Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium

[Mr.zippy]

"That ain't goin nowhere"

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, my good friend would call that load in (on) the car a Blivet......10 gallons of **** in a 5 gallon bucket. I suspect we are all guilty of those shenanigans!

@Mr.zippy, those shenanigans have been going on my whole life. My parents, brother and I living in an Oldsmobile and 15-foot trailer for 75 days at a time led me to me taking my family of four camping on islands carrying two weeks' supplies, tent and canvas dining room, all stuffed into on a 19-foot speedboat with a big chunk of that space filled with a Ford 302.

I guessing your Grandson picked up a number of logistical solutions from his Grandpa during the patio furniture Jenga tournament. Best of all over supper he probably commented favourably about his Grandpa Bob to his wife. I’m betting their garage will be sporting some stretchy bungee cords displayed prominently in his garage on your next visit.

Emil, it's hard for me to tell if any of it stuck. I know his wife was grateful for the chairs. As to the bungee cord collection, only thing I'm sure of is that he has at least two now.

You guys discussing the benefits of having a vehicle that can haul stuff around is making me pine for my decrepit old truck, The Eyesore.

Bob knows the story but for the rest of you...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...bourne-australia.383366/page-24#post-11017046

Geoff, you will have those moments of regret for as long as you live without a replacement. At least you have the trailer.

The other solution, though not as cool, is to own a trailer that can carry as much as a pickup truck. Then even little 2.0l Escapes can haul plywood or appliances or 2800 lbs of scrap or Dingos.

Kay, from the time we married in 1962 until we left New York in 1975, we had a trailer. It was registered as "Homad" and was built by a guy who worked for either Grumman or Republic aviation. He put the front suspension from an old car that had the straight axle and parallel leaf springs under a 4.5'x8.5' wooden frame and 2" galvanized pipe for the hitch. It also had 2x12 sides, front and tailgate with T-hinges. It was all bolted together with fancy stainless hardware from the aircraft assembly line where he worked (I still have a few in my hardware bins). Before we inherited it there was a conestoga-style canvas roof to protect camping gear. I tricked IBM paid to shipping two cars, a canoe, sailboat and 19-foot speedboat on a 23' tandem axle trailer from New York to Florida, along with all our household possessions. It was the last time IBM paid for more than one recreational item when moving people around. Some people got around the restriction by using the Turducken system (if you wrapped it all in one tarp, they paid to move it). That beat up little utility trailer was gifted to a neighbor before the move. I do miss it.

I’ve always driven a trucks while the wife driven a sedan until I convinced here to get a small SUV. Now she won’t drive anything else. My wife’s Sorrento would hold 6 foot items from IKEA. Even something like a PT Crusier or Toyota Scion are very capable of hauling items instead of the dreaded mini van. When I first met my father-in-law, I laughed that they drove a minivan. That’s until I saw how he used it. It was quite amazing how much stuff we loaded in there when they took their month long trips to New Smyrna Beach. He had no issues putting his surfcasting rods in there.

Gerard, when I bought the PT Cruiser I was amazed at the interior capacity. Just shy of a full 4x8 but I've moved a lot of bulky stuff in it. About five years ago my dearest neighbors moved to Delaware to be closer to their kids. He had a nice bare-bones Silverado that I could have used but never did.

One of our wonderful Garage Journal members contacted me about some hand tools from his recently departed mother's home in Boynton Beach. We discussed getting together with the caveat that Liane had to approve. To prevent me from bringing home anything large, I invited Liane to come along and drove the Cadillac CTS-V. It backfired a little when she found treasures of her own. Her really large item went in the back seat while my miniscule pile ended up in the boot, er, trunk. I will reveal the tool treasures in due time.

Took the photo after I removed a few things. In spite of the car being full, Liane was reminded she wanted to stop at Aldi's to see if they had the $9.99 shoes she loves to wear. We didn't come across another Aldi's but Liane also remembered she was down to her last box of Kirkland Soft & Chewy Granola bars and giant bag of assorted chocolate miniatures so we should stop at Costco, since it was on the road I chose to drive home. Well, once in the store I remembered we were out of jumbo shrimp so two bags of 11-15 count shrimp went in the basket along with a package of flank steaks. We weren't that cold so we went in the veggie room to replenish our lettuce supply. A plush blue blanket/throw caught Liane's eye (it was $6.97) so she found an employee who directed us to the aisle where more of them were on display. A second throw in black went in the basket, along with a pair of Kirkland jeans for me. Well, if you're caught leaving Costco with a basket that doesn't include a rotisserie chicken, you go in the box, Cool Hand Luke. Somehow we escaped with only a 23 items and a $313 hole in the credit card. Before we escaped, I was reminded the gas gauge wasn't pegged on 'F' so I put another $38 hole in the card (almost ten gallons of 93-octane gasoline).

Costco is always busy but especially on the weekends. Where are you going to find boneless skinless chicken breasts that don't look like roadkill for $2.99 a pound. Nevertheless, I stopped a couple of dozen people in the store and asked if they knew they were in Costco on Sunday. Because most of them looked younger than me, I also asked if they knew where their car was. The look from some of the younger patrons indicated they were not familiar with the late 1960s to mid-1980s news intro: "It's 10 o'clock! Do you know where your children are?"

And that is my solution.

Andrew, a utility trailer is a truly valuable thing. I was all ready to put a hidden hitch on the PT Cruiser but realized the real problem is hiding the trailer. I already have bulging garage, workshop and attic as well as an overflow cloth wedding chapel.

Bob,

There is an old say. "Fear the man with one gun. He knows how to use it."

When I had to carry a gun, I carried a 1911. The Sargent said to me, "That's intimidating." (Most guys carried S&W model 27s.)
I was recently visiting a buddy at his office and he carries a 1911. Couple of Government guys came by. One of them said, "That's old school. Cocked and locked." They asked what I carried so I pulled out my cell phone.

Leonard, I think the gun I had to carry for the Post Office was a Colt revolver. Probably a .32 but I was warned that firing it would probably kill me. My death was not the issue if the registered pouch I was delivering survived.

Same for me. When it was my job, it was a 1911. Nowadays it's a cell.

Kay, does Colt or Smith and Wesson make a cell? Never mind, I'd hear it ring and blow my brains out answering it.

I would carry a cell phone but it would be like being on parole again. Only plus side is the cell phone doesn't make my ankle itch.

Ah the un-ending joy of watching someone else try and cram slightly too big things into slightly too small a car. I was just having this conversation with a mate recently who took his 90s GMC pickup to do an Ikea run to help his kids, and the envious looks he got from people trying to stuff things into small and mid sized SUVs which actually dont have that much capacity. As a family growing up we always has Mitsubishi vans, first a beige 80s one, then a 90s white one. When my step brothers were on board it had it had to haul 2 adults, 5 kids, and camping gear. You don't realise how much packing a vehicle is a skill, until you're with someone who has no experience, and the first thing they hand you is a pillow and not the big box beside it I'm not able to get a van the way my work car lease works, but a Subaru wagon can haul a hell of a lot of stuff and my trailer takes care of everything else.

Hewey, you have the best of both worlds. a nice all-wheel wagon and a trailer. If you acquire something so large you can't home in that rig, you probably need a bigger home as well.

Hi Bob...

Hi Bro! Andy, is that really you or are you the Prince who asked for my PIN?

Wait? What?? Bob's brother is back??@oldironfarmer Good to see you, Andy. I've been lurking about these parts myself. And made a mess of things.. ha, just kidding.

