What's everybody doing today?

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I FINALLY replaced the MAP sensor on my car!

YAAY!

I had to sacrifice (dropped) a 10mm socket down to the engine monster.
I dare say it'll have a lot of company along with all the other tools that I've dropped and have found their way down to the bash plate covering the bottom of the sump.
I went and asked the guy down the road who works on cars if I could borrow one of his.
He loaned me two along with a couple of short low profile shifters and a magnetised telescopic tool wand in case I could see but couldn't reach the dropped socket.
No such luck.
I fitted the part, got the bolts tightened, didn't give anymore tools to the engine monster and took it for a test run.
It worked well and the problems the engine had from cold start weren't evident.
I'm going to cautiously say it's fixed.
I'm still going to put the injector cleaner in the fuel tank to give the injectors a clean.
If this doesn't work I'll have to look at replacing the fuel filter and the fuel pump which will mean taking out the back seats and carpeting to reach them.
 
Didn't do anything today. I've had several busy days and needed rest. Would you believe that nasty wasp venom is still plaguing me. I'm still getting those nasty venom headaches, got one tonight. Guess I should take something for it. The vervain tincture I made should be ready...

An old friend called today, we used to play music together. Last time we played was at the catfish restaurant in the big town, 8yrs ago. He's in the same boat as me. No pickers living close by, doesn't play anymore. So when I got off the phone I played for a while...

@Spikedriver the times in which we live can't be overlooked... jimmy carter was my welcome to the working world. I had skills, a good trade, acquired a 2nd trade and still ended up homeless twice in 4 yrs. Thank you Jimmy! I was 24 before I got on another good track, electronics. As they say, if you love what you do you'll never work a day in your life... I found that at 24. It was a bumpy road for the first few years though. With the common sense I know you gave her, she'll find her way.
 
An update to my previous post. I decided to repair the pants by using an overlock stitch and then hem as usual. The serger is right next to the Bernina so we set them both up. Which meant I got a little practice with Pete the Serger.
20220825_000115.jpg
20220825_000101.jpg
 
Last edited:
At this point, she says she wants to study graphic design at Iowa State University. That's one of those degrees that people generally don't make a lot of money with. But, most students change degrees 2 or 3 times in college so who knows?

I'd like her to get a background in a trade. Licensed Practical Nurses make decent money with a 1 year degree. There are several others to think as well.

She definitely needs some kind of degree though, because she doesn't have the constitution for a life of "hard" work...
If she decides to be a chef/cook, she will have to find a constitution. That's a hard job with long hours sweating over a hot stove.

I went to culinary school and it does have its appeal for artistic people, but the competition is stiff and back in the day, it was an occupation full of abusive personalities. European chefs believe in the right of passage.
 
Feeding the animals, doing everyday chores then I'm dropping daughter to work.
When I'm in town I'm going to the charity shops with some knitting magazines (wished I lived closer to the knitters on the forum!) and hoping to score some of the heavy woollen blankets I saw last week. One gas station dropped their prices by 5c last night so hoping to fill up. I'll check the supermarket for anything on my list thats for sale, and then off to my butchers to stock up on chicken, planning on making curries etc, for college days.
 
. I'll check the supermarket for anything on my list thats for sale, and then off to my butchers to stock up on chicken, planning on making curries etc, for college days.

How do you preserve the curries? Do you can it, or freeze it? Does it keep well? I would love to try and store some curried chicken but not sure how well it works
 
I went to culinary school and it does have its appeal for artistic people, but the competition is stiff and back in the day, it was an occupation full of abusive personalities. European chefs believe in the right of passage.

