Spring "Vacation" 2018 - shop cabinets!

I'm just coming off a Spring "vacation".  Once again, the word "vacation" is in quotes, because we never traveled anywhere.  Furthermore, there was quite a bit of daily grind during this time off work.  Which is not to say that it wasn't enjoyable - just that a lot of it was routine activities, and some of it was a bit tedious.

The part of vacation that I really enjoyed was something I did as a shop improvement.  I've had a clutter issue on the work bench that I've wanted to address for quite a while.  This was the perfect opportunity, because it was snowing during most of this year's spring vacation.  The snow made any outdoor activities - such as limbing and burning fallen trees - unattractive.

Token post

This is to let any regular readers know that I'm still alive and interested in the stuff this blog is about.  We just had a very busy Christmas/Winter season, and have had some difficult pet issues to deal with.  Also I have been busy re-discovering a very enjoyable bit of knowledge that captured my interest back when I was a much younger man. 

My Navy and subsequent career took me away from that area of interest, but I'm probably going to take it back up as a hobby, and perhaps even as a side business.  It should have a reasonably good synergy with my hobby of wood working.  Hope you are interested and stay tuned!

Massive power plant wiki

I'm assuming that most people have Google Earth™ installed on their computer.  If not, well I'm sure you can find and install it if you have the interest.  There is a cool .kml file that overlays all the power plants in the world onto Google Earth. 

Sadly most of the ones I checked out didn't have the coordinates quite right - so you might find a power plant flag in the middle of a housing tract, or out in the middle of nowhere!  However, it's easy to make edits to the wiki if you are inclined to correct such things.  I might enjoy doing some of that in my spare time. 

Here is the link to the page with the .kml file.  http://enipedia.tudelft.nl/wiki/Portal:Power_Plants  Scroll down to where it says "Navigate Enipedia with Google Earth kml file" then click download.

Replacing 1995 Ford F-250 Automatic Locking Hubs

In a recent post, I mentioned that the front hubs on the Ford 1995 F-250 Powerstroke diesel truck don't seem to be locking in.

Cylinder arrangements on internal combustion piston engines

I've intended for a long time to do a post about cylinder arrangement on internal combustion engines.  Looks like the time has come!

Unlimited Slip

I'm a big fan of internal combustion engines.
I've done several posts on them:

• Four stroke basics
• Flathead and OHV valve trains 
• Overhead Cam valve trains
• Two Stroke engines

I'm probably not done with posts on internal combustion engines.  That's because they are cool, and there are so many interesting ways to configure them.  

Fixing the starting system on the F-250

I have a diesel 3/4 ton truck, a Ford F-250.  The previous owner had an anti-theft and alarm system installed on it after he purchased it.  The anti-theft system began giving me trouble, and at one point, I had to disconnect the alarm in the middle of the Wal-Mart parking lot, because it wouldn't stop making racket.

The Cub Cadet Mower

I own a couple of riding mowers.  I use one for the lawn, and another one for the rest of the property.  The mower that goes out in the field is the Cub Cadet.  It gets beat up pretty badly, because I often hit rocks, stumps, and branches that are not visible in the grass.  Sometimes I high-center it and the blades whirl around in the dirt and gravel until I can get them stopped.

For those waiting with bated breath for the next post...

It shouldn't be too long, I'm just taking a summer breather.  Been a lot going on in the real world!
Back soon!

Nearby Radiological Emergency

This past week there was a radiological emergency at the Hanford Reservation.  The event caused a site-wide alert to shelter-in-place.  Very exciting.