Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Started by glenn kangiser, January 30, 2005, 10:24:03 PM

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glenn kangiser

I use versions of that idea myself, Dave.  Notebook to look at ......afraid to look at myself in the mirror so  don't know if I'd see a note there.   [scared]

Lime knife... limes.... cerveza.... sounds good right now..... [waiting]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

I had to go back to prison yesterday.   [ouch]

It was not a regular trip..... it was a warranty job.

I had put in about 1200 security screws installing 800 feet of handrail in the prison medical facility.  They were going into lead sleeve anchors in concrete and had a 5/32 hex driver.  Because they had to make threads in the lead as they went in they left little burs from driving hard sometimes.  Nothing I noticed before but apparently the state ADA or some other inspector noticed it.

I have sore muscles from doing about 300 squat thrust crab walks polishing out 4 screws ever 4 feet maximum on that 800 feet of hand rail.  On a good note, I renegotiated the hours with the state purchaser right there on the spot so I will most likely get another high dollar day or two work doing a change order so not all a loss.  1200 screws checked and polished in 2 hours works out to about 6 seconds a screw pretty well non-stop.  Not bad for an old fat man.  [waiting]

On the way home I took the scenic Delta Loop in the San Joaquin Delta where the water collects and spreads before it gets to the bay.  Not super scenic but there were some interesting things.  Here is a pix of two old drag-lines or cranes on barges on the other side of the water.  Note that the small one is the size of a normal large land based excavator.  [noidea'



[cool]   I love old equipment pictures.


:)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

WOW!That larger crane is HUGE[cool]

I dig old equipment too.  ;)

glenn kangiser

Yeah, it's a biggie, Ben.  Wish I could have gotten back farther for a better picture but the levee road was very narrow and no good place to park.  Water here is about 20 feet higher than the surrounding farm land. [scared]


Meanwhile back at the ranch.....


We are getting ready to improve the place a bit so it is better for our International Students and guests.  I had this really cool dragline bucket that I have been wanting to put strawberries in for a year or so now.  I finally went and got it and put it where I wanted it a few days ago.  It needed a chain support welded to display the chains so I cut one from a piece of old pump tube and welded it on.

Here is where I get to show you something you may not have seen done before.  I bought a Harbor Freight inverter (get the warranty as they are spotty on quality sometimes) and I mounted it on the fender well and hooked it up to a deep cycle battery I installed for it.







Next I plugged my Lunch Box Miller Inverter 140 welder into it.  It runs off of 120v A/C and would like over 20 amps if I had it.  Before installing the heavy duty deep cycle it did not work.  Now it works pretty decent.  Two deep cycles would be better.  [ouch]







The welder is the little blue box on the ground. This one replaced it and it will run off of 120 or 240vac.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/product.php?model=M00152 

My setup is not for heavy duty welding but does a great job on smaller reasonably heavy jobs.

Minimum you could get by with would be a set of jumper cables, a welding rod and a helmet ( OK - small amount - emergency - not recommended but sunglasses would work).  I would suggest 3/32 or 1/8 max rod.  Maybe I'll set that up and demonstrate it some day.  I haven't done it yet but a friend told me of the capability years ago.

On another note... the cow family was well fed and doing well on after dinner rest the other day... :)





"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

Love those Miller 140's but they are pricey from what I've seen.  :-\


Rob_O

I'm going to post this link for anyone who may be interested. Not as fancy as Glenns setup, but it will get the job done

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/on-boardwelder/
"Hey Y'all, watch this..."

glenn kangiser

Think I paid a bit over a thousand for the little 140, Ben and the new ones start at $1300 plus and go up.  With my work it is worth it but hard to justify otherwise.  [ouch]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Thanks for the link, Rob. 

