ODIS
Well-known member
Happy Holidays to you and family!
Agreed ! Mind you weird coincidence Bob worked just around the corner from me at IBM - like about a mile away- before I was aware of him and GJ and he was intuitive enough to head back to the USA before I could meet him . Some sort of spiderman -sixth-sense.... hmmm....Merry Christmas to you and Liane.
I would love if you guys moved to Southern California. I’d be over at least once a week.![]()
Emil, the Workshop/Shed needs aBob I might just and try the mini liquor bottles next year. If it doesn't work out with the Boss of the house, I'll be moving to Florida.
Hope you have a spare room to let.![]()
Rian, thanks for the kind words and I see you as my South African/British kin.A Blessed and Merry Festive season to you and Liane, Mr Heine.
You continue to be an amazing person and point of reference on here to many of us.
Thanks you for 2024.
Aaron, thanks for taking the time to stop by and post. I hope you're enjoying the long days and sunshine this season.All the best for Christmas Bob and family from your friend downunder.
Thank you Joel, Christmas day was just the two of us enjoying a quiet day together. I cooked a small standing rib roast, made a batch of instant mashed potatoes and a different veggie for each of us (pickled red cabbage for her, frozen sweet corn for me). Wish I had taken a photo of Jasmine when I gave her a taste of the roast beef -- she looked at me like I was the second coming.Bob, you continue to amaze. Here's to a calm and quiet Christmas to you and Liane. May you enjoy it and have a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Thank you @gman007, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to longer days in the New Year.Bob
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you, Liane, your family and all of the GJ friends here!
Same to you Jon!Bob,
Merry Christmas to you & Liane!
Marc, I hope you had one as well!Merry Christmas Bob!
Thank you Steve. I wish the absolute best for you and yours. May all your days in the coming year be hospital free. Oh, wait, that's not possible with the young woman you married.Bob, May you, Liane and all your family have a happy and healthy Xmas and new year.
Thanks for all you contribute.
Steve![]()
Thanks Dennis. I enjoy the holidays but am relieved when they are over.Merry Christmas Bob to you and yours!
Thank you Dan. And thank you for the link to the Made in the USA capacitor. I put it in my basket Christmas day. The new Chinesium one arrived and I swapped it in. Still a no-go so I swapped the contactor. I hoped for the best but it appears it's the fan motor on the Condenser cabinet. I searched for a replacement and holy cow are those expensive. Asked my son if one of his A/C guys could get me a deal. In the course of the conversation he wondered why my 2.5 year old system wasn't still under warranty. Went to the Rheem site and checked. Sure enough, my limited warranty is still in effect and had it not been Friday night I would have contacted the company that installed the system in August 2022. We still have heat so with daytime highs in the upper 70s for the next five days, I don't have to rush or pay for a weekend service call.
Gil, that's very kind of you to say. I'm hoping everyone has had a memorable Christmas and a great coming year.Bob,
I always enjoy your posts here and the stories of your family vacations from the past! Hope you and Liane have a wonderful Christmas and a great new year!
Gil
@Prospecter, I appreciate your visits as well. The boathouse is coming along great, especially impressed with the shelves going up and being put to use right away. Be careful with those garage door brackets.And we appreciate your visits when you have time. Merry Christmas.
And I hope you had one as well Bret!Merry Christmas Bob!
Bret
I hope you had a Merry Christmas as well Tony!Merry Christmas Bob![]()
Thank you Logan, this is new territory for me. Men in our family don't live this long so I'm guessing as long as I can afford a Cadillac Medicare Supplement plan my chances of running the record up a bit are pretty good. One of Liane's ancestors (3rd Great Uncle) lived to 105.Merry Christmas to you, Liane and the entire family! May 2025 come with fewer doctors visits!
@kitdoctor, I don't know exactly when the first property value explosion occurred but the we were the first tenants in the place we rented in Manly. The 3-bedroom, 2-bath, two 1-car garage upper unit sold for $595,000 in October 1989.The next bump in the road is due 2026 (for property). My canary in the coal mine will be home builders stocks peaking in 2025. A nice 20 year repeat would be the broader stock market tanking in 2027.

