Topic: The Happy-ish Thread. Share your small wins and mixed blessings.

[Gurp]

Had to poop real bad at work. Rushed to the bathroom and the cleaning crew was just opening it up. Can't beat a fresh clean place to have a staff meeting.
Remember folks jobs not done till the paperwork is filed.

[Terry in Australia]

You'll spend the Fireblade sales money on your K1 project?

Ha ha, if I was smart I probably would, but knowing me I'll keep it and build the K1 anyway. It looks like it's about to bucket down rain again like it did this time yesterday after a beautiful sunny day. On a whim, I walked out to the 'Blade, fired it up and went for a lap around the block. The first thing I realised was that the tyres are a bit flat, so was less than comfortable going around corners, even at suburban speeds. Next thing is that there's a small fuel leak (slightly too large fuel line, I've ordered the odd 7.5mm fuel line but it won't arrive for a couple of weeks) so I could smell gas, third thing is that while it revs cleanly to say, 10K RPM, it "flutters" down low, and actually feels like it''s missing. This might be a result of a combination of a non existent charging system, a small battery, and a big twin bulb headlight permanently on which is probably robbing power from the ignition system.

Oh well, it's not too uncomfortable, the brakes and suspension feels good, and any ride's a good ride on a sunny warm day, so I'm still happy-ish.......

[Terry in Australia]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

[BomberMann650]

Was bummed after spending some good money on a 2" o.d slug of 6061 Aluminum and found out my lathe couldn't hold it.
Was even more bummed with the chuck jaws i ordered didn't fit the lathe either.  And the cost of return shipping would be more than the cost of the parts

Really wanting to make stuff from this billet got the brain working.  After a few minutes with a flap disc, was able to gnaw some relief cuts in one end of rhe stock.  Just enough for the lathe jaws to get a grip!  Jammed the live center into the other end and got it spinning!
Sketchy setup sure.  But after a few hours of turning down a shoulder.  It came time to cut the waste section off and put it to work for real!
Repeated the process of turning down a mandrel at the other end, and gave it a clean up pass along the length.  Without leaving a taper cause the ways are finally untwisted!  A hot date with the chop saw and now i have two chunks of 6061 i can make stuff from.
As well as a grocery bag full of swarf.
So i made an axle spacer.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, there's nothing better than buying a big chunk of alu and turning it into a small chunk of alu......

[RAFster122s]

One of the big aluminum companies in China that influences global markets has gone bankrupt/out of business. That should screw up the aluminum prices for a while. The owner had been convicted of tax evasion in the US and basically shuttered the business through bankruptcy. He had been building a house of cards (fraud) for some time apparently...

[PeWe]

Yep, there's nothing better than buying a big chunk of alu and turning it into a small chunk of alu......

Like grating cheese, a good cheese.

[Alan F.]

Was bummed after spending some good money on a 2" o.d slug of 6061 Aluminum and found out my lathe couldn't hold it.

Are you able to turn between centers or a face plate? If your lathe has the capacity there are other methods than using a chuck.

[grcamna2]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

That's excellent 

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, there's nothing better than buying a big chunk of alu and turning it into a small chunk of alu......

Like grating cheese, a good cheese.

Yep but the benefit of grated cheese is you can eat it Per, not just bag it up and throw it out like you do with swarf.

[Alan F.]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

That's excellent 

That is excellent, I'm sure we can all benefit from walking a few miles each day.



I'm happy-ish but apprehensively cautious about finding a suitable and oddly affordable house and small acreage. I'm still researching it but I think I'm ready to actually make a move on this one.
Since its not simply around the corner, the plan would to make a project of it over a few years before moving in or possibly flipping it.
We took a stealth trip to see it on Sunday, walked around the house and outbuildings and even learned a few valuable pieces of information that were omitted  the listing. With the current financial situation as it is I'm satisfied that this property will never be worth less than the asking price, maybe I'll make a low offer to tempt the Fates?

[grcamna2]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

That's excellent 

That is excellent, I'm sure we can all benefit from walking a few miles each day.



I'm happy-ish but apprehensively cautious about finding a suitable and oddly affordable house and small acreage. I'm still researching it but I think I'm ready to actually make a move on this one.
Since its not simply around the corner, the plan would to make a project of it over a few years before moving in or possibly flipping it.
We took a stealth trip to see it on Sunday, walked around the house and outbuildings and even learned a few valuable pieces of information that were omitted  the listing. With the current financial situation as it is I'm satisfied that this property will never be worth less than the asking price, maybe I'll make a low offer to tempt the Fates?

Al, N.E. Ma. or NH ?

[Terry in Australia]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

That's excellent 

That is excellent, I'm sure we can all benefit from walking a few miles each day.



I'm happy-ish but apprehensively cautious about finding a suitable and oddly affordable house and small acreage. I'm still researching it but I think I'm ready to actually make a move on this one.
Since its not simply around the corner, the plan would to make a project of it over a few years before moving in or possibly flipping it.
We took a stealth trip to see it on Sunday, walked around the house and outbuildings and even learned a few valuable pieces of information that were omitted  the listing. With the current financial situation as it is I'm satisfied that this property will never be worth less than the asking price, maybe I'll make a low offer to tempt the Fates?

Sounds great Al, if you really want it make a fair offer and see how you go. I still laugh inwardly when I think about this place, when I bought it 21 years ago the seller wanted $235,000 and I thought I was cheeky offering $205,000, which I still thought was a big bunch of cash. The owner accepted, and now it doesn't seem much at all considering in todays market it's worth somewhere between $750,000-$800,000. Thank God I don't need to buy a house now!