Be careful Rick, you never know whose identity has been stolen or who stole it.

Elements of Style is a book that I got from my older brother who had a degree from Syracuse in journalism. He gave it to me my senior year of high school when I was getting ready to go to college and I still have it 55 plus years later. That is a great reference work for her.

I carry probably seven or eight ratchet straps that I used to hold things in my pickup truck. Your use of bungee cords probably is admired at the big box of stores when you secure things and leave while SUV folks are trying to get their loads secured.

Philip, at IBM, that little book was a godsend because I also had to follow the rules in The Chicago Manual of Style [1,192 pages]. When I went to work for AOL the manager of the publications department required her writers to follow the MLA (Modern Language Association) Style Manual [343 pages]. I couldn't understand why she chose that until someone mentioned she had never worked as a technical writer. She was an English teacher AOL hired to do some editing. While I was working on the 800 page Mac API draft, she was marking up my 800 page Windows API draft with tens of thousands of red pencil markings. The red marks indicated where my draft had two spaces instead of one, 13-point type instead of 12, Ariel font instead of Times New Roman, italics instead of bold and thousands of other nits. She had no clue regarding content or accuracy. She had no idea how to use Windows Word or Apple Pages and had no clue how global changes worked.

She spent two weeks marking up my draft and she handed to me as I was leaving to fly back to Florida with a very smug expression. I spent Saturday making every single change she requested and flew back to DC on Monday. I handed her the corrected draft and she went berserk. She ranted about the impossibility of a one-armed person being able to make all those corrections in two days (I actually finished in one quite long one) and she didn't have time to check my work. While she was trying to have my contract terminated and me sent home, I presented my alternative to the appropriate executives: instead of sending a heavy 800-page printed manual with every AOL API developer CD and the help files could include working examples of the API.

I used Windows and Mac software to convert Word and Pages documents into help files that could be added to the CD. It took 9 straight days to convert alll 1,600 pages into a dozen help files to match the dozen different API packages. I have seen some angry women in my life but never like her. She resigned when my proposal was adopteed. My six week contract was extended three times for a total of 42 months.

I have a 'go bag' in all three cars. They have tools, microfiber towels, window cleaner, a blankets, fire extinguisher, air pump, jump pack, bungee cords and ratchet straps. Those things are handy in pickups as well as other vehicles. I'm not prepared for everything but I'm not helpless in quite a few.

I never went anywhere...

I knew it Andy! That WAS you flipping the lights on and off.

Hey Bob, I've got all three pickups sitting in the yard. If you would just walk over I'd loan you one, any time.

Andy, it's 1,419 miles so I should be there by Memorial Day. I'm not fond of walking in the rain so it might be closer to Labor Day. Will you be home for either of those holidays? I don't want to interfere with plans you've already made. Oh, and how long is the 'loan' good for?

Bob,
Wife's cousin, the eye surgeon, says " bungees and fish hooks pay the bills in this house".
Be careful out there!

@Adaylate, I don't know about bungees but I am absolutely certain a couple of my eye surgeons used fish hooks (at least they were barbless). Dumbest thing I did was ask Liane to tweeze the itchy black things out of my eye -- they were soluble fishing line sutures.

 

[Mr.zippy]

Geeze Bob, it's like midnight thirty in God's waiting room....what time do you go to bed?

 

[Bob Heine]

Famous last words, "yep, that ought to hold it." ie, bungees and tiedown use.

Alan, you're absolutely right. As I was hooking the second bungee I thought: "I should really use a ratchet strap." It was truly a passing thought as I had an image of a the Adirondack chairs still jammed in the trunk when we arrived on Saturday. My confidence in my grandson's ability to undo a ratchet strap was not high.

"That ain't goin nowhere"

@Mr.zippy, our grandson and his family moved to Boca Raton the day after Christmas 2024. The duplex they rent is 2.2 miles from our driveway and only one short section has a speed limit over 30mph. Even the three blocks with a 45mph limit involves slowing down for the left turn and the traffic gods smiling on him with the very brief left turn green arrow. In 28 years I think it's happened to me twice. I knew it was a gamble but he managed to get home and all five Adirondack chairs were on the shared pool/patio.

 

[Bob Heine]

Geeze Bob, it's like midnight thirty in God's waiting room....what time do you go to bed?

I go to bed between 1:00 and 2:00 AM and get up 8 hours later. Liane doesn't actually sleep but she and Jasmine go to bed at 9:00 PM and Jasmine gets her up between 9:00 and 10:00 AM. My "OO-OO-Stayin Alive" machines interfere with Liane's ability to sleep soundly so I've exiled myself to the guest bedroom at the other end of the house where my office is also located. If I stay on that side of the house, Jasmine is fine. If I walk toward the master suite, she starts barking and wakes Liane up. I've always been a night owl -- it's quiet and gives me time to think.

 

[driftpin]

Adirondack chairs are comfortable, but I find them difficult to arise-from one. I have to scoot all the way forward and then push-up with both arms to get to my feet.

I think you may have mentioned that the chairs were plastic ones, and not wood? The tree product 'wood' be significantly more-difficult to transport, being heavy and bulky. I still have a long leg scar from sitting on one of those stacking resin chairs, which promptly snapped a leg (of the chair not me), and partially filleted my medial aspect of my lower leg. I could have gone to the ER for sutures, but we were in Gainesville FL celebrating our son's law school graduation, so I used sterile 4x4's and adhesive tape to patch things up so we didn't have to leave the celebration. You can still see the scar beside my calf muscle. I have no permanent damage but I don't trust those resin chairs.

When I was in Boy Scouts, we used to spend a summer vacation (not 'all summer') at Tupper Lake, where the camp was. I still have my leather patch for a '50 Mile Hike,' done in the Adirondacks, where we summited Mt. Marcy, the tallest peak in NYS. It's 5.344 ft above sea level. The Appalachians were once the size of the Rockies, but because they're older, they weathered, and now less-tall than the Rockies peaks. The time spent in Tupper Lake was great fun and I still refer to a mixed-powder beverage like Kool Aid or tea as 'bug juice,' which is what the Boy Scouts called the dining hall beverages we were served, your choice of lemonade or iced tea, 'bug juice.' I've gotten my youngest grandsons to refer to powdered drinks as 'bug juice,' making me smile every time they refer to it as that.

I have a trailer which was partially-built when I bought it, it was a tilting hot-dip galvanized frame boat trailer, probably for something 15' or 16' long. It was a 2x8" flatbed, and I added low PT 2-by sides to it. It's paid for itself many times over. I bought it off 'Bargain Trader,' ($75) before the internet was a shopping place. It's probably close-to 30 years old in my ownership, and still going strong. I replaced the tires about a year ago because of age. It got a new axle, wiring, galvanized wheels, hubs, bearings and Bearing Buddies when I bought it. It doesn't go into the water. It's a flatbed trailer w/low sides, and I've hauled over a ton w/it, the trailer alone is 500 lbs. I adapted some chain-link panels to the front end and the sides if I want to haul a lot of brush. No c/l sides in this pic. On the way to the Miami-Dade Co. dump here, after demo-ing another bathroom down to the CBS walls or frame walls, or some combo thereof. This was a 1-ton ticket at the landfill.

 

[gman007]

Bob
Thank you for all the great stories which as always are entertaining and in many cases also educational and informative at the same time.

You also take the time and effort to respond in detail to every post and that is very kind and thoughtful of you.

