Tag: Maintenance

September 19, 2024 – Leather Care

September 19, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Boy, do I like to trot out old stuff. I bought these boots in 1995 and I wore them a lot until 1999 when I started to develop in-grown toenails on both feet. From that time on, I wore them extremely sparingly, once every couple of years. I am happy to say that was the last time I had surgery on my toes to solve that problem. Unfortunately, the toe of the boot is too constrictive for daily wear.

But, the leather still looks good even if the plastic ribbing is cracked. They could stand for another coat of oil and I think I will have the heels replaced. I bought new square toed boots for our vow renewal last year and I wear them every couple of weeks but I am thinking that I should put these boots back into service. I will not wear them daily, but keeping with philosophy, I should use them or get rid of them.

My wife has some boots too. I haven’t done anything to them because I never thought about them. I learned long ago not to touch a women’s clothes. Last time I washed a denim jacket to be helpful, I had to replace it. She was saying that they looked a little scuffed up. So, I offered to oil them for her. I did warn that the color would be effected but she was OK with it.

What I like to do is start with mink oil. It is a natural product that soaks into the leather. This keeps the leather supple, even after 30 years. I may or may not apply multiple coats of oil, if it looks like the leather is sufficiently whetted, I stop there. I dress the top with a beeswax product made for leather. It too has some oil in it but it is mostly for topical protection and looks.

Both of these products not only protect the leather but also offer some protection for water absorption. Most wet feet happen with water seeping through the seam. This process wont stop that, nothing will. Might as well protect the shoe though.

This is what I do, what about other products? Well, a little goes a long way so I am working with stuff I bought long ago. I will say that I am not a big fan of synthetic products. These would be things that come in spray bottles or come with silicone compounds. They stink and perform no better in my opinion.

When it comes to shoes, the other traditional treatment is shoe polish. This adds some color as well as a little bit of protection. In my experience, the protection is surface deep. It tends to be gone after a week or so. Treating other wearables like holsters and belts also has a propensity for these coatings to rub off. Unless you fancy brown or black smudges, keep these on shoes only.

I do treat some of my dress shoes with polish. I do that because the leather finish is worn and I don’t think the leather conditioner is the right look. This is reason there were so many shoe shiners years ago. The polish evens everything out even if it doesn’t last long.

Generally, leather treatment is leather treatment. So, what I do to boots could theoretically be done with any leather. I reserve my tender love and care to shoes and products that are durable and can be repaired. I have a pair of waterproof, low hikers and they weren’t cheap shoes. That being said, the sole (tread rubber) has peeled off twice. I glued them back to the spongy substrate and the still work. The point being is that I am not going to invest lifetime care into things that will not last a lifetime.

One last point before I leave this. Most modern shoes are not actually leather but synthetic. I would be less militant about synthetic products but I also feel like, ‘what is the point?’ If they are not built to last forever, then I don’t see the value in the time and product to slow the inevitable.

End Your Programming Routine: Treat you leather well and it will literally last your lifetime. One thing I found is spend a little time up front and then the ongoing maintenance will be much easier. On my boots, I will clean them off and rub the wax in. That should be good to go for a couple of years at the rate that I wear them.

April 3, 2024 – Always Say Yes

April 3, 2024 /

We had a wonderful weekend a couple of weeks ago. Since spring is here, so does the yard work. Since I pay someone to do most of it, when it comes to extras they check if we are OK with spending more money. They came with two propositions. One is to treat the grass and the other is to treat the pavers.

I am not big on chemical usage. I don’t care so much about weeds in the lawn but I really don’t want moss in it because it will eventually take over and kill the grass. I said yes to that. But, my wife and I differ about moss on the driveway. On one hand, it does cause degradation of the block setting, but I don’t feel like it hurts much. So, I said that I will do that.

This is probably only the second time I have used the sprayer in the picture. I remember getting it from my grandparents when we got into our first house in the late 1990s. I didn’t know if it worked even since it has been sitting for so long. Once I figured that out, I also learned that there was a lot of pumping involved.

