A grumpy post but I do find my pocket knife!

Yesterday I planted for the farmer who has the farm where I once rented the old farm house.
It was one of the oldest houses in the county.
I was a pretty neat old house with little squares of colored glass around the windows and door.
There was an old oak mantel on the big fireplace. The mantel came from possibly and even older house that had been torn down. There was an old Youngstown metal sink and counter lots of windows and a huge upstairs perfect for permanent Lego villages.
But it was freezing cold in the winter. We shut all the doors and huddled around the old woodstove in the winter and built roaring fires in the fireplace.
Meth addicts and other scum have completely stripped the house.
Yesterday I looked in the barn. It has been completely vandalized.
In the papers strew across the floor I found a number of my books and papers. I had no idea I had left a box of personal effects in the garage. I worry if I left my two prize possessions behind as well.
My most prized possession which I have search high and low for and cannot find is my Grandfather's Bible which was a large KJV with margin notes stored in a leather case which he made himself.
My second possession, (laugh if you will) is my Audio Technica AT-155 LC cartridge, in the box, with packaging, instructions, graph of frequency response, which I saved my money and bought when I was in High School and is now worth real money.
But, I digress...
I stopped to read my resume.
I should have not quit my first job and went to Costa Rica for two Months and then wandered around the country to Minneapolis-Moline conventions. I should have stayed for four years and learned the trade. That was insane.
Second thought was about the boom bust cycles of farming and the stress of being self-employed.
The year before last was a good year. Straw prices were good, annual ryegrass was good, hay prices were excellent, and I was looking for success.
This past year was not so good for several reasons.
One of which is the boom bust cycle that has become the norm in agriculture. (witness corn and soy prices)
We will use hay for an example.
I depend on good hay prices, last year the price went too high. This year prices appear to be good but hay is not selling. Next year people are still going to expect high prices and everybody and their uncle will bale every scrap of pasture in the green part of the state. I'm thinking next year will be a hard sell now that I have lost my feed store customer.
Corn and Soy prices are low and now store bought feed prices have dropped so there goes "Sum Pig" feed sales and counseling service.
But what really upset me was letting the diesel overflow my tractor tank. It really made a mess. Now I have to look at it for two days until it rains...

But all is not gloom and doom! Me being forever the optimist and able to find happiness in even the darkest cloud rejoiced and exclaimed "oh fiddle!" (in a happy positive way) upon finding my pocket knife! I had been searching for it since working on the tractor earlier this week. I found it being used as a wedge to hold up the headliner. 

Earlier I had reglued some of the cab upholstery and also the headliner. I found some special 3-M brand spray mount which is pretty wonderful stuff and had used various found objects to hold things in place until the glue dried.

Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy! I found my knife!

"Get off my lawn," Clint Eastwood threatened to Shoot Michael Moore, (YES!) and I actually do work...

I love the Daily Mail. I it so trashy and their spelling and punctionatiol is worse than mine!
Michael Moore is seeking more publicity by keeping the American Sniper criticism going by giving out periodic quotes.
I have read a lot of war books including the book by Carlos Hathcock. I think I could not be a sniper. I think it might mess you up just a little bit.
I am not all that comfortable with the American Sniper movie. There is some controversy about it, you can look that up.
I just think it is pretty funny that Michael Moore is such a whiner.
(Quote is link to article and please note the quote is out of context with Moore's Sniper quote. The issue with Moore and Eastwood that this quote is from is several years old. Eastwood did not recently threaten to shoot Moore.)

"Eastwood Said: 'Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common. 

'We both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression. But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera, I'll kill you.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2933209/Clint-Eastwood-threatened-kill-Michael-Moore-Documentary-maker-reveals-American-Sniper-director-claimed-shoot-appeared-door-camera.html#ixzz3QJwNBbLH  Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook"

I had to laugh at the article. I could imagine Moore with a video camera outside Eastwood's house and Eastwood coming out with a Colt 1911 and telling him to get off his lawn.