 

[Bob Heine]

Adirondack chairs are comfortable, but I find them difficult to arise-from one. I have to scoot all the way forward and then push-up with both arms to get to my feet.

I think you may have mentioned that the chairs were plastic ones, and not wood? The tree product 'wood' be significantly more-difficult to transport, being heavy and bulky. I still have a long leg scar from sitting on one of those stacking resin chairs, which promptly snapped a leg (of the chair not me), and partially filleted my medial aspect of my lower leg. I could have gone to the ER for sutures, but we were in Gainesville FL celebrating our son's law school graduation, so I used sterile 4x4's and adhesive tape to patch things up so we didn't have to leave the celebration. You can still see the scar beside my calf muscle. I have no permanent damage but I don't trust those resin chairs.

When I was in Boy Scouts, we used to spend a summer vacation (not 'all summer') at Tupper Lake, where the camp was. I still have my leather patch for a '50 Mile Hike,' done in the Adirondacks, where we summited Mt. Marcy, the tallest peak in NYS. It's 5.344 ft above sea level. The Appalachians were once the size of the Rockies, but because they're older, they weathered, and now less-tall than the Rockies peaks. The time spent in Tupper Lake was great fun and I still refer to a mixed-powder beverage like Kool Aid or tea as 'bug juice,' which is what the Boy Scouts called the dining hall beverages we were served, your choice of lemonade or iced tea, 'bug juice.' I've gotten my youngest grandsons to refer to powdered drinks as 'bug juice,' making me smile every time they refer to it as that.

I have a trailer which was partially-built when I bought it, it was a tilting hot-dip galvanized frame boat trailer, probably for something 15' or 16' long. It was a 2x8" flatbed, and I added low PT 2-by sides to it. It's paid for itself many times over. I bought it off 'Bargain Trader,' ($75) before the internet was a shopping place. It's probably close-to 30 years old in my ownership, and still going strong. I replaced the tires about a year ago because of age. It got a new axle, wiring, galvanized wheels, hubs, bearings and Bearing Buddies when I bought it. It doesn't go into the water. It's a flatbed trailer w/low sides, and I've hauled over a ton w/it, the trailer alone is 500 lbs. I adapted some chain-link panels to the front end and the sides if I want to haul a lot of brush. No c/l sides in this pic. On the way to the Miami-Dade Co. dump here, after demo-ing another bathroom down to the CBS walls or frame walls, or some combo thereof. This was a 1-ton ticket at the landfill.

Philip, when we bought our current home in November 1996. We weeded and covered the corner of the back yard that was under gigantic Benjamina Ficus. The area had a low hedge on one side and lots of tropical plants but it needed furniture. Really nice furniture was not an option because...

...I retired from IBM in 1994 when I turned 50 and kept group medical insurance and received a small pension (not enough to live on by itself). In July 1995 AOL hired me for six weeks to help them write a couple of rather large manuals. AOL extended the contract for a year and then another year. When we found our dream house, it was too good a deal to pass up so rather than rely on the sale of our old (paid for) house, we cashed in some investments to avoid a mortgage. I turned down AOL's offer for a fifth year of consulting because we managed to sell the old house, restore some of the investments and at 58 I had enough money in the bank to live comfortably for at least a year and a half. When I turned 59.5 I started withdrawing dividends from the 401K and SEP (Simplified Employee Pension) IRA. Although we didn't need the money, I opted for Social Security to start paying the two of us when I turned 62 (Liane didn't qualify on her own but received a payment 50% the size of mine and we were on easy street...

...so resin Adirondack chairs and Costco lounge chairs were the solution.

Liane and I didn't spend a lot of time sitting under the Ficus (it was a long walk to the ice maker) but it was a wonderful place to sit with friends sipping wine and nibbling snacks. When it was 90+ degrees in the shade on our patio, it was a humid but cooler 82°F under the Ficus. I hung a smooth 2x8 board with long Nylon rope to a large branch up in the tree to show our grandkids a real swing. The hill between the house and the back yard they were introduced to the best free Visquine slippy slide in SouthFlorida .

In our 50s we could easily plop down in an Adirondack chair and pop right out, Two decades later it became a life and death struggle. Getting in was easy but getting out was torture. Turns out an old person can still rock sideways until the chair tips over. All that cypress mulch was like landing on a mattress. Only one of the eight resin chairs broke but no blood was spilled in the process. Had our grandson's wife not taken the remaining five (we gave a pair away) they were destined to one more trip -- to the curb.

Your truck and trailer are great to have and I really should have something like them. Of course, to my old man mind, not having anything close to that all but eliminates the ability to bring home huge items set beside the road to be removed by the Solid Waste Authority. Did I mention it's also the solution to avoid the dozens of massive projects that pop out of Liane's mind?

Bob
Thank you for all the great stories which as always are entertaining and in many cases also educational and informative at the same time.

You also take the time and effort to respond in detail to every post and that is very kind and thoughtful of you.

@gman007, I'm glad my core dumps are appreciated. I do them to share my happiness and it exercises my 'cognitively impaired' old brain. I do love being diagnosed with that impairment because it's such a great explanation of my screwups.

 

[Bob Heine]

I discovered a way to share some happiness. When I'm out and about picking up prescriptions, relaxing in doctor waiting rooms and even when I'm out renting food, I mention to strangers that I carry a happiness bucket with me everywhere I go. Some people laugh, some people smile and some step back like I'm infected. I explain my bucket springs a leak from seeing TV news (or the news that pops up on my hand-held ankle bracelet). I do periodically for incoming meteorites and solar flares and I also check the weather app on Windows 10 to see if snow or a hurricane is headed our way.

My happiness bucket sprung a huge leak in January.

December 30, 2023 I bought a $299 11-cubic foot Galanz refrigerator--or--freezer on sale at Costco. It worked great as a freezer for all of 2024. January 12, 2025 we went to Costco and bought $650 worth of 'stuff' (mostly food). Went home with the load and I separateed the packages of lamb chops, chicken, pork loin and beef ($52 package of 4 New York Strip Steaks). The meat and packaged frozen food filled the freezer to capacity and I carefully closed the door. Next morning I discovered the freezer door ajar about an inch. Temperature inside was 40°F. There was a lot of condensation inside.

I panicked a little and tried to find what had pushed the door open. Nothing obvious but I shuffled stuff around and the door appeared to be staying closed. Set the unit to "Turbo" freeze and left the garage. Came back two hours later and the temperature was 37°F. Closed the door and proped a chair against it. Twelve hours later it was down to 19°F. By the 24-hour mark it was down to single digit temperature but still above zero. I'm afraid to open the door, which opens easily, and although the primary casualties seem to be the Publix ice cream, I no longer trust this machine as either a refrigerator or a freezer.

Searched for 10 to 12 cubic foot freezers on sale and Google is obviously under the impression I have very very expensive taste. Au contraire, I am a buffalo squeezer so a visit to the Home Depot and Lowe's sites uncovered a 'clearance' freezer on Lowe's. At $349 it looked good but really sold me with 'free' next day delivery. It ended up costing $460 (marked down from $749) and it's slightly bigger than the one it is replacing. If Lowe's had not made the next day delivery free, I would have had a repeat performance of the Galanz freezer comic relief episode.