This particular model has a port for a hose. The act of filling up the water pressurizes the vessel. Very nice until all the air leaks out. That happens when some of the powder (moss killer) gets into the threads or the rubber seals are dried out because they have never been lubricated. By the time I really figured all of those problems out, I was on the last tank.

The whole process took me about two and a half hours. My out of shape body was wondering if this was really worth the effort. But, it was one of the very first 70 degree days in spring and it felt really good to be outside with pleasant weather. As the moss killer works, I also notice that there is some grass also springing up . That actually requires a different treatment. So, now I have to go with a second application. I am less enamored with spraying something like Round-up than a zinc based moss killer.

If I look at this analytically, I saved myself $170. That is $180 for the job minus $10 for the moss killer. Given the time I spent, the pencils out to $68/hour. I am sure that I would not pay someone that rate to do this job. But, if I have to do it twice that is going to take it down to half of that and now I am getting into the rate that I would pay for.

I am not going to say that I didn’t learn some things, like how to use my sprayer. But, you always have to do the calculus of would that time be better spent doing something else. In my case, I am very close to that line. I am not too proud to do the job, I just have limited time to do things and I am not sure this is how I want to do use it. I also know that there was a significant amount of inefficiency in my doing the job and messing with pumping and the sprayer.

My grandfather was a farmer and my dad wishes he was one. Spraying has been in my whole life. Being a chemist and a believer in whole, natural foods and environment I think chemicals has a very limited place. One place is to not destroy property and infrastructure like my driveway. If you look very carefully at the picture, you can see some patches that are loose. I have tried to repair them several times. I don’t want that to get worse.

End Your Programming Routine: So, for now I will see how it goes. I feel like I should have paid the money. The last time I did this, I had a quote to prune the apple tree for $200. I did it and it took me 16 hours, plus I had to deal with all of the clippings. It is not like I have a burn pile. So you would think that I learned, it is just hard to spend the extra money.

January 16, 2024 – Speak of the Devil…

January 16, 2024 /

The day after I put out my winter preparedness note, I heard the heater make a long buzzing sound. I said to myself, that doesn’t sound right. Then, about an hour later, my wife said “do you smell that?”. I said no but I went upstairs and then I could smell a waxy smell, electrical-ish. I did some testing and it seems like the heater wasn’t working.

You can see from the thermostat that I have the power turned off. But, of all the things to happen right before the temperature drops to below zero for several days, this is close to the worst. At least you can take solace in the electricity is still on, this allows for the use of space heaters.

Fortunately, I do have several space heaters electric, propane and kerosene. It probably makes sense to move to one fuel, I think that is propane. Electricity doesn’t work when the power is out and kerosene has too many fumes. The one down side of propane is that the tanks are bulky but at least it is relatively affordable.

When I first learned that things were not working like they should, I turned off the power. It wasn’t terribly cold outside but the temperature started to drop throughout the day. I was using appliances and doing laundry so that kept the temperature at 67 before turning in for the day. There was a visible temperature wall between the bedroom with the space heater running and the rest of the house.

By the time I woke up in the morning, the temperature had dropped to 57 degrees. Based on what I was expecting, the service technician was going to validate that they were going to have to order a new motor. The best case scenario was that they would get it on Monday, after we had a weekend never climbing above freezing. I wasn’t cold yet but I was getting prepared for it.

The diagnosis was true, it was the motor. Then the technician asked if I wanted to try a universal motor. It wasn’t the OEM motor but it was also in stock and half the price they quoted me for a factory replacement part. I said, “I don’t understand try. Does it not fit or something?” He said, it had more power inputs. I have to admit, I still don’t understand the downside, it is called universal for a reason. I said yes, and it worked.

Having a spare furnace or even replacement parts of that sort are not really practical. The truth is, when they did the winter service in December, they said that the motor was ‘tired’. But, who really knows what that means? I said that I wanted to see a quote before I committed to anything. I mean, who really wants to spend another unplanned grand in December.