In other news....
I actually planted 14 acres of oats yesterday.

This was not as successful as I would have hoped. The ground was a little on the wet side and when I would actually open up the throttle to get some work done the solenoid that turns on power to the cab would fail because White decided to mount it three inches from the exhaust manifold so every three years it melts.
And, despite all my wiring efforts, the automatic run/hold doesn't work. After some effort I figured out that the control panel switch had failed on one side, the automatic side. It was ok, I was planting in circles.

I fix electrical stuff I wired myself

I am blogging this morning with my iBook G4.
This is the last Motorola G4 and thus the last real of the real Apple computers.
I used to care about Apple in much the same way that local folks who have never been to U of O and are probably not degenerates care about the Oregon Ducks.
It was somewhat of a philosophic debate, reduced instruction processors vs super clock speed. I liked the idea of reduced instruction, the computer knew how to do things on its own. Thus free will vs legalism, democracy vs totalitariansim.
However, as all great freedom movements tend to do, Apple has become a closed minded system and where it once provided helpful interface to those of us who didn't understand computers it now restricts us with planned obsolescence, pointless layers of copyright protection, and focuses on form over function.
In the meantime, the other systems which we Apple fanatics saw as restrictive, have improved greatly, or rather Apple has become so much more restrictive and less innovative that the competition has caught up. Or perhaps it is this... I hate Windows so much that I use a Mac, and that is really not a good reason to buy a car or an operating system.
But, this was not the point of my morning blog post.
I got onto this topic because I was using my Windows XP tablet yesterday when I was working on my tractor GPS wiring. It kept losing the connection to the GPS and I would have to do a search for the USB to RS 232 converter. I really want a new Windows tablet with a touch screen and outdoor viewable screen and a flash drive as the vibration of the mighty Hercules engine tends to kill hard drives.
The point of my blog post was that I have spent three (3) days working on my home built run/hold system that puts the FamerGPS, Microtrak Acre Counter and Micro-trak SprayMate II on hold when the drill is lifted.
It is overly complicated...
The way it works is as follows: When the drill is lowered for planting, a magnet switch completes a circuit which sends power back to a KC HiLights headlight relay in the tractor cab.
The relay energizes and completes a circuit where a signal coming from the positive battery terminal goes to the switchbox provided by FarmerGPS which makes the little tractor on the computer screen start painting a swath.
But, then it got a little more complicated...
I decided to hook up my Micro-Trak acre counter. I just added another KC HiLights switch.
Then the control switch for the Smucker Landmark foam marker melted in the cab filling the confined space with acrid fumes.
So, I decided to use a KC Hilites relay to keep the 30 amps of power drawn by an electric air pump and a water pump running at the same time, out of the cab.
And then I got to thinking, I could use a windshield wiper delay timer to run the foamer wide open for 5 seconds and shut it off for 15 seconds and I'd get piles of foam instead of a drip every two inches and perhaps I would not use so much expensive foam conentrate.
So this added another switch and two relays to my already crowed control box which was just an electrical junction box I got from the local large hardware store.
Then the foamer quite again and I got tired of working on it so I took it off and my little helper bottomed the seat out on the 12v relay box.
And there was that short circuit that melted the main power cord all they way back to the non functioning circuit breaker.
So, I decided to rewire...
It was way more work than expected.
I should have color coded the wire.
I should have drawn a wiring diagram.
This is what it looks like now.

I suppose this is dangerous

I needed 800lbs of peas. This goes slow with a four inch auger and a slipping belt and a grain bin tipped over on one side.

I made 5,500lbs of pig feed yesterday.

