Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT 3rd time's a charm with a 3 car workshop

[loganb]

Wow, you went all in on the dust collector. Not really it’s intended use but one thing I love to use it for is vacuuming out the cars, since it still works great on low suction and is so much quieter than my shop vac. Hope you like it.

Haven't used it for much but so far loving it. The lower volume with lower suction is awesome compared to the "controlled leakage" method on a typical shop vac that's still screaming away.

The marking / measuring foam drawer is looking good. Interesting technique with the router and spiral bit… I’ve wondered if that would work. I find Kaizen extremely difficult to pluck the layers cleanly. Normally I cut the shape all the way through, then peel the needed depth off the bottom and place the piece back. That way the indented surface is actually the original top layer, nice and clean. Would mess up the two-tone you’ve got going on, but works ok with solid color.

I've done that method on gun case foam before...it works well! With this 2 color it's not as handy but this seems to work pretty well so far....made a bit more progress here this afternoon getting more tool "reliefs" cut in

Never heard of it but the Harry Epstein store looks sweet.

Super sweet! If you pass thru the area it's definitely worth a stop!

Re: the doorbell automation, a light would work well but if there is a package sensor that passes through to Home Assistant and you have a compatible speaker (smart speaker, Sonos, HomePod, etc), you could have it announce when a package is delivered in real time. Or if you want to get fancy you could use a motion sensor to announce there is a package when you pass by the front door.

Hum.....gonna add that to the "cool stuff to work on list"! Thanks!

In other news....busy week with starting the new job. Lots of first week introductions, shadows, IT issues with new accounts and being bounced between local distributor IT support vs corp support as they ping-ponged whose end the issue was on but by end of the week it was mostly resolved. Computer, phone, email, truck, fuel card all work....so guess that's what matters.

Truck is a 2025 Taco SR....not overly optioned out but it's sufficient for what I need



Some running boards and mudflaps are on the way....need to probably add a seat cover for the back as there are car seats in it. Initial reaction to it....bit more engine noise but it's a 2.4L 4 banger so it's rev'ing harder then the 5.3L in the Chevy I'm used to. They may have gone a bit overboard with the "rugged" plastic on the interior....but that likely gets softened up as you option it up. Haven't figured out all the various driver safety stuff but it's got adaptive cruise, lane minding, some level of automated braking along with satellite radio so I can cruise around with fewer radio ad's at least.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

That little turbo 4 puts up impressive numbers. 317ft/lbs @ 1700rpm.

Hopefully it's got the Toyota reliability built in as well. My 2003 Tundra just clicked over 248k.

 

[loganb]

That little turbo 4 puts up impressive numbers. 317ft/lbs @ 1700rpm.

Hopefully it's got the Toyota reliability built in as well. My 2003 Tundra just clicked over 248k.

Agreed! I was surprised at the numbers from the relatively tiny powerplant. 270 hp, went to Lincoln on Friday and with traffic moving along at about 84 mph(75 mph speed limit) it had 0 issues passing or responding when I asked it to. Mileage on the first tank was about 21 mpg and about half was in town so not bad.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Agreed! I was surprised at the numbers from the relatively tiny powerplant. 270 hp, went to Lincoln on Friday and with traffic moving along at about 84 mph(75 mph speed limit) it had 0 issues passing or responding when I asked it to. Mileage on the first tank was about 21 mpg and about half was in town so not bad.

Wife's 2014 Tacoma with the 4.0L V6 gets about 19mpg back and forth to work on summer blend fuel, so that is impressive. I bet that 8 speed transmission helps too.

 

[loganb]

Found why she's a bit noisier from the engine bay...



SR trim gets you no beauty covers or noise dampening material underhood....oh well

Mud flaps went on



Right angle M12 was handy



All in all about 20 minutes for the set...on a 65 degree afternoon...winning.

 

[loganb]

Little more progress on the truck...running boards



Packaging was pretty good




Instructions were surprisingly good



Install was straight forward, another chance to use the M12 Ratchet.





