The DisFort's Chit Chat Cafe

[Part-Time Paradise]

We got 3" of snow yesterday. The weatherman didn't even forecast it. The whole KC metro was pantsed by it in the morning commute. The temperature was hovering right around 33 degrees most of the night making the snow super wet and heavy.

This happened with 3 of our trees. It appears that a branch at the top of the tree snapped under the weight of the snow and then broke every branch below it. I have a lot of clean up once the ground freezes or dries out. Right now it's a sloppy mess.

 

[Teamubr]

We had a surprise snow like that in December. We were on the northern fringe and barely got a dusting, but 30 miles south had 6 inches of unannounced loveliness. Hopefully the tree damage isn't too bad.

j

 

[bama_ed]

So I use Microsoft Windows 10 on my home main laptop computer and it daily randomly changes the lock/boot pic/photo every 24 hours. But today, it was showing me this and I sez to myself "that looks strangely familiar" .....

"why", I sez to miself, "I been there, I have if I recollect".

And indeed I have been there. This is the lighthouse on Key Biscayne off Miami's Atlantic Coast and we were there last January (13 months ago) on our south Florida tour after a stay at the Fort.

Here were the pics we took of the same lighthouse.







It IS a beautiful lighthouse (located in a Florida state park on the tip of Key Biscayne island). The souvenir store was TERRIBLE. Such a beautiful place should have plenty of merch with the LH on it. Sadly it doesn't. It's a wasted business opportunity crying out for an investor.

Naturally my pics are from the point of view of a tourist like myself while the first linked photo from Microsoft is a plane/drone pic from over the ocean.

Bama Ed

PS - Florida light houses all have a unique color/paint scheme. Whether from the sea side or land side, the exterior color(s) and paint scheme are unique to each which is how I recognized an old lost friend.

PPS-hope to wrap up 3 more FL light houses in the panhandle this fall.

 

[garneska]

I went to the dr today because i have been having issues with my elbow. I was pretty sure it was tennis elbow. I have both tennis and golfer's elbow, neither sports which i play. I am rocking a wrist brace to try and give the tendons a rest. It's been bothering me since the beginning of Dec. Funny my knee was bothering me for almost an entire year and i did not go to the dr. Tiny little elbow keeping me from pouring coffee and hooking my own sports bra and i go running to find out what is wrong. Bert has been helping with the sports bra for the last two months. Now he gets to do a whole lot more.

On the RV front, they had to remove the driver's slide to see if they can fix it. We have had a problem with the slide. There is a gap on top and it is shearing off bolts. I don't know exactly but we are still hoping to pick it up on Friday, though i am not sure if it will be ready. We are going to take it back to storage and then plan to have it out in April, up in North GA.

 

[Teamubr]

I was wondering how the MH was coming. Sounds like a little bigger project than just replacing a seal. Sorry to hear about the elbow. There is a solution to not being able to fasten a bra... But I guess having Bert help is a more practical solution for running.

j

 

[jbrostek]

I guess the trash truck was extra hungry this morning.

And then there was 2...

j

Well I hope republic sent you a new can.

 

[jbrostek]

Project work continues. I am on the final stages of the china cabinet top and the table is progressing. After trying my convection kerosean heater along with the propane heater together it worked well to get the garage into the 50s on sub 30F days. But the kero heater just smells so much that the garage would smell bad for days. So I invested in one of the diesel parking heaters, waiting for after the new year prices dropped to around 115 for an all in one unit. I bought a through hull port for these off amazon and a 15A 12v power supply.

I used scrap wood for the first build, but I think the final location will be mounted to the wall and likely a more insulated window insert so I can leave it installed for the winter. First test was promssining, I started it up at full bore at 8am when mid 30s outside, garage temp was 38F. After 4 hours of running by itself the garage was up to 58F and ambient was mid 40s. This means I got a 20F rise in 4 hours overcomming the cold soak of the garage. I think if a colder snap was comming and I had it running 24 hours it would hold mid 50s pretty well and I can use the propane to suppliment. What I liked best is no open flame and the exhause leaves the room.







The plywood in the window looks raw, but its actually sealed. I had some stain/sealer form the old owner. I thought it was white in color, but whne it dried it was clear. So at least it is weather sealed....

I expect to use it through the rest of this process and then get the garage more cleaned and organized.

 

[garneska]

I was wondering how the MH was coming. Sounds like a little bigger project than just replacing a seal. Sorry to hear about the elbow. There is a solution to not being able to fasten a bra... But I guess having Bert help is a more practical solution for running.

j

yes definitely more practical.

it is fun eating with my left hand I spill even more on myself.

I will call the shop tomorrow on the RV. It has been quite an ordeal. I hope it all gets fixed though.