I just need a couple Apps not in the App Store

My iPhone kind of amazes me.
It could be really useful but it just never really does what I want it to do.
I suspect that the people who design smartphones have never done anything productive in their short lives. I suspect that because there are five million stupid games at the App Store but only one app remotely related to feed ration formulation. Or an invoicing program that is not impossible to use or missing important functions.
AND, why can you butt-dial everyone in your address book randomly but you CAN'T answer the phone with gloves on.
Yesterday I was attempting to make pig feed. I had four ingredients. I have a rough idea of the weights and percentages. All I needed to do was to enter the weights and percent protein and get then figure a round percentage of total protein. I didn't need DM or anything complicated.
I used a new App for invoicing called Invoice Asap to calculate the price per ton. I figured out that you could put percent protein into the price per unit it would figure total lbs protein and total lbs and then do the total percent but that was a big awkward.
I think I will discuss Invoice ASAP in the future as it is free and easier/more useful than the $10 app Invoice Manager.
A SIMPLE feed ration app would not be hard to make, you could do it with a spread sheet in the numbers app, if you were not mentally impaired like myself.
Apparently the "land grant" Universities and their accompanying extension services don't really do anything useful anymore. We really do need more promotions for hazelnuts and wine and organic kale.
I think I'm going to have to take a class in Excell before our Dear Leader makes community college free for morons and classes are taught by diploma mill bozos and over-run with dumb-asses.
I HAVE SPOKEN

I once had a website

Ten years ago I set up a website for the family farm.
I used a hosting service which now has become iPower. Over the years I have had problems updating the website. Finding a person who does web design and who is interested in what you are doing and who wants to do a website and make it work are far and few between.
People who want to impress you with their computer skill, show that their system is superior to yours, and like to work in windowless room surrounded by action figures are pretty common as are girls who know all about design but do not care enough to learn anything about your product are pretty common also.
Of course you then have to pay for something that is really not quite right.
What this world does not have are people who listen to you and then turn your idea into a reality. As in making it work... If you can do this you can be a writer, a designer, a welder, a machinist, a webdesigner, what ever you want to do, because nobody listens anymore.
So it is back to the concept that if you want something done you must do it yourself.
The problem with iPower is that they decided that they could make more money if they just made it impossible for you to cancel your account with them and to bill you a year in advance.
The only way to stop their service is to go through multiple layers of passwords and screens and a toll free number that puts you on hold, or to cancel your credit card.
The down side is that I lost the domain name.

I load straw and have a discussion and rewire things I built myself.

I think I have to have an employee so that I can just continue my life of doing weird random stuff and I can have someone else do ordinary jobs which have a beginning and an end.

Yesterday I loaded 53 bales of hay. The actual loading took perhaps fifteen minutes. 

I was an hour late to the barn where the straw is stored as someone was at the shop buying sprayer parts. He was explaining to we how to plumb your sprayer with a three-way electric valve and we discussed the merits of a hydraulic power sprayer pump hooked to an auto-rate controller vs a three-way valve. This was very useful information and all would have been well but...

The squeeze loader died in front of the stack and that took an hour to bleed diesel lines and wonder why the pump lost its prime to begin with. 

It took another hour to restack the stack as I lost four bales out of the bottom of the stack when I picked it up. Understand? The bottom of the stack. You pick it up by the bottom. So, you see this is a problem. You really have to restack the whole stack to get to the bottom.

Then it took an hour of conversation with the owner of the building's little helper. This was valuable as I found out they did not have the money to pay for the screenings I sold them and now I'm going to have to just pay my neighbor that I bought the screenings from and now my quick cash has turned to naught... (Like that? I used an archaic expression!)

I came home and fixed myself a pretty awesome ham and cheese omelette. Lunch went really well.

But, after lunch I had to go to the shop where the scrap man wanted to talk. He really likes to talk. This would not be so bad but he smells like cat poop. 

Then a young farmer showed up who wants me to plant for him which led to a no-till discussion. Then the battery guy showed up and we got into a long discussion about Florida vs Hawaii and what you do on cruise ships. 

Then another farmer showed up to buy a grain density scale and this gave me the break to move outside and discuss no-till planting closer to the no-till drill.