Hell's Kitchen
Our son actually worked with one of the contestants for a while ( as a chef at the university ) He liked the job but not enough to stop going to college for the engineering degree
 
Need to get started but still tired from yesterday and mentally exhausted. Got into argument with husband :(
The livestock dogs escaped again but we caught them at the neighbors. You wouldn't believe how these huge dogs can squeeze under a piece of lose fencing. Took us half a day to find the hole and it looked big enough for maybe a cat. The goats wouldnt even try to get out that. We found it only because there was dog hair on the barbed wire fence on the bottom ( there is barbed wire on the bottom, then regular fencing, then more barbed wire, then electric. It's goat proof but not dog proof
Finally got around to picking more tomatoes but a ton were rotten already because they should have been picked a week ago
One good news, truck passed inspection . But they are still trying to fix the alignment because it pulls to the right

Yesterday I wanted to quit for real but no alternative came to mind
 
How do you preserve the curries? Do you can it, or freeze it? Does it keep well? I would love to try and store some curried chicken but not sure how well it works
I freeze my curries @sonya123 I save plastic containers and do them in 6 portions (family) and a few small one person ones for night people are coming home late.
 
Went up to get blood drawn earlier, and I've got a telemedicine appointment with Angela the ARNP in a few minutes. She's quite good, actually I think she's better than most family doctors. She actually listens. We're going to see if we can get a handle on some things that I've got going on recently.

I've got to head over to the courthouse and pay the registration for the tags on my two vehicles later on. That'll be over $500, maybe closer to $600. Yay...

Otherwise, all I've got planned is to drink some of this Costa Rican coffee I got from the church coffee shop, maybe go to the gym, and make a rib eye steak with fresh spinach for lunch...
 
Library run today, the DVDs are due today and the date crept up on me... wish they'd give folks more than a week, maybe 10 days or so. Oh, well, it has to be done, I don't wanna get on the bad side of the librarians... ;)

Otherwise, I'm monitoring the cats & kittens, since the adult cats still have unresolved issues... the kittens are fine, they're settling in very well, but the adult cats are acting stupid. Gotta keep working on 'em! :confused:

BBQ this afternoon or early evening, I have a big ol' value pack of yardbird to cook with large Hatch green chiles & onion... should be tasty, even with regular BBQ sauce. Green salad on the side! :cool:
 
Dr.J what brand mill is that? Never seen it before. I like the log carrier too. I need one of those in a bad way.

Spike the trader guy has a very nice collection. I see a lot of stuff like that at re-enactments, but don't know I've saw one with that volume of stuff.

TG, I'm glad to hear Landshark is back home. I know you are thrilled
It's called turbosaw, it was shipped from New Zealand, but in the US, I believe they have a place in TX?
Not sure where we got the log carrier. I'll have to ask hubs on that one. It attaches to our UTV - we've definitely got good use out of it already!

 
At this point, she says she wants to study graphic design at Iowa State University. That's one of those degrees that people generally don't make a lot of money with. But, most students change degrees 2 or 3 times in college so who knows?

I'd like her to get a background in a trade. Licensed Practical Nurses make decent money with a 1 year degree. There are several others to think as well.

She definitely needs some kind of degree though, because she doesn't have the constitution for a life of "hard" work...
I switched my major 4 times....
My daughter has no clue what she wants to major in. After 19 years of being insistent she wants nothing to do with medicine, she now says she wants to be an anesthesiologist. Cracks me up. I'm trying to steer her to PA school because the lifestyle is better then being on call all the time.
 
I woke up late (0730). Cleaned the RV, took 20 mins (I love that).
Heading out to the gym, then going grocery shopping.
After that lunch, and will probably just relax. I'm still recuperating from my last call shift.
Tomorrow I'm going out to the property to help hubs grind down some stumps. He worked a shift in the ER last night and is out working on the property today. I have no idea how he does that. I got him a hammock so hopefully he can take a nap out there.

Got a call from my son this last week. He has been living in CA, working with his bio dad (who is a piece of work, but that is another story for another day - I should write a book one of these days). He's been there about a year. Hasn't gone well in the last month, and my kid finally had enough of his horrible ways and basically told him to take a hike. He hadn't been saying anything because he wanted to keep the relationship, and he's just a nice kid.
Long story short, he is applying for work up here and will be moving up in a couple of weeks. We are scrambling to find a RV for him to move out on the property. It will be really nice to have him here to help out as well when he has some spare time. I think he missed the PNW, he definitely did not fit in well in CA. We may be taking a trip down there to help him move his stuff back up, so we will see!
 
