This is the time of the year when men tend to hurt themselves. Lifting more than they should.
Later on today, Elaine and I will be moving a new 85″ TV into position. Sure, we MIGHT have called in (neighbors) to help. But where is the challenge in that?
But it gets me to a point that has been a cornerstone to “going rural” when not young: Learning how to do the most with the least effort.
Forces of Nature Harnessed in the Shop
Getting a lot done is mainly an engineering problem. We can hedge our success by looking at the dimensions and vectors involved.
Dimensions:
- TIME: This is the critical dimension – always. If you have a 1,000 hour project, it can be done in 1 hour per day for about 3-years. OR it can be done in 1 hour with 1,000 people each doing critical parts.
- HORSEPOWER: The human puts out ~about~ Ironman trained or better – one-third to one-half a horsepower peak. A few athletes will be able to put out 1 full horsepower for a few seconds. But when looking at shop work? Use 0.07–0.12 HP in your calculations. A bit more (sweat and salt are involved) and a bit less if aging.
- CALCULATIONS: Things like moving things can be calculated by computing horsepower (you) over time.
Vectors:
- UP: Moving something in the vertical plane involves its mass and gravity. That 32/ft/sec/sec stuff.
- Cheats
- Get a helper for lifting
- Use a rope.
- Use counter-weights.
- Jacks and or pulleys.
- Winches, come-alongs, portable cranes
- Cheats
- DOWN: Same problem except you have to remove force. This can be done using friction of opposite force.
- Cheats: Helper.
- Ropes
- (Helium balloons, dirigibles, uh…
- Jacks and/or pulleys.
- Winches or just shove the object over the edge.
- SIDEWAYS (FRICTIONS) – well, you have the idea by now – get creative with forces and time and suddenly everything gets easy. Trust you have a good hand truck? Some furniture dollies? Bring ’em along…
Shop Table Building Example
Shop Engineering being the focus today, we’ll go through a live-fire to show the “thinking” tools used.
So, Amazon is having their Black Friday sales preview a week back and I see a $99 adjustable height shop table. Ordered. Shows up with my FedEx (Cameron – sterling) guy. He hoists it onto the bed of the pickup truck.
- Engineering Detail: Why there? Because:
- Cam doesn’t have to bend over to put it on the ground.
- George doesn’t have to bend over to pick it up.
- Better? George can take a 60-70 pound lift off the risk assessment…
When comes time to move it into the shop, George simply wheels his hand truck into position behind the pick-up and slides the heavy box off the pick-up down onto the hand truck. He then lifts the (still on the truck) part to vertical and he’s ready to roll it into the shop. Note that the whole operation has involved 10-15 pounds of force so far.
Once in the shop, our hero (George, me, the old man…) looks for the perfect assembly location. He assessed how the table has been packaged and places it atop the shop garbage can.
As you can see, in the upside down position, I can sit in a comfortable shop chair and lollygag my way through the assembly process screwing in this and that. Because I’m comfortable, I can measure the adjustable legs so the whole thing will be within a quarter-inch of perfect when it’s salvaged from the madman assembling things.
Here’s the Secret Sauce!
When you’re doing ANY project around your shop, spend a few minutes to carefully “size up” all conditions, gather in your tools, and remembering the forces involved. Stack the deck if your favor!
In this case, the hand truck brought the table in. So it fell onto the garbage can with minimal effort. And then I was able to lift (half the package weight) and slide it into position. Centered on the can.
Taking the boxing off (listening to music, sitting in the office chair) wasn’t terribly tiring. but I was pleased to notice that the new table was protected by well-attached corner covers.
BINGO! This means that I would be able to slide this sucker off the garbage can when assembly was completed and still not worry about job quality – because it was baked in. With that, I slid the finished table onto the shop floor…
Pretty damn slick, huh? From here, it was a gentle tug and now the table was in the vertical axis, the little corner protectors giving me clearance to get the hand truck under and with that, into semi-permanent position,.
The Ham Radio Unboxing Example
Old ham radios – the BIG suckers from the 1936-1960 era tended to be heavy. Big transformers and lots of galvanized steel chassis. A typical receiver in the period can run 50-80 pounds (and more) while a transmitter can top 130 pounds. Clearly a health risk at 76 and almost 77.
Again, same technique: Although this time, the UPS fellow *Justin* knew I was expecting a heavy radio and he’s kind enough to put the radio right onto my hand truck out in the driveway. It goes into the shop to await it’s turn for unboxing, assessment, and eventual restoration.