I should be changing disc opener bushings and no-till coulter bearings but I instead tackled the rats nest of wiring that is my home built switch box for the run/hold part of the acre and GPS.

It is quite a clever design.

I have a magnet switch which connects a circuit breaker when the drill is lowered and I'm planting. I used KC HiLites (headlight relays) relays as they are in stock at NAPA and CarQuest stores everywhere.

I have an on/off/manual switch so I can turn the acre counter off if I wish. There is also a double pole double throw switch for reversing an electric valve that controls the return line on my liquid fertilizer setup.

The complicated part is that the acre counter and sprayer monitor supply their own power for the run/hold switch so I have to isolate the circuits. I can't just plug them into one magnet switch. Also, the FarmerGPS takes a 12v signal and I did have that on a relay as well.

I took out one relay and changed the wiring so there was nothing outside of the switch box. People who are not me and are running my tractor don't care about my wiring and squish things under the seat if they are heavier than I.

Here is a photo of the wiring.

Nothing to read here today

My goal has been to post daily. Some days I have nothing that would be interesting.
I've been working on my grain drill so I can do no-till planting.
I'm selling a little hay.
I'm avoiding making pig feed.
I'm avoiding various customers because they annoy me.
I would like to rant about politics and church issues but I shouldn't.
I have no photos.
I'm not listening to any interesting music.
I'm not reading books.
I'm not playing with legos.
The sky has been blue.
I have nothing to say...
I should be working on posting key words so there are at least interesting advertising.
I did overhear the bearing salesman going on a rant about Chinese bearings. If I heard correctly the made in America label means nothing because the critical assemblies are made in China. For some reason the ball bearing steel is generally crap. This is true even though the formula for the steel is patented and owned by a major name bearing company. No one knows why modern bearings are of lessor quality than older bearings but more and more people feel this way.
Research, we demand research and investigation. It is a conspiracy I say!

Selling Hay

I received this text yesterday morning.

What do you think I did?
(Taking into account your understanding of "The Lazy Farmer" from a few years worth of previous posts)

Blogging for bucks

I do appreciate everyone's effort but think I need more readers.

I understand the theory behind blogger "clubs"

Not sure I want more readers. I like the ones I have right now.

But 1.2 million dollars... Hmmm...

I replace the hydraulic pump on the 2-155

I'm sure most of my readers are here for the comments on White tractor repair.
With that in mind I may drone on for ever. (Oh yeah, an ad keyword. Drone! I want a drone. oops off topic again)
My White 2-155 has been plagued with hydraulic leaks and funny noises that sound like pump cavitation. I have never been able to figure out how air was getting into the hydraulic system.
Saturday afternoon I installed a new hydraulic pump and Saturday evening I finally got the tractor running.
It is quiet as can be. No hydraulic noise on startup. No foaming in the hydraulics, no strange squealing noises. The brakes and steering started working right away and this is with most of the hydraulic line empty.
There are two things I have learned.
First, the hydraulic charge pump is on the inside of the transmission case and the same shaft that drives the charge pump drives the main pump. The charge pump is a low pressure pump that supplies fluid the the high pressure piston pump that runs the main hydraulics.
The suction tube feeds a cavity between the main pump and the charge pump. The fluid is sucked into this cavity and then fed through the filter into the charge pump and then through a tube that goes outside the transmission case and into the main pump. (I think this how it works)
There are a number of places that an air lead could cause a lot of problems.
The main hydraulic pump is held on with two half inch bolts that are nearly impossible to reach. One of those bolts was loose when I removed the old pump.
Also, the o-ring and back up rings on the suction line were are hard as rocks. I suspect that there were multiple leaks in the suction line which caused much of my problems.
Second, $1,000 for a new hydraulic pump is not that much money in the scheme of things. You really can't check the condition of the pump unless you have a flow gauge. I tested it using a pressure gauge hooked into hydraulic remotes. Upon activation the pressure spiked at 2,500lbs and then dropped to 2,200. That doesn't show you flow.
We shall see if it now works better.
I did not work on MuddyValley's grader blade.
I understand my brother worked on it and the stuck bolts have proved to be very stubborn. First we tried heating the bolts red hot and letting them cool. We applied a mixture of ATF and Acetone. My brother welded nuts on the bolts and they still broke off. Then he put the part in the drill press and drilled the bolts to use an easy-out.
They are pretty stuck...
And that is my post for Monday Morning...
Please click on my advertisements as I do need that $1.18 per day in revenue.

