Prospecter
Well-known member
I love that Roto Bin of yours. I have admired it every time it appears in your thread. I don't really have room for one, but wish I did. Looks like a particularly good solution to corner storage.
Below 265 SQ/FT DRIVESITFAR IS GETTING ORGANIZED in his 9x15 portion of 2 car garage. DIY’s & COOL VI
- Thread starter drivesitfar
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All workspaces below 265 squarefeet.
Lou's Garage
Well-known member
I have a small set of rotary bins which serves the same purpose as yours. Gets filled with "stuff" that doesn't have a place, then emptied out as I put things away.
Lou
Lou
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
P: take a drive to Seattle to help me frame my new small woodworking shop and I’ll send you home with my big rotobin’s little brother. Lyon made them and another company I can’t recall at the minute and brand new they are big dollars. I’ve got the smaller one in storage that is about 3 foot diameter and maybe 40 inches tall without its wheels. Thanks for stopping in as always.
Lou: as I mentioned to Prospector I also have the smaller version maybe like yours that has 4 rotating bins and plenty of slots for stuff and I had a couple others similar a few years ago and one taller that I think had 10 bins. I hear you on putting stuff in to organize and put away later but I seem to make later take a wee bit too long.
My old son’s old bedroom I turned into my office for about a decade has been our gym since about 2005. At times it’s been a good place to work out but sadly the last few years while I’m slimming down the herd it’s been storage maybe more days than a gym. I did decide to keep a few of my old vises on some heavy duty shelves in case you see them. Most of those vises are swivel jaw or old and somewhat rare.
The gym is usable again and starting tomorrow I’m going to alternate rowing and elliptical for a few weeks to get me ready for a few weights. I also found a spot for the new to me dart board.
I have more than a few things to improve and work on my grip strength and ask if you see something that you might be curious about. I managed to fit in a couple of these cool old Cole file cabinets.
It’s great to be chatting but I need to clean up the house or I won’t have a happy roommate tonight.
Lou: as I mentioned to Prospector I also have the smaller version maybe like yours that has 4 rotating bins and plenty of slots for stuff and I had a couple others similar a few years ago and one taller that I think had 10 bins. I hear you on putting stuff in to organize and put away later but I seem to make later take a wee bit too long.
My old son’s old bedroom I turned into my office for about a decade has been our gym since about 2005. At times it’s been a good place to work out but sadly the last few years while I’m slimming down the herd it’s been storage maybe more days than a gym. I did decide to keep a few of my old vises on some heavy duty shelves in case you see them. Most of those vises are swivel jaw or old and somewhat rare.
The gym is usable again and starting tomorrow I’m going to alternate rowing and elliptical for a few weeks to get me ready for a few weights. I also found a spot for the new to me dart board.
I have more than a few things to improve and work on my grip strength and ask if you see something that you might be curious about. I managed to fit in a couple of these cool old Cole file cabinets.
It’s great to be chatting but I need to clean up the house or I won’t have a happy roommate tonight.
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OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
My desk with my bride was that I’d have inside house cleaned by Thursday morning or she could donate everything in her areas to goodwill. I didn’t get it all organized but I can use the gym and the inside of the house is clean again. I’ll finish up the few boxes left maybe a box a day so I can use the garage benches by the end of February.
Our house is about perfect size once I build the little shop but until then I hate to toss stuff I’ll just have to buy again later.
Another good day in the books.
Our house is about perfect size once I build the little shop but until then I hate to toss stuff I’ll just have to buy again later.
Another good day in the books.
@drivesitfar - Just a suggestion.... The new forum software has a feature that will ensure someone you reference in a reply sees it. Just use an @ sign with their username. They'll get a notification that you referenced them. In this case, @Lou's Garage or @Prospecter
Prospecter
Well-known member
Tempting. I should probably finish my own chores first though! Labeling drawers as you are doing was key to my shop organization. In order to assign a label, I had to commit to categorizing stuff and deciding where it went. Then that stuff had a place. Very helpful.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
RH: it’s tough to teach an old dog new technology stuff but if I get time to I’ll check it out. When I first joined GJ about 13 years ago I noticed the quote button was overused especially because it would quote all the pics and photobucket was a great free option in those days. On some threads like the big vise thread you’d get 10 posts with a couple words and several pics that would have me scrolling forever to get someone’s post about a new item. Anyway I’d probably be the top poster on GJ if that was my goal cause I started doing my posts addressing several members in one post where others would make several posts out of same situation.
I can see your point but I’m nearing my end here on GJ now that my bride is fully retired and we’ve got more than a few grandkids to spend time with. Thanks again for your support and always positive thoughts.
P: glad I could help get you a little better organized. One of these days I’ll get the cabinets and drawers labeled better but for now the blue and green painters tape and sharpie is doing its job.
Also if you’re not up to a 6500 round trip road trip I’m about 10 minutes from the airport and you can fly out to supervise with a cold one from our new deck. Just saying.
I think we had our first snowflakes of the year and more like confetti being thrown from the roof for 20 minutes but it is supposed to be 29 degrees tonight.
Just curious if there is any interest in me talking about our trip to Europe last fall?
I can say that yes the news is totally fake about a lot of stuff cause we didn’t feel uncomfortable anywhere. If we were to go back I think Ireland might be at or near the top cause its views are similar to the PNW and the people have great stories and humor. (Speaking of fake news the Irish don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story and they rarely speak of current politics)
It’s sunny here now but near freezing so no mowing the lawn today but it has been growing all winter.