Total about an hour spent including clean up

Steps are these

TAC Sidewinder Side Steps Running Boards Fit 2024-2025 Tacoma Double C

1.FITS PERFECTLY--- Only fits 2024-2025 Tacoma Double Cab (Incl. Hybrid model) (Please feel free to contact us if you are not sure if this item fits your vehicle.) 2.OE QUALITY MADE--- Made of 2mm-thickness heavy-duty carbon steel, process e-coating and fine-texture powder coating for double...

www.tacautoparts.com

For 250 bucks I'm impressed and would recommend and should help the wife and kids get in

In other projects...about all that's happened is got most of the rest of this foam cut out....once I find where I set the 6" square to complete the 4 piece set i can finish this up and get it back into the drawer.

 

[loganb]

Dang....almost 2 weeks since an update. Well...still alive. New job is going well, just some adjusting which is fully expected. Old job I was pretty specialized technical support....narrow scope but deep. This job is broader scope and support areas, just not as deep (generally) on any particular thing. In addition to that looks like father in law's cancer is back and out of remission for the 2nd time....so we'll see how that process goes...but it will likely take significant bandwidth

Didn't take much work to get this bought in week 1:



Will be used for a variety of things, but starting will be a lot of support 5S/toolholders/organization stuff for our shop/warehouse team. Also some prototype stuff, drill jigs to replace printed templates for certain hardware prep....and probably customized swag and desk toys of course.

On to the garage....not a ton of progress. These came home with me today:



Pair of Durham 4 drawer organizer boxes for $250 for the pair...I usually see them listed for about 250 to 300 each and it was close by so I snatched them up. I've run out of the cheap plastic Husky boxes I got from Depot a couple years ago and they've changed the ones they have now so I can't just buy more that match. So now to figure out where these go and what goes in them.

Also had a fun mid week blizzard...was 80 on Monday, then this on Wednesday...60+ mph winds with super heavy snow but at least for us only a couple inches of it:



Next day we saw this:



Some of the dirtiest snow I've ever seen. Was apparently dirt from Texas/New Mexico that got kicked up and into the front before it moved north and dumped over us. Car washes did bang up business, my back deck is still filthy from it. We only lost power for a couple hours fortunately, so impact was minimal other than the town shutdown.

 

[XJSuperman]

Glad the snow stuck with you. We had rain and it was just as dirty as your snow. A car wash has not fully removed the dirt so far. Neither has the rain that came after that.

 

[loganb]

Glad the snow stuck with you. We had rain and it was just as dirty as your snow. A car wash has not fully removed the dirt so far. Neither has the rain that came after that.

Fortunately the car wash was successful in removing the dirt in a single pass

 

[Boostingaz]

@loganb

Sorry to hear about your FIL. Prayers that they will be able to get it knocked back into remission!

 

[loganb]

@loganb

Sorry to hear about your FIL. Prayers that they will be able to get it knocked back into remission!

Appreciate the support! Being frank, remission isn't the path this is likely going down. It's a fairly rare cancer, he had an almost fatal reaction to the primary treatment and due to the rarity of it they didn't really have a tested next option but they put something together that worked for a year or so. Came back...a trial study knocked it back and kept it at bay for about another year, but the trial was never expected/intended to be a cure, just a slow it down for an unknown time period.

At this point there just aren't a lot of tools in the doc's toolbox to use here. They're going down dual paths right now for next steps on a cell therapy and radiation as they don't know which one(if either) get approved by insurance, so that next step should be decided in the next week or two based on insurance and his workup results for each treatment path.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Cancer *****. I'll add you guys in my prayers.

 

[Xti04]

Sorry to hears that Logan. We diagnose a lot of first time or undiagnosed cancer in the ER. Had one my last shift. 47y/o lady who just felt fatigued. Labs were pretty normal and she was being so kind and patient. Her scan came back after I left and she was eat up with cancer. My medic buddy who works triage with me said when him and the doc told her that she just fell apart. Had my buddy in tears over it. Its so indiscriminate and can happen so fast. Prayers for your family whatever the outcome may be.

 

[Boostingaz]

Appreciate the support! Being frank, remission isn't the path this is likely going down. It's a fairly rare cancer, he had an almost fatal reaction to the primary treatment and due to the rarity of it they didn't really have a tested next option but they put something together that worked for a year or so. Came back...a trial study knocked it back and kept it at bay for about another year, but the trial was never expected/intended to be a cure, just a slow it down for an unknown time period.

