My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on August 31, 2019

Last week I brought my old Poulan chainsaw back to life for a few dollars after giving away my newer one, but I ended up damaging my workbench while adjusting the carburetor jets. The saw was still in several pieces (without filter, the bar, chain or guard on) while making tune-up adjustments and I accidentally left the spinning clutch housing rub the front edge of my bench. By the time I smelled the burning wood, it was too late and a 1/2” gash had be cut into the oak face board. Really no big deal  as it is a “work”bench after all, but the rough notch bugged me each time I stood in front of it.

So, while cleaning it off the other night, I decided to go a step further and patch it with some automotive body putty and then reseal the bench with leftover water-based urethane (it was getting old and I really need to use it up). I’ll still see the scar as a reminder to be a little more careful, but at least the front edge “feels” like it is back to normal again.

As for another workshop tip, here is on that I stumbled on in a group. Someone posted a video using an old chunk of gear chain with a box end wrench rather than a rubber strap or old belt that I’ve used before. Looks like a great tip if you can get the combination of wrench and chain into the often cramped quarters. I still thought it was worth making an animated GIF from the short video below. (more…)

Category: Advice, How-To, Ideas, Misc, Photos, Tidbits, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: ani gif, bondo, box wrench, chain, chainsaw, filter, oil, poulan, removal, repair, tips, workbench, workshop

Posted By RichC on August 30, 2019

As Floridians and those in the northern Bahamas prepare for Dorian, the first major hurricane to directly hit Florida’s Atlantic coast since Andrew (a Cat 5) in 1992, those of us with a vested interest out-of-state will not be sleeping well this weekend.

There isn’t much we can do besides check our insurance policies and hope our meager preparations will be enough to offer some protection. In hindsight, there is always more I could have done to prepare Encore … although not really much if there is a direct hit, since she is in the water. I could have added a few more lines, but that probably won’t make a difference.

Not being there before the storm hits, I feel sort of helpless in not being able to check on things or do anything to protect her  from the surge, wind and other boats.

The latest strengthening and landfall projection from 8/30/2019 Friday 9AM forecast map
Interesting National Geographic articleas well.

Category: Personal, Sailing, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: boats, dorian, encore, florida, hurricance, insurance, preparation, sailing, storm, weather

Posted By RichC on August 30, 2019

This content is restricted.

Category: Advice, Cellphone, Gadget, Misc, Personal, Social Media, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: annalyn, behavior, Cellphone, devices, habits, pavlov, priorities, screen time, smartphone

Posted By RichC on August 29, 2019

Have I mentioned that I enjoy driving my old Mercedes Benz 300d Turbodiesel? 😉

“On January 29, 1976, Mercedes unveiled a new midsize car to replace its long-serving W115 model. Known by its internal designation as the W123, the car’s sober good looks and size seemed like a logical evolutionary step over the outgoing model. Mercedes invited a small group of journalists to the south of France for the occasion, and while the company had high expectations for the model, what no one could’ve realized is that Mercedes was about to trap lightning in a bottle.”

Source: Why Many Experts Consider This the Greatest Car Ever Made

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Mercedes | No Comments »
Tags: benz, diesel, mercedes, mercedes benz, motorbiscuit.com, opinion, W115, W123

Posted By RichC on August 28, 2019

Florida declares a state of emergency to prepare for Hurricane Dorian https://t.co/z9sLuLmlxq

— Rich Corbett 🇺🇸 (@RichC) August 28, 2019

Category: Social Media, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: dorian, florida, hurricane, tracking, twitter

Posted By RichC on August 28, 2019

Category: Aviation, Ideas, Innovation, Photos, Tidbits | No Comments »
Tags: aerospace, airplanes, aviation, birds, design, engineering, flying, inspiration

Posted By RichC on August 27, 2019

We have more bees and wasps appearing around our house this summer, on the other hand, we have always had nests in the woods but this year a few more have moved closer to the house.

When preparing to stain the fence this year, I had to glue 3/8” dowels in the carpenter bees holes before staining, as well as squirting insecticide in their holes and nest whether in the ground or in the fence boards/posts.

Lately though, I’ve  been dealing with with those “bee looking insects” we call yellow jackets  or “German Wasps;” all are in the wasp family. I’ve been trying to use a liquid insecticide with pyrethrin, but really probably need to buy the dust and a small blower to eradicate them close to the house.  The less aggressive mud wasps (mud dauber) are always around but I am less concerned as I can comfortably use a broom handle to scrap loose their mud tubes and smash the larvae when they are less active.

I think we have always had a colony nearby, but they are much more on my radar since I’ve been working on trim house painting and sealing up cracks. Also their numbers are higher during the peak heat of summer and since I’m caulking up a crack above our garage door where they “likely” have built a nest (???). They are now swarming more that usual and have decided to buzz inside the garage looking for a new entrance when the garage doors are open. No stings so far … but I’m crossing my fingers and thinking twice about walking around on the garage floor after knocking a few down with some “ant spray” (the only insecticide I have left).

