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

Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.

madison069

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
4,207
Location
Monroeville, PA
There is.
On a thread that you enjoy. Go to the top right of the page.
Click WATCH.
On the pop-up that appears, click the WATCH button.
Done.
Now every time you log in to GJ, you'll see a little red number next to the little bell in the top right of the page.
That's how many notifications are there for you.
If you click on it, a list drops down with the new entries in your watched threads.
Easy peasy.
Sadly it don’t work all the time. Like with Bob’s thread I don’t get the notification anymore. Even though it’s in my watch list. I just have to track it down when on the forum.
 
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kaymccampbell

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Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,605
Location
Upstate New York
Sadly it don’t work all the time. Like with Bob’s thread I don’t get the notification anymore. Even though it’s in my watch list. I just have to track it down when on the forum.
That means you missed an update and it rolled off the quick notification widget. That's to be expected.

You can also access your watched threads by:
Clicking on FORUMS in the top left.
Then click on WATCHED just below.
You will get a list of all your Watched Threads.
Look for the ones that are highlighted/bolded. You should see the ones that you seem to be missing are highlighted/bolded.
 

patlun

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Joined
Apr 12, 2015
Messages
243
Location
Värmland, Sweden
I used to keep track of everyone's thread by saving bookmarks, but if you upgrade your computer, all history is lost. There has to be a better way...
Well you can backup your bookmarks by exporting them from your browser as html in the old computer and import them in the new one.

In Firefox you can sync your bookmarks to your Moziilla account if you have one - don't forget to put the password to that into your password manager. I have not tested that, but it should work. I think you can do the same in Chrome too, and I would be surprised if Microsofts Chrome clone Edge don't have something like that.

I am lazy so I have a job that rsync my Firefox profile together with my home directory to a secure place daily, when I get a new computer I just restore the whole directory to the new one.
 
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Swanny1953

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Jul 28, 2010
Messages
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Location
Lucas, TX
That means you missed an update and it rolled off the quick notification widget. That's to be expected.

You can also access your watched threads by:
Clicking on FORUMS in the top left.
Then click on WATCHED just below.
You will get a list of all your Watched Threads.
Look for the ones that are highlighted/bolded. You should see the ones that you seem to be missing are highlighted/bolded.
What Kay said. I find this very easy to keep up with watched threads. The bolding makes it very easy to see when updates have been posted, and the threads are always listed with most recent update at the top of the list.
 

CNC_RICK

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Messages
1,067
Location
Wisconsin
There is.
On a thread that you enjoy. Go to the top right of the page.
Click WATCH.
On the pop-up that appears, click the WATCH button.
Done.
Now every time you log in to GJ, you'll see a little red number next to the little bell in the top right of the page.
That's how many notifications are there for you.
If you click on it, a list drops down with the new entries in your watched threads.
Easy peasy.
I did find this after you told me this... My Android phone is a bit different, but I can see threads that I've written in. Thanks for the help. Now I have to write on more folk's threads as I don't know how to set up a watch on each thread that I want to keep track of. I really need to revisit Bob's brother Andy, (Old Iron Farmer) and see what he's up to. And I mistakenly said that Thomas and Chris lived in Iowa, but they really live in Illinois... But it has been a while since I've checked in on them. I really liked visiting the thread of the farmer in Minnesota, @jblnut. He is huge into farming, much bigger operation than the farm I grew up on. I love seeing his big tractors and everything he does.
 

rharman

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Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
8,898
Location
SoCal
Bob... Your thread seems quite busy... I've noticed that Kay shows up. Quite often... I like Squankum.. He always has some great advice.. Even for me... Ha. Squanky, somehow reminds me of the movie with Bill Murray, chasing gophers around a golf course with some explosives involved... I can't imagine why... Ha. But, years ago, I did read through his writings.. I need to catch-up on his as well as others, like Thomas and Chris in Iowa and Don Long and his Party garage. I used to keep track of everyone's thread by saving bookmarks, but if you upgrade your computer, all history is lost. There has to be a better way...

I just bought a .22 caliber pistol... I really like it. I'm a bit timid, shooting it, but i'm getting better each weekend... Its an old school six shooter, a revolver, like what they had in the old wild West shows, like Gunsmoke...
There is a better way. You just didn't do it. Lots of tools to migrate data. You can also export/import bookmarks.