At this point there just aren't a lot of tools in the doc's toolbox to use here. They're going down dual paths right now for next steps on a cell therapy and radiation as they don't know which one(if either) get approved by insurance, so that next step should be decided in the next week or two based on insurance and his workup results for each treatment path.

Hopefully this doesn't put me in GJ time out again......this is purely a medical perspective NOT political !! It's a sad world we live in where insurance can decide your fate and a course of treatment rather than THE freaking doctor. I only say this because I have some medical issues myself and my medications every few years become a dig in your heels fight to get a new authorization for. The insurance wants me to always try cheaper options or whatever latest and greatest TV commercial at the time, however reality is none of them work. They just don't want to fork the 3k+ a month for my RX costs. They try and unilaterally decide my course of treatment should be the cheaper option not the effective option.

Rant over sorry.

FIL will be in my prayers regardless. Having just went through this with my grandpa I hope that if the big man is calling his name you will all get your moment of peace and then know that he will be MUCH better off than in this world !

 

[loganb]

Sorry to hears that Logan. We diagnose a lot of first time or undiagnosed cancer in the ER. Had one my last shift. 47y/o lady who just felt fatigued. Labs were pretty normal and she was being so kind and patient. Her scan came back after I left and she was eat up with cancer. My medic buddy who works triage with me said when him and the doc told her that she just fell apart. Had my buddy in tears over it. Its so indiscriminate and can happen so fast. Prayers for your family whatever the outcome may be.

This was essentially an ER diagnosis as well. Some ongoing behavior changes, but his doc wasn't overly concerned and had ordered some tests but no imaging. Some things happened over a weekend, taken to ER, imaging done and admitted without telling what it was, found out a couple hours later after additional imaging confirmed tumors in the brain.

Thanks for all you and your medical coworkers do, spending more time being able to watch and observe makes me more thankful for all you go thru and do.

 

[Boostingaz]

Sorry to hears that Logan. We diagnose a lot of first time or undiagnosed cancer in the ER. Had one my last shift. 47y/o lady who just felt fatigued. Labs were pretty normal and she was being so kind and patient. Her scan came back after I left and she was eat up with cancer. My medic buddy who works triage with me said when him and the doc told her that she just fell apart. Had my buddy in tears over it. Its so indiscriminate and can happen so fast. Prayers for your family whatever the outcome may be.

I have been in this boat as of the last year. Went in to just check a skin tag/mole whatever you want to call them that had changed colors on me.....boom melanoma. Had to have a 3" incision and a good chunk taken out of my bicep. If I hold my arms out like wings I legit have a very prominent divit in my one arm now. I've had 6 other spots removed since that. It scares the sh*# out of me so I am constantly going to my derm now living paranoid over every little spot or bump.

 

[Boostingaz]

This was essentially an ER diagnosis as well. Some ongoing behavior changes, but his doc wasn't overly concerned and had ordered some tests but no imaging. Some things happened over a weekend, taken to ER, imaging done and admitted without telling what it was, found out a couple hours later after additional imaging confirmed tumors in the brain.

Thanks for all you and your medical coworkers do, spending more time being able to watch and observe makes me more thankful for all you go thru and do.

Spend as much time that you can with him and definitely get those kiddos some quality time with Grandpa as well. As you probably know my Grandpa was diagnosed with a brain tumor, inoperable due to size and location. Truly lucky for him he went very quickly. This is one of those times that I can honestly say, I know what your going through and because of that you and your family will be in our prayers.

 

[Xti04]

This was essentially an ER diagnosis as well. Some ongoing behavior changes, but his doc wasn't overly concerned and had ordered some tests but no imaging. Some things happened over a weekend, taken to ER, imaging done and admitted without telling what it was, found out a couple hours later after additional imaging confirmed tumors in the brain.

Thanks for all you and your medical coworkers do, spending more time being able to watch and observe makes me more thankful for all you go thru and do.

Logan, folks like you who are truly appreciative are about the only reason I do this stuff. When you get a day where every pt is drunk , high, combative or rude it makes me wish we could put them in a pit and let them fight it out for who gets to survive. I had a girl thank me for helping her last shift and I almost didnt know how to respond. Its usually hey nurse wheres my meds or how much longer is this gonna take etc.

