Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks Windpower.  I'm up early and getting after truck repairs this morning then heading back down there. [ouch]

There were two, two car rear enders and glass in the road when I went down last.  I almost had a rear ender myself on one of them.  Traffic at 70 mph then dead stop... I am upgrading the rear brakes on the truck by changing the rear wheel cylinders (drum brakes) from 1-1/16th Dodge OEM parts to 1-3/16" Chevy OEM parts.  That makes the truck apply more pressure to the rear and stop destroying the front rotors and pads also.

It is a fix I have known of for years but decided I better implement it now.

Better to spend a bit changing all of this, drums and shoes than to end up parked in someone's back seat.   

[BiggKidd]

Hi Glenn,

  Thought since I have a computer now I would drop in and say hi. Looks like you have been keeping busy as usual. WOW 200 pages now thats impressive. Maybe I should find my old thread and update it one of these days. BTW I bought Mike Oehlers book on earth sheltered greenhouses yesterday and read it. Thats one of my up coming projects.

  Larry
A World Away

[MountainDon]

Hi Larry!  Say Hi to "peternap" if you see him.

[glenn kangiser]

So nice to see you, Larry.  We have quantity, Larry... not sure about quality but I try to keep something interesting going on. 

I hope you and the family are all doing well.

Just got back to my apartment near the jobsite after working on the truck brakes all day and getting the upgrade done.... 

What do you think... did I need to work on them.. was it just by chance that I decided to buy all of the stuff I needed in Fresno (while driving it) or was someone looking out for me?

The blank areas fell out after I pulled the drums ... before that they were just trapped in place by the remaining parts of lining..[ouch]







Please note the jack and the safety stand... okay... the safety stand was grunting.... don't know where my big ones are....

...anyway the upgrade was successful with a seemingly noticeable bit more stopping power but not radical...

[rick91351]

Has anyone heard from 'peternap'?  Dang I miss him and Zeus.  If anyone has, ask him to drop in and say HI! or let him know he is missed......

Rick

[BiggKidd]

Hi Don,

  Its good to have a computer again. I did talk to peternap about a month ago on the phone, I do need to call him again and see how he's doing.  When I talk to him I will pass along the message. 

Glenn,

The brakes on my jeep looked about the same last time I did them. lol Good work. I wonder if I could do that on the jeep, with those 33s I have on there its a bit short on stopping  power. I have the biggest Cherokee around here with 6" lift and 33s gets me lots of notice from the staties too. They are so disapointed when they can't write a ticket. Right at the legal limit.   

  The girls and I are well. Nickole moved out about two years ago. She calls almost everyday. Often to borrow money. Actually the girls and I have never been better. Work has been good to me this last year. Running the local small engine shop since the owner took another job. He had an offer to go back where he use to work to good to pass up. Its nice working again allows more money to spend to improve the homestead. We got one of those wilson repeaters for the house and a computer this year. A verizon hot spot gives us net access. Some other cool toys too. 

You all take care.

  Larry
A World Away

[rick91351]

Glenn my wife was setting at a off ramp waiting for a light to change in a string of traffic.  (Yes Idaho does have stop lights and traffic but not here at Prairie)    (One reason I never go to town hardly.)  (If I get delayed now it is Davisons or Irlands moving some cattle.)

Oh ya!  Back to Ellen------  They everyone waiting in line without anywhere to go, the witnesses say heard the loud screeching of truck brakes.  Ellen said it went on and on, then there was sort of an explosion.  He managed to take out both lines of waiting traffic.  One of the cars that was hit was an SUV the impact took all the glass out of the rear if it.  A pickup had all the sheet metal waded up and removed from its side and the tires had the sidewalls removed.  The car behind Ellen bounced into her Charger and broke  cracked the rear plastic bumper.  By then most of the energy was dissipated.  Ellen had stopped back pretty far from the vehicle ahead of her.  Her car stopped the chain reaction in that lane.  The cause was an overloaded wielding / shop repair truck up from Nv.  The cops said was way - way over stocked and over weight.  Poor guy had 'them locked up forever' coming off the off ramp - actually only one locked up.   

[ben2go]

So nice to see you, Larry.  We have quantity, Larry... not sure about quality but I try to keep something interesting going on. 

I hope you and the family are all doing well.

Just got back to my apartment near the jobsite after working on the truck brakes all day and getting the upgrade done.... 

What do you think... did I need to work on them.. was it just by chance that I decided to buy all of the stuff I needed in Fresno (while driving it) or was someone looking out for me?

The blank areas fell out after I pulled the drums ... before that they were just trapped in place by the remaining parts of lining..[ouch]







Please note the jack and the safety stand... okay... the safety stand was grunting.... don't know where my big ones are....

...anyway the upgrade was successful with a seemingly noticeable bit more stopping power but not radical...

Nutter hunderd thou out those if you hadn't taken off the drum. 

[Redoverfarm]

Has anyone heard from 'peternap'?  Dang I miss him and Zeus.  If anyone has, ask him to drop in and say HI! or let him know he is missed......