I can see your point but I’m nearing my end here on GJ now that my bride is fully retired and we’ve got more than a few grandkids to spend time with. Thanks again for your support and always positive thoughts.
P: glad I could help get you a little better organized. One of these days I’ll get the cabinets and drawers labeled better but for now the blue and green painters tape and sharpie is doing its job.
Also if you’re not up to a 6500 round trip road trip I’m about 10 minutes from the airport and you can fly out to supervise with a cold one from our new deck. Just saying.
I think we had our first snowflakes of the year and more like confetti being thrown from the roof for 20 minutes but it is supposed to be 29 degrees tonight.
Just curious if there is any interest in me talking about our trip to Europe last fall?
I can say that yes the news is totally fake about a lot of stuff cause we didn’t feel uncomfortable anywhere. If we were to go back I think Ireland might be at or near the top cause its views are similar to the PNW and the people have great stories and humor. (Speaking of fake news the Irish don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story and they rarely speak of current politics)
It’s sunny here now but near freezing so no mowing the lawn today but it has been growing all winter.
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OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
RH: just an FYI. If a member makes a post on one of my threads with a legitimate question I pretty much always answer it fairly soon if it’s not too personal.
Here’s to you sir!! Cheers!!
Here’s to you sir!! Cheers!!
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patlun
Well-known member
Of course we are interested of your view of Europe
sean Buick 76
Well-known member
I love the roto bins and the workout stations!
Denwood
Well-known member
You know @drives, you've got all those weights right under a shelf of vises...
An enterprising guy might just figure out a way to slap a bar on a few vices and consolidate a bit ... ha
An enterprising guy might just figure out a way to slap a bar on a few vices and consolidate a bit ... ha
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Sean:thanks for stopping in and hope the winter freeze is about over for you in that great place you moved to.
Woody: my heavy vises are in my garage and the ones close to 200 pounds do get a bit harder to move around. I certainly don’t need the weights cause last summer I moved about 10 yards of rock and gravel in a wheelbarrow from the street to my backyard under the new deck.
Patlun and others wanting to hear more about our trip to Europe here goes a bit of a recap.
All: We had always planned to travel to other parts of the world but my bride and I haven’t put China or South America on our short list.
I retired more than a few years ago when my good job disappeared almost completely so we agreed I’d work on the house and my bride would work until she didn’t need or want to anymore which was until she was 68 about 18 months ago. When we had our twins 35 years ago that made 5 kids she quit her good job and raised our kids instead of paying a good portion of her salary just for daycare and I worked outside in the rat race.
So she went to work for when our medical insurance costs went thru the ceiling in about 2002 when the twins were about 14 but After 14 years of no work history and no college degree she barely got a receptionist job at a small company where we knew the owners. After about 3 years the owner figured how smart my bride is and move her to his personal assistant and eventually a senior director of his company that went from 20 people to close to 400 at one time. Reason for back story is because when she retired totally after working Part time remotely during covid they (owner and his wife) gave us a 13 day cruise on Oceana.
We never were thinking of cruises but Oceana has smaller boats (650 and 1250 people) where employees and guests are about 1 to 1 ratio. And they have cooking classes and good ratings.
The cruise was originally from in the Mediterranean in July. Too hot there then and we’d never leave PNW in July when it’s usually the best weather in the world so my bride did some tweaking on our trip and then got some advice from a cruise person our kids know.
The cruise ended up being 3 consecutive 10-13 day cruises where we stay in same ship in same room for 34 days. It started in south Hampton and ended in Athens.
Then my bride decided since we spent 10 hours getting there (to London) that we’d travel a bit before and after the cruise. So we spent 64 days in Europe from end of August to end of October. South Hampton around UK and Ireland to south Hampton then to France and Portugal to Barcelona then to Turkey and Greece was the 34 days on the boat.
More details later.
Any specific questions are welcome about places and stuff and I’ll keep personal information to a minimum so I don’t ramble on too much.
Woody: my heavy vises are in my garage and the ones close to 200 pounds do get a bit harder to move around. I certainly don’t need the weights cause last summer I moved about 10 yards of rock and gravel in a wheelbarrow from the street to my backyard under the new deck.
Patlun and others wanting to hear more about our trip to Europe here goes a bit of a recap.
All: We had always planned to travel to other parts of the world but my bride and I haven’t put China or South America on our short list.
I retired more than a few years ago when my good job disappeared almost completely so we agreed I’d work on the house and my bride would work until she didn’t need or want to anymore which was until she was 68 about 18 months ago. When we had our twins 35 years ago that made 5 kids she quit her good job and raised our kids instead of paying a good portion of her salary just for daycare and I worked outside in the rat race.
So she went to work for when our medical insurance costs went thru the ceiling in about 2002 when the twins were about 14 but After 14 years of no work history and no college degree she barely got a receptionist job at a small company where we knew the owners. After about 3 years the owner figured how smart my bride is and move her to his personal assistant and eventually a senior director of his company that went from 20 people to close to 400 at one time. Reason for back story is because when she retired totally after working Part time remotely during covid they (owner and his wife) gave us a 13 day cruise on Oceana.