I also avoided the take-away charge because that frozenish food was still in the Galanz machine and I wanted the Hotpoint 13.0-Cu. Feet Frost-free Upright Freezer ( White ) to prove it could get to zero or colder in less than a week. It took about an hour and another hour to switch the freezers' location and tranfer the food. While this fiasco was unfolding I bought a two machine remote didital thermometer so I could monitor the temperatures in both freezer and under-counter refrigerator. Now we have a freezer that works and has a magnetic seal so strong Liane can barely pull the door open. I'm pretty sure it would tip over when I open the door if I didn't have a hundred-plus pounds of food in there.

Once unplugged, I opened the door on the Galanz, removed the glass shelves and cleaned the interior up. Next day I pumped out the permanently installed defrost bucket and plugged the Galanz back in. Checked it an hour later and it was -2°F. I believe the catastrophic failure happened when I closed the door on the Galanz and the condensation running down the back wall got into the little fan that circulates air behind the cover on the back wall. When the water froze in or around the fan, air didn't circulate and the compressor ran until the sensor in that compartment detected the set temperature had been reached and shut off.

Because he and his family do such a great job on our lawn and gardens, we gifted the now working Galanz machine to them. I showed the husband and his wife how easily the door on the Galanz opened compared to the Hotpoint. Warned them to be very careful if they used it as a freezer and be sure the door stayed closed.

 

[y'sguy]

Hey Bob, Good on you for setting the bar high for kindness and relating good news.

 

[Bob Heine]

Hey Bob, Good on you for setting the bar high for kindness and relating good news.

Thank you Alan.

Managed to put a big scoop of happiness with the sprinkler system.

Our house was built in 1988, including an automatic 6-zone sprinkler system. One of the first things I did was move the electric timer from the outside of the garage wall to inside. Manually cycling the system with the toggle switch inside the timer meant getting wet when it was outside. System chugged along until 2017 when things started going south.

The solenoid valve died and it turned out to be a 110v unit. I changed the valve and timer to 24v. At the same time I discovered the 29 year old brass check valve was leaking back into our house water supply. I have enjoyed fertilizer-free water most of my life so a new check valve got added to the parts list.

I had already taken the anti-siphon valve's cover off to add some screening after a little lizard got into the valve and jammed everything up.

Because of the age and stress I put on the green indexing valve, it developed a crack in the lower part of the housing so I had to replace that indexing valve. All the PVC leading to and from the indexing valve was 1.25" but I made the mistake of buying the more plentiful 1.5" valve. This part of the job became more complicated because I have to prime and glue and push together six pipes at one time. Not impossible but others have done it...

I chose to use elbows and 1.5 to 1.25 adapters, allowing me to make the six solid connections one at a time.

To make older Bob Heine's job easier, I added a union to the pipe above the brass check valve

 

[kaymccampbell]

Now you get to make a little house for the valves, etc. I find that shelter prolongs the life of plastic things.

 

[Bob Heine]

I thought my sprinkler system was working perfectly but in 2020 my neighbor told me it was stuck on one section of the yard, drowning that section with six 26 minute cycles. I was able to fix the problem by gently tapping the valve with a one pound plastic dead blow hammer. Two years of that nonsense and I replaced the cover (but saved the old one). The system stopped hanging up on that one section and began hanging up on three sections. When I pulled the cover off the problem is obvious because the inside ring next to the o-ring seal is broken in multiple places. The old one-jammer cover is on the left and the triple jammer is on the right.

I put the original valve cover on while waiting for a new cover from Fimco. When it arrived I used some LA's Awesome degreaser and a gray Scotchbrite pad to make sure the walls of the indexing valve were clean and free of grease and other substances that could jam the indexing wheel. Two weeks later I have an automatic sprinkler system I don't have to beat into submission,

 

[Bob Heine]

Now you get to make a little house for the valves, etc. I find that shelter prolongs the life of plastic things.

Kay, that's a good idea. When they built the house the sprinkler system installer thought it was a good idea to bury the gate valve that shuts water off to the whole system. When we bought the house I thought there was no shutoff valve but did a little digging and built a pressure treated box around the valve. When we fancied up the patio with Travertine marble, I fancied up the box in the photos with leftover pieces of marble. For about as long as it takes for a bullet to pass through m brain, I thought of gluing pieces of Travertine together to make the little house. Little worm in my brain said: "Are you nucking futs, you have trouble lifting a can of Diet Coke!"

EDIT: Amazon is sending me a 15" deep by 22" wide by 12" high resin enclosure. If it weighs more than a full can of Diet Coke I may put a D-ring on top. I have lots of pulleys and rope as well as a HF cable winch.

 

[y'sguy]

Bob, I constructed a seasonal use cover for the water faucet at the front of our house with this stuff.

Owens Corning FOAMULAR NGX F-250 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. SSE R-10 XPS Rigid Foam Board Insulation 52DDNGX - The Home Depot

Owens Corning FOAMULAR Scored Squared Edge Insulation Sheathing is perfect for use on wood, steel framing or concrete walls.

www.homedepot.com

It's super easy to work with. I made a little doghouse cover and it has worked as a safety measure for me during colder winters. It's easy to work with and one could glue it and screw it together to construct, whatever. reasonably tough and light.

 

[zmotorsports]

"That ain't goin nowhere"

That's mine and my son's favorite quote. We always grab whatever it is and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". I think it started when he was young and we would be loading the snowmobiles or sand toys in the trailer and I'd grab a strap and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". Then he'd do the same thing and we'd chuckle about it.

Funny story, a few weeks ago I was helping my son out by taking his Jeep to get the emissions test done on it as he was laid up. When I returned and pulled it in his garage, my DIL brought my grandson out to the garage when he heard the door open. He wanted to see "Papa" and came out to see me. I noticed that my son finally got the vise that I gave him for his birthday a couple years earlier mounted to his workbench. I walked over and grabbed it and tugged on it and without even thinking just said, "that's not going anywhere". My DIL started laughing and when I asked her what was so funny she informed me that my son had done the EXACT same thing when he mounted it.

So obviously it has stuck with him even to this day.

 

[Ford52PU]

That expression makes me think of The Boondock Saints movie

 

[Mr.zippy]

That's mine and my son's favorite quote. We always grab whatever it is and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". I think it started when he was young and we would be loading the snowmobiles or sand toys in the trailer and I'd grab a strap and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". Then he'd do the same thing and we'd chuckle about it.

Funny story, a few weeks ago I was helping my son out by taking his Jeep to get the emissions test done on it as he was laid up. When I returned and pulled it in his garage, my DIL brought my grandson out to the garage when he heard the door open. He wanted to see "Papa" and came out to see me. I noticed that my son finally got the vise that I gave him for his birthday a couple years earlier mounted to his workbench. I walked over and grabbed it and tugged on it and without even thinking just said, "that's not going anywhere". My DIL started laughing and when I asked her what was so funny she informed me that my son had done the EXACT same thing when he mounted it.

So obviously it has stuck with him even to this day.

Mike, I had to laugh at your story! That is the exact joke my son and I use when we strap something down! Years ago, we were traveling somewhere and a riding lawn mower was in the barrow ditch. A guy in a pickup was parked down the road and was walking back to his busted up mower. My son said "that ain't goin nowhere" and we bust out laughing as I turned around to help him out.

Edit...sorry to hijack your thread Bob!

 

[kaymccampbell]

Kay, that's a good idea. When they built the house the sprinkler system installer thought it was a good idea to bury the gate valve that shuts water off to the whole system. When we bought the house I thought there was no shutoff valve but did a little digging and built a pressure treated box around the valve. When we fancied up the patio with Travertine marble, I fancied up the box in the photos with leftover pieces of marble. For about as long as it takes for a bullet to pass through m brain, I thought of gluing pieces of Travertine together to make the little house. Little worm in my brain said: "Are you nucking futs, you have trouble lifting a can of Diet Coke!"

