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September 21, 2024
Black And White Nostalgia

Enjoying old style shows.  Popcorn too!

Years ago, as a young teen, I can remember my fondness for those old time black and white television movies where there was always some mysterious creature looming about.  A "Creature Double Feature" would put two movies back to back. Vampires, werewolves, giant insects, and outer space aliens abounded. This and more. 

I often enjoyed popcorn as a movie time snack.  A corn popping machine made for kids ran off an electric light bulb to heat the corn and make it pop.  Back then light bulbs used more electricity than today.  Those incandescent lights through off a fair amount of heat.  After popping, a bit of melted butter and salt on top, and I was good to go.

Well today, I no longer have the light bulb driven corn popper.  I have a hot air popper, but it always seems to result in too many unpopped kernels.  I would often use a small covered metal sauce pan, a splash of vegetable oil, and move the pan by hand in circular motions as it heats.  Today I tried canola oil rather than vegetable oil.  It could be this oil was fresher, but I must say I enjoyed the flavor of the popcorn much more with the canola oil.

I decided to pop this pop corn during an episode of Star Trek Voyager titled "Bride of Chaotica!" much of this episode had black and white scenes in a setting that reminded me somewhat of the Flash Gordon television series.

Good Show. Good Snack. Good times.

August 3, 2024
Chisel

A new chisel for use in mineral collecting

The old chisel that had was just that, an old chisel. Bare steel, hexagonal shape, and no branding.  The end not mushroomed, as it did not have extra width at the tip.  The end however did have it share of wear.  My father gave it to me before a was even a teen.  I returned from a rock collecting trip several years ago and forgot to remove my hammer and chisel from the plastic bucket.  This might not have been a problem, but the weather had turned to rain that day and I left everything in the closed bucket for months. The geologist pick had a large amount of rust on it, but I felt it was worth recovery.  The amount of rust on the chisel called for its retirement.

I decided it was time to get a new chisel to replace the old one.  I reached out to a mineral collectors looked on line a bit as I was not aware if there were any advances in better material or styles in chisels for use in rock collecting.

Most of the recommendations that I got where to get a well known name brand.  The most mentioned were Estwing, Mayhew, and Irwin.  I was told that cheaper imports were prone to wear quickly.

The size of the chisel can vary with the user's need.  My thought is for breaking rock in the field it is best to avoid a chisel with too wide of a blade. A smaller width can help concentrate the force of the impact.

Some chisels have options that sound interesting such as carbide tips.  I don't field collect all that often so things like don't appeal to me.  The price difference is too excessive for my taste.  If I was out more often, though, I'd likely consider it. 

A few friends offered me their used items that they said were in good shape.  I imagine they would sell to me at a very good price, or perhaps even give it to me. I did not inquire further since having the old chisel for so many years, I opted to go for a change with a new one.  Then again, sometimes a chisel is just a chisel.

I found an Irwin chisel at a Lowe's store.  The size is 7/8 on an inch (22mm). At the time of this posting, I've yet to go out with it, but you can be sure on my return that I will not leave it in a bucket.



February 11, 2024
The Apple Tree

An update on the apple tree and its hardships

Some time ago, I wrote about the apple tree.  One of the things mentioned was the apple scab it had, a kind of fungus.  A few years have gone by and several events regarding the tree have passed, some quite a while ago.  Here is a bit of that story.

There was a great deal of tall vegetation south west of the tree that was blocking some sunlight.  The growths were thick enough that it likely slowed the air  circulation enough to contribute to the apple scab.  I took down all the growth freeing up that area and exposing an addition issue.  There was also a "crab apple" tree nearby.  It's branches projected towards the apple tree, entwining branches in places in a suffocating fashion.

I cut the branches on the invasive tree, leaving only a tall stump on the off chance that the stump or new offshoots could some how be of some use.
The apple tree at this point looked very beat up.  But it was alive, growing and had more open space than ever before.

Then came the invasion.  Insects? No. I will explain.  The neighbors next door (who I did not know) decided to have a kids party.  It featured a giant inflatable slide that took up a great portion of their yard. There were dozens of children playing and running around.  A good number of them migrated over to my back yard doing the same.  Really?  I can't believe that the adults would allow this without seeking my permission first.  The children might have just seen it as part of their play area with a parent's guidance. 

I was a bit angry about all the commotion that was occurring in yard, and was just trying to shrug it off.  I later noticed one of the children climbing the apple tree.  This particular tree is not one that has branches that hold weight well.  The bark was stripped off in many spots, cracked in others, along with several broken branches.

I spoke up about the tree climbing immediately, and had all the children sent off the the appropriate yard.  Another point of contention was a stake with a bright ribbon was previously left by surveyors, marking the boundary between the two yards.  The stake was now gone and nowhere to be found.

Now for more recent times.  A few winter storms had passed.  There was some snow, a lot of heavy rain, and a lot of wind.  I know a lot of trees in the area had damage due to these storms.  The other week brought some mild weather, and I went to take a better look at the back yard.  The apple tree took quite a bit of damage.  Several branches came down, a few were rather large.  Some of the branches that were stripped of bark before look like they might now be totally life less.  The tree does not look good.  It will likely look horrible this year, a mix of both covered and bare areas.  I was just starting to enjoy an occasional scab-less apple.  They are quite good.  I hope the tree revives.  Time will tell.