For GJ, I just use the "What's New" shortcut that I have bookmarked. Gives me a set of pages listing all modified threads for the last 48 or so hours. I scroll through and open each one I want in a new tab and then work my way through the tabs.
 
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Bob Heine

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Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
You heard: rattle rattle clang bang

Dad heard: $0.00!

It was only about 15 years ago I had a young coworker who grew up in the country, and his dad was, er, not much of a provider. At one point his dad found him a junk bicycle, no chain. So the boy had to walk it to the top of a hill and ride it down the road that way.
@Squankum, that's how I learned to ride a bike. It was a junk 20" bike and although it did have a chain, I started off just sitting on it and letting the hill do the work. I had my feet on the pedals after a couple of runs and by the end of the day I was pedaling on level ground. Didn't try to pedal back up the hill and a couple of times I had to crash the bike when a car approached from one of the side streets.

Learned to ski the same way. Climb the hill with skis and poles, stick my galoshes in the leather straps and take off down the hill. There was a huge incentive not to fall. If I fell, one or both skis would come off and go all the way to the bottom of the hill. Make that mistake more than three times and it was back to the sled because that never got away from me (rope wrapped around waist).
Bob, you have to realize that the Honda 3 wheeler was just a small part of the project.. he used to cut 150 birch trees per year for firewood. He made 20 cords of firewood per year... Ten for the house and ten for his garage. His home made saw rig consisted of a conveyer made by him to handle a full length tree and a saw blade about 36". It was my job to load trees on his conveyor with a John Deere "A" with the loader. I could barely keep up with his rig... Once a 16" piece showed up to the saw blade, he had a paddle stop the conveyer and he'd pull a handle and a cut was made. Once that piece was free, it went down a ramp and took a ride up a hay elevator, about 40 feet long. A big pile happened, but time to split that big pile of firewood... Dad made a log splitter out of an old baler.. he ran the splitter with a small tractor. The splitter was constantly cycling from the tractor. He made vee shaped sides to this area where you throw the wood into. He had a 4 way wedge on this thing, but you barely had time to adjust it... It worked well. If a bit dangerous... But that's farming...
Rick, I sometimes wonder how we got through childhood. I guess I was lucky not to live on a farm with limb removers everywhere I turned.

Between age 6 and 9 I took a 30-inch bow saw into the Vermont woods and cut dead fall trees into logs chunks I could carry or drag back to the garage. Cut them into 12" pieces and split the big ones with a full size axe (single edge). Grandma saved money in the winter using the wood side of the stove instead of the gas. Her favorite starter was the wax covered little milk cartons. Nothing but strike-anywhere matches for me to play with.
Fairhaven Stove.jpg Fairhaven Stove Top.jpg
Yeah, we had a neighbor like that. He owned the gravel pit in the area and owned a dozer... He also drove the school bus, but not my route... He would park his dozer on top of a hill every single night... The battery was no more... Why would you do that, if in fact, that you depend on this dozer for a living... Just buy a new battery, for Pete's sakes... As far as I know, he never did...
Rick, I think we 's called "Penny Wise and Pound Foolish."
Bob... Your thread seems quite busy... I've noticed that Kay shows up. Quite often... I like Squankum.. He always has some great advice.. Even for me... Ha. Squanky, somehow reminds me of the movie with Bill Murray, chasing gophers around a golf course with some explosives involved... I can't imagine why... Ha. But, years ago, I did read through his writings.. I need to catch-up on his as well as others, like Thomas and Chris in Iowa and Don Long and his Party garage. I used to keep track of everyone's thread by saving bookmarks, but if you upgrade your computer, all history is lost. There has to be a better way...