Rick

Rick I did manage to call him a few weeks ago.  Seemed to be the same Peternap.  Did say that he is loosing sight in one eye.  I invited him back. .  Said he had a crash on his puter and lost his links but promised to come back soon.

[glenn kangiser]

Nice to hear Peter is still managing with all of his health problems.

Glad to hear that work is better for you Larry. A guy can always find something to do with a few extra bucks.   ... especially with a homestead and kids. 

The brakes, guys.... yes... a welding truck can easily get too heavy... don't ask me how I know.

I wanted to bring two welders as I wanted no chance of a breakdown stopping me....but I am glad I fixed the diesel welder.  I worked over 10 hours today with it running most of the time to power my grinder.  It used about 2.6 gallons of diesel for the whole day.   

[glenn kangiser]

Ben... the drum did seem to be the key to the whole puzzle......


Oh I can't believe I just said that....

[ben2go]

Ben... the drum did seem to be the key to the whole puzzle......


Oh I can't believe I just said that....

Yep.I believe it is.

[glenn kangiser]

Finished grinding out all of the plates around the perimeter of the "A" building today.... maybe even enough time for a little ride if I can wake up....

A note about working by yourself....your mommy is not there to help you if you should drop the 2000 lb steel plate on your head so be sure to use double safeties.... such as in this case, I left the crane I lifted it with attached and put a bit of the weight on a 2x4 prop capable of handling the load by itself too.

....then I got under it and finished my grinding. 





That said, probably the most dangerous thing I did today was eat the microwaved Banquet Swedish Meatballs and Noodles with Mechanically separated Chicken, Beef and Pork....$1.00 each at Albertsons....  yummy... I hope... 

[glenn kangiser]

Nice case of Raccoon face from all of the grinding, eh.... 

No worries... it gets worse at times.

Seems that the company just wants me on the job as a display of manpower until the approval arrives.  While they did request it again and they are all crossing their fingers and hoping for it... the government lady seems to be ignoring them so far. 

I reviewed my contract and I can claim time for delays as well as I have found a heading to submit billing under for what I am doing now on next months bill also.  That would then be paid promptly in another 3 or so months....

It is pretty standard in the contracting industry and I worked for this same contractor many years ago so not too worried.  Just frustrated. 



Had a nice Bike ride in Tehachapi Mountain Park the other day.

[BiggKidd]

Good score getting a chance to ride your bike. I haven't been on mine enough this year to keep the battery charged. Every time I think I might get to ride the skys fall. Then its to wet to get a street bike down two miles of logging road with Savannah on the back. She insists on riding when I do now that shes 8. Her sister is thankfully old enough to watch her when I can sneak out before she gets up. Thats been a while since she's usually the first one in the house awake on any given day they don't have school. 

Take care.
Larry
A World Away 

[glenn kangiser]

I'm somewhere between 2000 to 3000 miles on mine now I think Larry.  It's great to be able to hop on it and drive without worrying about spending
$140 for a tank of fuel. [ouch]

Picked me up a Leather Motorcycle jacket too.  It gets cold up here and leather keeps the breeze from coming through as well as provides a nice skid plate just in case.... better than wearing off my own hide I think.... 



BTW... it is really nice and heavy ... quality zippers and about $89 from Amazon. Made in Pakistan ...which is cool.  I have several friends there.

[ben2go]

Starting to look like a burly biker.It's time to trade that sport bike for a big chrome HD cruiser. 

Good to see you're getting to make some green papers.

[BiggKidd]

Is that hat an outback? If so I think  I think I have the same one.    Yep love leather when riding!

Have a nice day

Larry
A World Away

BTW
I tried peternap the other day but didn't get an answer.

[glenn kangiser]

I think I better practice on the crotch rocket for a while longer, Ben... Don't know if I want the extra 350 lbs under me... not sure I could lift it if I dropped it...

Larry, that hat is a Kakadu from Australia made in China...   From Sportsman's Guide. I have seen the Outback.. nice, and I may go to one of them someday.  We are way too cool, Larry.   

Here is a picture of my job... all day long for maybe 4 months?....welding the top 4 bars on each side of the column... it gets exciting at the end though... I get to weld on 4 short curved ones... and some of them are different...many of them are different.   

I do have some other welds to do once we get out of the ground.  Right now I have 89 of these to do  - around 28 or so immediately in the next couple weeks and more on the way.

It does take some skill though to keep the welds as small as possible at an angle over each other on the lower side and still be able to pass inspection each time with no failures... I never want any failures.. I don't even want the inspector scratching his head when he looks at it.  I just want him to walk over and initial and date each one as passed and inspected.  I use a Harbor Freight non-contact thermometer to check interpass temps... I can't start another bead if the temp is over 550 degrees.  We tested my Harbor Freight one against his calibrated one.  It was within about 4 degrees in all cases.  Because he knows I am already checking there is little for him to check me on other than to witness the welds, sign them off and check other welders doing other welds in other places.