Mike, thank you so much. I feel the same about you. Watching you, your wife and your little people thriving on a farm warms my heart and seeing your thread highlighted on my Watch list is a precious gift every time.Merry Christmas Bob !! Thank you for being such a wonderful presence on here. I think I speak for everyone when I say I look forward to your stories and enjoy reading about your adventures both past and present.
Back at'cha Lou!Merry Christmas!
Ody, Happy Holidays to you and yours. I knew about the timing belts on the Ferrari's but don't remember seeing the process before. The videos are providing far more entertaining episodes than anything on TV.Happy Holidays to you and family!
Merry Christmas and a cooler New Year to you and yours, John. Shorty's gonna miss your shop.Merry Christmas, Bob.
MerryMerry Christmas Bob
Merry Christmas @LXCam.Merry Christmas Bob.
Merry Christmas John.Merry Christmas Bob
Leonard, I would love it as well. In 1955 I looked like a homeless waif. We were staying at one of my aunt's house and I could walk to a busy street. Just sat on the curb watching for hot rods and customs to drive by. Had a sore neck by the time the sun went down. We left LA that day and didn't get in line for the big opening of Disneyland. One of our grandsons and his wife are living in the Sacramento area. They're both in the military so who knows how long they'll stay. I may sneak out to Cali when Liane isn't looking. I have enough Delta miles for a cattle-car flight.Merry Christmas to you and Liane.
I would love if you guys moved to Southern California. I’d be over at least once a week.![]()
Thank you Shorty. I used to make a big deal for Liane's birthday but she said she'd treat my birthday like just another day if I would do the same for her. I never know when we'll celebrate Christmas because of our host's job. She and my son put it on so it's up to them to set the day and time. Ten in the morning Sunday was perfect. We had a blast.Happy Birthday Liane
Merry Christmas to the Heine family.
Cody, I ended the little rectangle of fruitcake's misery. It's not my favorite but I feel bad for the ones that sit on the shelf for a decade or more. I still have a lot of screws loose but I'm thinking of wearing a magnet to keep them closer.Merry Christmas Bob! May your fruitcake be baked goods and your loose screws are in a drawer today!
Greg, had we met I suspect one or both of us would have been in trouble. Pretty sure the reason New South Wales changed the BAC (Breath Alcohol Concentration) limit from .08 to .05 in 1990 was because I and another IBMer on assignment pulled readings just under the .08 limit at an RBT (Random Breath Test) stop. Even my departure in 1991 didn't prevent the Capital Territory from making the same change that year.Agreed ! Mind you weird coincidence Bob worked just around the corner from me at IBM - like about a mile away- before I was aware of him and GJ and he was intuitive enough to head back to the USA before I could meet him . Some sort of spiderman -sixth-sense.... hmmm....
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Mark, thank you for those very kind words. I wish the very best for you and yours this coming year.Thank you for being an inspiration and a lesson in how to get 'it' done.
Bob, all the best for you and Liane in 2025!
@Squankum, Santa snuck in early for us. Liane got some things to keep her warm in the slightly-below-Hell temperatures in Florida and my gifts were mostly edibles (mostly drug-free) so they don't have to be stored forever.
@zanyad, I wish the same for you and yours.Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and yours, Bob!
Wish I had taken a photo of Jasmine when I gave her a taste of the roast beef -- she looked at me like I was the second coming.