I tear apart MuddyValley's grader blade.

I actually accomplished something yesterday!
I removed almost all of the stuck bolts from Muddy Valley's grader blade. 

Almost all is not quite a success because the four remaining bolts are the bolts which were the problem.
However, it needed to be taken apart to get at the offending bolts and I did it. Took me a half hour after dark.
I've been attempting to get ready to plant for my neighbors.
I've been having hydraulic problems with the 2-155 I plant with.
So I ordered a new pump.
I got the wrong pump as I didn't realize difference between the two pumps was that the BODY of the pump was aluminum. I checked the end of the pump which is cast iron.
The pump arrived in November, I looked at it and thought it was correct.
I discovered it was wrong when I went to install it.
Please understand that changing the hydraulic pump on a White tractor involves being a contortionist. You can see the bolts but you can't reach them.
So... I started working on the other 2-155 butI also had to move the drill around so I connected the drill to the Minneapolis-Moline G1355 and the batteries promptly died.
But I have to move the three tractors around to wash things and test things and get the drill out of the way to make feed.
Yesterday it was the last straw. I was watching the store for my brother and didn't have time to set by the road jump starting a tractor.
I pulled the pin on the drill. Pulled the G1355 ahead with the forklift, then hooked to the drill and backed drill with forklift.

I was in the process of picking up the G1355 and moving it sideways but that was startling the neighbors so I quit.
Just as I was about to disassemble the Misery (MO) 2-155 UPS arrived with a new pump for the other tractor. I was quite excited until I remembered that I needed four o-rings.
I started working on the drill but then it started pouring down rain.
Muddy Valley showed up with his grader blade and so that distracted me for a while.
I went back to work on the drill but the grease in the greasegun was so cold it didn't want to pump.
I put the grease gun in front of the heater and put MuddyV's blade in the shop.
It started raining harder.
I gave up and got out the torch. Couldn't find the big air wrench.
Decided to use more heat.
Removed the bolts.
Broke two bolts.
Applied heat to the bolt centers till they were red hot. Going to let them cool and apply a mixture of acetone and ATF.

Went to put the goats away and remembered I left the lid off the bin of Peas.
Climbed the bin in the rain. Got angry and bent the motor mount on my auger. Got even more angry and bent it again. Got the lid on.
Went home and had roast beef...
And that is a day in the life of the Lazy Farmer...

Every Farm Should Have a Forklift part five

So... I purchased new tires for my White 2-155 tractor with which I pull the no-till grain drill.
The no-till grain drill essential to maintaining winter/spring cash flow.
I have work to do as soon as the field dry out just a little bit more. Meaning next week.
All I need to do is fix a couple bearings on the drill and change the hydraulic pump on the 2-155.
But... I got the wrong hydraulic pump.
So...
I am getting the 2-155 FWA ready with I got from Smith and Smith in Mo. (The wrong half of MO. The Yankee half rather than the Southern half.) This the tractor that they took the FWA apart and discovered the CV joints were out and then put it back together with new oil seals which now leak.
I have to lift the front end up to rotate the front tires to add oil to the hubs. Or I have to mark the level plug on the tire and drive ahead till it lines up.
However, I have a forklift...

