Escape FROM my dream shop

[bulletpruf]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.
I had to take the day off and bring the first real job into the shop. The Xfer case on my truck died from the infamous pump rub. The new case arrived yesterday and I cleaned up the floor this morning so I can lay my old fat *** on the floor and swap the case out.
I remember doing trans swaps on my chest in my youth, too bad the truck couldn’t wait until I got a lift installed.

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I have some scar tissue associated with swapping one of those. 99 Yukon had the pump rub, too, and it was winter in Korea (I was stationed in Seoul). Damn auto hobby shop on post was only 1/4 mile away, but garrison commander had just closed it, so I did the swap in the parking lot. Yanked it out in freezing rain one Sunday morning and brought it to work and rebuilt it in my office after hours.

 

[rmack898]

I remember re-building an automatic trans in the driveway of housing when I was stationed in Puerto Rico, fun, fun, fun.

I got a few more little things done in the shop. I got my Tig wire tubes hung up on the wall.

A major milestone did occur today.........I made the first chips in the new shop and it was a paying job. WOO HOO

 

[Craptain]

Excellent news on productive work. Any paying job is good news.

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[Toolfool]

What's a "paying job" ?

 

[harley jim]

Isn't that what they call all of those freebie jobs we do for friends of friends.

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[mybigwarwagon]

Wait, you paid to do work?

 

[rmack898]

Excellent news on productive work. Any paying job is good news.

Indeed Andrew, tangible proof that the next chapter might work out as planned

What's a "paying job" ?

Its one of those jobs that generates beer money.

Isn't that what they call all of those freebie jobs we do for friends of friends.

Jim, I call them favors. I'm known around the neighborhood as the "Godfather". They all know that when they come to me for help, they may have to return the favor upon demand.

Wait, you paid to do work?

Willie,
Every morning when I wake up, I am paying for the work I did the previous day. I'm certain you of all people understand that concept.


I have retired two times before but for some reason (usually lawyers), I always find myself back in the full time work force. Well this coming August is the real retirement. I'm not going back to a full time day job again.

I have been planning to have a few paying clients that will support my tool and leisure spending habits. I have cultivated the cream of the crop and have just the right mix of client's work that will not have me working every day but still give me the freedom to work at my own discretion.

If that doesn't work out the way I planned then I'll just get a cardboard sign and hang out at the traffic light by the grocery store.

 

[harley jim]

I'm kind of that way also Mack, but it isn't the godfather that they call me.

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[Bob Heine]

Mac, I saw the Chris Craft sign and figured you were into boating. Then you mention Mercruiser tools and I had a little flashback. Had a '72 Century Raven with a Mercruiser 188 outdrive with 302 Ford in it. Blew the upper gears in the outdrive and got an estimate. Parts and special tools came out to about half the estimate so I learned something new. Gave the tools away to a guy I suspect turned around and sold them. It was fun boat until the gears went south (paddling the first mile back was more exercise than expected).

 

[rmack898]

Bob,

I really have mixed feelings for boats, they have been the focus of my life since I was 8 years old.

My parents wanted to put an in-ground pool in and our next door neighbor refused to let the excavation equipment pass between our two houses as he just planted a Forsythia bush and he thought the excavator would trample it. My dad said he would pay for a new bush but the neighbor refused.

So instead of getting a pool, my parents bought a 28' Luhrs that became our summer home at the shore and my introduction to boating. The first boat I owned was an 8' plywood pram with the 3 hp Evinrude. I moved from the pram to a 12' sears gamefisher with a 6 hp Johnson. I almost forget how many other boats I had as a kid. At 18, I enlisted in the CG and spent over 20 years playing with boats. When I retired I was a marine inspector, I inspected freight ships, tank ships, cruise ships, and basically any vessel that entered US waters for compliance with applicable maritime regulations.

When I retired I opened a boat dealership and had a very successful recreational boat business for almost 13 years. I closed the doors and walked away from that business because half of nothing is nothing and the divorce lawyers wanted something. I gave them nothing.

I went back to the CG as a civilian in their industrial enterprise. I ran a shop and did overhauls on various floating assets (ships and boats). I did that for 10 years and left there for a project manager position at a shipyard in NE Florida. The shipyard and I courted each other for 6 months before I made the move only for me to find out after I got there that they mis-represented themselves very badly, I left after only 5 weeks.

I went back to my roots, turning wrenches on boats. I have been a service tech at a high volume boat dealership for the last two years and can't wait to retire for the final time later this year.