I just bought a .22 caliber pistol... I really like it. I'm a bit timid, shooting it, but i'm getting better each weekend... Its an old school six shooter, a revolver, like what they had in the old wild West shows, like Gunsmoke...
Rick, not sure how you're saving bookmarks but changing computers shouldn't make them disappear. When I come across a thread I like I do the following:
  1. Click on the "Watch" button at the top right of the page. You can ask for a notification to be sent to your e-mail address (I choose no -- I get enough e-mails already).
  2. When I open the Garage Journal, I click on the little arrow to the right of the "FORUMS" tab, which opens a drop-down list.
  3. Click on "Watched" or "Watched Threads" and a list of all the threads you clicked on their "Watch" button.
  4. The list appears in newest to oldest order. The threads you haven't visited are in Bold.
  5. I prefer to scroll down to the oldest updated threads and each one you click on brings up the thread. When you leave that thread, it is no longer in Bold on your list.
We have six pistols, two .177 (4.5mm) CO2, two .22 caliber, one Beretta M1934 .380 ACP (9x17mm) semi-automatic and a US Model 1842 Pistol made by Henry Aston & Company in 1852. I've fired the Beretta at a range and the two CO2 pistols in the back yard. The .22s have never been fired but are ready whenever I get my *** to the range.

The 1911BB CO2 pistol is all plastic and looks it. More decorative than functional. The Colt Defender feels like a real pistol and is mostly metal. Both are loaded with steel shot and both have fresh, un-pierced cartridges in them.
CO2 Pistols.jpg
My .22 is a Ruger LCR and my preferred weapon is the Beretta M1934 that was manufactured in 1944, the year I was born. I store them unloaded in a case, along with the speed loader for the Ruger and extra ammo for all three pistols.
Ruger and Beretta.jpg
I got Liane a lightweight Smith & Wesson Model 43C. It's lightweight and has no protruding hammer.
Smith&Wesson 43C.jpg
I got my concealed carry permit in June 2018, and bought the two .22 caliber pistols once I had the permit in hand. I'm not crazy about guns but the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida happened less than 15 miles from our home. Students from Boca Raton High School walked out of their school and marched past our house on the way to Boca Raton City Hall to protest. There were a very large number of lifted pickup trucks roaming our neighborhood and I decided it was better to assume everyone was carrying and be wrong rather than assuming no one was carrying and be wrong.

Florida no longer requires any test of instruction to conceal carry but I'm still going to renew mine this year.

[EDIT} I forgot about the Henry Aston pistol. I've never fired it or even tried to fire it but I keep it handy because it's heavy and can be used as a "blunt force trauma" device, leaving marks that might be hard for forensics to identify.
1842 Henry Aston & Company 1851 Pistol.jpg
You might try the Ruger Mark IV .22/.45 Lite which has features like a .45 ACP firearm, so you can be building muscle-memory for two calibers on similar platforms.


1739018296026.png

I'm no gun expert, but my MI friend, who is a competitive shooter, recommended the Ruger .22 Mark IV or even the earlier models. He said that to get into shooting, something like the Ruger rimfire pistols make it easy to become used to two different calibers, with the guns having similar operations & design. Cheaper to shoot, and when you buy a .45, they operate with similar controls.
Philip, interesting gun but I think my arsenal is complete. I won't be investing money in bigger pistols and an 80 year old, one armed, cross-eyed and disturbed person shooting an AR-15 at the local range is not going to happen. I doubt that will win me another "Hire the Handicapped, We're Fun to Watch" plaque.
There is.
On a thread that you enjoy. Go to the top right of the page.
Click WATCH.
On the pop-up that appears, click the WATCH button.
Done.
Now every time you log in to GJ, you'll see a little red number next to the little bell in the top right of the page.
That's how many notifications are there for you.
If you click on it, a list drops down with the new entries in your watched threads.
Easy peasy.
Kay, thanks for that. I have seen the little red number but didn't know what it was.
Sadly it don’t work all the time. Like with Bob’s thread I don’t get the notification anymore. Even though it’s in my watch list. I just have to track it down when on the forum.
Cody, sorry about the notification thing. I turned it on years ago and couldn't handle the flood of e-mails. It felt like I was working for a living again so I shut the notifications off.
That means you missed an update and it rolled off the quick notification widget. That's to be expected.

You can also access your watched threads by:
Clicking on FORUMS in the top left.
Then click on WATCHED just below.
You will get a list of all your Watched Threads.
Look for the ones that are highlighted/bolded. You should see the ones that you seem to be missing are highlighted/bolded.
Once again, thank you Kay!
Well you can backup your bookmarks by exporting them from your browser as html in the old computer and import them in the new one.

In Firefox you can sync your bookmarks to your Moziilla account if you have one - don't forget to put the password to that into your password manager. I have not tested that, but it should work. I think you can do the same in Chrome too, and I would be surprised if Microsofts Chrome clone Edge don't have something like that.