Checking my identification with an image from the Internet on the left – my photo on the right.

Category: Environment, Misc, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: bees, fence, garage, house, insects, painting, pyrethrin, wasps, yard, yellow jackets

Posted By RichC on August 26, 2019

Although our local EAA chapter’s EAA284.org Fly-In and Sunday’s pancake breakfast was questionable this year if there wasn’t an airshow on Saturday, the Stewarts were able to gather the pilots together for the Red Stewart Airfield 22nd Annual Airshow. The weekend is always well attended and appreciated by the community and those who enjoy aviation around Waynesville Ohio … but the events also requires volunteers and hard work. So if you enjoy flying, old planes, cars and just hanging around a grass strip … come over to Red Stewart Field for the Airshow at 5PM on Saturday night August 31st and be sure to either fly in or drive over for some pancakes on Sunday morning September 1, 2019 (it is our EAA chapter’s primary fund raiser for the year).

Photo: Ty Greenlees

Category: Aviation, Entertainment, Hobby | No Comments »
Tags: 40i, airshow, eaa, eaa284, flyin, pancake, stewart, taildragger, tdfi, waynesville

Posted By RichC on August 25, 2019

Five years ago (2014), I was in the middle of cutting wood and my older lighter weight Poulan chainsaw wasn’t running right. I used some small fuel lines in a attempt to hurriedly fix it suspecting it was the ethanol in the fuel … but my quick fix was to no avail. Instead, I ordered a “similar” reconditioned model for a fair price and continued on. It ran fine, but Poulan had modified a few of the controls on it’s slightly smaller consumer line saw for what I assumed were “safety reasons” and I never enjoyed using it as much as the original 2150.

Fast forward to last week – I cleared the woods and fence line with the newer recon replacement 2014 saw so the guy I hired to do the fence staining could continue (we have a LOT of fence). The lone worker, Roger, worked long hours and did a great job;  he worked more hours than he estimated, yet didn’t complain. My neighbor was impressed with his work too, and asked Roger if he could stain his fence and also clear his fence line. After they haggled price, Roger asked me if he could borrow my chainsaw to clear the neighbor’s fence line. Hm?

Now, for starters I am not one to loan out tools … especially the tools that require a little more care and sharp blades like a chainsaw (and unless you are a tool guy, you probably don’t understand this kind of selfishness). Anyway … I decided to just give him my newer saw (with the better Oregon bar and chain – should have put the stock one back on) as a thank you for doing a great job on my fence. I could see the appreciation in his eyes as he said, “oh, I can accept it.” That even made me feel better about giving him the saw … so I helped him get started with the clearing process and warned him about the poison ivy. I also gave him some bar oil and 2-cycle fuel, then picked up and prepaid for my neighbor’s stain and then repaired the saw when it got jammed (he is a great worker, but not a great businessman). It was obvious Roger was new to using a chainsaw and sorely lacking of tools … I’m not sure he even knows about sharpening?

Back to my “old” Poulan 2150 chainsaw story

Now that I was no longer in a hurry, I took the old 2150 apart, cleaned the gum out of the carburetor, reset the jets, bought a new “tune-up” kit with filters and sparkplug and new 16” Oregon bar & chain for $23.

I’m happy to have my old favorite small saw back in operation again, even after telling my wife I was going to buy a quality commercial Stihl chainsaw next time … although for heavy cutting it is hard to beat my old and very heavy McCulloch 610 with a square-cut lumberjack chain – just watch the kickback.

Category: Advice, Personal, Photos, Tools | No Comments »
Tags: amazon, chainsaw, cutting, ethanol, fence, logs, mcculloch, oregon, poulan, repair, saw, stihl, trees, trimming, tune up, woods, yardwork

Posted By RichC on August 24, 2019

On Friday, with August temperatures abating a bit, I decided drive the “old girl,” as my best friend Jeff refers to my 1982 Mercedes Benz 300d Turbodiesel. It is not rare that I drive our “EMP car” since it was my daily driving for a couple years, but now I do it far less frequently in the heat and humidity of summer. I still regularly run local errands when the mood strikes, but yesterday was a much more pleasant and destressing kind of drive. In fact, I had forgotten just how much more relaxed I feel cruising with the windows down for an hour behind the “big” steering wheel … just leisurely motoring along (these W123 diesels of old are not speedsters, even turbocharged ones). Still, there is something about the airflow in in old cars that is much different than almost every new car; windows down can be enjoyed, not just tolerated as with newer vehicles. Anyway, it was good to take her out on the highway and country roads and it has me looking forward to doing more as the weather cools this autumn. What a great car … probably the only decent car to come out of the 1980s?

Photo from 2014: Weekly trips to Bob Evans with my late-father in Sidney, Ohio
(he loved all old cars)

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Mercedes, Personal, Photos | No Comments »
Tags: 300d, benz, car, dadc, diesel driving, mb, mercedes, mercedes benz, old girl, turbodiesel, weather