I got that first wood pram over 54 years ago and boats have been a part of my life ever since.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Chris Craft. In my early twenties I bought a wreck of a mahogany ski boat. I spent almost a year and a **** load of money doing a full restoration on it, hence my love of CC. It's probably the only boat that I regret selling.

I think when I retire, I'll build a boat from scratch and should about do it for me and my relationship with boats.

The pic is of my CC right ofter the restoration. It was a 1966 17' ski boat. It had a 327 chevy with a 1:1 gear.

 

[shortykorte]

Gamefisher with a 6 hp? You haven’t lived until you ride in the same Gamefisher with a 3hp, two adults and two teenagers!!!!

Beautiful restoration. If you’re thinking of building a boat, I might have some useful parts.


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[rmack898]

Gamefisher with a 6 hp? You haven’t lived until you ride in the same Gamefisher with a 3hp, two adults and two teenagers!!!!l

You forgot the part about pulling a skier at the same time.

 

[Toolfool]

I'm not in any way a boat person, but I have thought about building a boat, just because.

 

[shortykorte]

You forgot the part about pulling a skier at the same time.

No skiers but 20# bass


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[harley jim]

20# Bass.
What are you doing with that in a boat



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[shortykorte]

Any updates from the temporary bach pad?


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[Finallygotit]

Earth to Mac, come in Mac....

What's going on at the grove? Hope all is well.

 

[Toolfool]

I think he's busy counting down the days till retirement .

 

[Finallygotit]

Well if that's the case, keep counting!!

 

[rmack898]

Earth to Mac, come in Mac....

What's going on at the grove? Hope all is well.

Thanks for asking Dan, all is very well.

I have a computer from the fruit company and it did an automatic upgrade to make it better for me. In the process of making my computer better, they somehow eliminated my ability to post pictures which coincidently was around the same time the forum went to the new software.
I did the chat thing with the fruit people and that didn't work out too well. I had the fruit people call me to help me fix the problem and that didn't work out too well. I tried my luck on getting help on various sites that the fruit people gather to help people like me, and that didn't work out too well.
Weeks turned into months with me unable to post pictures of things that happened at the grove, (and a lot has happened). But as we all know......without pictures, it never happened.

About a week and a half ago, Laura suggested I call the fruit people one more time (she saw how pissy I was getting). So I called and got a very intelligent young lady that understood my issue and was able to remedy the problem.

So now I have been able to post pics again (to prove what has happened here at the grove) for almost 2 weeks. But trying to do the catch-up thing to bring you all up to date is almost over whelming and I not had the timer energy to do it.

Laura left for NJ this morning and will be returning on Monday with our daughter and grandson for their first visit to the grove since we bought it 3 years ago.

I have 4 days with just me, the dog, and the cat, so I will try to catch you all up in the next few days.

I will give you a teaser for now...........I've been playing with red iron again.

 

[racer-john]

I vowed I would never buy anything from a company that uses a fruit for its logo.

 

[Finallygotit]

I vowed I would never buy anything from a company that uses a fruit for its logo.

When did Dole start making computers?

Mac, glad to hear all is well. You don't have to worry about getting the updates out immediately. Take your time, we're a patient bunch.

 

[shortykorte]

See that’s why my fruit is 3 versions behind.

Red iron? Sounds hot. You didn’t burn your finger tips thus keeping you from typing.

 

[Bob Heine]

Take your time, we're a patient bunch.

Dan, I assume you mean you and the bunch that lives 1,900 miles from Mac's place. The bunch that lives closer has been known to make surprise visits with their torture devices.

 

[Craptain]

Dan, I assume you mean you and the bunch that lives 1,900 miles from Mac's place. The bunch that lives closer has been known to make surprise visits with their torture devices.

Sshhh. Bob you're not supposed to warn the victims.

 

[rmack898]

I guess I've put this off long enough. An awful lot has happened here at the Grove and I will attempt to catch you up to date so bear with me. The list of tasks for the house and the shop are about equal length and importance so I have to bounce between the two.
First up, was drainage.

The domestic water treatment plant has two 1/2" hoses that drain effluent when the system regenerates onto the ground next to the house. This area becomes a muddy mess. Not wanting to use a shovel and dig up the grass in the dog pen to extend the drain lines away from the house, I decided to jet the 30' long line under the turf.