I am lazy so I have a job that rsync my Firefox profile together with my home directory to a secure place daily, when I get a new computer I just restore the whole directory to the new one.
Patrik, I sync my bookmarks on all the desktop- and laptop-computers and I think Firefox syncs the Android phone I don't use but have to have working and available as decoration in my office.
What Kay said. I find this very easy to keep up with watched threads. The bolding makes it very easy to see when updates have been posted, and the threads are always listed with most recent update at the top of the list.
Gary, thanks for the help.
 
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madison069

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2010
Messages
4,207
Location
Monroeville, PA
Cody, sorry about the notification thing. I turned it on years ago and couldn't handle the flood of e-mails. It felt like I was working for a living again so I shut the notifications off.
I select the no email option, but instead rely on the little bell notifications at the top of the forum. Some thread pops up, but some don’t.
 

CNC_RICK

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Messages
1,067
Location
Wisconsin
Bob, here's a log splitter that my uncle made. He made it many years ago, but this summer was the first time I've seen it. He aptly named it... Lickety Split. The large wheel is a former wire spool. What you don't see in the pic is a bunch of short lengths of RR track, welded in to give the wheel more mass. It's hard to see in the pic, but it has a lawnmower engine running it. You'd start the engine, then pull on a lever with an idler pulley to tighten the drive belt and get this wheel up to speed. The idea is that you would take a piece of firewood and lay it down on the table and push the end toward the wheel... Once the knife comes around, it splits the chunk of wood.... Thought you would like to see this. I guess if you live up North, you tend to make your fire wood making equipment a bit more efficient...
 

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georgiadave

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 13, 2007
Messages
425
Location
Marietta, Georgia
Bob, here's a log splitter that my uncle made. He made it many years ago, but this summer was the first time I've seen it. He aptly named it... Lickety Split. The large wheel is a former wire spool. What you don't see in the pic is a bunch of short lengths of RR track, welded in to give the wheel more mass. It's hard to see in the pic, but it has a lawnmower engine running it. You'd start the engine, then pull on a lever with an idler pulley to tighten the drive belt and get this wheel up to speed. The idea is that you would take a piece of firewood and lay it down on the table and push the end toward the wheel... Once the knife comes around, it splits the chunk of wood.... Thought you would like to see this. I guess if you live up North, you tend to make your fire wood making equipment a bit more efficient...
Now that looks dangerous.
 
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Bob Heine

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Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
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Location
Boca Raton, Florida
Good thing I don't work for a living. This week flew by like a lightning bolt.
I select the no email option, but instead rely on the little bell notifications at the top of the forum. Some thread pops up, but some don’t.
Once a week do FORUMS-WATCHED. you'll see all your missed threads in bold.
Cody, I do the same as Kay but I do it every day.
Bob, here's a log splitter that my uncle made. He made it many years ago, but this summer was the first time I've seen it. He aptly named it... Lickety Split. The large wheel is a former wire spool. What you don't see in the pic is a bunch of short lengths of RR track, welded in to give the wheel more mass. It's hard to see in the pic, but it has a lawnmower engine running it. You'd start the engine, then pull on a lever with an idler pulley to tighten the drive belt and get this wheel up to speed. The idea is that you would take a piece of firewood and lay it down on the table and push the end toward the wheel... Once the knife comes around, it splits the chunk of wood.... Thought you would like to see this. I guess if you live up North, you tend to make your fire wood making equipment a bit more efficient...
Rick, that looks a lot like a 1950s hay baler with the covers off. Far as I knew, ever piece of farm equipment got naked on day one.
Nah. I've run one all day on the grandparents' farm. It was such an upgrade from a splitting axe.
Kay, I would have been happy with a maul. Come to think of it, I could barely swing the full axe so a maul would have probably fractured my coccyx on the second swing.
I found the watched forum link, I'll start using that to check for updates.
Excellent!
 

CNC_RICK

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Joined
Nov 12, 2016
Messages
1,067
Location
Wisconsin
Ha, I can see how you think about the log splitter. I can assure you that my uncle designed and built it with a friend. The friend is no more, so it belongs to my uncle now. He (uncle) worked as an architect, so building a log splitter would have some math and designing behind it. But, yes I've seen farm equipment and the fixing that they've done on such equipment. My Dad had bought several haying equipment items, hauled them home and had to fix them before he could use them. At one point, he told me that farmers shouldn't own welders.... Even though my Dad was a farmer and owned a welder... But he was much more than that.
 