Thank you Hewey. I hope you and yours have a wonderful new year and get to put some fun miles on the Mini and the pocket rocket.Merry Christmas Bob! Hope you and Liane have a good new.
@Squankum, we would never spoil Jasmine with Freeze-Dried Chicken Hearts. Mostly because her treat basket is already at capacity and the last thing I want to do is hint that we need a bigger basket (it would probably mean moving a vehicle out of the garage (baskets are treasured beyond measure by SWMBO). At the moment, there are six containers in the basket:Have you tried chicken hearts? Freeze-dried chicken hearts are loved by some of my cats. Have to dice them up first -- a problem a dog doesn't have. Sent some to a friend with a dog and he's gaga for them.
They are a little gross, being... a sack full of hearts. Smaller than an egg, larger than a grape.
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Mmmmmm .....
@Squankum, sadly Jasmine can't read but she brings in "Nutritious Soft Moist" Iguana bites. She was planning on having her snack on the master bed. A brief discussion and tug of war with the remains of the #30 "...Appetite Stimulating Color & Flavor" Bites went in our private iguana cemetery that gets taken away bi-weekly.

Scott, Jasmine's Cushing's disease has slowed her down so the iguana bites are sometimes spaced weeks or even months apart. Last check the scoreboard was: Jasmine 37, Iguanas 0.Mmmmmm .....
Nothing like a bite of Iguana first thing every morning.
Lyndon, so good to hear from you and thank you so much for posting. I've been watching your exploits as well. I don't know how you private jet-setters can bear mingling with the peasants.Bob
Belated Merry Christmas wishes to you and Liane (sorry - I've been occupied - but have been watching your thread).
Glad to hear you came out of the fall OK. You are 80 now so be careful old fella! I told Irene what you did and she let out a sharp gasp, and then I wont repeat what she said (but it contained "silly old ******").......
We both hope you and Liane enjoy a happy and safe New Year, and let's hope 2025 is long and prosperous.
Lyndon
@gman007, I hope you are having a happy New Year as well.Bob
Happy New Year!





Then you are happy, being busySpeaking of Organization, our daughter gifted me a 32"x48" Wall Control metal pegboard kit. Only one wall in the garage has room for it so I took down my whiteboard and will have to remove a bunch of broom (and other stick related items) holders. Let the Tetris game begin
Happy New Year, Ric. Sorry to hear about your back issues and Eric's Millennial nurse. Hopefully your shot carries you through to October 2025. I feel very fortunate having nothing more than olditis and chronic stupid syndrome.Happy New Year, Bob! I'll have to catch up later, but am hoping you're keeping up on everything, as usual, in your own inimitable way!
Patrik, I am very happy to be busy. I would be even happier if my progress was faster but that's like growing younger. I've become content with the life I have rather than the one I wish for.Then you are happy, being busy
I have enjoyed your latest adventures and stories without commenting. Jasmine is a though one, my old dog a rough collie had ran in the other direction if he had met a iguana, well he had hide behind my legs barking at the strange creature![]()
@gman007, I keep expecting Jasmine to show up with a wound from something she fails to kill. It's amazing how sweet she is with people considering her attitude towards lizards (pretty sure she only brings the big ones home for Show & Snack).Bob
Jasmine is quite a dog for sure!
Thank you for sharing the great story about the bicycle.
I believe you will be very happy with the metal pegboards. I have had them for some years now and love them.


Adam, the price of Wall Control panels and accessories made me look away. Our daughter decided I needed a starter set and now I have spent another $105 on shelves. I was a big fan of pegboard in my youth. Mostly because I had only one tool storage unit (and I still have my concrete tools in it).I've been looking at wall control and omni wall for a while.... havnt pulled the trigger yet. They sure look nice though!



Geoff, that $200,000,000 lot would be perfect for a really really big metal shed for myHey Bob, we're all looking forward to following your new build, including an impressive garage, when you move just down the coast a bit.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/...pid/?msockid=046730806a89677d015723766b636661


Shorty, I agree with you. I bought four 4" shelves and found I need a fifth. Bought some smallish rectangular pegboard baskets and will dump my jug of wire pegboard hooks on the workbench and see if I find something useful. At the moment I have soup and vegetable cans on the Wall Control shelves and I like seeing a single layer of cans. In the wooden cabinet the soup was three deep and when I pulled the canned tomatoes out of the bottom shelf I found one can 11 years and four cans 5 years past their expiration date.I have the same wall control kit. I like the boards and shelves, but not a fan of some of the hooks. It’s staying with the house, so won’t be mine after this week.
That Schwin brings back memories. My stepbrother had one and he attempted to ride it from Tampa to Tallahassee. He was running away. I think he got as far as Oldsmar.