We never were thinking of cruises but Oceana has smaller boats (650 and 1250 people) where employees and guests are about 1 to 1 ratio. And they have cooking classes and good ratings.
The cruise was originally from in the Mediterranean in July. Too hot there then and we’d never leave PNW in July when it’s usually the best weather in the world so my bride did some tweaking on our trip and then got some advice from a cruise person our kids know.
The cruise ended up being 3 consecutive 10-13 day cruises where we stay in same ship in same room for 34 days. It started in south Hampton and ended in Athens.
Then my bride decided since we spent 10 hours getting there (to London) that we’d travel a bit before and after the cruise. So we spent 64 days in Europe from end of August to end of October. South Hampton around UK and Ireland to south Hampton then to France and Portugal to Barcelona then to Turkey and Greece was the 34 days on the boat.
More details later.
Any specific questions are welcome about places and stuff and I’ll keep personal information to a minimum so I don’t ramble on too much.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Starting off our trip we wanted to get acclimated to jet lag and time change (8+ hour flight and about that many hours of time change from Seattle) so we were exploring the idea of flying to Iceland and then to Oslo and then London cause that airline treated that like a one way flight even if a few days layover.
Just about ready to pull the trigger on that and book everything and I heard that Iceland has a huge pride festival the middle of August that totally books out everything. We still have Iceland and Norway on our short list but it will probably be May or early June when it’s not totally frozen.
So plan B and we booked a room just outside of London in a room two hotel (this hotel was clean and only a few steps from shopping, restaurants and stores) in Chiswick (sp?). Our cruise didn’t start for 4 days so we did a bit of touring around London before taking a ride to south Hampton (also room two hotel) with a hired driver (not much more expensive than uber and train seemed like it might be difficult with our 3 small carry ons plus 4 handbags (1 backpack).
Chiswick (about 20 minute ride from Heathrow airport) was a great little walking town that had some decent restaurants and stores and stuff but since we don’t drink much we heard the pubs were the best food and we didn’t try them ( we did try pubs in Ireland later and loved the vibe and food even without alcohol). We will try London pubs on future visits.
Richmond (about 30 minutes from Heathrow airport) was a short uber ride (about $15-20) from Chiswick and what a wonderful town. One of our favorite Apple TV shows was filmed there (Ted lasso) and if you go there find the Ivy restaurant even if it’s only for dessert.
We saw downtown London from the river (Thames) in the Uber boat that uses the same passes as the trains. We got on at Putney and about 10-20 stops later got off at London bridge. Had a so so lunch at a restaurant not far from bridge and I’m sure there was good food somewhere but we didn’t find any before taking the river boat back to Putney.
Downtown London on another day we walked along one of the narrow boat canals and my bride had immersion art (museum) on her list to see. It was about 30 pounds to get inside but very cool art exhibits where art on walls and floors move around rooms that are about 100 foot square.
I think we walked across Hyde park and put about 20,000 steps on our iPhone health monitors that day. Art place is on a main drag (Oxford?) at about the corner of Hyde park.
Anyway London could be visited by us more often in our future cause we barely scraped the surface and lots to see and met some great people too.
Left Southampton end of August to sail around UK and Ireland and back to Southampton 13 days later.
More coming.
Just about ready to pull the trigger on that and book everything and I heard that Iceland has a huge pride festival the middle of August that totally books out everything. We still have Iceland and Norway on our short list but it will probably be May or early June when it’s not totally frozen.
So plan B and we booked a room just outside of London in a room two hotel (this hotel was clean and only a few steps from shopping, restaurants and stores) in Chiswick (sp?). Our cruise didn’t start for 4 days so we did a bit of touring around London before taking a ride to south Hampton (also room two hotel) with a hired driver (not much more expensive than uber and train seemed like it might be difficult with our 3 small carry ons plus 4 handbags (1 backpack).
Chiswick (about 20 minute ride from Heathrow airport) was a great little walking town that had some decent restaurants and stores and stuff but since we don’t drink much we heard the pubs were the best food and we didn’t try them ( we did try pubs in Ireland later and loved the vibe and food even without alcohol). We will try London pubs on future visits.
Richmond (about 30 minutes from Heathrow airport) was a short uber ride (about $15-20) from Chiswick and what a wonderful town. One of our favorite Apple TV shows was filmed there (Ted lasso) and if you go there find the Ivy restaurant even if it’s only for dessert.
We saw downtown London from the river (Thames) in the Uber boat that uses the same passes as the trains. We got on at Putney and about 10-20 stops later got off at London bridge. Had a so so lunch at a restaurant not far from bridge and I’m sure there was good food somewhere but we didn’t find any before taking the river boat back to Putney.
Downtown London on another day we walked along one of the narrow boat canals and my bride had immersion art (museum) on her list to see. It was about 30 pounds to get inside but very cool art exhibits where art on walls and floors move around rooms that are about 100 foot square.
I think we walked across Hyde park and put about 20,000 steps on our iPhone health monitors that day. Art place is on a main drag (Oxford?) at about the corner of Hyde park.
Anyway London could be visited by us more often in our future cause we barely scraped the surface and lots to see and met some great people too.
Left Southampton end of August to sail around UK and Ireland and back to Southampton 13 days later.
More coming.
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jon72vega
Well-known member
Wow, looks like you and Mrs. Drives had a great time!