I am sure others will venture by here and want to see about an emergency welder setup.  Better info on the batteries than I had also.  :) 

Sometimes all it takes is a small weld to get things back in business and I think a lot of us are a lot closer to being able to do it than we think.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

Quote from: Rob_O on December 24, 2011, 05:34:10 PM
I'm going to post this link for anyone who may be interested. Not as fancy as Glenns setup, but it will get the job done

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/on-boardwelder/

I am a member there and that is one of the best how tos.  [cool]


glenn kangiser

Just a small weld in the field can completely change a situation, save your day, save thousands of dollars... [idea]


...and start a forest fire..... [waiting]

Be careful with field emergency repairs.  I weld in the woods sometimes and have to be extremely careful.  Another hazard is a grinder.  Starts more fires than welding that I know of. 
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Redoverfarm

Quote from: glenn kangiser on December 26, 2011, 01:45:31 PM
Just a small weld in the field can completely change a situation, save your day, save thousands of dollars... [idea]


...and start a forest fire..... [waiting]

Be careful with field emergency repairs.  I weld in the woods sometimes and have to be extremely careful.  Another hazard is a grinder.  Starts more fires than welding that I know of.

Makes me laugh Glenn.  I had a guardrail crew that I supervised a few years back.  One employee was grinding ( to make things fit) and low and behold his pants was burning up his legs from the grinder sparks.   [shocked] No real damage except his pants.  He was a little more careful from then on.

glenn kangiser

I've had my pants, shirt and various clothing articles on fire more times than I can count, John.  [waiting] 

Started a grass fire one time and was hopping around like a fart in a skillet trying to put it out.  Got it out just as the fire truck arrived..... got brownie points for that one. 

I had cleared a safe area but the grinder threw a spark past the clear area and the race was on.

Working on the masticator in the woods last year, I had him clean a giant work area and still watched it.  Now I think you understand why Super Safety Man could not wear the polyester safety vest and had to move on up to the security of the Hot Pink Mankini.  [ouch]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

I am now fencing the neighbors adjoining 20 acres so that he and I can run our animals across about 55 acres below us for fire protection.

I already fenced our two parcels on each side of him so now it is just one fence on the high side of his place.  I got about half of it done today..... My cows are eating dirt right now so I need to finish it soon.  :)

We will then open the interior fences and allow the animals the use of the entire area.  Nice to finally have good neighbors who think like we do. 
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

We had a wonderful time with a return visit of our friend Hugues and his wife and daughter from Haiti.  He returned with his family as he had promised on his first visit.  He also brought along two new members of the Humphrey Fellowship group from UC Davis.



John Joe from the Philippines and Assenga from Tanzania came with them also.  We heard wonderful stories and had a great time on our short trip to Yosemite.  John Joe is a professional photographer, studies environment and energy among other things and Assenga is a Veterinarian for the government in Tanzania.

http://humphrey.ucdavis.edu/fellowship/2011_2012/assenga.html

The original plan was to spend a few minutes at the Underground complex, jump in the cars and head to Yosemite.  Sassy said from the start that that would not happen.  She has never seen anyone be satisfied with a couple minutes here once they start to get a look around.  Correct of course, she was, and two hours or more later we got into the cars and went to look at the wonders of Yosemite.  :)



Hugues wife does not speak English.  Haitian Creole and French....... and in a bit we found out...... Yea.... Spanish.  One of the few languages Sassy and I are at least halfway decent with.  Not fluent but we can communicate pretty well. 



It was a short valley trip as Hugues daughter was just recovering from having the flu.  I told him if she was up to it I wanted him to bring her anyway as we had been waiting to meet her ever since the first time he showed us her picture.  I carried her nearly all day as we walked the valley and rode the tram through the park.  We bundled her up and she looked around at the sights then when tired she would lay her head on my shoulder or against my cheek. I could still feel a bit of a rattle in her lungs as I carried her around but fortunately she was getting better.



Hugues told me after his studies here are finished he will have to go back to Haiti and get his daughter from his wife in the Dominican Republic where she is studying and take her back to Haiti.  DR is not safe for her as abductions of Haitians have taken place there with the DR police involved.  He said Haiti is not safe either but at least he can protect her there to the best of his ability.  His wife has about 3 more years of study there in the Dominican Republic.



John Joe asked Assenga what his greatest experience was in being a veterinarian in Tanzania.  Assenga said it was putting his head in the mouth of a crocodile.  I will try to get the video of the interview up later.  Lots going on here at the underground command center last night so the videos were not great but as Paul Wheaton says...... Some video is better than no video.



We had a great time for the entire day and into the late evening as we got to spend time with our neighbors too.  We invited them over so they came to dinner and to meet our friends.  They said they were not going to eat but.... once here we made them eat.... and all had a great time.