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Bob Heine

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Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
Ha, I can see how you think about the log splitter. I can assure you that my uncle designed and built it with a friend. The friend is no more, so it belongs to my uncle now. He (uncle) worked as an architect, so building a log splitter would have some math and designing behind it. But, yes I've seen farm equipment and the fixing that they've done on such equipment. My Dad had bought several haying equipment items, hauled them home and had to fix them before he could use them. At one point, he told me that farmers shouldn't own welders.... Even though my Dad was a farmer and owned a welder... But he was much more than that.
Rick, I believe farmers and Hot Rodders have a lot in common. Build something with what you have available and figure out how to make it work. Take a bunch of steel and make a fantastic log splitter or take an old abandoned Ford from a field and turn it into a WWII surplus fuel tank bodied dry lakes race car.
 
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Bob Heine

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Joined
Oct 24, 2009
Messages
10,708
Location
Boca Raton, Florida
First, I want to make it clear I love my family, my children, grand children, great grandchildren and all the people they have dragged into my life kicking and screaming (them, not me).

Second, our 32-year-old grandson is a wonderful man and father. Unlike most of our other five grandson, his mechanical aptitude gene is slightly deficient.

Our 16-year-old great granddaughter's 16th birthday party was this past Saturday and they asked to borrow the five plastic Adirondack chairs and small table decaying in our yard. Liane told them to take them away and never bring them back. After a series of Fuxbook posts they were stopping by Thursday to retrieve them. I carried the chairs and table from the side yard and stacked them on the driveway.

There's always traffic noise on our street so I didn't realize our grandson had arrived. As I passed the security camera monitor in the kitchen (it's also a 24" TV) I noticed he was in the driveway. As I turned to to to the front door to go out and help him, what he was doing distracted me. I watched my grandson fight with the table, the chairs, their baby's car seat (they also have a 6YO boy and 18MO girl) and started to chuckle. Then I started to laugh (quietly) and before you know it I couldn't leave the house with all the liquids that leaked out of my eyes and other parts.

I suddenly realized my security system was recording this saga so I dried myself off and went to help. When he was all done and on his way, I went in the kitchen and played the recording. It starts at 3:** PM (15: ) and finishes ** minutes later. Here are some of the highlights:
Arrival @ 3:49 PM
2025-02-13 15-49-00.jpg
46 seconds later he's putting the small table in the back seat.
2025-02-13 15-49-46.jpg
About a minute later he has the baby seat removed from the back seat and puts it in the trunk. I'm impressed because our children rode in baby seats that loosely hooked over the top of the seat but otherwise identical to a highchair. Today's baby seats are like Apollo Mission restraints and require a rocket scientist to install and remove.
2025-02-13 15-51-44.jpg
Our grandson works out and competes in Martial Arts events so he picked up all five chairs like they were Styrofoam. I had patted myself on the back carrying them one at a time.
2025-02-13 15-52-13.jpg
He decided the chairs would fit in the back seat and attempted to push all five into there at once. I have no personal experience but I think this is a lot like putting newborn quintuplets back where they came from all at once.
2025-02-13 15-52-24.jpg
If five won't fit, try three...
2025-02-13 15-53-39.jpg
...or maybe just one. When one fits, he tries to jamb a second one in and realizes he has to stack them before they go in.2025-02-13 15-54-31.jpg
At the point that two almost went inside the back seat space, he realized the front seat back was in the way. He tried putting a chair in the front seat but may have realized he couldn't drive the car with a seat in the way. He finally tilted the front seat forward and moved it forward as far as it would go.
2025-02-13 15-55-00.jpg
To be continued, as we have reached the six minute mark and we need a word from our sponsors...
 
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jblnut

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Jan 17, 2015
Messages
7,131
Location
In the Middle of MN
Bob you just gotta let the kids figure it out on their own lol.

I drive a minivan for many reasons. One of them being that they’re great infinite caverns where more stuff can be stuck than should be. They do require a proud man to drive them as sometimes they get a non manly rap for some reason.

I’m literally sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for Part 2 and hitting that refresh button like it’s a money filled piñata.
 