Denwood
Well-known member
My wife can never see these posts...ha. Seriously though that would be on her bucket list for trips...
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Jon: yes indeed it was great most days but with all the activities and meals some days did seem like work. When you’re paying for everything it should be more fun so I’d recommend 2-3 weeks instead of months at a time.
Woody: didn’t your daughter go to school over in UK? If you’d like a quick 2 week trip I’d recommend the last two weeks of our trip (tour bus around Ireland staying in castles and 4-5 star hotels) or the first 13 day cruise on Oceana around the UK and Ireland.
All: we finally had a snow day and almost totally unexpected cause our weather has been in the high 40’s to 60’s the last few weeks. Puzzling gives me a bit of a nice break from organizing and little did we know we both like doing this. I bet in our 40 years together we’d only done a couple other than pre school puzzles with the kids.
I’ve found tons of quality puzzles on Craigslist and offerup for reasonable prices too.
Woody: didn’t your daughter go to school over in UK? If you’d like a quick 2 week trip I’d recommend the last two weeks of our trip (tour bus around Ireland staying in castles and 4-5 star hotels) or the first 13 day cruise on Oceana around the UK and Ireland.
All: we finally had a snow day and almost totally unexpected cause our weather has been in the high 40’s to 60’s the last few weeks. Puzzling gives me a bit of a nice break from organizing and little did we know we both like doing this. I bet in our 40 years together we’d only done a couple other than pre school puzzles with the kids.
I’ve found tons of quality puzzles on Craigslist and offerup for reasonable prices too.
gilr
Well-known member
Drives, your weather was similar here in Richmond, VA. I woke up to 72 degrees at 6:30 yesterday morning, but by noon it was raining and the temps dropped into the 30s. around 1 in the afternoon the rain changed to sleet, then snow. By 4 there was nearly an inch of snow on the ground, fortunately the surfaces were warm due to the temps the previous week. Two days ago it hit 89 degrees. Thankfully by 7 in the evening, the snow was melting as the storm passed and the sun came out. Today it was all melted and the temps reached the 50s. It is supposed to be in the 60s this weekend, just crazy! Just several weeks ago it was in the teens and we had 6 inches of snow topped with sleet, then freezing rain and an inch or more of ice on top, schools closed for a week, I could get out as my driveway is uphill to the street, and the ice was so solid, it supported my weight. Stayed in the house for 7 straight days until a friend with a tractor came and plowed my driveway. He had to bang on the ice with the front bucket and then scoop the ice and dump it on the lawn. I've never seen it that bad in my lifetime, and I have lived here all my life. I've seen more snow, up to 2 feet, but never that much ice on top with temps so low for so long. Don't even ask about the heating bills, heat-pumps **** power like crazy when temps are that low!
Puzzles are a good way to while away the time with your wife when you are staying inside.
Puzzles are a good way to while away the time with your wife when you are staying inside.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Gilr: thanks for stopping in and for the fun snow story!!
All: sun is shining today, almost 50 degrees and roads are clear so we made a grocery run. It’s melting fast so hope the peeps in the lowlands can stay dry which might not have been the case if all this snow was rain yesterday.
Back to our little trip to Europe::
Our kids are in the travel business for mostly high end African safaris and they do mostly work on the ground like lodging and all sorts of transportation and entertainment and one thing they highly recommend is paying a little extra and getting a private driver to and from cities and airports.
We hired a driver to drive us from Chiswick to South Hampton and had a lovely 90 minute chat and drive. We opted for the driver instead of doing short Ubers and trains with all the luggage and it was awesome. We found another Room 2 in South Hampton that was walking distance to several pubs and restaurants and then a $10 uber ride to Oceana cruise ship the next day (ship holds 1250 and staff and good were awesome).
Here’s the following stops on the first leg of our cruise that filled the first 11 days:
Edinburgh- tour bus to St Andrew’s and after a quick drive around town we only had about 90 minutes to check things out. I would have loved to walk around the golf course more but I barely recognized it with 70 degrees and sunny and no wind so we walked up into town to visit a 130 year old ice cream shop that was super busy and great gelato and ice cream is why and then a quick stop at golf gift shop to pick up a coupe souvenirs. Then back to the boat. Wed like to come back to St. Andrew’s again and also spend a few days in Edinburgh because we just missed the 1000’s of bagpipe kilted musicians who we heard put on a great show. The city of Edinburgh looks amazing too so probably a good couple days here without the bagpipe players would be fun too.
I’m a bit fuzzy but I think we had about 3 days of the 34 total at sea without docking but I think we hit about 30 cities and towns.
Our next 2 stops were in the Orkney Islands (Kirkwall and Stornaway) and luckily we still had 70’s and very little wind because these two stops are not always available. Kirkwall is an easy walk from the boat to small town and plenty of nice shops and locals who we chatted with were happy and friendly. Stornaway was a bus ride provided by the cruise ship to town about a 20 minute ride and another small town with some friendly people and nice shops.
Glascow we didn’t go into town and walked from ship about 3-4 miles to small town Georock thee see that didn’t have much so we took the train back to ship. We should have probably took train to Glascow to see it so maybe next time but from talking to others it didn’t sound amazing.