I used 3/4" PVC for the drain line. I drilled several small holes at 15* and one larger hole at 0* in a cap and glued it onto the 30' pipe. I dug a little lead in ramp at the desired depth, hooked up a garden hose to the other end of the pipe and started jetting. In less than 5 minutes I had the 30' drain pipe jetted under the turf exactly as planned. I was very surprised that it all worked out better than I expected

 

[Chrisb62]

That works in Florida , not so well in the rock filled northern areas .

 

[Jayman17]

That’s a pretty slick trick, well done Mack!

Jay

 

[rmack898]

Like I said, I'm going to bounce between the shop and the house.

Next up in the shop was to get the air system done. I have a 20' shipping container next to the shop and that is where my air compressor lives. I used 3/4" PEX for piping it all in. I used regular PEX no AL-PEX.

The feed from the compressor comes into the building to a wall mounted regulator so I can easily change the pressure when needed. I put a drain leg under the regulator. The line runs up to a centrally located hose reel on the ceiling that is loaded with 75' of Flexzilla hose. This hose reel can reach any place in the shop as well as the front porch. I also ran the line around the perimeter of the shop with several hose drops for machines.

I added a remote start relay for the compressor next to the regulator and tied it into the shop lighting circuit so if I forget to turn the compressor off, it will get turned off when I shop off the lights.

 

[rmack898]

Bouncing back to the drainage project.

The shop is on the highest ground with the house being just about a foot and a half lower. The grove is on very sandy soil that drains quickly. The plan is to have all of the gutter downspouts run into a common trunk to feed a future pond.

Once we selected a site for the pond, I had to take out about a dozen trees and clear the site of organics. That took me a full weekend to get done. Next was to dig the actual pond. My friend Bernie came over with his small excavator and dump truck. He dug and direct loaded me in the dump truck and we got the pond dug in one very long day.

 

[rmack898]

Now that we had the pond dug and a place for the water to go, I had to do the plumbing to make it happen.
I started with 400' of 6" corrugated pipe. I started the trench at the west side of the shop (the highest point). I rented the trenching attachment for my bobcat and started digging. I tied in all 4 of the shop downspouts and continued down the drive towards the house.
I used 4" corrugated for the laterals from the house downspouts to tie into the 6" main. I also tied in the 3/4" drain that jetted in for the water treatment effluent. Once that was done I continued trenching my way to the pond. This whole job was fairly time consuming. I don't have a laser although getting one has move up a little on my want list. I used a transit to keep tabs on my pitch so I had to come up with a creative way to hold the rod while I took the sites. All in all I used 375' fo 6" pipe and 150' of 4" pipe and took almost a week to complete. It rains every afternoon this time of year and every day I would lose about 50' of trench to the afternoon downpours.

Every morning I would have to re-trench what the rains took the precious day. I have a low spot on the other side of the house that I want to drain to the pond, but that will wait a bit as there is some landscaping that needs to get done on that side first. The drainage project is 90% complete but it will still be a few months before I can call it done and scratch it off the list.

 

[cbacres]

The dirt/piping is a chunk of work. I ran 6” pvc from the shop area to to the ditch at the rear of propert.

Nice work on the airline. I have parts to remote my air compressor when it gets moved to the shed. I like your tie into the lights!

 

[rmack898]

Back to the shop.
I needed a sink for the shop and was always on the hunt for one of the old, deep, porcelain laundry sinks. Then I saw the used restaurant sink that trm303 got for his shop and decided that was the kind of sink I wanted. The search was on, I even had the enabler helping with the search, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. Then Strouty bought a brand new sink just like what I was looking for. I showed Laura a picture oaf Strouty's sink and she told me to stop being such cheap ******* and just buy the sink I want for the shop. After a few night of poking around online I ordered a sink from Amazon and it arrived the next day. I got the sink and the faucet for $300 and I'm happy with it.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Nice sink.

 

[Chrisb62]

Retirement gift to yourself.

Is Covid kicking your ****......hope it is not,get well soon.

 

[Toolfool]

Lots of work done. Your place has come a long way.
Take it easy and heal up.

 

[zmotorsports]

Looking good Mac. I sure don't miss putting in a drainage system and having to dig in the dirt for weeks on end. It's almost fun watching someone else do it though.

 

[racer-john]

What are the soil conditions at the site of your soon-to-be pond?

 

[Finallygotit]

$300 for that sink setup?? SWEET!!

 

[harley jim]

Mac that trenching and setting grade is pretty rough with only one person. Good job on the stick helper.