 

[loganb]

Cancer *****. I'll add you guys in my prayers.

Thanks Marc!

Hopefully this doesn't put me in GJ time out again......this is purely a medical perspective NOT political !! It's a sad world we live in where insurance can decide your fate and a course of treatment rather than THE freaking doctor. I only say this because I have some medical issues myself and my medications every few years become a dig in your heels fight to get a new authorization for. The insurance wants me to always try cheaper options or whatever latest and greatest TV commercial at the time, however reality is none of them work. They just don't want to fork the 3k+ a month for my RX costs. They try and unilaterally decide my course of treatment should be the cheaper option not the effective option.

Rant over sorry.

FIL will be in my prayers regardless. Having just went through this with my grandpa I hope that if the big man is calling his name you will all get your moment of peace and then know that he will be MUCH better off than in this world !

Yeah, I don't think anyone would say our current healthcare payer/payee/system is anywhere close to optimal or even "acceptable" for one of the major superpowers in the world...but it's what we've got to deal with. We've had fairly good luck with his....as long as they were trying to do the "standard of care" for the illness/ailment in question. Once we fell off the standard of care....it went off the rails quickly. Which when you have a fairly rare diagnoses(approx 1400 cases a year)....and you have a near fatal reaction to the standard of care....you find out how good the medical team is.

Spend as much time that you can with him and definitely get those kiddos some quality time with Grandpa as well. As you probably know my Grandpa was diagnosed with a brain tumor, inoperable due to size and location. Truly lucky for him he went very quickly. This is one of those times that I can honestly say, I know what your going through and because of that you and your family will be in our prayers.

Yeah, we're trying...the challenge is attitude on the patients part....it's not good. We're going to have some tough conversations in the weeks ahead to understand the reasoning as there are some medical related items there due to where his tumors originally were, but it's also being driven by personal choices we're not happy with and is starting to bother others....so that'll be fun.

Logan, folks like you who are truly appreciative are about the only reason I do this stuff. When you get a day where every pt is drunk , high, combative or rude it makes me wish we could put them in a pit and let them fight it out for who gets to survive. I had a girl thank me for helping her last shift and I almost didnt know how to respond. Its usually hey nurse wheres my meds or how much longer is this gonna take etc.

Yeah.....I'm with you...toss them in the pit, winner gets their meds, loser goes to the back of the line. The closest I've been to the ER in awhile is the HBO Show the Pitt which the wife had to stop watching cause it was a bit too real on a couple episodes. I sometimes deal with some upset customers in the day job and it's got nothing on what you guys handle day in an day out. Makes me think a bit differently about an opening on the team we've got though and where we could be targeting for applicants...

When we had our son in the NICU I enjoyed spending a couple hours there in the evenings as I got to actually talk with the staff more, but the atmosphere in those longer stay wings is so much different from the ER where you're dealing with everyone and anyone, often times on one of the worst days they've had in awhile or maybe every. The medical side of it is intriguing and interesting to me but I didn't like biology/organic chemistry enough in school to want to do that....after seeing it in real life I think the people side may have tired me out faster than the other aspects. Thank you again for what you and your coworkers do/tolerate/put up with to help the rest of us out!

 

[Xti04]

Thanks Marc!



Yeah, I don't think anyone would say our current healthcare payer/payee/system is anywhere close to optimal or even "acceptable" for one of the major superpowers in the world...but it's what we've got to deal with. We've had fairly good luck with his....as long as they were trying to do the "standard of care" for the illness/ailment in question. Once we fell off the standard of care....it went off the rails quickly. Which when you have a fairly rare diagnoses(approx 1400 cases a year)....and you have a near fatal reaction to the standard of care....you find out how good the medical team is.



Yeah, we're trying...the challenge is attitude on the patients part....it's not good. We're going to have some tough conversations in the weeks ahead to understand the reasoning as there are some medical related items there due to where his tumors originally were, but it's also being driven by personal choices we're not happy with and is starting to bother others....so that'll be fun.



Yeah.....I'm with you...toss them in the pit, winner gets their meds, loser goes to the back of the line. The closest I've been to the ER in awhile is the HBO Show the Pitt which the wife had to stop watching cause it was a bit too real on a couple episodes. I sometimes deal with some upset customers in the day job and it's got nothing on what you guys handle day in an day out. Makes me think a bit differently about an opening on the team we've got though and where we could be targeting for applicants...