I buy little deck boxes for equipment shelters for things like that. They have all kinds of sizes.

 

[Bob Heine]

Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win but two wins is a lot of happiness to add to my bucket.

I have a small SunJoe hedge trimmer that uses a 24-volt battery unlike anything else I own. It has worked OK but I would prefer a Milwaukee Fuel M12 hedge trimmer, based on how well their tools work. Found a refurbished one on eBay for $127 and expected to receive it Monday. UPS supposedly received it on 2/19 in Arlington, Texas and claims it isn't there. UPS notified me a jug of dish washing liquid was destroyed in transit last week. Not sure what's going on at UPS but I'm seeking refunds from both sellers. The sellers have some kind of insurance but it doesn't apply to me.

I have been gifted a BernzOmatic torch kit and a bunch more treasures, including a pair of oil squirt cans. The BernzOmatic case is in perfect condition and although used, all the pieces are in great shape.

At least as interesting as it's condition is its origin and price. It was purchased at E.J. Korvettes for $5.44 and that would have included the tank full of propane.

BACKSTORY: As an 11 year old in February 1956, it was a huge deal when the E. J. Korvette discount department store opened in West Islip, New York, one town west of where we lived. I rode my bike there to buy things for a lot less than any other store in the area. With my allowance of 25¢, 25¢ an hour for assisting on my father's big projects (earthworks and basement finishing) and the fall smortune I made handling half my brother's newspaper route (had to be 12 to be a Newsday delivery boy), I could afford important stuff, like handle bar grip streamers for my bike and AMC and Revell plastic car models for my imaginary garage. The discounts, typically 30%, made a huge difference to me.

DISAPPOINTMENT: E. J. Korvette was founded 1948 by two Jewish men (Eugene Ferkhauf and Joe Zwillenberg), two years before the start of the Korean War. Not knowing any better, everyone I knew believed the name was an acronym for 'Eight Jewish Korean War Veterans'. According to one of its founders, Eugene Ferkhauf (who died in 2012) they named the chain with the two founders' first name initials and a play on "corvette", a type of sub-destroyer in the the Royal Canadian Navy. War time restrictions on the commercial use of military terms were still in force, so the name had to be modified with a K...into "Korvette." Call me disappointed because I loved the urban legend story better.

Back to the gifted kit, which includes a BernzOmatic branded lighter but sadly the flint is completely worn out. Undeterred I ordered five new BernzOmatic branded flints for $8.70. I expected to receive a small envelope from Amazon but instead received a huge box that seemed way too heavy. Instead of a little pack of flints, I received this:

It's a BernzOmatic JT680 torch. Before reading the invoice, my kind and honest brainworm suggested I notify the seller of the mistake. After I read the invoice: "ACCOUNT SET TO NO BACK ORDER -- ALL PRODUCT NOT IN STOCK WILL BE CANCELLED" my unkind and greedy brain worm said: "Keep it and order more flints." I'm excited to see what this new order brings. My bucket has overflowed!

 

[Wiz02]

Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win but two wins is a lot of happiness to add to my bucket.

I have a small SunJoe hedge trimmer that uses a 24-volt battery unlike anything else I own. It has worked OK but I would prefer a Milwaukee Fuel M12 hedge trimmer, based on how well their tools work. Found a refurbished one on eBay for $127 and expected to receive it Monday. UPS supposedly received it on 2/19 in Arlington, Texas and claims it isn't there. UPS notified me a jug of dish washing liquid was destroyed in transit last week. Not sure what's going on at UPS but I'm seeking refunds from both sellers. The sellers have some kind of insurance but it doesn't apply to me.

I have been gifted a BernzOmatic torch kit and a bunch more treasures, including a pair of oil squirt cans. The BernzOmatic case is in perfect condition and although used, all the pieces are in great shape.

At least as interesting as it's condition is its origin and price. It was purchased at E.J. Korvettes for $5.44 and that would have included the tank full of propane.

BACKSTORY: As an 11 year old in February 1956, it was a huge deal when the E. J. Korvette discount department store opened in West Islip, New York, one town west of where we lived. I rode my bike there to buy things for a lot less than any other store in the area. With my allowance of 25¢, 25¢ an hour for assisting on my father's big projects (earthworks and basement finishing) and the fall smortune I made handling half my brother's newspaper route (had to be 12 to be a Newsday delivery boy), I could afford important stuff, like handle bar grip streamers for my bike and AMC and Revell plastic car models for my imaginary garage. The discounts, typically 30%, made a huge difference to me.

DISAPPOINTMENT: E. J. Korvette was founded 1948 by two Jewish men (Eugene Ferkhauf and Joe Zwillenberg), two years before the start of the Korean War. Not knowing any better, everyone I knew believed the name was an acronym for 'Eight Jewish Korean War Veterans'. According to one of its founders, Eugene Ferkhauf (who died in 2012) they named the chain with the two founders' first name initials and a play on "corvette", a type of sub-destroyer in the the Royal Canadian Navy. War time restrictions on the commercial use of military terms were still in force, so the name had to be modified with a K...into "Korvette." Call me disappointed because I loved the urban legend story better.

Back to the gifted kit, which includes a BernzOmatic branded lighter but sadly the flint is completely worn out. Undeterred I ordered five new BernzOmatic branded flints for $8.70. I expected to receive a small envelope from Amazon but instead received a huge box that seemed way too heavy. Instead of a little pack of flints, I received this:

It's a BernzOmatic JT680 torch. Before reading the invoice, my kind and honest brainworm suggested I notify the seller of the mistake. After I read the invoice: "ACCOUNT SET TO NO BACK ORDER -- ALL PRODUCT NOT IN STOCK WILL BE CANCELLED" my unkind and greedy brain worm said: "Keep it and order more flints." I'm excited to see what this new order brings. My bucket has overflowed!

Dad's Bernzomatic torch was from the EJ Korvette's in Paramus, NJ. I never heard the store's origin story before, very cool.

I'm still working on a post about my trip to FL and meeting you and Liane.

 

[Ford52PU]

We had a Korvettes in Pa where I grew up. Great store

 

[kaymccampbell]

We had a Korvette in Colonie, at the Northway Mall. We had a Two Guys in Menands, a Westons and a JM Field in Latham. And of course, all the obligatory Woolworths, Grants, Neisners, Kmarts, Kresges, Jupiters, and all the different color trading stamp redemption centers. I do so miss them all.

 

[PhantomEB]

After this recent job scare, the wife said well at least the trailers be the first to go to make payments if need be….then I said yup but be warned if I sell, I will only buy bigger more than likely.

The things that are price less to me, the ability not to depend on anyone else, as well my truck and trailers

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, I constructed a seasonal use cover for the water faucet at the front of our house with this stuff.

Owens Corning FOAMULAR NGX F-250 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. SSE R-10 XPS Rigid Foam Board Insulation 52DDNGX - The Home Depot

Owens Corning FOAMULAR Scored Squared Edge Insulation Sheathing is perfect for use on wood, steel framing or concrete walls.

www.homedepot.com

It's super easy to work with. I made a little doghouse cover and it has worked as a safety measure for me during colder winters. It's easy to work with and one could glue it and screw it together to construct, whatever. reasonably tough and light.

Alan, that's a great solution and I like your style.