Forklifts are the best farm tool ever

Today I need to hook up the drill and make sure all the fertilizer stuff works and check for loose bearings. Then I have to put the dual on the tractor. This is kind of a pain in the rear as the former owners cross threaded the hubs/let the duals work loose.
As soon I as I hit my half-way-to 1.2 million mark I'm buying a White 175 with 2,500 hours.
And a sprayer, and a small truck, and an irrigator that works , and a combine, and a White American 80 FWA for my daughter to rake with, and a 1095 stacker, and a 1992 Ford F250 diesel, and....
Then I'm back to square one....
Have a nice day...

Notes:
1. I made $1.75 yesterday from Adsense. Thanks for clicking. Don't remember what the ad was for.
2. I see on my phone app for Google Analytics that two people visit my site as soon as I post. I am wondering if this is some sort on monitoring by Blogger or is someone sitting at their computer 24hrs a day waiting for me to post. Perhaps bored ex-farmers in a NSA compound hidden deep in the bowels of the earth. The monitor exclaims, "that weird farmer dude has posted a Legendary Stardust Cowboy song, get out the terror color coded dart board and alert TSA for body cavity searches! Whoot! Whoot!

Jury duty

So I arrive on time. There is coffee. The waiting begins.
I start the day bored.
I brought a notebook to make some lists.
Instead I draw a man. For some reason the man then becomes a robot, who the pops a spring.

I draw squares and add sound effects.

I start on a new robot.

Not my best work. Perspective is off and I'm not sure how to attach the arms or head.

I was going to have him playing a trombone but didn't leave room when drawing his clockwork mechanism. 

Then I started thinking about the song "Johnny 99" and was contemplating starting in on a new robot in the context of jury duty.

Then the judge shows up and says the defendant has wandered off and we can go home.

Back to work...

Here is Johnny 99 anyway...

Goats attack house

Tin cans and blackberry leaves could not contain two goats who went on a rampage after discovering their favorite junk pile had been given to the scrap metal guy.

The two goats, named Percy and Annabeth, took out their frustrations by destroying a small house.

Small house is shown as in perfectly habitable and easily restorable condition. As you can seed the goats have yet to find the forklift which may have been used in the destruction of the house.

"What if Uncle Alfred's descendants return to claim his bed and oil stove?" asked the nude new Proprietor of a local farm store who we will refer to as "R."
"Fortunately we have saved lots of other good stuff," said Budd E. Shepherd who we shall refer to as "BS"
One neighbor has suffered a severe crisis of faith after seeing a scrap trailer at the farm. "Could it be that heck has really frozen over?" said that neighbor who will only be identified as "BS2."
Another neighbor also noted that pigs had been flying out of his bottom but was not sure if that was due to eating at a local eatery.
The goats have been voraciously consuming blackberries in an attempt to find hidden piles of tin cans and old tractor parts.

Percy is shown in an obvious effort to hotwire forklift

"There is nothing like a vintage tractor steering wheel for a mid afternoon snack," said Percy while head butting another board off of the former home of Uncle Alfred.
"I prefer the more delicate flavor of IH truck fenders," said Annabeth.
"Actually they just said, "Baaa, Baa, snort, snort," I assume that is what they are saying," said Hero of American youth and Blog editor BS-1.

Alfred's house after Goat Attack

Egg man attacked by Walrus

It was a Humpty-Dumpty moment for local Chicken Entrepreneur, Joshua S.
"I thought the sky was falling for a second," said Josh.
An obviously angry Walrus brutally attacked the Eggman Van last week as the Eggmobile careened down important public highways, bringing free range and GMO free eggs to the hungry and ironic masses in Stupidtown, OR. (Portland)
"It has somewhat left me with egg on my face," he said.
The Intrepid hero of thirtyish flannel wearing health conscious youngsters says this is just a minor setback on the path to his goal to be king of his own free-range chicken empire sooner than later.
"If Colonel Sanders would have stopped with his first bowl of beef gravy then all we would have is heat lamp chicken," said Josh.
"Well, actually josh didn't say that and it doesn't make sense anyway. I just toss out random quotes and attribute them to whomever I wish," said blog editor, Budd E. Shepherd.
"Great job Budd E." said President Obama, "And remember, if you let yourself down, you let your country down."
"learning, learning, always learning," exclaimed Benny Hill.
"I know nothing,' exclaimed Sergeant Schultz.
"But, I digress," exclaimed Budd E. Shepherd.
The egg van has not been reduced to custard says Joshua who is already embarked on the restoration project. With the help of the kings horses and men.
"I do feel like I'm walking on egg shells," he added.

