3D Printer

 

I have been having a great time the last few days setting up a new 3D printer I got for Christmas.  It was a little early but the Black Friday price was awesome.  Saturday James came up and we put a new right side axle in his car.  One of the CV joints had a lot of play in it.  The job went great and was pretty easy on me because James did all the work.  After we finished the axle we changed the oil and filter.  There was only one issue there when we miscalculated where the oil would go when the plug was pulled.  It was not the first time there has been oil spilled there so it was not a big problem. 

As I was coming in from taking the picture of the 3D printer I stopped and took a picture of the ceiling in the front room of the shop.  I wonder what I should fly the next time I go.

Thanksgiving

 

We had a great Thanksgiving with a lot of our family.  I think this is the first time Mik's mom Margret has been to our place.

There was lots of good food to eat.

Of course I forgot all about taking pictures until after we started to eat.

I don't normally eat sweet potatoes but I took some of Debbie's to be polite and they were great.  From now on if Debbie makes them I will have some.

It looks to me like Jordon is about to sneak something.

I got this little helicopter out that James used to play with for the boys and they loved it.  Twenty years old but after oiling and new batteries it worked fine.

Here is a short video of it flying.

The object of the game is to fly around and land on the Heli Pad but Jacob figured out a way to do it.

I put the stuffed puppy on my head like a hat but Jacob was having none of that and took it off me.

I think Vera is the boy's favorite, they spent a lot of time playing with her.

 OK, I ate the last of the pumpkin pie last night (11/28/2021) so it is time to get caught up with my blog.  I am doing these a few days after Thanksgiving and setting the day so they are in the order they happened.

This is the entrance to the Salmon Creek Kaiser where I went for the second of my two appointments today.  The first one was in Longview and just turned out to be a quick Ultrasound with excellent results.  This one was at 2:20 for my eye and the doctor was very happy with what he saw.  He said my eyes were in good shape.  I did a little work on the new Sukhoi between the visits. 

A nice day for a little flying!

It was really foggy this morning but it cleared off a little after noon.  We had decided last night we were going to take the motor home out for a ride today and have lunch somewhere.  I took this picture just before we left and it was really nice out. 

Before we left I did some checking and realized I hadn't flown this month so I asked Vera if we could go flying and then have lunch at Betty's.  When we got to the field the other flyers said it had just cleared off there.  I only made one flight with the Skylane and did a little visiting before we headed to Betty's.

We really like Betty's Halibut Basket so we stopped and picked them up before going to the South Lewis County Park to eat.

We dumped the holding tanks at Lions Pride Park and then came up to Gateway for gas.  As I was waiting for it to fill I noticed the sun setting so I took a picture from the pump area.  I watched the Seahawks game recording after we got settled at home.

Mowing and a new project.

 11-16-2021

It was a nice day Tuesday, I finally got ambitious about three and decided to mulch up the leaves on the lawn.
The cedar tree puts down lots of debris all around it so I drove real slow and tried to blow it off but I didn't have much luck.  I just barely got done before dark.

11-17-2021

While Vera was at bible study today I decided this Sukhoi SU26M would be my next project, I won it in a drawing at Faro Field a couple of years ago.  It is a fairly big plane with a 73 1/2 inch wing span and is 72 1/2 inches long.  I got it unpacked and got rid of the box which was huge!  Then I went out and did some raking under the cedar tree.  I was surprised how much I ended up with and I only did about half the area.  I checked over the kit and found some areas I wanted to reinforce.  I got a couple of ideas figured out to brace up the landing gear mount.  After Vera got home and we had lunch I brought her out to show her what I had planned.  Right away she pointed out where my plan was going to interfere with the wing.  Boy am I glad she spotted that.  Later I figured out a way to brace it with carbon fiber rods.  This evening I got them cut to length and tacked in with CA glue.  Tomorrow I will start epoxying them in.

