What did you do today? 2017 version

[Souschef]

Pilots n Paws

Flew a rescue dog from Riverside to Santa Barbara CA to its new forever home. A good Samaritan in Riverside saw the dog on a major highway and rescued him.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

DW is having her drooping eyelids “done” and I’m waiting so I can take her home afterward. One of the cats has been at the vet since Wednesday getting IV fluids in hopes it improves her kidneys. Somehow I’ll have to pick her up while caring for DW this afternoon - Aunty says she’ll help.

I’m sure everyone will do well but this is a good example of those unexpected expenses to plan for in FIRE.

 

[txtig]

Rebalanced the portfolio and decided to modify AA from 65/35 to 60/40. Getting a little nervous about this market. Maybe I'm reading too much financial porn, but I feel a little better by reducing my exposure to equities.

 

[pacergal]

had dental visit to get the crown after implant. It has been one year since the tooth was removed! Had a long recovery process and bone implant repair. Tooth and bone were infected for several years before removal apparently. All of the sinus pain and infections I thought I had, were actually the bone infection from the tooth. I can honestly say I have not had any pain for months, finally!!!

 

[W2R]

had dental visit to get the crown after implant. It has been one year since the tooth was removed! Had a long recovery process and bone implant repair. Tooth and bone were infected for several years before removal apparently. All of the sinus pain and infections I thought I had, were actually the bone infection from the tooth. I can honestly say I have not had any pain for months, finally!!!

Amazing! What a terrific outcome, and I am so happy for you. For me, dental pain really gets exhausting after a while.

 

[MRG]

Went for a walk. Pretty day.

 

[aja8888]

Went to the post office to drop off a repaired intake manifold to be sent back to Australia. In the vintage VW hobby, this is one of those little details that makes the difference between a $25k car and a $60k+ one. Although the later intakes were very similar in appearance, this one (called a "jacketed K manifold") has a symmetry that the others don't have. This intake was only used in production from March 1950 until sometime in late '52. The heat riser tubing (the thinner tube) rusted out and allowed exhaust gas to be blown into the engine bay under the lid. If the heat were turned on, this gas would get sucked into the fan and blown into the cabin of the car (= sleepy driver = bad). So these intakes were often discarded and replaced with later ones which had a thicker heat riser tubing.

I extract (what is left of) the old tubing from the jacket, ream it out, hand fabricate new "legs" from metric spec tubing using a pipe bender, bolt it up to a fixture that I made and weld on laser cut flanges. The new legs are epoxied into the jacket, then the whole thing is media blasted.

I have been doing this since 2003 and charge $200 for this work and am the only person in the world that does it ( = play money). This one is going back to Australia today to be installed in a 1951 "Tempo Matador" which was a delivery van type vehicle that used the Volkswagen drivetrain.

Nice work! I could have used you on a rebuild I did a few years ago. Sadly, I sold my last bug and now I am naked. Even 60's Beetles are getting hard to find. And good quality parts even harder.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Went for a walk. Pretty day.

View attachment 26991

Gorgeous!

 

[Jerry1]

I have zero sympathy for any moron who buys a house near an airport and then complains about airplane noise.

I didn't complain too much, but I knew I moved near an airport but a year or so after I built my house, they changed the flight pattern and bought out half our township. I was just past the area that was offered sound remediation (new windows and insulation - presumably so you could live your life shut in your house) and it was pretty bad for awhile. Then they changed the pattern again to fan out the noise and it was more tolerable. Not complaining, but it wasn't a great experience.

In light of the thread - I didn't do much today, but I did go to the meat market for the meat I intend to grill tomorrow. Yummm.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

I was so busy yesterday going out looking for a good dresser that I didn't post about how all day yesterday I went out furniture shopping.

Glue and join $100 worth of plywood or MDF together, and you can charge $800+ for a dresser that isn't even properly squared or aligned to let the shelves fit right. This is ridiculous.

 

[NanoSour]

Threw down on 2017 Triumph Bonneville T120. Official start of my mid-life crisis.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Threw down on 2017 Triumph Bonneville T120. Official start of my mid-life crisis.

I have a 2012 Street Triple. I think you'll find the only crisis is when you can't find time to ride.

 

[Moemg]

I went to see the movie "the Glass Castle ". I had read the book years ago so I wanted to see how they made it into a movie . Woddy Harrelson was superb as the Dad.

 

[MRG]

Made chille Verde for tonight's dinner. I'd found a vendor shutting down for the season and bought a few bags of fresh roasted chilies.

I cut the pork into flat steaks to grill. It gave the final product a different taste. Roasting the tomatillos, garlic and onion made for a great smell.

Took the dogs to the river walk. The older male, a Maltese with stubby legs, has problems with anything over a mile. We went a mile and a half, the last half mile I carried him. He was quite happy.