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y'sguy

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May 1, 2010
Messages
1,341
Location
Tulsa, Oklahoma
This would also be my dear Son. I love him, and there are certain things you do not ask him to do.
Thanks for this Bob, gave me a needed chuckle.
You have to say "We're not laughing at you, but laughing WITH you."
 
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Bob Heine

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Messages
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Location
Boca Raton, Florida
In the previous episode, our grandson has successfully put a small table and two Adirondack chairs in the back seat of his car. I have dried off and no longer appear to have TD (Tardive Dyskinesia) and I am feeling terribly guilty for putting my grandson through this torture so I shamble outside to offer assistance a minute after the end of the previous episode and a word from my sponsor, Kirkland paper towels (when I get upset or hold back laughter, my eyes and nose produce copious fluids and Kleenex tissues are totally inadequate).
2025-02-13 15-55-54.jpg
First order of business is to inspect the rear seat situation. It appears the passenger rear door won't close because the legs of the second chair are sticking out too far. I also notice the trunk has a baby astronaut seat limiting its carrying capacity. First step is to move the seat from the trunk to the front seat.
2025-02-13 15-56-17.jpg
Second step is to eliminate any space between the top of the Adirondack chair and the table and center it in the rear seat chamber.
2025-02-13 15-56-33.jpg
We have liftoff! The rear doors both close without damage to door cards, upholstery or the irreplaceable plastic heirlooms.
2025-02-13 15-56-44.jpg
As my dear sweet grandson re-opens the rear door to jam the last three Adirondack chairs into the rear chamber I suggest we try to load them into the trunk. We have a meeting at the rear of the vehicle, staring into the cavernous trunk. One of us believes it will accept the remaining three chairs. To prove that theory wrong, the other participant tries to show that even one chair is too much.
2025-02-13 15-57-02.jpg
While he is loading the three stacked chairs into the trunk space I inquire about his supply of bungee cords. Deer in my headlights have no idea how they look so I ignored the look and invited my grandson to inspect the rear chamber of the PT Cruiser. It does not leave my driveway without at least six bungee cords, neatly stored in their stretched position using D-rings at the four corners of the tiny trunk.
2025-02-13 15-57-48.jpg
I want to believe he knows what bungee cords are and how to use them even though there was no evidence to support my belief. I decided to use two bungee cords because there were two holes in the license plate frame and I wanted to be sure the chairs didn't fly out of the trunk if he were to attempt a burnout leaving for home.
2025-02-13 15-58-25.jpg
We hugged and congratulated each other on a job well done.
2025-02-13 16-01-14.jpg
I went back in the house as my grandson got in his car and I waved, expecting him to make a K-turn in the driveway, make a right turn onto the street and drive off. For some reason, it took him more than 15 seconds to start the car.
2025-02-13 16-01-33.jpg
From my kitchen observation post, I was hoping for the K-turn and easy exit to become a reality. Instead he backed to the end of the driveway and waited for traffic to clear in both directions. In fairness, his backup camera was aimed at the setting sun. In any case he sat at the end of our driveway for more than two minutes.
2025-02-13 16-03-41.jpg
As we were leaving the birthday party Saturday afternoon, our grandson's wife mentioned returning the Adirondack chairs and table on Sunday. I suggested they keep them or put them at the curb for the weekly furniture and appliance trash pickup. My heart could not take another episode.
 
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Bob Heine

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Messages
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Location
Boca Raton, Florida
Most diverting, as P.G. Wodehouse would have scripted Jeeves to say.

In my case its sons in law who provide this sort of klutz-based amusement.
Geoff, I hope every family has one and loves them unconditionally. In the Southern US the phrase is "Bless their little hearts."
Bob you just gotta let the kids figure it out on their own lol.

I drive a minivan for many reasons. One of them being that they’re great infinite caverns where more stuff can be stuck than should be. They do require a proud man to drive them as sometimes they get a non manly rap for some reason.

I’m literally sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for Part 2 and hitting that refresh button like it’s a money filled piñata.
Mike, I tried and I swear I have a huge supply of patience. At some point I realized the sun was getting lower every minute and had no idea if his car turned his headlights on automatically.