When we had our son in the NICU I enjoyed spending a couple hours there in the evenings as I got to actually talk with the staff more, but the atmosphere in those longer stay wings is so much different from the ER where you're dealing with everyone and anyone, often times on one of the worst days they've had in awhile or maybe every. The medical side of it is intriguing and interesting to me but I didn't like biology/organic chemistry enough in school to want to do that....after seeing it in real life I think the people side may have tired me out faster than the other aspects. Thank you again for what you and your coworkers do/tolerate/put up with to help the rest of us out!

If you got a remote opening for your team and need an out of the box thinker pm me! I want out of the thunder dome!

 

[loganb]

If you got a remote opening for your team and need an out of the box thinker pm me! I want out of the thunder dome!

Unfortunately it's one that can be done remote.

Field manager position supervising/checking on installation of windows/doors in existing construction, generally residential applications. The role needs both construction knowledge and strong customer skills with homeowners getting their windows replaced, but in this scenario the customer side is more important and the construction knowledge doesn't need to be super deep. They've been trying to find a construction person but haven't found one with high enough people side skills, might be time to adjust the target and look for folks in roles that require good people skills and just teach the construction stuff. Plus...for existing construction/replacement work the construction knowledge needed isn't that hard. Studs, headers, sheathing...if it's rotten or damaged we got to fix it....done.

 

[iced98lx]

Whoa, missed a bunch of updates.

Absolute heart goes out to your FIL and the whole family during the upcoming weeks and months.

Glad to hear the job is going well! Personally, I have to assume that with a couple weeks training, especially if you can stick them on a job site with an experienced installer, a solid logical thinker could grasp how window/door installation is supposed to go, how flashing works, etc.

 

[loganb]

Whoa, missed a bunch of updates.

Absolute heart goes out to your FIL and the whole family during the upcoming weeks and months.

Glad to hear the job is going well! Personally, I have to assume that with a couple weeks training, especially if you can stick them on a job site with an experienced installer, a solid logical thinker could grasp how window/door installation is supposed to go, how flashing works, etc.

Thanks sir! You're spot on about the training, especially in replacement applications it's not overly complicated and we have an incredible group of installers who are very good at what they do. The field manager is mostly checking on progress on larger or more complicated projects, ensuring paperwork/admin is done right so the installers get paid and working thru situations that come up if they find significant damage to the structure when the existing units get removed. Opened one up last week and EIFS was done wrong(like most from this age of house) and sheathing and studs had the consistency of "mush"....no bueno.

 

[jonshonda]

Nice choice on the Taco! Fellow Toyota/Lexus fan here as well! They ain't perfect but they sure are pretty great!

We got the same dirty snow here in Wisconsin!

Nice choice on the Bambu X1 Carbon. Bambu has done a great job with the overall user experience! I personally don't print straight off the app anymore as the print settings can be pretty funky, so I pull everything into bambu studio and apply settings as needed.

 

[loganb]

New addition to the work Taco



Needed something to hold hardhat, small toolbelt, and some other tools without running off and didn't want them in the cab.

Was trying to avoid packout to be less of a potential magnet for thieves, but the larger packouts were the only ones I found with what I thought was acceptable points to allow a cable lock thru them. If this was a personal truck I would put a hard cover on it, but as it's not didn't want to drop that kinda coin on it and as it's a new generation there aren't many used ones on the market.

Was ideally looking for something with drawers that were deep enough to hold the hardhat, but couldn't find that. Drawers were thought to be preferred as with the locking tailgate and the box secured to the floor the locked tailgate would keep things secure...but couldn't find that so a padlock will work. Next up will be browsing the online sites to find 3d printed parts for the base to secure it in place then modify as required to match the bedliner grooves.

 

[loganb]

Little nap time progress. Picked this up a couple weeks ago from the local import tool store (harbor freight) but hadn't gotten out of the box yet. Nap time was a cleaning push which made a bit of progress and at least got this out of the box and the box thrown away.