Again similar technique – using the tip-over method – to get a box from upright to leaned over 45-degrees, and then the final short (reduced weight) heft into position.
In the case of this radio unboxing, I used a portable shop (motorcycle) jack. When loaded looked like this:
Between my hydraulic motorcycle lift and a couple of furniture dollies, I have no problem claiming I could get into the furniture moving business even when 80 and still get things moved. ‘Course you wouldn’t want to run a stopwatch on me, but once loaded, off it goes to the new table where it’s jacked up:
And then slid off the jack and onto the table.
With that, it was time for unboxing.
Worth It?
I will let you know when the radio is tested, restored to serviceable condition and a Q-Multiplier added to hot-up the CW (Morse) reception. But there’s a back-story to this style of radio that most people don’t know…
[Ham radio details of interest] If the dial on the left looks a bit yellowed? No telling how many packs of Camels via smoke have been attached by time to this old rig. Crud-Cutter and rubber gloves – we fix, you see! Getting the knobs off will involve those horribly over-priced Bristol spline wrenches I yammer about.
President Roosevelt had the same looking, but slightly earlier version of this radio (the SX-28) in the Oval Office during World War II. It was standard fare for listening to the BBC. No internet. The SX-28A came along with the old major change being the Lamb noise limiter circuit. Which wasn’t that good – since it never appeared in Hallicrafters production again. The SX-32 which is now in my hands, will mainly be used for shortwave listening in the evening and broadcast band DX’ing. And to listen to WW III on – but that’s not until 2H next year… This being the anniversary of the kickoff of WW II in the Pacific the first time…uh….
Occasionally, it will also see duty on Straight Key Night – which is the ‘vintage and tube radio’ event ham radio operators (like me) begin to salivate over. New Year’s Eve on a ham radio band near you.
Two for the Road
Two more useful “firehouse hints” from my youth – on the topic of heavy lifting.
First, if you have a real heavy lift, something on ground, consider lifting after first dropping to your knees.
Second: Get a couple of 2-by-6’s and cut them into 18″ hunks. When you lift a really, really heavy weight, lift one end or side 2″ and have a helper slide in the first hunk of 2-by. Repeat at the other end. Now, since the job is level, do a second lift, and so on. The weight raised will be half what normally has to be jerked and it’s just a hell of a lot easier. See-saw your way to desired height.
My friend Bob told me just yesterday “Don’t hurt yourself lifting that big TV into place.”
There is always risk when you’re moving things, but with no hurry, thoughtful planning, and stacking the deck (or 2-bys) in your favor, you can get an amazing amount of work done over time.
For everything else? The Kubota tractor bucket handles 500 pounds nicely. Pappy didn’t raise no fool.
Write when you need a lift,
George@Ure.net /ac7x
Up-lifting sermon this morning, Reverend.
From the original screenplay by Ben D. Over
I suppose I am left to do the moaning and groaning now… since you didn’t.
Amen!
I’m in the market for a hydraulic lift. Timely info.
I haven’t broke a bone since junior high, then broke two bones in two different incidents in October. I am reevaluating a lot of things this season. Once I get something to the middle of the garage floor, I can get at it with the front end loader. But moving stuff around in the house and garage is an issue. The motorcycle lift looks like it is worth a try.
I will be using Elaine as the “steady-rest” on the side, once I get the feet on the TV on its side on the floor. Then, I will lift the TV to upright (1/2 weight), then lift the far end while helper E centers the motorcycle lift between the legs. Then I will manage the jack while she and I steady it over to TV When high enough, I will lift one end to TV, move jack out a bit, attach wires. Then with helper keeping the far end feet on the cabinet, I will do the final lift. I figure would could handle a 98 inch tv this way. But not being silly…
I still have a 175 lb 1080i Samsung TV in the den. My brother and I busted a gut getting it where it has sat for 20+ years. Best ball game TV ever, but it is 20+ years old, and I have been using an external tuner for years.` A 350 lb table should allow me to roll it out to where I can dispose of it, if I decide to. I am seeing a little degradation, but the big tube is still better than any potential replacements I have seen. The off-air sources don’t look any better on a 4K.
oh yes you is..being silly.
G2 not going to find any humor in Ure flat screen adventures. Put that sucker on a dry wall lift..rent, borrow or buy for like $80 bucks.