I have often considered owning a van (mini or otherwise). Liane didn't like how large they were so I took her to a Dodge dealership in 2003 to look at the Dodge Magnum Hemi-powered station wagon. She couldn't see the tailgate window so we abandoned the idea. A friend bought a PT Cruiser when they first came out and Liane said she liked it. We found a PT Cruiser at the local Jeep Chrysler dealershhihp in December 2004 that she liked (sparkly silver paint). I liked it because it was 18 months old, had less than 300 miles on the odometer and had the turbo engine. It wasn't a GT but the price made it a no brainer. I can't get a 4x8 sheet of plywood or drywall in it but our nearby Home Depot has $19.95 flatbed and $29.95 box trucks for 90-minute rentals. Hell, for a little over $100 I can use them for the whole day. My lazy *** has also paid them to deliver large loads to my driveway for $80.
LOL people don't understand why I have a F-350. If it can handle the 12K toyhauler the table & chairs won't be a problem. it was made to haul things, and that's what I use it for most of the time. The bikes are for fun, and commuting.

You also have a knack for storytelling Bob.
@M.Brane, I completely understand why you have an F-350. You are an intelligent person. I am an idiot.

A few years ago there was a 1990 Chevy SS454 pickup for sale down the street. It was rust-free with 160K on the odometer and a replacement crate 454 engine with only 49K on it. He was asking $3,000 and apologized for the cowl induction hood (he had the original that came with the purchase). I begged Liane to let me buy it but a fourth vehicle for two elderly people was hard to justify. She reminded me how well our (chrome-covered, low mileage) 1996 Buick Regal worked as a hauler. I had made the mistake of using a roof rack to bring home all kinds of 4x8 sheet goods and an entire patio furniture set. Just because everyone at the fancy-shmantzy thrift store told me there was no way to get the set home in our Buick, I had to prove them wrong. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

This is the rattan set I brought home in and on the Buick Regal instead of caving to their demand of $100 to deliver the 16 miles to our house. One chair and two tables (with their glass) bungeed in the trunk, the second chair and all the cushions in the back seat and the couch strapped to the roof rack.
2014 Furniture.jpg
I just back flushed my nose! Bahahahahahahaha.............

:beer:
Dan, so sorry. My nose had a web of snot strings I had to get rid of several times.
This would also be my dear Son. I love him, and there are certain things you do not ask him to do.
Thanks for this Bob, gave me a needed chuckle.
You have to say "We're not laughing at you, but laughing WITH you."
Alan, I was feeling guilty so I played the video for Liane. There were a few moments at the beginning when she acted like: "What's the big deal?" and then she started coughing and simultaneously laughing and I began to fear she was having a stroke.

I asked her if she thought I was horrible for laughing and she said: "Yes, but the rest of the family has to see it."

At the party on Saturday our oldest granddaughter asked me for help with her writing, which has become important in her current job. I recommended: The Elements of Style by Strunk & White and offered her my copy. She had hitched a ride in our son's minivan along with our daughter-in-law and our youngest grandson (the 22YO). They came to our house and I apologized for what I was about to show them. By the time the video finished, Jasmine was hiding. She was afraid we would blame her for all the pee on the kitchen floor.

I suspect this will eventually get back to our grandson so your advice is appreciated. When that happens, we'll show it to him and hopefully he'll laugh WITH us. If not, I may be absent from the GJ for a time, recovering from said grandson's gleeful demonstration of his amazing martial arts skills.
 

Miss the Pontiacs

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 7, 2016
Messages
16,523
Location
Saskatchewan Canada
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.
 

taumac

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
8,104
Location
Brooksville, Fl
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.
 

LeonardY

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Joined
Apr 16, 2011
Messages
5,091
Location
Southern California
@Squankum, that's how I learned to ride a bike. It was a junk 20" bike and although it did have a chain, I started off just sitting on it and letting the hill do the work. I had my feet on the pedals after a couple of runs and by the end of the day I was pedaling on level ground. Didn't try to pedal back up the hill and a couple of times I had to crash the bike when a car approached from one of the side streets.

Learned to ski the same way. Climb the hill with skis and poles, stick my galoshes in the leather straps and take off down the hill. There was a huge incentive not to fall. If I fell, one or both skis would come off and go all the way to the bottom of the hill. Make that mistake more than three times and it was back to the sled because that never got away from me (rope wrapped around waist).