Belfast was next and we took a tour bus ride around town and heard about the TROUBLES that are still in the background and evidence everywhere and they were over in 1999. That said the Ireland and the Irish talk more about the 1600’s and 1800’s than current politics and they say they don’t like letting the truth get in the way of a good story. The Irish are a proud hard working country and we loved their stories and humor but sad to hear about some of their history. We did take a bus ride that included the titanic exhibit which was ok but probably wouldn’t go there again.
Liverpool was added to our cruise instead of Wales and since my bride knows almost every Beatles song we weren’t disappointed snd we signed up for the Beatles tour. They said Netflix was filming a couple movies in town so maybe that was one reason the big town seemed so clean but the Beatles excursion was a blast.
Cork, Ireland was next and since we docked in Cobh (cove)where we took a fun sea safari on about a 16 foot whale watching boat that 3 Fireman paramedics own. We hoped on and drove about and hour out of the bay into the Atlantic fairly close to shore and my bride loved the waves. In the past I had several unfortunate adventures in my dad’s 18 foot boat out in the ocean near us so I had brought along plenty of seasick meds but I figured most of those unfortunate circumstances were caused by no sleep, poor meal choices and plenty of alcohol so for this and all the cruise and flights I didn’t take any meds and I did fine but their were more than a few rough days and nights out at sea. The fireman found a cove where about 50-100 seals were mating so we stopped and more than a few seals surrounded his boat. Hung out there for maybe 30 minutes then back to the ship ( one stop first at fireman’s town about 15 minutes from cruise ship where we all got off boat and he treated us to Irish coffee at his favorite pub (I may have mentioned this earlier but pubs in UK are maybe best food and more social than just drinking places).
After he dropped us off at cruise ship dock we had time to walk around the cute town and we’d come back here if we are able too.
Torbay stop had horrible weather and we decided to stay on ship cause it was anchored and rumor was that tons of people were getting seasick on tender boats so we didn’t see this town. We heard it’s the British Riviera. Pouring rain and wind too so we’ll never know if this town was worth seeing again.
Back to South Hampton to stop off a group and pick up more passengers for the next leg. Nothing really in South Hampton calling our name so we stayed on board and did laundry and ate our prepaid meals.
More to come in a bit and here’s a few pics.
All: sun is shining today, almost 50 degrees and roads are clear so we made a grocery run. It’s melting fast so hope the peeps in the lowlands can stay dry which might not have been the case if all this snow was rain yesterday.
Back to our little trip to Europe::
Our kids are in the travel business for mostly high end African safaris and they do mostly work on the ground like lodging and all sorts of transportation and entertainment and one thing they highly recommend is paying a little extra and getting a private driver to and from cities and airports.
We hired a driver to drive us from Chiswick to South Hampton and had a lovely 90 minute chat and drive. We opted for the driver instead of doing short Ubers and trains with all the luggage and it was awesome. We found another Room 2 in South Hampton that was walking distance to several pubs and restaurants and then a $10 uber ride to Oceana cruise ship the next day (ship holds 1250 and staff and good were awesome).
Here’s the following stops on the first leg of our cruise that filled the first 11 days:
Edinburgh- tour bus to St Andrew’s and after a quick drive around town we only had about 90 minutes to check things out. I would have loved to walk around the golf course more but I barely recognized it with 70 degrees and sunny and no wind so we walked up into town to visit a 130 year old ice cream shop that was super busy and great gelato and ice cream is why and then a quick stop at golf gift shop to pick up a coupe souvenirs. Then back to the boat. Wed like to come back to St. Andrew’s again and also spend a few days in Edinburgh because we just missed the 1000’s of bagpipe kilted musicians who we heard put on a great show. The city of Edinburgh looks amazing too so probably a good couple days here without the bagpipe players would be fun too.
I’m a bit fuzzy but I think we had about 3 days of the 34 total at sea without docking but I think we hit about 30 cities and towns.
Our next 2 stops were in the Orkney Islands (Kirkwall and Stornaway) and luckily we still had 70’s and very little wind because these two stops are not always available. Kirkwall is an easy walk from the boat to small town and plenty of nice shops and locals who we chatted with were happy and friendly. Stornaway was a bus ride provided by the cruise ship to town about a 20 minute ride and another small town with some friendly people and nice shops.
Glascow we didn’t go into town and walked from ship about 3-4 miles to small town Georock thee see that didn’t have much so we took the train back to ship. We should have probably took train to Glascow to see it so maybe next time but from talking to others it didn’t sound amazing.
Belfast was next and we took a tour bus ride around town and heard about the TROUBLES that are still in the background and evidence everywhere and they were over in 1999. That said the Ireland and the Irish talk more about the 1600’s and 1800’s than current politics and they say they don’t like letting the truth get in the way of a good story. The Irish are a proud hard working country and we loved their stories and humor but sad to hear about some of their history. We did take a bus ride that included the titanic exhibit which was ok but probably wouldn’t go there again.
Liverpool was added to our cruise instead of Wales and since my bride knows almost every Beatles song we weren’t disappointed snd we signed up for the Beatles tour. They said Netflix was filming a couple movies in town so maybe that was one reason the big town seemed so clean but the Beatles excursion was a blast.
