Posted By RichC on April 24, 2020
A couple weeks ago I mentioned that our brightly color cardinal enjoyed “looking at himself” in our window’s Canary cam – he was probably looking for a mate. Now that he’s found one … he seems to be avoid her; she is likely checking his usual haunts and asking “where is he?” I suspect there are baby cardinals to take care of and our brightly colored male cardinal want out of his new responsibilities .
Posted By RichC on April 23, 2020
After cutting a few miter joints earlier this month with a 45 degree jig on my table saw crosscut sled, I started to contemplate the best way to cut clean tendons and dadoes. In the past I’ve used an added fence to the stock miter gauge, but it really
doesn’t do a great job. Of course to the Internet I went to come up with a better miter "sled" idea.
Instead of just downloading plans, I decided to start from scratch (meaning material I had on hand) and make one that fit my needs and Coronavirus "stay-at-home" available materials. I used a piece of 3/4" plywood leftover from the kitchen cabinets during the remodel a couple years ago and just incorporated the angle as a way to lighten the small sled. I glued a couple pieces of straight hard maple pieces from "Annalyn projects" for the fixed fence adn then added dovetail "slide" grooves and an low profile adjustable guide/clamp with pricey MicroJig clamps for hold-downs (send me an email if you find a place to buy them at reasonable prices).
I do prefer using the dovetail slide clamps for hold down clamps over other methods (looked at adding aluminum tracks). In the past I’ve used wedge pressure clamps, the toggle hold downs or my simple block of wood with sandpaper glued to the bottoms (below).
All in all, the new sliding miter jig is great for nearly ever precise crosscut operation. So just when I thought my big table saw crosscut sled couldn’t be beat … this little jig is the lightweight go-to jig.
Posted By RichC on April 22, 2020
The Coronavirus is doing what environmentalists and anti-fossil fuel advocates have only dreamed of doing … killing the petroleum industry. There is so little demand for crude oil that “Producers must pay buyers $37.63 a barrel” to refine their product. There is no place to store it as companies who explore and drill are dead and those who have productive wells are capping them. Even the price at the pump for gasoline has dropped to levels we haven’t seen in decades – a Tweet below with a photo from a few days ago off I-75 in Franklin, Ohio. There just isn’t any demand anywhere in the world as everything has come to a screeching halt do to the COVID19 pandemic.
On a brighter note … (more…)
Posted By RichC on April 21, 2020
As the United States and the world prepare to open society in phases after well over a month of stay-at-home orders due to the Coronavirus, the debate between those who see the health risk as too high and those who fear a full on economic collapse (world wide depression) continues.
Several states are seeing protests due to the draconian measures being force on them by state governors, while others line up at food banks just for food. Unprecedented millions have lost their jobs, filed for unemployment insurance and those businesses who would like to bring them back are fighting to stay solvent. In the meantime, the Democrats seemingly refuse to add additional funds to the current Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act without additional pork barrel add-ons. It seems Speaker Nancy Pelosi is 
comfortable playing politics as she illustrates her compassion with those suffering (#sarcasm) by showing off her gourmet chocolate ice cream and twin commercial refrigerators (video clip).
The least government can do if “forcing” businesses to stay closed and restrict their ability to run their business is to throw them a “longer” lifeline … otherwise a lot more companies will find their only option will be that of bankruptcy and shuttering for good (BTW, 50% of the jobs in America come from small businesses … and in turn their and their employees pay the taxes used to pay federal, state, county and city government workers).
As to my initial point of how do we balance the risk of spreading COVID19 and the additional deaths with the loss of jobs, homes, businesses and our economy? If it were an easy answer, we’d all be in agreement. Perhaps herd immunity, along with targeted hot spot quarantines and age/risk based stay-at-home mitigation is the best answer … see Mark Levin’s April 19th interview with Dr. David Katz below.
Posted By RichC on April 20, 2020
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Posted By RichC on April 19, 2020
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Posted By RichC on April 18, 2020
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is one of the most celebrated Allied fighter planes of WW II. It continues to have wide-spread aviation enthusiasm to this day … and one look (and listen – volume up!) will have you understanding why it is so admired.
Posted By RichC on April 18, 2020
Another nail or something in the tire, this time in Brenda’s Acura RDX. Thankfully it was in the tread and small, so an easy plug … but plugging two tires within 30 days? (the animated gif above is just a little soap water sprayed on the tire for leak detection)
As for a video that brought a smile to my face (shared by Katelyn) … if a moose can stop to smell the roses, so can you. Reflect on the positives and make it a good day!
https://youtu.be/gNIdZ5WqrNE
Posted By RichC on April 17, 2020
We all must be looking for things to share or to occupy our thoughts after about a month stuck at home (like the Engine Parts word search post early this week)?
Perhaps we are not alone since my brother Ron sent one of those viral images that makes its way around the Internet last year. I usually ignore them when they are on Facebook or email, but he called me for some help on his website, then asked if I looked at the message he sent. Quickly I stumbled to recall a message, but after he hinted “what color was the shoe,” I quickly looked it up and said: “grey and teal.”
He laughed and agreed telling me that in his family nearly everyone saw it as ”pink and white” except his granddaughter and him. So after we hung up the phone I sent the image to my family and we all enjoyed a “left brain – right brain” discussion … Taylor and Megan even started to tally left vs right on a spreadsheet! Give it a try if you haven’t opined on this image yet.
The creators say if you right-brain is dominant, you will see combination of pink and white color and if your left-brain is dominant, you will see it in grey and green color.
Posted By RichC on April 16, 2020
For those automotive enthusiasts who are spending A LOT more time at home due to the Coronavirus stay-at-home orders and interested in ways to entertain our minds, try the ConsumerGuide.com Automotive blog’s Engine Parts word search. Tom Appel and crew always find something interesting for their blog (and car stuff podcast).
Click image larger or this link to download the PDF printable version