Rick, I sometimes wonder how we got through childhood. I guess I was lucky not to live on a farm with limb removers everywhere I turned.

Between age 6 and 9 I took a 30-inch bow saw into the Vermont woods and cut dead fall trees into logs chunks I could carry or drag back to the garage. Cut them into 12" pieces and split the big ones with a full size axe (single edge). Grandma saved money in the winter using the wood side of the stove instead of the gas. Her favorite starter was the wax covered little milk cartons. Nothing but strike-anywhere matches for me to play with.
Fairhaven Stove.jpg Fairhaven Stove Top.jpg

Rick, I think we 's called "Penny Wise and Pound Foolish."

Rick, not sure how you're saving bookmarks but changing computers shouldn't make them disappear. When I come across a thread I like I do the following:
  1. Click on the "Watch" button at the top right of the page. You can ask for a notification to be sent to your e-mail address (I choose no -- I get enough e-mails already).
  2. When I open the Garage Journal, I click on the little arrow to the right of the "FORUMS" tab, which opens a drop-down list.
  3. Click on "Watched" or "Watched Threads" and a list of all the threads you clicked on their "Watch" button.
  4. The list appears in newest to oldest order. The threads you haven't visited are in Bold.
  5. I prefer to scroll down to the oldest updated threads and each one you click on brings up the thread. When you leave that thread, it is no longer in Bold on your list.
We have six pistols, two .177 (4.5mm) CO2, two .22 caliber, one Beretta M1934 .380 ACP (9x17mm) semi-automatic and a US Model 1842 Pistol made by Henry Aston & Company in 1852. I've fired the Beretta at a range and the two CO2 pistols in the back yard. The .22s have never been fired but are ready whenever I get my *** to the range.

The 1911BB CO2 pistol is all plastic and looks it. More decorative than functional. The Colt Defender feels like a real pistol and is mostly metal. Both are loaded with steel shot and both have fresh, un-pierced cartridges in them.
CO2 Pistols.jpg
My .22 is a Ruger LCR and my preferred weapon is the Beretta M1934 that was manufactured in 1944, the year I was born. I store them unloaded in a case, along with the speed loader for the Ruger and extra ammo for all three pistols.
Ruger and Beretta.jpg
I got Liane a lightweight Smith & Wesson Model 43C. It's lightweight and has no protruding hammer.
Smith&Wesson 43C.jpg
I got my concealed carry permit in June 2018, and bought the two .22 caliber pistols once I had the permit in hand. I'm not crazy about guns but the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in Parkland, Florida happened less than 15 miles from our home. Students from Boca Raton High School walked out of their school and marched past our house on the way to Boca Raton City Hall to protest. There were a very large number of lifted pickup trucks roaming our neighborhood and I decided it was better to assume everyone was carrying and be wrong rather than assuming no one was carrying and be wrong.

Florida no longer requires any test of instruction to conceal carry but I'm still going to renew mine this year.

[EDIT} I forgot about the Henry Aston pistol. I've never fired it or even tried to fire it but I keep it handy because it's heavy and can be used as a "blunt force trauma" device, leaving marks that might be hard for forensics to identify.
1842 Henry Aston & Company 1851 Pistol.jpg

Philip, interesting gun but I think my arsenal is complete. I won't be investing money in bigger pistols and an 80 year old, one armed, cross-eyed and disturbed person shooting an AR-15 at the local range is not going to happen. I doubt that will win me another "Hire the Handicapped, We're Fun to Watch" plaque.

Kay, thanks for that. I have seen the little red number but didn't know what it was.

Cody, sorry about the notification thing. I turned it on years ago and couldn't handle the flood of e-mails. It felt like I was working for a living again so I shut the notifications off.

Once again, thank you Kay!

Patrik, I sync my bookmarks on all the desktop- and laptop-computers and I think Firefox syncs the Android phone I don't use but have to have working and available as decoration in my office.

Gary, thanks for the help.
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.
 

kaymccampbell

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,605
Location
Upstate New York
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.
Same for me. When it was my job, it was a 1911. Nowadays it's a cell.
 

hewey

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
1,681
Location
Blue Mountains, Australia
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 :ROFLMAO: 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.
 

driftpin

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 22, 2016
Messages
11,304
Location
Miami-Dade/Broward Co. Florida
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.
 
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