Whoa....killing goat heads is insane! look at this!
https://peppershomeandgarden.com/ho...to kill goat heads without harming the grass.
Go scorched earth and start over!
I'd second using Preen to prevent the seeds from birthing another generation of vines! It's the only thing we'll use in our yard and it's supposed to be completely safe for pets. It's mostly corn gluten so pretty non-toxic stuff. I know we get way less goathead vines in the areas we Preen - we usually lay down a layer in April, another in June and one in Aug/Sept to keep the weeds in check in our gravel paths and flowerbeds.

Had PT last night, which wiped me out, who knew we have so many muscles in your neck? Came home and took care of the animals in the rain and spent a little time in the greenhouse in progress watching/listening to the rain falling on the roof while I dried off. Was nice to have a little quiet time.
 
Dr. J, Kalifornia is NOT what it once was, so your son is probably better off getting the heck outta there. TeeJ, it was almost humorous to see that others have had long battles with goathead vine infestation... I think I'm on the right track, using a multi-pronged approach of vigilance, hand weeding, torching with the flamethrower, etc. Torch the young ones, hand pick the older vines loaded with goatheads and toss 'em in the trash. I'm pretty sure that with the work I've already done, there will be far fewer goatheads on my property, but I'm gonna remain vigilant and weed out these puncturevines as they crop up, it's the only way to steadily reduce their numbers. :oops:

Guess I should get cleaned up and head for the library, I'm not sure if it opens at 1000 or 1100 today, but it's late enough now that it doesn't matter, lol. :cool:
 
Dr. J, Kalifornia is NOT what it once was, so your son is probably better off getting the heck outta there. TeeJ, it was almost humorous to see that others have had long battles with goathead vine infestation... I think I'm on the right track, using a multi-pronged approach of vigilance, hand weeding, torching with the flamethrower, etc. Torch the young ones, hand pick the older vines loaded with goatheads and toss 'em in the trash. I'm pretty sure that with the work I've already done, there will be far fewer goatheads on my property, but I'm gonna remain vigilant and weed out these puncturevines as they crop up, it's the only way to steadily reduce their numbers. :oops:

Guess I should get cleaned up and head for the library, I'm not sure if it opens at 1000 or 1100 today, but it's late enough now that it doesn't matter, lol. :cool:
Isn’t that the truth. I left in 2006 - still too late in my opinion. Didn’t know anything else though.
My daughter got a vball scholarship there so hopefully when she’s done with college she will be out too.
Hoping she doesn’t meet a CA boy while there 😕
 
Went up to get blood drawn earlier, and I've got a telemedicine appointment with Angela the ARNP in a few minutes. She's quite good, actually I think she's better than most family doctors. She actually listens. We're going to see if we can get a handle on some things that I've got going on recently.

I've got to head over to the courthouse and pay the registration for the tags on my two vehicles later on. That'll be over $500, maybe closer to $600. Yay...

Otherwise, all I've got planned is to drink some of this Costa Rican coffee I got from the church coffee shop, maybe go to the gym, and make a rib eye steak with fresh spinach for lunch...
You weren't the only one. I had to go to the endocrinologist today. I have Hashimoto's Disease. It's an autoimmune disorder and I take levothyroxine. It does help me and I do have a stockpile of it...but I know it does not help everyone. I have to have labs every 6 months. Well, today marked six months so time to see Megyn (endocrinologist APN) and Hezekiah (lab tech/phlebotomist who draws my blood). He had to draw 2 tubes today. And my best friend Kim was at the doctor yesterday. So we all 3 are tired...lol.

Went to neighborhood market and got bananas.

Came home and found out the new dishwasher was here but the old one has not been taken out. Here we are blessed to have a plumbing company (Sanders) that is very good about sending out excellent people who do the work well, won't do something that does not need to be done, and is usually very reasonably priced, so we figure let them install it. So we have to coordinate that with Sanders.

Went out in my garden to see what could be done later. It was 1230 and 90 degrees. Found out the four o clocks and a hibiscus are blooming.