November 23,2023
The Hole

A discovered hole needs to be closed

Years back, I saw signs of mice inside a small closet when I first moved in here.  Never gave it a thought. When you have a cat that a good mouser you tend not to think about such matters.  I never gave it a thought again until recently.  I had some unrelated work done inside that closet.  After the work was completed, I happened to notice an electrical wire passing through a hole in the floor.  The electrical wire looked like an older style of wire with a width one way of about 3/8 of an inch and a width the other way of about 1/4 of an inch. The hole that the wire passes through has a diameter of one inch.  I can imagine this excess of space could be an open invitation for mice traffic, although I see no indication of it I think it's best to block this possible entry way.

My first thought was to cut a round cylinder from a dowel, cut a thinner disk from a wider dowel and fasten it onto the cylinder as a cap to keep the work from falling into the hole.  A groove would also need to be cut along one side to allow the wire to pass.

The second idea was to design the above shape as a 3D computer image and create a plastic model with a 3D printer

I went with a lazy man plan #3.  I got a small jar filled with sand for extra weight and placed it over the hole.

The open gaps are likely two small for mice to pass without moving the jar.  If I see any moving of the jar, I will likely implement plan 1 or 2. I might not have any mice there anyway.  It is of course possible that there could be sometime in the future so I don't want to leave the ho;e total uncovered as it has been.

I had also rejected the easiest (of course) idea of placing steel wool as I feared long term, it could short the wires. Or this expanding foam stuff due to issues I've heard about it.

If anyone has suggestions on this, I would love to hear them.

September 2, 2023
Shed Based Wildlife

A few small creatures made themselves seen today

Working on a few small household duty related projects brought me to the shed this morning.  On opening the door, I hear a distinct noise, a snap. I suddenly notice something gray on the floor.  At first glance, I thought it was some odd type of insect.  A closer look and I could see it was a frog.  My guess is that this was a small tree frog.  I had never seen a frog or toad of this color before.  I took a garden tool and gently whisked it outside to freedom. Oddly, I had not seen it move. I should have watched to see what happened after that, but was engrossed with my project and did not.

Waking out of the shed, I spot several snails all with no shell in the lawn in front of the shed.  The lawn was then shaded at this time.  I had never seen snails there before, so must admit that I wonder what that is all about.

I know little about frogs, and less about snails, but must admit that I am now a bit curious.

July 16, 2023
First Base

An experiment to make a data base for my mineral collection

I have started a new project.  Right now it is more of an experiment as I'm not sure what the finished product will look like or if I will keep it or not.  The idea is to make a data base for my mineral collection.

I currently keep all the detailed information on paper, specifically 3x5 inch file cards.  Much of that information is typed unto a spreadsheet, and general info goes onto a word processor.  Too much work already? Maybe.  But the  thought of having it all in a database, with easy to view pictures too maybe seems somewhat alluring.

I am using Libreoffice Base.  So far I am just playing around with a few partial entries so that I can alter them and see the results.  I've been able to create a table of mineral names that works with the collection info.  I've already forgotten how I've created this, but sure with a bit a work, I can recreate a similar table again.

Something I hope to add soon is some type of query that will calculate the collections total estimated value.  It's likely easy to do, but my database experience is lacking.

Well, as stated, this is just an experiment for now.  If any one willing to contact me with helpful tips, it is much appreciated!

June 20, 2023
iPod Nano

All about my iPod Nano, and how I still enjoy it

Wikipedia states that the iPod Nano was a portable media player marketed by Apple, Inc.  The first model was introduced September 7, 2005 and was discontinued July 27, 2017.

My particular iPod Nano, was given to me as a gift from a member of the family. I did not use it much at first, but it soon became something I used almost daily.  It was the second generation from September, 25, 2006. It has a memory capacity of 4 GB and is blue in color. It played audio files, but not video files.  I had imported some of my favorite music from CDs onto it.  I also purchased some music and downloaded from the iTunes store.  Most of my downloads, though, were podcasts. Most of them were deleted after listening to them. 

The iPod (I tend to call it that) was great to take in the car for travel.  At one time I used a gadget that would allow iPod to transmit to the car's FM radio.  Another car had a stereo jack where I could plug in the iPod directly.  The iPod's internal battery would easily run more than several hours without needing a charge.  I would use the ear buds and take it with me on short local walks, though would prefer not to take the on the longer hikes away from home, where I would want to explore and enjoy the sounds of nature.

Then one day, it happened.  I had forgotten the ipod in a pocket.  It unknowingly went through the washing machine and the clothes dryer.  From that point, the screen was no longer clear. The music was still on the iPod, but the machine would immediately die if not plugged in.  What did I do? I went on Ebay and bought the same model, used, same color.  The only down side is the battery life tends to be erratic and usually only a few hours. It will sometimes shut down at that point with no notice.

Still I value this gadget.  I still use it almost daily. I value that I can play music that I own.  Streaming services can be nice convenience, but they control not you the content available, the cost, the required software, any personal information they require.