 

[Gumby]

A very productive Saturday. Replaced the rear brake pads on the young wife's Mini Cooper in the morning. Went to lunch at a restaurant on the Housatonic River and sat outside to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather. Took the young wife shopping (my contribution was to nap in the car outside various stores). Walked over to a play at the community theater ("November" by David Mamet) and slowly strolled home after it was over.

 

[Koogie]

Threw down on 2017 Triumph Bonneville T120. Official start of my mid-life crisis.

Cool. The straight T120 or the T120 black ?

You might find this youtube video about the Bonnie humorous. I did.

he does another one later where he reviews the updated Bonneville and is much kinder but less funny.

 

[Hermit]

In the mid 70's I had a late 60's 500cc Triumph Daytona. My review is a bit shorter. - It was a real dog.

 

[Hermit]

I spent the last few days trying to get an old dump truck in driving condition. It has not been on the road for several years. I put a new ignition switch in it after taking the first one back because one of the nuts was cross threaded. I spent a good part of a day trying to get a new fuel pump to stop leaking at the fitting. Finally had to take that back. The next one didn't leak. I traced a problem of no fuel back to the gas tank and have a fuel pickup assembly on order. The truck runs pretty good with a hose in a gas can back at the tank so I think this will solve the motor problems. The poor quality issues with replacement parts is disheartening.

 

[Philliefan33]

Went out today on the river with some fellow guides. The weather and scenery were beautiful! It was not a particularly relaxing day for me, as it was the first time in my kayak on this tougher section of whitewater, and the water was about twice the level we usually get. I've run this section dozens of times in an inflatable kayak and lower water, but it's an entirely different ballgame being skirted into a less stable boat.

The first half of the trip was character building (had to swim once) but I stayed upright for the second half-- even through the biggest rapid.

Unfortunately this was probably the last whitewater day for the year. There are no more planned dam releases and I doubt the nice weather will hold much longer.

 

[RetiredGypsy]

Today I put together the MDF dresser, courtesy of Target's in house brand. With the exception of one bowed piece of cross support that causes one drawer to stick a little, it's not bad. Certainly on par with the prefabbed units at the furniture stores made out of the same material. Only a quarter of the cost.

I'd say it's like playing with adult lego set, but have you priced some lego sets recently?

Now to celebrate I'm sitting here with some nice scotch, about to load up a game I've been waiting to come on sale for the last couple of years.

It's been a good day.

 

[aja8888]

The poor quality issues with replacement parts is disheartening.

I gave up restoring old VW's because of this. Now the poor quality is migrating into modern daily drivers. I have seen a Chinese copy of a Garret turbocharger disintegrate in a few hundred miles taking out a $5000.00 engine. Sad what's going on.

 

[Souschef]

Screaming and kicking into the 21s Century

10 years ago I got my first cellphone, and have been using it ever since.
Well DW bought a new Mazda with a great sound system, and wanted to play Pandora through it. Well, long story short, you need a smartphone to do that. I broke down and ordered two simple smartphones, one for each of us. They will be here tomorrow, and I will have to move our numbers, service days, and minutes to the new phones.
I will then have to pair her phone with the car, and load the Pandora app. Fun.
DW is extremely bright, very street smart, but in some ways technologically challenged.

 

[MichaelB]

DW and I went to see “Blade Runner 2049” yesterday. We enjoyed it, and I think it’s a worthy successor.

 

[chicamuxen]

Went out today on the river with some fellow guides. The weather and scenery were beautiful! It was not a particularly relaxing day for me, as it was the first time in my kayak on this tougher section of whitewater, and the water was about twice the level we usually get. I've run this section dozens of times in an inflatable kayak and lower water, but it's an entirely different ballgame being skirted into a less stable boat.

The first half of the trip was character building (had to swim once) but I stayed upright for the second half-- even through the biggest rapid.

Unfortunately this was probably the last whitewater day for the year. There are no more planned dam releases and I doubt the nice weather will hold much longer.

Philliefan33, i took your recommendation, and visited the Pine Creek rail trail on October 6th and 7th. DW and i rode bikes 40 miles on Friday, and then hiked at Leonard Harrison state park on Saturday. We stayed in Wellsboro, we enjoyed this small town. We had a great time, and will probably visit again. https://photos.app.goo.gl/yGYnrwMuA0Uir18t2

 

[MRG]

Philliefan33, i took your recommendation, and visited the Pine Creek rail trail on October 6th and 7th. DW and i rode bikes 40 miles on Friday, and then hiked at Leonard Harrison state park on Saturday. We stayed in Wellsboro, we enjoyed this small town. We had a great time, and will probably visit again. https://photos.app.goo.gl/yGYnrwMuA0Uir18t2

That's pretty country. I spent my first 21 years in that part of the state. Best j*b I ever had was delivering an auto part route around the area.