I don't expect I'll need an insulated box in Boca Raton. Last time we got close to 32°F was in December 2010 when it got down to 37°F ten miles from the coast (we're 1 mile as the seagull flies). Once, back in 1977, it snowed in Boca Raton for the first and only time since they started keeping records.

That's mine and my son's favorite quote. We always grab whatever it is and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". I think it started when he was young and we would be loading the snowmobiles or sand toys in the trailer and I'd grab a strap and say, "that's not goin' anywhere". Then he'd do the same thing and we'd chuckle about it.

Funny story, a few weeks ago I was helping my son out by taking his Jeep to get the emissions test done on it as he was laid up. When I returned and pulled it in his garage, my DIL brought my grandson out to the garage when he heard the door open. He wanted to see "Papa" and came out to see me. I noticed that my son finally got the vise that I gave him for his birthday a couple years earlier mounted to his workbench. I walked over and grabbed it and tugged on it and without even thinking just said, "that's not going anywhere". My DIL started laughing and when I asked her what was so funny she informed me that my son had done the EXACT same thing when he mounted it.

So obviously it has stuck with him even to this day.

Mike, the same words have come of my mouth, my son's mouth and grandson's mouth. I haven't heard it yet but I expect at least one of my great grandsons will say it (two are six and the third is two). The other often heard saying in our family is: "That's gonna leave a mark (or scar)!"

That expression makes me think of The Boondock Saints movie

Dennis, thanks for that! Liane and I watched the movie last night. Willem Dafoe was 44 in the movie and he'll turn 70 this year. It was Boston Irish homage to Pulp Fiction.

Mike, I had to laugh at your story! That is the exact joke my son and I use when we strap something down! Years ago, we were traveling somewhere and a riding lawn mower was in the barrow ditch. A guy in a pickup was parked down the road and was walking back to his busted up mower. My son said "that ain't goin nowhere" and we bust out laughing as I turned around to help him out.

Edit...sorry to hijack your thread Bob!

@Mr.zippy, I never have a clue where my mind or thread is headed so it's impossible to hijack.

When I see a nasty fender-bender (non-fatal accident) I usually say: "That'll buff out" even when the body panels are unrecognizable. When we pass a dilapidated or abandoned house, Liane always says either: "There's a place you can fix up" or "Couple of throw pillows and coat of paint and that one would be ready to move in."

I buy little deck boxes for equipment shelters for things like that. They have all kinds of sizes.

Kay, I have a small deck box for the 5-gallon pail of chlorine tablets, bags of shock treatment, extra hose sections for the pool cleaner and all the O-rings and accessories for the pool. It has seen better days but I'm waiting for it to break before I replace it.

I would have to do a lot of hacking to make one fit the space where it needs to go, The jumbo valve box I bought for $45 will need only one modification so it slips over the Liquid Tight conduit. I believe I have a 90° fitting to eliminate the big loop. The box is low enough to fit under the rack holding the storm shutter angle aluminum. The lid will allow me to get at the valve without having to move the box (it has no bottom). The box does have two slots to drop over 2" PVC pipes on the ends so may pop rivet some stuff to deter rodent squaters to set up housekeeping.

Dad's Bernzomatic torch was from the EJ Korvette's in Paramus, NJ. I never heard the store's origin story before, very cool.

I'm still working on a post about my trip to FL and meeting you and Liane.

Howard, looks like the Paramus store opened in 1967.

We had a Korvettes in Pa where I grew up. Great store

Dennis, I came across this tidbit that shows how good prices were at Korvettes.

We had a Korvette in Colonie, at the Northway Mall. We had a Two Guys in Menands, a Westons and a JM Field in Latham. And of course, all the obligatory Woolworths, Grants, Neisners, Kmarts, Kresges, Jupiters, and all the different color trading stamp redemption centers. I do so miss them all.

Kay, we sat down at the kitchen table every few months and filled stamp books (yellow and green) my grandmother gave me a Disston handsaw as a housewarming gift in July 1966. She cashed in her green stamps to get it and it meant everything to me. It was way better than the hand made mittens I always got for Christmas.

I grew up shopping for food with my mother the Food Fair near our home in North Babylon but sometimes went the A&P in Babylon village. When we went shopping at A&S (Abraham & Strauss) for school and Easter outfits we might stop at the Grand Union in the same Great South Bay shopping center for groceries. That Grand Union was my second job and I bicycled the five miles to and from the store every day. As I recall it was uphill both ways.

We also had Hills supermarkets that were bought up by E. J. Korvette.

After this recent job scare, the wife said well at least the trailers be the first to go to make payments if need be….then I said yup but be warned if I sell, I will only buy bigger more than likely.

The things that are price less to me, the ability not to depend on anyone else, as well my truck and trailers

@PhantomEB, my very first job that I quit at the end of hte second day made me keenly aware I could be jobless at any moment. I worked as hard as I could my whole life and never felt secure. The day I quit my last job in 1999 I felt a sudden sense of security because I had my pension, retirement accounts and savings with no mortgage, no car payments and all our bills (including credit cards) paid on time (mostly automatic). The relatively low stress in my life has likely helped me check that 'octogenarian' box.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I would have to do a lot of hacking to make one fit the space where it needs to go, The jumbo valve box I bought for $45 will need only one modification so it slips over the Liquid Tight conduit. I believe I have a 90° fitting to eliminate the big loop. The box is low enough to fit under the rack holding the storm shutter angle aluminum. The lid will allow me to get at the valve without having to move the box (it has no bottom). The box does have two slots to drop over 2" PVC pipes on the ends so may pop rivet some stuff to deter rodent squaters to set up housekeeping.

That is a magnificent solution. Up here, we don't use anything like that. At least that I'm aware of. I'm not sure I've ever seen one of those. If I buried that in my yard, it'd be on the surface in a year or two.

 

[Lou's Garage]

That is a magnificent solution. Up here, we don't use anything like that. At least that I'm aware of. I'm not sure I've ever seen one of those. If I buried that in my yard, it'd be on the surface in a year or two.

Those boxes are all over here (SC & GA), they usually house our water meters. With no frost line, to speak of, our water lines are all near the surface. The occasional deep freeze usually finds me insulating the meter and pipes inside that box. From experience (not mine, but my neighbor) I can confidently affirm that's where the pipes will burst from the cold.

Lou Manglass

 

[PhantomEB]

@PhantomEB, my very first job that I quit at the end of hte second day made me keenly aware I could be jobless at any moment. I worked as hard as I could my whole life and never felt secure. The day I quit my last job in 1999 I felt a sudden sense of security because I had my pension, retirement accounts and savings with no mortgage, no car payments and all our bills (including credit cards) paid on time (mostly automatic). The relatively low stress in my life has likely helped me check that 'octogenarian' box.

that’s exactly the words I been thinking in my head right now, now your words bolstered them up. Sure can’t wait for my Tax return and paycheck this week, straight to killing some room in a credit card, might even cut the small one in half as it’s an emergency one that I can use at Costco.

low stress for me would have another bronco for me and a VW for her.

 

[Bob Heine]

low stress for me would have another bronco for me and a VW for her.

@PhantomEB, there are three cars in our garage: 1987 Corvette convertible, 1972 Corvette coupe (454 automatic) and a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V. The '87 Vette and '11 -V make me feel young and stupid again. The '72 Vette has refurbished running gear from front to back, coilover suspension all around, hydroboost power brakes, custom exhaust system and a rack & pinion steering conversion. When I want to relieve stress I spend a few hours making nearly zero progress on the '72. Focusing on the car all but eliminates other thoughts or worries.