Cork, Ireland was next and since we docked in Cobh (cove)where we took a fun sea safari on about a 16 foot whale watching boat that 3 Fireman paramedics own. We hoped on and drove about and hour out of the bay into the Atlantic fairly close to shore and my bride loved the waves. In the past I had several unfortunate adventures in my dad’s 18 foot boat out in the ocean near us so I had brought along plenty of seasick meds but I figured most of those unfortunate circumstances were caused by no sleep, poor meal choices and plenty of alcohol so for this and all the cruise and flights I didn’t take any meds and I did fine but their were more than a few rough days and nights out at sea. The fireman found a cove where about 50-100 seals were mating so we stopped and more than a few seals surrounded his boat. Hung out there for maybe 30 minutes then back to the ship ( one stop first at fireman’s town about 15 minutes from cruise ship where we all got off boat and he treated us to Irish coffee at his favorite pub (I may have mentioned this earlier but pubs in UK are maybe best food and more social than just drinking places).
After he dropped us off at cruise ship dock we had time to walk around the cute town and we’d come back here if we are able too.
Torbay stop had horrible weather and we decided to stay on ship cause it was anchored and rumor was that tons of people were getting seasick on tender boats so we didn’t see this town. We heard it’s the British Riviera. Pouring rain and wind too so we’ll never know if this town was worth seeing again.
Back to South Hampton to stop off a group and pick up more passengers for the next leg. Nothing really in South Hampton calling our name so we stayed on board and did laundry and ate our prepaid meals.
More to come in a bit and here’s a few pics.
patlun
Well-known member
You seems to have seen many places and met lots of nice people. I am enjoying the story so far,
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Patlun: thanks and yes we probably love meeting and talk to new people more than just seeing the many cool sites and things.
we almost booked the Havila ferry (mini cruise ship) mail boat that goes along Norway’s shoreline and makes 33 stops from Bergen to Kerkenes because even though there might still be quite a bit of snow on the ground and mountains the northern lights would be fun to see. Also I am 100% Norwegian and I’ve never been there.
Sweden is also on our short list.
I’ve got more stories so I’ll make time to post more if you and others are interested.
Happy Easter everyone!!
we almost booked the Havila ferry (mini cruise ship) mail boat that goes along Norway’s shoreline and makes 33 stops from Bergen to Kerkenes because even though there might still be quite a bit of snow on the ground and mountains the northern lights would be fun to see. Also I am 100% Norwegian and I’ve never been there.
Sweden is also on our short list.
I’ve got more stories so I’ll make time to post more if you and others are interested.
Happy Easter everyone!!
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
I’ll get back to stories and deck rebuilding and lawn care soon but wanted to ask a question.
We just returned from a long road trip and gathered more than a few dead bugs. Since it’s my wife’s car I’m wondering what the best bug and road junk removal is your go to. If it was my car I’d fire up the pressure washer must likely and leave any debris if they survived to add to my fading 2003 Honda’s paint job.
?????
We just returned from a long road trip and gathered more than a few dead bugs. Since it’s my wife’s car I’m wondering what the best bug and road junk removal is your go to. If it was my car I’d fire up the pressure washer must likely and leave any debris if they survived to add to my fading 2003 Honda’s paint job.
?????
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
My general purpose concoction of distilled water, vinegar, and dish soap works pretty good. Let it soak for a bit, and don't scrub to vigorously. Bug shells are very hard they will scratch if not suspended in the solution. I use the same stuff for windshield washer fluid, but add a bit of isopropyl as well.
Chrisb62
Well-known member
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
MB: thanks for the recipe for bug removal. It’s similar to my homemade weed killer.
Chris: I’ll try that next time. Thank you for the suggestion.
All: I needed up needing window washer fluid too so stopped in at my local O’Rielly’s and picked up a can of Mothers bug removal. My bride didn’t like it as well as the bug removing window washer fluid I picked up last year in Oregon but it worked ok.
All good now.
Our granddaughter who will be 4 next weekend wanted a sleep over at Ta Ta’s and Pa Pa’s as part of her birthday wish so we had her overnight last night. She’s a sweetie pie and she rarely sits still so lots of activities happened. We dropped her off at swim lessons this afternoon and told her we’d see her this weekend.
Hope you all had a grand day!!
Chris: I’ll try that next time. Thank you for the suggestion.
All: I needed up needing window washer fluid too so stopped in at my local O’Rielly’s and picked up a can of Mothers bug removal. My bride didn’t like it as well as the bug removing window washer fluid I picked up last year in Oregon but it worked ok.
All good now.
Our granddaughter who will be 4 next weekend wanted a sleep over at Ta Ta’s and Pa Pa’s as part of her birthday wish so we had her overnight last night. She’s a sweetie pie and she rarely sits still so lots of activities happened. We dropped her off at swim lessons this afternoon and told her we’d see her this weekend.
Hope you all had a grand day!!
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jon72vega
Well-known member
Drives,
LOL, don't get it mixed up with the bone broth!
LOL, don't get it mixed up with the bone broth!
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Jon: I know I shouldn’t store chemicals in the pantry but I usually store them on bottom two shelves below any food. Also my wife thinks this is one of the best bone broths on the market that she uses to make some amazing soups. Thanks for the post and making me (and maybe others) smile.
All: our 20+ year old hand held shower hose broke and I could have maybe ordered a new brush nickel Grohe brand on Amazon for over $100, but instead I took my bride to our 3 biggest hardware stores and let her help me decide on a replacement.