Intention is that it becomes the base for the drum sander. Jack it up, unbolt, slide it over then stuff the base somewhere not yet decided yet. Sander should then be able to live under the wing or tablesaw outfeed as I just don't have the floorspace and usage for it right now to justify it taking up some prime real estate in the middle of the damn area

This is the 1k lb lift cart, added in a 20 or 25% off single item coupon so price wasn't terrible. If i need to it can also be pushed into "unload heavy stuff from truck bed" duty by sliding the sander onto a workbench and using it to help unload something overly heavy. Not the best solution in the world but better then I had before it was purchased. The neighbor with a Tommy Gate lift on his work truck is a much better solution if he's around!

 

[loganb]

Well it seems to work and fits where I wanted





Need to trim the handles a bit, feels sturdy enough to not have an issue when sanding but haven't tried that yet

 

[madison069]

Never easy watching loves ones go through illness that's essentially the end of their life. It's an emotional and physical roller coaster for the person and their love ones.

 

[bigredcornhead]

Greeting and salutations fellow Nebraskan, popping into leave words of encouragement! Shop is looking awesome, always amazes me the cleanliness and OCD of fellow garage journalists. Keep it up!

 

[loganb]

Never easy watching loves ones go through illness that's essentially the end of their life. It's an emotional and physical roller coaster for the person and their love ones.

Yeah, my first rodeo at this type of thing....would love it to by the only time but odds are it's not. I've got more experience with dementia/memory "issues" and similar symptoms here (it's essentially but not actually brain cancer) is making it more of a "ride" as we're not always sure on mental state of the patient. We'll muddle thru it...but I chuckle when I see the "Crucial Conversations" book on my shelf from work and think about how I thought those were the hard conversations....maybe I'm just better at them and it's lack of experience on these....but yeah.

Greeting and salutations fellow Nebraskan, popping into leave words of encouragement! Shop is looking awesome, always amazes me the cleanliness and OCD of fellow garage journalists. Keep it up!

Thanks sir....appreciate it! Hope things are good for you closer to the river part of town! Spent some time on Sunday on cleanup as Tuesday is trash day and it's looking better....but I do appreciate the feedback as it helps remind me that my expectations are probably a bit high at times! Really I need to just get out there and make some sawdust and I'll feel better. It'd really look better if I kicked the wifes car back out and also expelled the kids stuff....that probably wouldn't go well though

 

[madison069]

Yeah, my first rodeo at this type of thing....would love it to by the only time but odds are it's not. I've got more experience with dementia/memory "issues" and similar symptoms here (it's essentially but not actually brain cancer) is making it more of a "ride" as we're not always sure on mental state of the patient. We'll muddle thru it...but I chuckle when I see the "Crucial Conversations" book on my shelf from work and think about how I thought those were the hard conversations....maybe I'm just better at them and it's lack of experience on these....but yeah.

Unfortunately, I've experienced these situations more than once with the first one as a kid. It changes your perspective on what's important and what's really hard. Because of my experience I've grown short tempered to people who thinks small stuff is the end of the world. I have to constantly remind myself it's just the person's lack of experience and they had a good life so far.

 

[loganb]

Well in typical fashion, I've gone and done something foolish and bought a new time **** when I'm already short of time.....oh well.

An LLC is being setup and a fiber laser should show up next week for engraving cups, tumblers, coasters and other related things....also working on getting the CO2 laser running as well. The new employer is a distributor aka sales team and goes thru swag like sailors go thru a bar on shore leave. They also have a strong penchant for customized swag for specific occasions, so if they're going to burn thru a lot of dollars of swag figured they might as well pay me instead of others....which they also prefer working with locals they have relationships with. LLC keeps it "cleaner" but does add some headache and annual costs but it's worth it in my mind

So hooray to new toys I mean tools and endeavors!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Agreed! I was surprised at the numbers from the relatively tiny powerplant. 270 hp, went to Lincoln on Friday and with traffic moving along at about 84 mph(75 mph speed limit) it had 0 issues passing or responding when I asked it to. Mileage on the first tank was about 21 mpg and about half was in town so not bad.

Next day we saw this:



Some of the dirtiest snow I've ever seen. Was apparently dirt from Texas/New Mexico that got kicked up and into the front before it moved north and dumped over us. Car washes did bang up business, my back deck is still filthy from it. We only lost power for a couple hours fortunately, so impact was minimal other than the town shutshutdown

We had that dirt on vehicles all the way up here. Some people in the Toronto area were freaking out over it lol.