[Kelly E]

Oh and I'm quite proud of myself, when I'm "working from work" I manage to walk up to 5 miles per day, but on the two days that I still work from home I barely walk a mile at best. The weather has been #$%*e for months, but I promised myself that on the first fine day that I work from home I'll get up early and walk between 2 and 3 miles per day. I even bought a new pair of Nike's to give me some incentive.

I had a crap night's sleep due to some family issues but as I was already awake at 0630 I got up and stomped 3Km. I could probably have done 5 Km (3 miles) but didn't want to overdo it, so just did the 3 in 32 minutes, which wasn't a bad pace. I don't have any new blisters or sore anything, so I'm happy about that too. Hopefully it'll be nice again on Thursday, and I'll do it again.

That's excellent 

That is excellent, I'm sure we can all benefit from walking a few miles each day.



I'm happy-ish but apprehensively cautious about finding a suitable and oddly affordable house and small acreage. I'm still researching it but I think I'm ready to actually make a move on this one.
Since its not simply around the corner, the plan would to make a project of it over a few years before moving in or possibly flipping it.
We took a stealth trip to see it on Sunday, walked around the house and outbuildings and even learned a few valuable pieces of information that were omitted  the listing. With the current financial situation as it is I'm satisfied that this property will never be worth less than the asking price, maybe I'll make a low offer to tempt the Fates?

Sounds great Al, if you really want it make a fair offer and see how you go. I still laugh inwardly when I think about this place, when I bought it 21 years ago the seller wanted $235,000 and I thought I was cheeky offering $205,000, which I still thought was a big bunch of cash. The owner accepted, and now it doesn't seem much at all considering in todays market it's worth somewhere between $750,000-$800,000. Thank God I don't need to buy a house now!

I hear you, back in 2010 my wife found her dream house. It was two years into the economic bust and we offered $30k less than the $390k asking price and it was accepted. Because of the down market we couldn't sell the old house so we had to rent it out.
Last January I had a feeling that it was time to sell the rental we owned since 2000. It took me 5 months to get it ready to sell. My buddy Paul that I build bikes with is a real estate broker and he sold our rental that we paid $172k for. He sold the rental for $595k and we were able to pay off our current house. It closed the day before the interest rate went up the first time. Our current house is worth $800k and I am happy I'm not trying to buy a house now.

[BomberMann650]

Was bummed after spending some good money on a 2" o.d slug of 6061 Aluminum and found out my lathe couldn't hold it.

Are you able to turn between centers or a face plate? If your lathe has the capacity there are other methods than using a chuck.

Unfortunately thats a No.  Don't have the accessories for the machine to do that.

While its nice to have a lathe - the man that sold this was a wanker.  The kind of person that lives by the motto "theres a sucker born every minute" - myself among the suckers. 
For what the guy charged for a "serviced" machine tool.  Could have ordered a new one, with drive dawgs, vari-speed, compound cross slide, and threading gears. Instead of this worn down belt drive that is sometimes too fast for its own good.

But, its a tool.  Tools are a win.

[Alan F.]

Tools are a win, I agree. Your spindle probably accepts a taper, you could probably seat a dead-center in the spindle and a live center in your tailstock and the dead center would transmit enough torque to turn the part?
There are a variety of solid dead centers with various tapers on eBay for under $15

[Don R]

 I was an election judge. We worked from 5:30 am until 8:00 pm for $150. You can't leave during the day, we had a good day and several folks thanked us for doing the job. Best of all no radicals showed up and the poll watchers were all professional

[RAFster122s]

Dropped my ballot off yesterday and some guy was causing an issue and they got him to go outside where security was confronting him and in a bizarre dialogue with him...presumably before police were to arrive. He and two security guys were outside the main doors and he was arguing with them about private and public property...
He was making some less than veiled threats to them.

Not my circus and not my monkeys so I made haste to leave...
People are stupid...

Thanks for your service Don.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, I watched some US news reports about armed, masked dickheads hanging around polling stations intimidating voters and thought, how the fcuk is this ok? Anyway it looks like the “Red Wave” didn’t happen, so I guess the conspiracy theories are being hastily written to explain that one.

[Alan F.]

I'll stay away from the politics. I did take a day off and we drove up to the property I've alluded to to. I'll make an offer tomorrow, it's a short sale. The place is basically a rehab project if you believe the listing. But you know when you see an old bike that probably just needs tires and carb cleaning? It's one of those on a hair under ten acres for about 50 grand, I don't mind old houses with character.

I'm happy-ish about it, but I did drive 660 miles round trip to see it for the 2nd time in 5 days so I'm a little spent right now.

[scottly]

9+ acres for $50K? And with some sort of fixer-upper structure?

[Alan F.]

Yup, an old farmhouse, not too bad.

[grcamna2]

Yup, an old farmhouse, not too bad.

 
I hope your handy with working on houses 

[Terry in Australia]

Fark, is it haunted by the Manson clan Al? I was about to type that, over here there's no-where you'll find a lump of dirt for $50K, let alone a house, then I googled it and discovered that yes, in fact you can buy a house here for less than $50K (or only around $35K considering the current crappy exchange rate) but probably not where you'd like to live (unless you were on the run from the law) and certainly not with 10 acres of land.

https://www.realestate.com.au/news/5-of-australias-cheapest-houses-for-under-50000/

[jgger]

Go get it Al. A friend's dad bought a piece of land slightly in the boonies years ago. First thing he did was poured a slab and put a metal building on it for his future workshop. He could pull his motor home in and store his tools and materials and lock it all up during the week. Then on the weekends just pull the motorhome out and work on the house and stay in the RV. When the house was done he had a bad azz shop! You don't need an RV, just build a bathroom in the shop and you are good to go.