Our 2004 PT Cruiser Turbo sits in the driveway, ready to drive us the mile or so to our vet, doctors, drugstore and hospital so we stay alive. Rest of the time it's single digit mile drives to the food, auto supply, Home Depot and Lowe's stores. Liane is still mad that I sold our her '93 Buick Regal chromaholic 4-door sedan but admits the PT Cruiser (with several mods) has better seating angle/height, visibility and enough get up and go to imitate the 'Little Old Lady from Pasadena.'

 

[madison069]

I do like the rides of Buicks and Oldsmobiles from the late 80's and early 90's. with the 3.8L it was a reliable car and easy to work on if it needs it. The hood on the Buick was the kind that tilted forward, not too much of an issue working in the engine bay but wasn't the easiest though.

Edit cause I think it was the Buick that tilted forward and not the Oldsmobile, been almost 20 years since I’ve worked on them.

 

[gman007]

Our 2004 PT Cruiser Turbo sits in the driveway

Bob
The PT Cruiser is immaculate and looks like it just came out of show room but then again, one would not expect anything less knowing it is yours!

 

[oldironfarmer]

Bob, I constructed a seasonal use cover for the water faucet at the front of our house with this stuff.

Owens Corning FOAMULAR NGX F-250 2 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft. SSE R-10 XPS Rigid Foam Board Insulation 52DDNGX - The Home Depot

Owens Corning FOAMULAR Scored Squared Edge Insulation Sheathing is perfect for use on wood, steel framing or concrete walls.

www.homedepot.com

It's super easy to work with. I made a little doghouse cover and it has worked as a safety measure for me during colder winters. It's easy to work with and one could glue it and screw it together to construct, whatever. reasonably tough and light.

I can lost foam cast that into aluminum...

 

[kitdoctor]

When I want to relieve stress I spend a few hours making nearly zero progress on the '72. Focusing on the car all but eliminates other thoughts or worries.

@Bob Heine the mental health benefit of owning old cars.

 

[Jgaz]

Bob,
Collecting a retirement check (almost) as long as you were employed by the company!
You're my hero.

I only know one person personally that has accomplished that.
Too many guys I worked with stayed too long, had no life outside work, couldn’t give up the OT, etc. etc.

The last guy I worked with that retired lived less than 6 months.
He could have left 10 years ago when I did. Sad!

I didn’t start at the company until I was almost 30, retired before I was 60.
I wouldn’t trade the last 10 years for any amount of money I might have earned.

People used to tell me “you retired too soon”.
I responded with, “My mom died at 62 and my wife’s mother died at 42, so please don’t try to convince me of that”

 

[oldironfarmer]

Bob,
Collecting a retirement check (almost) as long as you were employed by the company!
You're my hero.

I only know one person personally that has accomplished that.
Too many guys I worked with stayed too long, had no life outside work, couldn’t give up the OT, etc. etc.

The last guy I worked with that retired lived less than 6 months.
He could have left 10 years ago when I did. Sad!

I didn’t start at the company until I was almost 30, retired before I was 60.
I wouldn’t trade the last 10 years for any amount of money I might have earned.

People used to tell me “you retired too soon”.
I responded with, “My mom died at 62 and my wife’s mother died at 42, so please don’t try to convince me of that”

I regularly have someone call me and insist I go back to work for them. I've boiled it down to "You'll want me to talk to people I don't like", they agree and understand.

 

[Bob Heine]

That is a magnificent solution. Up here, we don't use anything like that. At least that I'm aware of. I'm not sure I've ever seen one of those. If I buried that in my yard, it'd be on the surface in a year or two.

Kay, those boxes are pretty common in the south. They are thick HDPE and the tapered sides and turned up bottom edge helps keep them secured in the ground in warm climates. You are right, just like shingles, frost doesn't care. If you like different colors, they make tan boxes to blend in with sandy soil and offer purple lids for recycled non-potable water systems (the purple lids have the warning embossed in the cover).

Amazon.com : Valve Box and Cover

Those boxes are all over here (SC & GA), they usually house our water meters. With no frost line, to speak of, our water lines are all near the surface. The occasional deep freeze usually finds me insulating the meter and pipes inside that box. From experience (not mine, but my neighbor) I can confidently affirm that's where the pipes will burst from the cold.

Lou Manglass

Lou, the only time we had a problem was back in the early '80s. It got below freezing and the copper line leading to the solar hot water system on the patio roof burst. The company I bought it from fixed the leak and added a sensor that turned the pump on when it got below freezing. Kinda defeated the whole purpose of the system by adding freezing water to the 80-gallon storage tank. That whole system soured me on solar anything. The sales pitch said my electric bill would drop and the government tax credit would offset most of the cost of the system. Three years after I filed for the credit, which did lower my taxes, a letter from the IRS denied the credit because the 80-gallon tank had an electric heater as a backup. In addition to paying the tax back, there was three years of interest and underpayment penalties added on. The solar company was long gone but the company that bought them out reminded me that I was 'leasing' the system and had to pay the full cost of the system (minus depreciation) to avoid the lease payment doubling. The whole lease clause was buried in the contract and claimed it would be waived based on the down payment I paid.

As usual, my 'Oh Boy, I'm gonna be rich' brain cells overrode my 'Bull$hit' lizard brain cells (aka instinct).

I do like the rides of Buicks and Oldsmobiles from the late 80's and early 90's. with the 3.8L it was a reliable car and easy to work on if it needs it. The hood on the Buick was the kind that tilted forward, not too much of an issue working in the engine bay but wasn't the easiest though.

Edit cause I think it was the Buick that tilted forward and not the Oldsmobile, been almost 20 years since I’ve worked on them.

Cody, Liane liked the Buick's ride and its looks but her favorite boat was the Ford Crown Victoria I rented in California back in the mid-'90s. She liked that one even better than the Lincoln Town cars we had in the '70s. I thought she would like the Cadillac CTS-V but says it rides too 'rough' (she has no idea the car has a 'sport' mode setting that I never use when she's in the car) and the Recaro seats are not comfortable, even after I spent 45 minutes adjusting the height, tilt and lumbar support to suit her. Feels like some kind of passive agressive thing because I told her I'd sell the car and get something she likes better and her response was: "No, I know how much you love this car" with that 'so I'll suffer to make you happy' part left unspoken.

Bob
The PT Cruiser is immaculate and looks like it just came out of show room but then again, one would not expect anything less knowing it is yours!

@gman007, Liane learned to park a car using the concrete parking stop to be sure the boat (Lincoln Town Car) was as far into the space as possible. I put Eibach lowering/stiffer springs on the PT Cruiser because the stock stance displeased me. The front springs lowered the car enough so the air dam under the front bumper cover would scrape over the stop and snap free when the tires hit the stop. Backing out would tear the cover off the side mounts. A small piece of angle aluminum and pop rivets made the bumper cover repair a quick job. I did the job often enough that I stored diagonal cutters, a bunch of rivets, and a cheap tool to set them in the bag that held the necessities (fire extinguisher, blanket for accident victims, HF $10 air compressor, ratchet wrench, ratchet straps, etc.). By the third or fourth episode the cover was in bad shape so I replaced it. Paid a local body shop to paint it.

The bumper repair saga continued for years and the pit stop to repair it got faster and faster. Eventually, the clear the body shop used failed so I ordered bumper cover #3 and stored it in the attic until I could fix the source of the problem. Put new shocks on the car and added a second spacer to the front struts. That raised the cover just enough to clear the stops. A year later I retrieved the new bumper cover and prepped it for paint. Here's what the old and new covers looked like in 2020.

