but that is a poor substitute to proper preparation and downright evil. They might get away with it for a while, but it is a good way to end up with a dirt nap.

I am speaking for myself but I watch out for my neighbors and they do likewise. Build community and redundancy in your life and we will get through this and whatever happens in the future.

March 18, 2020 – Life under quarantine: Day 3

March 18, 2020 /

Life for the last couple of days has been different. I would say that it has been difficult, but that is not true… it is time for a new normal. We are fortunate in that preparedness is our lifestyle so our pantry is full. I love to cook so I frequently go the grocery store to pick-up items for more exotic/lavish meals. That doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use the basics or substitute or modify accordingly.

In our area, school has been closed until April 28. I am not the biggest fan of our education system, in fact I think that we can do a lot better. However, we have a big problem. We have hosted an exchange student from Spain since August. Now that the remainder of the school year is up in the air, his program has decided to end prematurely and they are recommending all students return home.

It is more like ‘Peace Out – good luck if you want to stay cause we are out of here’. There is a program release form that we must fill out today if our student is staying, otherwise he needs a flight back to Spain. Most exchange students are leaving and our coordinator is worried that re-entry may be months delayed if he doesn’t leave immediately. But the short of it is that they are dropping all liability after today.

The problem is that if this academic year is not considered complete by Spain, that he may have to re-take his Junior year. We don’t really want him to leave pre-maturely but I understand the geo-politics and if we are stuck at home for six weeks anyway it could be quite difficult. My initial reaction was wait and see but that is when school was only out until April 1.

We are fortunate again in that my wife already worked three days a week from home. Now that has shifted to full time at home until the end of April. But, with everyone at home unexpectedly it is a difficult environment to be focused, let alone productive. I have been intrigued by the concept of un-schooling, self directed learning and goal setting. I am looking at opportunities to incorporate this downtime into something positive for the kids and family as a whole.

Quarantine in our current practice means limiting non-essential interaction. So, no friends or social gatherings or extra cirricular activities like church, boy scouts or trap team. We also cannot take advantage of this time for travel or site-seeing. What we are doing is family games and movies after the work day. In our climate, spring can be pretty iffy. Right now it is beautiful and time to do garden prep and walks around town. I think that we will try to get out into local nature during the workday to give my wife some quiet time.

I will probably be putting some effort into project oriented learning for the kids, more on that in a later post. For now, remember that there will be life after this so take note on what works and what is lacking so that during the summertime you can make adjustments to prevent this from being a difficult time in the future.

March 17, 2020 – Coping with Failure

March 17, 2020 /

When I was in High School, I got the opportunity to work with my Grandfather. At the time, he told me that what he will teach is far more valuable than what I would get paid. The beauty of that situation is that as a seventeen year old, the pay was important but as I got older what I learned was incredibly valuable. Those were incredibly formative years in building my character and who I am now.

One of the phrases that he would frequently use is ‘The Lord hates a coward’. I think what that means is that you cannot be afraid to look into or start anything. I utter that phrase to myself sometimes when there is a task that I don’t want to do, seems like it will be hard or I am in the middle of something difficult.

I ran into that situation two weeks ago. My wife’s car started developing a noise that sounded like a fan hitting or a heat shield vibration. I am fairly early into the troubleshooting and diagnosis period of the problem but what I did notice is that the transmission was leaking, I figured that I would check that first. I found that the fluid was low, so I added one quart feeling like if the noise just started adding some would eliminate the problem until the leak was stopped (if that was the problem).

ATF fluid on the lip of the transmission pan

Adding two quarts did not eliminate the problem, but allowed me to drive the vehicle around and spend some time isolating the variables that cause the problem. I went ahead and ordered the parts to replace the transmission fluid gaskets and all thinking that I would do that anyway since it has been a few years.

Here is where it gets bad. The H pipe on the exhaust was in the way of the back bolts. I spent three days trying to get to that bolt, I tried everything that I could, including trying to remove the exhaust. I brought over knowledgeable and experienced people for opinions and help but didn’t get any further than I already was.

After spending three days, I threw in the towel last night. I got it all put back together in about two hours. But my ego was bruised. I was sure that if I had the right tools and the ‘not gonna quit’ attitude that I was going to eventually succeed. I suppose that if I was made of money, I probably would have cut the exhaust off and replaced it with new. So, it is not like it was impossible but I don’t want to throw good money after bad considering that this may not be the problem.

Where I am at now is how can I move forward from the funk of failure? I guess when you try to add perspective Navy SEALs get killed in the line of duty or NFL ball carriers still get tackled and have negative yard games. So, the best of the best have bad days and fail why cant the average person?

One helpful skill to have in this situation is knowing when to quit. That is something that I struggle with. It has it plusses and minuses. One idea that I heard about that is failure develops that instinct better, like in business. Or said differently, without failure there is no success. Not having a lot of what I would consider failure in my life (largely from never giving up) when I do face it, it is difficult to reconcile and accept.

So, I have made an appointment with a mechanic. Hopefully, all the work I have done will be helpful to a quicker diagnosis and I certainly have all the parts. I will be spending some time trying to internalize this and learn from it. I don’t think that it would stop me from trying to do something like this again, but it may prevent me from spending three days at it. If some epiphany happens, I will write about it. For now, on to something more productive.

March 13, 2020 – Follow up on politics

March 13, 2020 /

Remember back on February 26, I wrote about how things will happen whether we get wrapped up in them or not? Well guess what? Since the legislature was dismissed and the cap and trade bill could not be passed, the Governor has decided to accomplish it through administrative regulation.

For all those people who were worried about this bill being passed, fear not. This is the kind of state that we now live in. So, you can protest, write your representatives, post on social media and so on but you are much better off doing something better with your life than worrying about politics.