Finally after ten years, we got good neighbors.  We are so thankful for them and look forward to many years of working together to improve conditions here for all of us.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

Great fun.That's a beautiful old wood stove.  [cool]

glenn kangiser

Thanks, Ben.  That is our 1920 appx Round Oak stove and we even barbecue in it.  We like it.

We really enjoyed their visit and Dr Assenga from Tanzania wrote back as soon as he got home and promised to bring his wife in April I think it is.  We are ready for them.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AIi7rHSdZU&list=UUTtzs303lg04jQ6_o12dm8Q&index=1&feature=plcp

Please excuse the background noise - lots going on here.

The baby is still having a bit of problem with her illness and unfortunately I don't think we had her drink enough liquids in the park yesterday.  Hugues talked to Sassy about it tonight and we are all hoping she gets better soon.

John Joe from the Philippines will be back in March he said.

We had a houseful today with one of Sassy's old schoolmates and family as well as some of our local friends.  Lots of food and fiddle playing.  Fun.  Justin is a professional fiddle player and hope to get more up on this soon.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

So, Sassy's friends arrived yesterday afternoon and one of her sons is a pro fiddle player.  We of course had to con him in to playing a few tunes and also had some of our local friends come up to play a few with him also.  :)

I got one of the videos uploaded so we could share a bit of the fun we had here at the Underground Complex...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATnPmJG0uuA



Orange Blossom Special -Justin Kistner from Waverly, Kansas

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

A short interview with Hugues, Solange and Mariah.  Pardon the background noise - lots going on all evening here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUDKO9wggAc&list=UUTtzs303lg04jQ6_o12dm8Q&index=1&feature=plcp


What fun  :)

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

And good time were had by all.Happy New Year!

glenn kangiser

#3269
You got it Ben.  We think back on this visit and realize how fortunate we are to have friends like these.

Looking forward to more visits and new friends as well as staying in contact with the old friends in the coming year and years.  :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Knocked a tire off of my Bobcat twice after less than 1/2 hour running time last week, so today Whitlock came over and we dismounted two tires, repaired the damaged wheel and mounted an new tire on it.  Got it this time.

It's always good to have a good neighbor handy for times like these..... [waiting]

14 x 17.5 Junkyard tires are a bit much for one person.  [ouch]

Up and running and took it down for a bit of hillside brushing to try it out.

Whitlock also helped me finish the fence so the cows are happily munching away on the neighbors and our other pasture.  No rain since the first good one this year so no more grass in sight but hopefully by the end of spring we will have had some more.

I traded him some lumber he needed - keeping that barter system operational... practicing for TEOTWAWKI ... Coming soon to a country near you.  :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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rick91351

Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 02, 2012, 09:04:26 PM

I traded him some lumber he needed - keeping that barter system operational... practicing for TEOTWAWKI ... Coming soon to a country near you.  :)

I hope more people that want to homestead understand the power and importance of bartering.  When you really have a limited amount of cash flow or you really do not want to spend your hard earned cash.  Why not trade time at the saw mill for boards.  Or labor for tractor time.  Another thing I like about it.  IT IS TAX FREE!  You do not pay with plastic and go further into debt!       
Proverbs 24:3-5 Through wisdom is an house builded; an by understanding it is established.  4 And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  5 A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.

Sassy

Quote from: rick91351 on January 03, 2012, 02:14:19 AM
I hope more people that want to homestead understand the power and importance of bartering.  When you really have a limited amount of cash flow or you really do not want to spend your hard earned cash.  Why not trade time at the saw mill for boards.  Or labor for tractor time.  Another thing I like about it.  IT IS TAX FREE!  You do not pay with plastic and go further into debt!       

Wise words of advice!   c*
http://glennkathystroglodytecabin.blogspot.com/

You will know the truth & the truth will set you free

glenn kangiser

Yes Rick.  Besides trading wood and work with Whitlock we are trading fencing the neighbors for grazing our cattle across his place and him adding cows to be bred by my bull and water at my spring for his animals as well as our animals and keeping the whole 1/2 mile long pasture between our 3 places open for free grazing for all.  He has an old horse to bring in he said.

This in turn will eliminate or cut down fire danger on all of our properties during the summer.  We will continue to team up on homesteading problems as we get to them.  :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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