Early in the car's life Liane broke the passenger side mirror so I ordered a new one. I did not know Chrysler made different shape mirrors for different models and years for the PT Cruiser so the passenger mirror was an annoyingly different shape (OK, it annoyed me and no one else ever noticed). I ended up buying two new mirrors for my year and model and putting them on the 'someday' shelf. If you're mixing paint for a bumper cover and you have a little left over, why not paint those black plastic mirrors to match the body color. Chrysler never offered color matched mirrors so I did it myself. Not much of a transformation but it made me happy.

The clearcoat on the roof and hood is crazing from the Florida sun so it needs a refresh.

If the clear on the roof and hood starts flaking off like it did on the front bumper, I'll sand it down and re-do those panels. The SPI Universal clear I use has fantastic UV protection and really holds up. I've painted several cars and three front bumper covers on the PT Cruiser so I know I can do it. Might require moving the wedding chapel to the driveway for a couple of days when I'm ready to shoot primer, color and clear. It would also give me a chance to get rid of the emblem on the hood and weld the holes up. I'm a child of the '50s so "Nosed and Decked" is my go-to style (I also remove factory and dealer stick-on emblems). The hatch isn't crazed so the decklid won't need paint and the bolted-on emblem and hatch release handle will stay (for now).

I can lost foam cast that into aluminum...

Andy, that would make an amazing hat for me to wear out in the sun. Might have to round off the edges and then sand and buff it to a brilliant shine.

@Bob Heine the mental health benefit of owning old cars.

@kitdoctor, there's also the weight savings -- it keeps my wallet very thin and ligt weight.

Bob,
Collecting a retirement check (almost) as long as you were employed by the company!
You're my hero.

I only know one person personally that has accomplished that.
Too many guys I worked with stayed too long, had no life outside work, couldn’t give up the OT, etc. etc.

The last guy I worked with that retired lived less than 6 months.
He could have left 10 years ago when I did. Sad!

I didn’t start at the company until I was almost 30, retired before I was 60.
I wouldn’t trade the last 10 years for any amount of money I might have earned.

People used to tell me “you retired too soon”.
I responded with, “My mom died at 62 and my wife’s mother died at 42, so please don’t try to convince me of that”

@Jgaz, it was the best decision of my life.

I went to work for IBM in mid-October 1964 and I resigned in October 1993 (in return for a year's salary) and immediately went to work doing the exact same job for the same salary but being paid by a subcontract company for my final year. To 'get rid of me,' they waived all pension reduction based on age so my pension was the same as if I was retiring at 65 even though I was 50. They also allowed me to remain on their group health insurance plan until I was eligible for Medicare.

IBM deposited my first retirement check electronically in my bank on November 1, 1994 so I passed the 30-year employed/retired timeline November 1, 2024. With many of my early years' salary being low (started at $350 per month) the total amount I earned in those 30 working years leveled out the good years so it looks like the salary/pension amounts will cross in two years. I'm not counting overtime, international assignment adjustments and awards in the salary number but it doesn't matter.

In my years working at IBM I accumulated a fair bit of vacation time so Liane and I traveled a lot. Some of the travel included the kids but at least once a year Liane and I went on a cruise, to a Club Med or tied a business trip to a vacation. Our kids were already on their own when we took the two year assignment to Australia and our oldest flew over for a two week vacation from her job as lead engineer for Pratt Whitney's stress analysis laboratory.

I had 5 reasons for retiring as early as possible:

1. My brother's suicide in January 1964 when he was 21 (I was 19, married with two children).
2. My accident in September 1965 that came wihin a gnat's *** of ending my life.
3. My paternal grandfather's death in Septmber 1935 (nine years before I was born) at 53.
4. My father's death in November 1968 at 55.
5. My uncle's (father's brother) death in March 1971, less than a month after he turned 56.

I may have been able to buy a bigger house, fancier car, nicer **** things if I spent another 15 or 20 years earning a paycheck but no amount of money can buy back that precious time spent doing things I/we enjoy. You might say I gave up my youth, getting married at 17 and having two children right away but that turned into an amazing blessing. I was young when they were growing up so I had all the ADHD needed to keep up with them. Our youngest turned 31 the day I received my first pension check. He had three children of his own by then. He and his wife stopped at seven and our daughter and her husband stopped at two. Those three children are now in their 30s and two of them have three children of their own. I get to be The Great Grandpa Bob to six children. Three of those children live near us in Boca Raton. Much as I hate social media sites, I do check in on the family with quick peeks into Facebook.

I discovered our nearly two great granddaughter Liane Roberta has been busy since moving to Boca Raton the day after Christmas. When she's not working at the farm, picking (and eating) fresh strawberries...

...she goes to the beach but was disappointed that she missed the hours when dogs are allowed on Bark Beach.

It's obvious she got over it quickly, after all, it's a day at the beach in early March.

I regularly have someone call me and insist I go back to work for them. I've boiled it down to "You'll want me to talk to people I don't like", they agree and understand.

Andy, no one has ever asked me to go back to work for them. I feel awful that I don't give a **** care.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Bob, I see so many parallels in our lives. Reasons for early retirement, travel, brother’s suicide and of all things bumpers. Oh by the way your Great Granddaughter is a cutie. For me that would be probably 20 years down the road but who knows. I do know where my convertible is going, so now to try and educate my Grandson that most problems don’t have to be solved with a hammer.

 

[jon72vega]

Bob,
Your great-granddaughter is a cutie!
I see she was named to honor both you and Liane! COOL!

 

[Bob Heine]

Bob, I see so many parallels in our lives. Reasons for early retirement, travel, brother’s suicide and of all things bumpers. Oh by the way your Great Granddaughter is a cutie. For me that would be probably 20 years down the road but who knows. I do know where my convertible is going, so now to try and educate my Grandson that most problems don’t have to be solved with a hammer.

Emil, it's always amazing to learn how many things we have in common. I've decided to leave our vehicles to our son. At 61 he knows how to use the appropriate tools. It's his decision to share the fleet with others but even our youngest grandson is 22 and working in the family construction business: Heine Site Construction.

It's fun to watch the generations grow up. Small people are almost always cute -- I suspect it's a survival thing that goes back to the cave dwellers.

Bob,
Your great-granddaughter is a cutie!
I see she was named to honor both you and Liane! COOL!

Jon, it could be a ruse to move them up to the top of our wills but I'm going with 'they like us.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The BernzOmatic saga continues...
My first order was this:

So they delivered this:

I thought perhaps the problem was the brand, FORTX405 flints, so I ordered another five-pack of BernzOmatic brand flints from Amazon:

Aamazon delivered another package, which contained this (it includes one FlintSpark Lighter}:

Frustrated, I tried eBay and they have what I want:

At $10 per flint, I reluctantly went back to Amazon.

Because I have a very nice BernzOmatic Mapp gas torch with a push button starter, I decided to buy a similar torch, along with 25 flints.

 

[y'sguy]

Hey Bob, since you were on the subject, I may as well ask here. I've heard that the Benzomatic MAPP gas is no longer the high temp that it once was. Have you heard this? It would be a shame as it performed really well for me for certain tasks.
Also, I appreciate your research on tracking down the same problem I have with my trigger torch. Bad flint.
So, let me know what you find out as I'm having the exact same issue as of now. I need FIRE!
Cheers!