Rick, you have been through an epic battle swimming through all these outpourings of word and photo effluent. I really appreciate the time you have spent and your very kind comments. A lot of the things I have tried to do are because of the members of this forum. I am both inspired and humbled.There... I did it. I finally got through your thread from page one. And your Luckiest Day thread, too. I promised that I'd write something in this thread once I finished. It was an incredible read. I'm not sure I can put into words in such a way to do justice to you and your writings. We parallel what we do in so many ways. But, you've done things that I haven't, so I've learned things from you. Like replacing speaker foam surrounds. Your organizing is going quite well. Something I need to do for my own treasures... (Ok tools....) The work you do on your Corvettes is awesome. If a part needs replacing, or upgrading for more power, that part doesn't go back on that car until it is polished and gleaming bright, that you need to wear sunglasses to put the final bolts back in. Ha. But awesome job. You love animals, especially doggies. Me too... Echo is resting peacefully on the couch, next to me as I write this. Actually, I think he fell asleep... Shhhh... But he spent the day with me in the shop.
On another note, you've been through so much on the medical front, lately. And always bounce back with a skip in your step. My Dad had some heart issues and needed an artificial valve put in. He left us in 2006. Before his surgery, I went on a tour at St. Judes, the Plant in St. Paul, where they make these valves... I have a keychain that they gave everyone on the tour. It's only the outer ring, no butterfly valve flaps inside of it. The quality control in that place was just amazing... Awesome tour. I'ma gonna keep that keychain for ever and ever and never use it....
Cody, I didn't want to bring attention to it. First mistake was letting them swap the garage door for the man door in the corner. Side of the Cadillac is looking pretty beat up. Then I let them choose the pattern and I have to use a cane to feel my way around. If I open my eyes I get really dizzy and fear I'm going to fall into the abyss. I accidentally dropped one of my gray T-shirts and for the life of me I can't feel or find it. Kinda wish I splattered some bacon fat on it -- Jasmine would have found it in a heartbeat.
Tom, first I want to apologize for failing to respond for 21 days (probably not a record but still pretty bad). Second, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well.I hope you and your family had an awesome Christmas, Bob!
I've been trying to catch up on your thread for over a month now, and I'm never able to even get to the front page. You've definitely won the popularity contest and are now just piling on!
Tom, first I want to apologize for failing to respond for 21 days (probably not a record but still pretty bad). Second, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well.
I feel for you because I have been trying to catch up on everyone else's threads since before Christmas as well. It's part of the reason I slowed down posting on my own thread.
The other reason is me spending more time helping Liane. I was not aware she is such a filthy person but based on the number of loads of laundry she does, there has to be some underlying problem. I know I'm a filthy person but I rarely change clothes. When my pajama pants fall off from age, I throw them out rather than give her another item to wash. Every day she asks: "Do you have any whites" and 29 days out of 30 I say: "No." There are things in my large garage hamper that may have been white at some time but have morphed into another color, either dirt or dirty grease. Before I turn those over they spend time steeping in a 5-gallon bucket of toxic chemicals and rinsed in a stainless steel sink before being gifted to the Laundry Queen. I use a restaurant 30-inch wooden stirring stick to extract the items because flesh and bones do not survive contact with my brew.
By the way, your house numbers are works of machining art. Mine are store bought plastic on the mailbox and brushed stainless steel on the front door. I used the screws supplied with the latter numbers and they are carbon steel so stainless steel is stained. I'll replace the screws when I take the numbers off to paint the front door, which will happen any decade now.
The other reason is me spending more time helping Liane. I was not aware she is such a filthy person but based on the number of loads of laundry she does, there has to be some underlying problem.