Going to do some schoolwork.
20220824_190427.jpg
20220824_190146.jpg
 
A nothing day but productive just the same.

I had a homework assignment to locate info about who and what dade money during the great depression to serve as inspiration to guide investing in the near future. A lor of reading but these links are what I shared.



6 People Who Made Big Money During the Great Depression

9 People Who Made a Fortune During the Depression


1930s Lessons: Brother, Can You Spare a Stock?.

Then moved on to reading a report by Jim Rickards titled "A World War S Financial Battle Plan". It made an argument that China is in a situation now similar to what Germany was for WWI and Japan was for WWII in that they are peaking and delays in moving on Taiwan and or Japan will diminish with time. Very intense reading.

Escaped the heat but did something.

Ben
 
Worked the closing shift today. Gave me time to take care of a few other things. Truck needed a little TLC at the mechanics. New serpentine belt, new water pump, oil change, and basic physical. Speedometer problem still can't be found. Most likely it's a chip issue. My iPhone solved that problem--found a great speedometer app. $575 later and it doesn't make noises anymore. Went to the farmer's market with Dad. Got 8 quarts of lima beans. Will be spending quality time with my canner on Friday evening and all day Saturday.
 
Took my daughter to an orthodontist appointment, and to Walmart, in a larger town an hour away. Found 3 varieties of low carb, "keto" breakfast cereal there, and decided to try 1 of each. Those 3 boxes of cereal cost me $23! :eyeballs:

Came home and made breakfast for supper - scrambled eggs and ham steaks. Daughter made hers into a burrito. Now I'm trying to relax. I've got some things I want to do tomorrow. And I'm trying to avoid spending any more money for a while - the tags for my two vehicles ended up costing $554!
 
Crazy day. Did animals. Call in to our grandson's drug diversion officer about finding a backpack with pot, pipes, all that junk. She actually said to either dump it in a dumpster in town or call the Sheriff to pick it up. She'll drug test him on Monday morning. So called the sherrif and he took it away. So family therapy was interesting. Told the therapist that this week was crap with the both of them. Got a call earlier in the week from our other grandsons' mom in New Mexico, telling me all the garbage they will telling about us, and of course, they don't believe it, so called us. So laid it on the table tonight, and said enough is enough. The therapist asked them if they wanted to be here or what. They said they did and they'd try harder. She said that they need to stop hating on me in particular. And it needs to improve or they can be moved somewhere else. I agree. Husband agrees. They said that they agree. I did fill a cart at Aldi, too, just haven't put it away yet. They had sugar today, but the price went up to $2.45 for the 4lb sack.
 
At this point, she says she wants to study graphic design at Iowa State University. That's one of those degrees that people generally don't make a lot of money with. But, most students change degrees 2 or 3 times in college so who knows?

I'd like her to get a background in a trade. Licensed Practical Nurses make decent money with a 1 year degree. There are several others to think as well.

She definitely needs some kind of degree though, because she doesn't have the constitution for a life of "hard" work...
Listen to others before me, but when I was in HS I wanted to be an architect. By the time I graduated, I had been discouraged at every turn - you'll never get a job, they are a dime a dozen, it's not a real career etc. and I went to college with no major (Undecided - the worst!) I wish folks would have left me alone and/or I wouldn't have listened. I crashed after about a year and a half and it was several years before I went back (but into teaching rather than arc.) - have been to 4 colleges & have 2 Assoc. & a Bach. I could have saved so much stress on various levels. I guess all of this is to say if she is learning, let her learn something she enjoys - it will teach her to enjoy learning, even other things later.
 
@LadyLocust I believe there is a balance between learning something you love, and learning something you can actually use. What good is 75k worth of debt when all it prepares you for is a 35k job?

That said, I fully recognize that I could have made choices in my own college career that would have served me much better than the choices I made. Electronic Media is a worthless degree so I put a business minor on it, looking to go into marketing and management. I hated all of it. I may as well have studied archeology - I would have at least found it interesting, although I would still have ended up working in a factory...
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top