The ramp is completed

For those of you waiting with nervous anticipation as to if I met the 10 a.m. deadline for construction of a handicapped access ramp for my house...

It was more like 11:55 and it ain't up to ADA code. But I did it for practically no out of pocket expense.

The 4"x6" beams were from someone who owed me for hay five years ago. The decking was part of a trade I made 14 years ago but there was a question of ownership and I didn't want to argue with anyone so I left it where it was. It was in a shed and so is in good condition. I called the current renter and he said if it was still there then no one was ever going to claim it and as far as he was concerned it was mine. 

There was enough to do a 20 foot truck bed but intending to re-deck a truck is not the same as doing it. I think the ramp was a better use for it than setting in a shed for another ten years.

(My lovely and gracious wife is in charge of railings.)

In other news....

I was able to hit 102 decibels with the forklift. I am somewhat proud of myself. I suppose this explains my choices in music...

And, sometimes I think loading hay is a two person job. I have to climb to the top of the stack for two bales and then I have to get back down again. Getting back down again is more difficult than getting on top of the stack to begin with.

And, I've made a total of $17 from Google adsense.

The things I do for...?

Yesterday I downloaded a decibel meter app.

Forklift is the subject of measurement. 371 Detroit.

We are cleaning out Alfred's house. His bed is in pretty bad shape.

At 1:30 pm I found out wife's sister needs to stay with us as there are problems from her knee surgery. I need to build a wheelchair ramp by 10 am today.

2:45 pm

9:30 pm

And I'm getting around this morning. Just one more cup of coffee.

I had traded for enough wood that so far I only had to buy deck screws.

What 21 bucks got me at my formerly favorite burger spot

Posting with an iPhone is not the best. The blogger iPhone app is pretty limited. Typing with your thumb is not for the ham fisted. However, the non-user-replaceable battery in my MacBook is dying and I need the correct screw driver to remove the back and it is just another thing I don't get done. (I of course already tried using my pocket knife...)
We had movies to return to RedBox and my wife was taking care of her elderly person. So, Lulu and I stopped the Sunday afternoon PBS marathon, parked the Lego train, put the battery powered RC helicopter on the charger, (so the cat could recover) and we went in to town.
I was just a touch on edge after managing to dump almost the whole pressure cooker of chicken soup stock down the drain whist attempting to fill a tupperware container.  Fearing the disapproval of my wife I considered actually buying a can of chicken broth at the store and not admitting I ruined her Sunday afternoon efforts. After some consideration with Lulu it was determined that Dad does occasionally screw up multiple things in the kitchen and that it is just best to admit one's stupidity.
We were going to have Chinese food but the prospect of grease, bland sauce, and msg resulted in a new plan.
We went to Alf's. Everybody loves Alf's. They have a monkey in a large cage.
Prices have gone up a little.
Lulu says it is because I don't get out much...

Fries $ 2.60, milkshake $4,  burger $5.
Spending time with my daughter priceless, well actually $21.50 plus gas.

A $4 milkshake

At least that monkey in the cage was wearing pants, although I may have enjoyed it more if he was not... My daughter might have enjoyed it more if I would not have gone off on my feelings about Lloyd George and Woodrow Wilson. (Dounton Abbey season returns to the usa)

Randomness

The lazy farmer ink blot test?

A truck

A hanicapped parking spot at aGoodwill store... Next to a porn shoppe

When I thought I was cooler than I was, 

When I was optimistic