There are not many options on the shelves in any finish especially brushed nickel but we decided to buy the $80 version that included not only the hose but a new shower head and new handheld head. Without any teflon tape I just installed and to our amazement they not only worked but I bet the water pressure could now strip paint off a car. My bride is happy and so am I.
Now since our winter has almost been spring it almost summer weather it’s time to do a lawn repair and get our planting areas spiffed up. I took off a side piece off my aluminum rack I built for my trailer so landscaping supply loader could drop in a couple yards of garden mix. Since it’s pretty heavy my Honda pilot was up to the job and I’ll have it unloaded and in place this week so my bride can plant her crop and I can the add seed and garden mix (topsoil with compost) to our lawn.
Two yards not only maxes out my Honda’s pulling power but without a lot of extra air in tires I needed to quickly unload several wheelbarrows while we get garden and lawn ready to use it.
All: our 20+ year old hand held shower hose broke and I could have maybe ordered a new brush nickel Grohe brand on Amazon for over $100, but instead I took my bride to our 3 biggest hardware stores and let her help me decide on a replacement.
There are not many options on the shelves in any finish especially brushed nickel but we decided to buy the $80 version that included not only the hose but a new shower head and new handheld head. Without any teflon tape I just installed and to our amazement they not only worked but I bet the water pressure could now strip paint off a car. My bride is happy and so am I.
Now since our winter has almost been spring it almost summer weather it’s time to do a lawn repair and get our planting areas spiffed up. I took off a side piece off my aluminum rack I built for my trailer so landscaping supply loader could drop in a couple yards of garden mix. Since it’s pretty heavy my Honda pilot was up to the job and I’ll have it unloaded and in place this week so my bride can plant her crop and I can the add seed and garden mix (topsoil with compost) to our lawn.
Two yards not only maxes out my Honda’s pulling power but without a lot of extra air in tires I needed to quickly unload several wheelbarrows while we get garden and lawn ready to use it.
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Prospecter
Well-known member
Love that trailer! Perfect for moving garden materials. I remember you getting this one to replace the one that was totaled. I rarely see that type of trailer around these parts.
Good exercise moving soil and mulch. Go easy. Hard to find replacement parts for older models.
Nice shower repair.
Good exercise moving soil and mulch. Go easy. Hard to find replacement parts for older models.
Nice shower repair.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Prospector: I’m not positive if by older models you’re talking about my 1980 Fruehauf trailer or my 1956 body. (Hee hee).
Yep parts are hard to find for either and they need to be custom made in most cases.
All: I managed to unload about a yard of new dirt into the garden space after cleaning it up and putting another row of big concrete blocks on top of the almost 4 foot tall wall I built.
I’ll probably need to buy another couple yards of dirt and then my bride can plant basil, heirloom tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, carrots, beets, onions and a few other things for us to eat.
Yep parts are hard to find for either and they need to be custom made in most cases.
All: I managed to unload about a yard of new dirt into the garden space after cleaning it up and putting another row of big concrete blocks on top of the almost 4 foot tall wall I built.
I’ll probably need to buy another couple yards of dirt and then my bride can plant basil, heirloom tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, carrots, beets, onions and a few other things for us to eat.
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Be thankful you can still get shower heads that actually work. The last one we bought had the restrictors built into the housing itself so I just stole the one out of the RV. Works great. Tried to order another. Can't ship to CA. This is getting kind of ridiculous.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
MB: I hear you cause if I want to change the regulator (hot/cold) in ours I’m pretty sure I’ll need to rip out tile and get my mapp gas and solder and copper pipe involved.
So I’m guessing you no longer take your RV out and about or maybe you just don’t shower in it anymore?
So I’m guessing you no longer take your RV out and about or maybe you just don’t shower in it anymore?
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
If we need to go somewhere with the RV it only takes a few minutes to swap the shower head back, but it's still kinda stupid we even have to do that. What problem are we actually solving here by making shower heads that can't even rinse you off? Might as well be using a spray bottle.
jon72vega
Well-known member
Quoted for truth:
"What problem are we actually solving here by making shower heads that can't even rinse you off? Might as well be using a spray bottle."
"What problem are we actually solving here by making shower heads that can't even rinse you off? Might as well be using a spray bottle."
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Jon: I hear you loud and clear. With the water saving shower heads you end up in the shower 2-4 times longer and not getting the soap off at times.
All: seriously with the pressure reducing shower heads that would get occasional debris in the little filters and nozzles we were used to showers that took way too long to get clean. Now these Moen heads get us out very quick and cleaner unless you really feel the need to lose a layer of skin and get beat up.
I think I need to pick up another 1.5 yards of garden mix to top off the garden space and my bride are loving it. It used to be about 5x10 and now it’s maybe 7x25. Going plant shopping tomorrow but maybe in a couple years I’ll build a greenhouse and have food all year long and make our own plants.
Just an FYI. The 8 foot melcher ramp I found about 10 years ago that is rated for 4000 pounds really has come in handy for not only this job where a couple steps and blocks are covered but also for loading things on and off my trailers.
All: seriously with the pressure reducing shower heads that would get occasional debris in the little filters and nozzles we were used to showers that took way too long to get clean. Now these Moen heads get us out very quick and cleaner unless you really feel the need to lose a layer of skin and get beat up.
I think I need to pick up another 1.5 yards of garden mix to top off the garden space and my bride are loving it. It used to be about 5x10 and now it’s maybe 7x25. Going plant shopping tomorrow but maybe in a couple years I’ll build a greenhouse and have food all year long and make our own plants.