Rain and the Comet

 11-13-2021  I had a busy day doing the last of the winterizing to the motor home.  I got 120 volt ac ran to the soil cable for the water lines.  At the same time I ran 12 volt dc for the water tank heat pad.  My timing was perfect as I finished up just as the rain started.  I also got the last of the linkage installed on the Comet Delta.  I did a little checking this evening and I have made thirteen trips to Kaiser facilities since  the problem with my eye started and I have three more scheduled before the end of the year.  I have no problem rattling off my Kaiser Health Record number from memory.

11-15-2021

Today was another rainy one, so far we have 3/4 of an inch of rain.  This picture is just after a big downpour.  I spent the morning working on the LCRC Sunday meeting minutes.  After a couple of revisions I finally got it done and sent off to the club members.  One more meeting and I am done with that job.  We took all the back roads to the meeting in Centralia yesterday, the meeting was not fun as there is a group of people who don't get along and that made it a stressful meeting.  We took the same route on the way home and stopped at Betty's in Toledo for their halibut basket.  That was a good finish for our trip.

After I finished the minutes I went out to the shop and finished the Comet.  I showed it to Vera and she mentioned the sun was shining so I hustled out and got a few pictures before it started raining again.  Now I have to decide what to build next.

Lots of rain!

We headed to Kaiser right after breakfast this morning for a blood test.  They are working on getting my INR back to it's proper level after I had to go off my blood thinners for the Carotid Artery surgery.  Yesterday my rain gauge said 2.3 inches of rain, today we had 1.94 inches so the river has really come up.  I took this picture at Lions Pride Park on the way home.
 

I worked on the Comet this evening and got one elevon linkage finished.  On the way in for the night the moon was out and very clear.  By the time I went into the house and got the camera some clouds moved in so I took this picture with the hemlock and cedar in the foreground.

Before I went in it cleared off again and I got this nice picture of the moon.  Even with all the rain I had a great day.

Pleasant Hill bridge

 

After Vera got home from bible study we headed to Longview to pickup our Fred Meyer grocery order.  As we came out of Castle Rock the Road Closed signs were gone on the Pleasant Hill Road.  It is our favorite way to the Longview Kelso area and it has been closed since last winter when the culvert had washed out.  Last month they put in a temporary one lane bride to replace the culvert.  After a stop at Home Depot, Fred Meyer and Arby's we headed home and I took this picture.  It was pretty nice outside this afternoon so I cleaned the gutters and the one downspout that was plugged, then I blew all the debris that created off the decks.  I also got the magnets for the battery hatch on the Comet installed today.  I think about one more session and the Comet will be done.

Kaiser again!

 

11-5-2021

It was sunny today so I got outside a little.  I have been working on the Comet and taking it easy.  I am surprised how quickly my legs get tired if I walk much.

11-9-2021

We were up early and on the way to the Salmon Creek Kaiser for a dental appointment I had.  This is how it looked at Exit 48 at six thirty.  The freeway was wet but not much spray so we had a good drive down and got there forty five minutes early.  Luckily I had brought some magazines with me to read.  When I had my teeth cleaned the dentist saw an irritated spot so he referred me to a specialist, she said it was a spot where the bone sticks out and brushing had irritated it.  We went for breakfast afterwards and then headed home.  It was a big surprise to have blue skies and sunshine all the way home.  I got all the Comet's control surfaces hinged tonight.

Debbie, Jacob and the classmates lunch

I had a nice surprise this morning after Vera had left for bible study when Debbie and Jacob stopped by for a visit, Jordon was at his pre-school class.  It was great fun hearing about their trip to Disney Land.  I got Debbie caught up on my surgery.  Jacob got the toys out, watched cartoons and enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies Vera had made.  When he finished the first one he got a stool out and was planning on getting on the counter for another before Debbie caught him and got him one.  I took this picture just as Debbie was getting ready to leave and he was pulling his socks off so she had to put them and his shoes on.

After they left I took the Blazer and went to a class of 57 and 58 classmates lunch at Ken LaMar's shop.  I had a good time talking with everyone and hearing what they had been doing.