Also the other inspector was the one who certified me on my stick cert in 1999.  That helps.  His name is on my cert.  I had to do a different and much harder certification process for this job though.  Not using stick here.


...but at about double prevailing wage, I am not complaining though I do have to pay for my own materials and expenses to be here out of that....also delays and weather could eat into my profit margins a bunch.. but it looks good now.  Too bad it takes about 3 months to get paid.....



As I showed earlier each bar can hold about 93000 lbs before failure.  The steel erectors weld in the bottom 4 bars...



The inspector told me not to fall and break a leg or everybody would have to go home.... in fact until we got around the lady problem  , the entire job was pretty much at a standstill.  Now the foreman is excited and getting things together at a rapid pace right behind me.  He wants to show them something.  He was pretty despondent when I first got there and she pulled her power trip.  Dave is a good guy and even stayed way late tonight to let me prepare additional work for tomorrow - inspectors company does not allow them overtime.  He wants me to finish with building "A" by Monday noon if possible so they can get the grade beam steel in and pour ASAP.  I am pretty sure I can do it too.....

The inspector likes to go in at 3 to do reports... I mentioned that to Dave and he said as long as the inspector was on site until 3:30 I was welding.  The inspector is a good guy and I don't want to make trouble but I was held up for 21 days on this job.  I have to do all I can to get it back on track now... I want to get paid and help those I am working for to make some money too.   

[rick91351]

"The inspector likes to go in at 3 to do reports... I mentioned that to Dave and he said as long as the inspector was on site until 3:30 I was welding.  The inspector is a good guy and I don't want to make trouble but I was held up for 21 days on this job.  I have to do all I can to get it back on track now... I want to get paid and help those I am working for to make some money too.      "


So goes the story of a production welder.  So says the man...... Son you best be burning steel........Helmet down and butt in air.  I want to see sparks and flashes.  I want to see tears in your eyes because your back hurts so bad from being bent over all day.  There is rest after you die and get to where ever you are going......  But you sure as hell not going there on my time and my dime...... So chuck another rod in the stinger and burn it up .........remember it is a whole three degrees cooler than hell itself.  Hey son clean of that slag you know better than that.  Come on beat it clean times a wastin' and time is money something you and I never will have......... come on now brush that clean...... so goes a production welder....

[glenn kangiser]

Wow, Rather poetic there Rick. 

I can relate to the back.. each column was taking me about 2 hours non-stop.  Now I have it down to about an hour and a half... and every so often I lay my back over the edge of the ditch and bend over backwards just to straighten out the kinks.

I have been burning about 2 to 3 rolls of wire a day... not much stopping... the other guys go to break... I burn wire... I do grab a quick bite of lunch at the microwave under the welder... and snacks and water every so often. 



Dave is getting excited... called a lot of the guys in tomorrow and was going to tell the welding inspector he had to work tomorrow, but I said I could finish by noon Monday so he let him go....   2 and a half more columns to go on this building.  The concrete crew boss said ... wow, you're fast.    [ouch]

The welding inspector is a good guy.  He is going to pick me up more wire in Bakersfield where he lives and bring it Monday.  I like to make sure that the only thing he has to do on the job is look at my work and mark it as passed.

I remind him often that they held me up 21 days ... we could be farther along... in case he wants to rush me more than he is.  He set a goal earlier in the week... I'm going to make it for him... things are pretty decent there now. 

[rick91351]

Wow, Rather poetic there Rick. 

Thanks     I have my moments..............................

[glenn kangiser]

I enjoyed it...

Yesterday a train went through town with 8 engines pulling it... thought you might like to know that.... 

My little diesel welder is earning it's keep now... welding all day long and using a bit over 4 gallons of diesel.  My gas one would burn about 10 gallons.

Welding rod.... well ... kind of.  Innershield NR232 .o72 by the 13 lb spool.  It is like a welding rod turned inside out with the flux inside the wire.  Good stuff.  As long as I keep the trigger pulled it keeps squirting weld. 

Two reasons... one is I am the only welder on this part... gotta keep up with everybody... and I only get paid for so much time....better get it done fast and keep them happy and myself up with the schedule.  About 3 times faster than stick in a good situation.

[BiggKidd]

wow two - three 13# spools a day! my linclon would never stand up to that. Or the .073 either. Guess my HD 175 is nothing more than a hot glue gun after all. Biggest wire I've ever used is .035 innershield . I do like the flux wire for all my heavy welds, it seems to burn hotter and deeper.

Glenn wheres a good place to find a new hat? Mine is a shambles. Its plumb wore out. Has to be that type waterproof and full brim. Be nice to get one with a matching (rain) duster.

Protect those eyes & keep up the good work.

Larry
A World Away

[glenn kangiser]

Larry, www.sportsmansguide.com . They have both hats and the dusters.

I thought I only burned two rolls of wire yesterday but this morning my wire feeder was empty again.