 

[Teamubr]

So I invested in one of the diesel parking heaters, waiting for after the new year prices dropped to around 115 for an all in one unit. I bought a through hull port for these off amazon and a 15A 12v power supply.

That looks pretty good for a quick heater. I have one of the propane torpedo 100,000 btu ones that does a great job, but it also has a little smell to it.

How much fuel does that go through? It seems like a good option for a reasonable price.

j

 

[jbrostek]

That looks pretty good for a quick heater. I have one of the propane torpedo 100,000 btu ones that does a great job, but it also has a little smell to it.

How much fuel does that go through? It seems like a good option for a reasonable price.

j

I have one of those too, great job getting temps up in the garage. Downsides are noise and open flame. I have an extra large buddy type propane heater which I will use to keep temp. Downside for that was feeling ok leaving it unattended. This one with no open flame and exhauting outside the house I feel I can leave unattended if I needed to.

Fuel burn for the 4 hours was about 1/4 of the 5 liter tank (1.3 gallon), so just over a quarter gallon. Running it lower will run longer.

 

[Sjm9911]

Some put those in the campers. Nice , always wondered about them.

 

[Sjm9911]

I went to the dr today because i have been having issues with my elbow. I was pretty sure it was tennis elbow. I have both tennis and golfer's elbow, neither sports which i play. I am rocking a wrist brace to try and give the tendons a rest. It's been bothering me since the beginning of Dec. Funny my knee was bothering me for almost an entire year and i did not go to the dr. Tiny little elbow keeping me from pouring coffee and hooking my own sports bra and i go running to find out what is wrong. Bert has been helping with the sports bra for the last two months. Now he gets to do a whole lot more.

On the RV front, they had to remove the driver's slide to see if they can fix it. We have had a problem with the slide. There is a gap on top and it is shearing off bolts. I don't know exactly but we are still hoping to pick it up on Friday, though i am not sure if it will be ready. We are going to take it back to storage and then plan to have it out in April, up in North GA.

For tennis elbow,
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...kQFnoECDkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0rquapT3B1t_v2iRY_tcDE

 

[Sjm9911]

And this
https://www.amazon.com/THERABAND-Te...ix=thera+band+for+tennis+elbow,aps,103&sr=8-4
You dont need the three pack, get the lightest resistance one. I ripped that tendon off my elbow and needed surgery. Not fun, but I did have like 4 stints in rehab. These worked the best. And I basicly bought and tried everyrhing. Thats if its tennis elbow. Heal up. It takes time.

 

[garneska]

@Sjm9911 he said time. I am just not very patient. I think I got it early so hoping rest will help.

 

[jbrostek]

15 days this month closing my exercise ring and move rings! 30 minutes on the bike is getting normal. rest of my workouts are gaining ease. So I’m gonna keep at it even with not much movement on the scale. With the weather staying warm enough to make the bulbs think about sprouting, my work in the garage includes planning some RV work. Looking forward to the season!

 

[Part-Time Paradise]

I'm a week through my 8 weeks of vacation I saved up with my Army retirement. I was asked by a nameless spouse, "when are you going to get off your butt and do something?" I took the not so subtle hint to start knocking out some projects we've had stacked up.

The most important project is finishing off the basement so we can actually host folks and the kids have a place to retreat with their friends. The first part of that job is to clean and organize the basement. To get all of that junk to the dump though, I needed to put some work into the trailer.

I added some side rails to contain everything for trips to the dump. I'm guessing we'll have 3 trailer loads of stuff to move before it's done. We have so many boxes of junk that we haven't opened in many moves. They have to go. Here's the work for the day:

I need a little bit of hardware from the store (it's not a project if you don't have to go to the store twice, right?) to finish up and add a piece of plywood in the back.

 

[Teamubr]

Good looking trailer. Now I know who to hit up since I sold mine.

j

 

[jbrostek]

@Teamubr Finally towing 4 down?

@Part-Time Paradise that should help. I have a little 7x10 now that has metal rails for that kind of work these days. Though that too is a 2023 project as it needs new floor boards (rotting as they are likely the 2005 originals) and I am going to repaint it with roll on bed liner since I got it on clearance for 22.50 for a gallon.

Good luck with the purge. We been doing about a trailer full every spring. I still don't know where most of it comes from.....

 

[Teamubr]

@Teamubr Finally towing 4 down?

James,

I bought a new Jeep Grand Cherokee about a year ago and set it up to flat tow last Spring. It has been great. I sold the trailer and it paid for all the stuff I needed to make the Jeep towable.





j

 

[jbrostek]

I missed that post. Good move if you ask me. Having a trailer at most RV parks was a pain more then a help.