The advancement of engine tech over the last two decades is really something. You are getting numbers from a 4 banger that are equivalent to what full size V8's were getting 20 years ago.

Is that taco a crew cab? Hard to tell in the pics if its a crew or a double.

I have been in this boat as of the last year. Went in to just check a skin tag/mole whatever you want to call them that had changed colors on me.....boom melanoma. Had to have a 3" incision and a good chunk taken out of my bicep. If I hold my arms out like wings I legit have a very prominent divit in my one arm now. I've had 6 other spots removed since that. It scares the sh*# out of me so I am constantly going to my derm now living paranoid over every little spot or bump.

Similar story here, minus the melanoma part. I'm a very light complexion and spend a lot of time outdoors, and subsequently have a lot of moles. I've never had them checked until this year. Thankfully none were overly concerning though they did freeze a couple off.

People really should get these things checked regularly. Early detection can make a big difference.

 

[loganb]

We had that dirt on vehicles all the way up here. Some people in the Toronto area were freaking out over it lol.

The advancement of engine tech over the last two decades is really something. You are getting numbers from a 4 banger that are equivalent to what full size V8's were getting 20 years ago.

Is that taco a crew cab? Hard to tell in the pics if its a crew or a double.

Window sticker calls it the Double Cab which I think is the same as the crew cab now as the other option is the "Extra Cab" but is the 2 door option vs this 4 door. Definitely right on the engine tech...biggest complaint with it so far is just noise from it under heavier throttle but I haven't had any issues passing with the 4 cylinder and still getting 21-ish mpg on what's likely a heavier mix of city driving. Dug into the settings a bit the other day and turned off the annoying extra "chimes" it was doing when I walked away as the rear seat weight sensors were detecting something left in the backseat and it chimes like 6 times to help remind to not leave a kid there....in my case it is car seats setting it off. Remote start is a bit "un-intuitive" as there isn't a start button on the fob so it's a specific sequence with the lock button....but if those are my biggest complaints on a work truck.....it's not too bad.

In mounting the packout box in the bed doing a bit of a "torture test" on 3M VHB tape





I could screw down thru the top of the ribs in the bed liner, but wanted to see how the tape would do here. Been installed for about 8 or 9 days and so far so good. VHB stands for "very high bond" and it's good stuff when properly applied so will see how this does...if it comes loose I'll add screws...not a big deal.

 

[loganb]

Example of why battery tie downs should both be installed correctly and why usage of conductive materials should be closely scrutinized....



A relatives cub cadet mower. I was there to replace the key switch...got that done and they took it for a spin. 10 minutes later come back inside saying it died....in good news diagnoses was simple. The battery they replaced the prior weekend didn't have the hold down put back on correctly, then as the battery slid back and forth that 3/16" diameter metal rod serving as the hold down lodged on the positive terminal...boom...week old battery ruined

Fortunately no other damage

 

[madison069]

Looks a little toasted!

 

[loganb]

When things like this show up



It makes me question some decisions...do I really need sleep??? I can drink more coffee right to make up for it?

C02 laser getting closer, had a coolant pump fail so had to replace that. Alignment is getting better but the mirror alignments still not right so trying to get that corrected. Need to do some yard work (boo) then hopefully getting fiber laser up tonight.

 

[loganb]

Well some progress was made

 

[iced98lx]

LOVE that. Are you planning to burn your logo into your work going forward?

 

[loganb]

Quick photo dump

Learning the laser, this is a material test where it generates a matrix changing the selected inputs to see the results. It was done on a slate coaster, the slow speed and high power start to melt the silica in the slate...so far it seems to be a pretty forgiving material and blanks are pretty cheap at about 75 cents each



Playing with leather and a mock award for a neighbor....brought chatgpt out and asked it the prompt below



And it did great, allowing me to go from thought to burned leather logo in a couple minutes



In other projects took the grinder to a drawer in the map/plan cabinet to allow the foam to fit



2" tall foam is just a tad too tall but it works and is what I've got


I also got taken advantage of by a couple of cute girls who took my money...they at least left girl scout cookies in exchange. Selling door to door with the inventory and taking Venmo makes it hard to say no