It is that time of year … Autumn is here and the leaves are starting to fall. I cut the lawn and closed the pool last weekend, hopefully before the bulk of the leaves started to fill up the pool. The weather has been nice and just the right temperature for yardwork.
BUT… I also cleaned up and dried the Bluebird house and added a “clean coat” of paint … it was pretty smelly and Brenda “claimed” it was too disease-y for the granddaughters to repaint. She is probably right. Now if they want to put an extra coat of paint on it to match their new house, it won’t be a big deal. 😉 (Katelyn and Drew are taking down the measuring stick before moving — photo below)
Here’s another idea for the router table that might work better than the table saw for cutting splines in the corners of small frames, simple drawers and boxes.
I usually struggle with lining up and clamping framed boxes multiple times using my table saw and a tendon jig(with box that cuts splines) and thought something like this using a router bit for slot cutting would make simple and fast work out of adding small splines?
While adding a router table jig, here’s was an idea that could be adapted for micro adjustments … although I do prefer something a little less janky(this may have been the first time I’ve used that term on my blog!).
Our 2010 Acura RDX with 155,000 miles was sputtering and burning excessive fuel for the last couple of weeks (according to the car’s driver — Brenda) and by the time she asked me to take a look at it, a plethora of lights were on the instrument panel. A quick start-up and I knew something wasn’t right and it was time to either dig into it or take it to the repair shop.
Its been a long while since anything beside brakes, oil, filter and air filters have been changed and after remembering the coil packs and spark plug access on my Honda Pilot, I decided to send the Acura to my local mechanic (although did first check the Internet). 😊
It is time to start cleaning up my older WordPress blog install and preparing for an eventual update … once again. I’m beginning to realize that part of the problem is that I hang onto old themes that are no longer updated and I continue to tweak them myself. As the components that run WordPress and any CMS are updated, new programming needs to keep pace with everything new.
Of course I don’t like what I’m seeing (perhaps stuck in my ways) and fight the required move forward. I’m still not going to go fully into the artsy block sites that are popular these days, but do need to start cleaning out old plugins, widgets and themes. I sort of wish I could go back to a static site, but even a couple of the popular exporters will not work. ☹️
For now I’ll just remove a plugin or two at a time and see where that leads me before installing a “new to me” theme (maybe Twenty Ten!) and trying to rebuild 8000 posts to adopt to a simplified look?
Since this was just really a Tech Friday “test post” … here’s my test of Bing.com’s new Chat AI feature. In my opinion, it is way behind in using up-to-date data since when I asked about GOP presidential candidates this week, Bing Chat’s list was significantly outdated.
My plan was just to clean it, but since the Oostras are moving to a new house, it seemed like a better idea to both clean it out and re-paint too (I may wait for the girls if I can get it prepped for them; they alway enjoy working on projects and taking care of the birds – bird feeder project).
It is amazing just how many feathers and nesting items are crammed into one little birdhouse (a photo from 2021 when they were “stuffing” and a recent one after it was completely “stuffed”).
My son Taylor’s sealed car battery bloated and split open last week and left him stranded at work. He didn’t have any tools with him (is he really my son?) 😉 so I headed his way after work to replace his old-ish battery with a new one (2019 VW AllTrack). The first two auto part stores did not have the correct one for his car (both were priced well over $200), but the VW dealership in the area did have one for under $200 and didn’t ding him a core charge. A few minutes of cleaning up the leaked acid and we had the battery changed. Of course the concern was for getting the car’s computer reset without connecting the the dealer’s hardware … but after a couple of starts and a few minutes, the computer reset itself. Nice … and well done Volkswagen!
I took the opportunity to tour Taylor’s new Batavia Township office and building — I was really impressed! I couldn’t be prouder him and am thrilled he has a wonderful job, a great place to work … and nice people to work with. I can see him staying here for a long, long time. In fact, if I were looking to locate a new business … or looking to move east of Cincinnati … I’d start my search in Batavia Township!
After grabbing some of my tools and tossing them in my car, I realized that I’ve gone decades just lining up the 1/2” non-deep sockets in my toolbox drawers — one for Imperial and another drawer Metric. Over the years, a couple have disappeared … likely from not keeping them organized. So over the weekend, I FINALLY decided to make a simple pin system to keep them organized in the drawers. The 3/8” dowels glued into thin hardboard seemed to work great. Now why didn’t I either make or buy something sooner. Maybe I’ll even replace the two missing 12-point Craftsman sockets – a 20mm and an 8mm (note to self).
the granddaughters to repaint. She is probably right. Now if they want to put an extra coat of paint on it to match their new house, it won’t be a big deal. 😉 (Katelyn and Drew are taking down the measuring stick before moving — photo below)
adapted for micro adjustments … although I do prefer something a little less janky (this may have been the first time I’ve used that term on my blog!). 