My wife thinks that I should have done the maintenance when they quoted it. She even said to me why wait? I am not doubting the technicians experience nor opinion but really define ‘tired’ for me. Nobody, including him could predict that the motor would fail on this day. If so, I would have scheduled the replacement for the day of the failure.

Of course, having back-up heat in general is a really good idea. In this climate, I could get by all summer without cooling and a lot of the winter, it might be unpleasant but at least the plumbing wasn’t going to freeze. That was my biggest concern. All things considered, I think the lesson is don’t just consider one opinion when making decisions. But gather the data and cross check others to see if they make sense. If the part had cost $200, I probably would have scheduled the repair but the fact that we were getting near $1000 was a little more than I was willing to just jump.

End Your Programming Routine: Nobody wants to spend a quick $550. But, had I not insisted that they come out and look, I would have been waiting all weekend for the motor to come in and paid twice as much. So, despite the drawbacks, I am pleased that the issue is fixed. And with central heat in the house, I am reasonably comforted that there will be enough heat not to freeze the plumbing.

April 26, 2023 – HP Pavillion Battery Replacement

April 26, 2023 /

Nothing fancy here. There are very few videos on how to do this, and none with my specific vintage of HP. So, while those other videos might be all you need, this may be exactly what you need. The hardest part in my opinion is prying off the back.

End Your Programming Routine: I don’t remember what this repair costs, but I know it wasn’t expensive the last time I paid for it. There is a reason, because it is not difficult. It takes about 10 minutes to do the replacement if you are practiced.

March 21, 2023 – Cleaning the Cleaner

March 21, 2023 /

Given that I am away from home for a number of weeks, it is difficult to keep up with writing everyday. Things have been super busy lately, getting ready to go and buttoning everything up. Hopefully, these next couple of days do not come off as week or phoning it in. But I won’t deny that I am pushing to keep up with my schedule.

One of the requirements to earn the Eagle Scout rank is to perform what is called an Eagle Project. This is a service project that the scout plans, leads and executes. Maybe I will talk about mine another day but today I am going to talk about another peer of mine’s project.

If you remember this post from last year then you will know how this story begins.

May 17, 2022 – Does Preserving History Matter?

My friend’s project was to vacuum out the attic of this church as well as paint. In the course of the project, we burned out six different vacuums. I didn’t get the chance to go up there, but I heard that the dust was inches thick.

My point with this is vacuums don’t run well when the matter vacuumed coats the filter. It is the airflow through the device that provides the suction. I use my shop vacuum for a dust collector. It does a much better job than nothing but it also leaves a lot to be desired.

Over the years, dust collection has become a much larger topic in woodworking. Like all things safety bike helmets or seat belts as an example, there is no denying that using those things do raise the odds of surviving something catastrophic. On the other side, there are no guarantees. I have heard that there are some that wont even enter the shop without turning on dust collection.

Don’t get me wrong, I would love the space and equipment to have a proper and professional setup. And it is not like I am in there all day, everyday. My dust collection is aimed at reducing the amount of cleanup later and less about a dust phobia but I am not denying that dust is a risk. For better or worse, this is my setup. It always requires a thorough cleaning afterward to get all of the escaped dust.

When I was building my pantry cabinets, I had my old 13″ TV on. At one point, the picture actually went black. I thought maybe it was ruined due to dust building up on the electronic components so I vacuumed it off and it worked again. I do know if it was dust on the inside or the outside of the TV but that seems to have some kind of effect its function. And this is using the vacuum with dust collection, hence it leaves some to be desired.

The filter in the picture is the original filter I bought with the vacuum. When I start to notice a significant reduction of suction, I take it outside and bang all the dust out of the folds. Looking at this filter, I could stand to replace it because it is pretty caked in a lot of the folds. I have spares on hand, so I will probably do it soon.

End Your Programming Routine: I am a strong believer in maintaining things you own. The sweatshirt I am wearing as I write this I bought in college, twenty-five years ago. I have a lot of items that are old as I am getting there too. Even if you ‘buy once, cry once’ it doesn’t mean that you can use things beyond their capability. So if you have a shop vacuum, take a look at the filter. It might need replacing.