Just an FYI. The 8 foot melcher ramp I found about 10 years ago that is rated for 4000 pounds really has come in handy for not only this job where a couple steps and blocks are covered but also for loading things on and off my trailers.
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Prospecter
Well-known member
The ramp is such a good idea. I even have one that I never think to use. Maybe now that you've posted I will remember!
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
P: my 8 foot ramp worked out great and I only hit it with the wheelbarrow tire protector once. My pieces of concrete support look sketchie but it held my ramp super solid for about 20 or so full dumps of garden mix I moved from my trailer to our backyard.
All: my ramp is removed and dirt smoothed out and ready to plant some of our future good eats. I ended up buying about 4 yards and probably put 3.5 yards in this garden space at back of house to finish it off after adding a layer of new concrete blocks. The remaining 1/2 yard is being spread over the new grass seed or in pots for more food.
Now there isn’t a huge step down into our garden and my bride is really happy. She’ll be planting today and tomorrow cause we picked up some good starts when we picked up a couple new blueberry bushes at a local nursery.
I’m more than a bit sore but I’m pretty sure this kinda work keeps me somewhat strong and in decent shape. You can’t get this kind of exercise in any gym.
We picked out a bunch of weeds out of the front yard and punched a ton of holes in it last night to get ready to spread new grass seed. First I put down a nice layer of grub killer do raccoons and crows won’t destroy the new lawn.
Have a grand day and think positive and let the other stuff go.
All: my ramp is removed and dirt smoothed out and ready to plant some of our future good eats. I ended up buying about 4 yards and probably put 3.5 yards in this garden space at back of house to finish it off after adding a layer of new concrete blocks. The remaining 1/2 yard is being spread over the new grass seed or in pots for more food.
Now there isn’t a huge step down into our garden and my bride is really happy. She’ll be planting today and tomorrow cause we picked up some good starts when we picked up a couple new blueberry bushes at a local nursery.
I’m more than a bit sore but I’m pretty sure this kinda work keeps me somewhat strong and in decent shape. You can’t get this kind of exercise in any gym.
We picked out a bunch of weeds out of the front yard and punched a ton of holes in it last night to get ready to spread new grass seed. First I put down a nice layer of grub killer do raccoons and crows won’t destroy the new lawn.
Have a grand day and think positive and let the other stuff go.
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OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Another day playing in and with the dirt.
My bride planted a few things in the new dirt in the main garden, I put garden mix on the front lawn to get it more level and ready to seed tomorrow and somehow cinnamon twists ended up on our plates with a few eggs yogurt and fruit for one of our two meals per day.
Another sunny day here and it’s supposed to be 80 the next couple days. This cloud formation did appear to the east which is almost directly above Mt Rainier.
My bride planted a few things in the new dirt in the main garden, I put garden mix on the front lawn to get it more level and ready to seed tomorrow and somehow cinnamon twists ended up on our plates with a few eggs yogurt and fruit for one of our two meals per day.
Another sunny day here and it’s supposed to be 80 the next couple days. This cloud formation did appear to the east which is almost directly above Mt Rainier.
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OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
It doesn’t look much different then yesterday’s pic but it’s seeded, fertilized, another 1/4 inch of garden mix on top and rolled. Now hand watering it 3 times a day till it grows in (2-3 weeks) and hopefully back to a normal lawn.
This is the grass seed I bought from my sod farm and I used their quarter horse fertilizer.
I need to fix a leak at a seam in my old metal roller so I can fill it with water and thinking jb weld or possibly trying the spray on flex rubber. Any ideas since my welding skills are non existent currently?
Hope you all had a grand weekend!!
This is the grass seed I bought from my sod farm and I used their quarter horse fertilizer.
I need to fix a leak at a seam in my old metal roller so I can fill it with water and thinking jb weld or possibly trying the spray on flex rubber. Any ideas since my welding skills are non existent currently?
Hope you all had a grand weekend!!
M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
JB if you can't weld.
Prospecter
Well-known member
Although that's the kind of project I tackle with my limited welding skills.
OP
drivesitfar
Well-known member
I probably should have picked up another jb weld last night when we went to HD to pick up 30% vinegar, but I know I have a new tube somewhere in my small garage.
Here’s the recipe and ingredients for weed killer if anybody needs it. Of course I learned that just because a jug says vinegar that it’s not the only ingredient. I bet this 30% version could really knock the rust off of old steel and tools but make sure to rinse and dry good because the 6% version used to work ok.
1 gallon 30% vinegar and 1 gallon regular vinegar with 1-2 cups if cheap salt and about 1/4 cup dawn detergent. I had a bottle of red vinegar on the shelf forever so hope it’s ok to use in my recipe.
Have a grand day!!
Here’s the recipe and ingredients for weed killer if anybody needs it. Of course I learned that just because a jug says vinegar that it’s not the only ingredient. I bet this 30% version could really knock the rust off of old steel and tools but make sure to rinse and dry good because the 6% version used to work ok.
1 gallon 30% vinegar and 1 gallon regular vinegar with 1-2 cups if cheap salt and about 1/4 cup dawn detergent. I had a bottle of red vinegar on the shelf forever so hope it’s ok to use in my recipe.
Have a grand day!!