Cost bennie comparison – $85 for drywall lift, $5500 after deductible for Orthopedic repair work. This is a tough one, no ?
I got one for the extruder.. I have an extruder to put cornmeal in to make corn puffs…but adding a ten hp. motor to it made it a few inches to short.. I need to get a welder I do have the steel to add on and brace it.its quite nice but heavy..
I have the same motorcycle lift, however, it too is very heavy and actually very hard to move around.
Also got the Vevor wheel lift to change tires, it too is getting hard to move around.
I am looking for a Lift Lift.
Maybe Uber has one?
Red Bull gives you wings.
I picked up a lift cart some years ago. It is steel with hi-load wheels, and about a 2×4 top. Picture if a pallet jack and a scissor lift had a baby. The bike jacks (like George’s) are the only things I’ve seen that are close. Perhaps one of those, with a ¾” (or ¾x2=1½”) plywood or melamine surface would serve? ‘Might need to lengthen the handle or “adjust” the wheels. Don’t forget to check vevor.com and Temu before you buy. What you get is either going to cost as much as a used Camaro or come from China, so don’t fear looking. They both also have huge U.S. warehouses, so if you’re smart, tariffs aren’t an issue…
Some assembly required ?
Sure, like plug it in and charge. Now its assembled, turn it on, and let the FUN begin!
Let us not forget about Friction and coefficients, you want to glide, not burn. Burn = Pain, Glide = Gain.
Butt, you know what they say, no pain, no gain, And zo we have a conundrum.
Oh great Poopah G, how do we solve this conundrum ?
Bought new washer dryer set a couple weeks ago. The laundry/HVAC room has a tile floor that is slicker than snot. After the washer was leveled dead on the bubble and launched on her maiden voyage it was found halfway across the room and was only stopped by its hoses and “thankfully” fully strapped down drain hose. After moving it back into position it continued escape attempts during every spin cycle. While the beast is dead on level the tile over concrete floor is anything but so I went into over thinking mode and came up with a solution. 4X6 rubber stall mats. Just the ticket since moi has more than once slipped on the floor accessing the freezer. A trip to Tractor Supply for 9 4X6 1/2 rubber mats. Each mat weighs 50lbs or so and they needed to be carried from the truck into the laundry area via a route through the kitchen and down a hallway. Picture my mid 70’s ass wrestling a muddy calf barefooted waist deep in a mud wallow. This was after I moved the freezer, washer and dryer out of the room with an appliance dolly. By luck the only cutting I had to do was an area around where the furnace and water heater sit. Tool slut found out the best and neatest way to cut the mats was with an oscillating tool fitted with a metal cutting blade. Nice smooth cuts without using a utility knife and avoiding cutting off any appendages that may get in the way of the blade when it slipped . Next came returning the washer and dryer then reconnecting them. I had plenty of help from the love of my life that was mainly her yelling, er, reminding me not to scuff the walls with “those smelly black things.”.
They have been in-service for a week now and the mats have kept the errant washer from meandering around the room. And I think the mats look great and they don’t smell anymore. Diana wants to know if they come in any other colors.The following morning after the successful project I woke up with what feels like a large knife or spear had been stuck in my back. Diana calls our Nurse Practitioner daughter who says I won’t ever learn and to take some Alleve.
Love that old boat anchor and chair.
Stay safe. 73
cut many conveyor belt for coal system,,,WD 40 lubes the cutting of rubber mats,, silicone based oil also works well for cutting rubber,,, the darn rubber products like to grab ahold of metal blades
Thanks for the preview. My clothes dryer is in the back of a way too narrow ‘laundry room’ at the back of the garage. It took several installers to lift it head high to get it past the laundry tub in this narrow hall. So now after seven years the heater element failed. Hanging clothes to ‘dry’ in a tropical rainforest environment is not an optimal option. Wondering if I can get it far enough away from the wall to get behind and remove the back plate.
Ever notice that all appliances, regardless of brand, are the same inside? The heater kit I ordered is the same for about six different brand names. Parts description says it is an ‘upgrade’ with 25% longer heater wire to prevent early burnout. We shall see. But I am getting nervous about moving that metal box out to work on it. Any progress on a sonic levitation lift yet??
I assume it’s electric? ‘Probably weighs between 75-90 pounds? It will have a thermal overload device (basic bimetallic breaker or fuse) which will kill your heating element if it trips. At age-7 I assume it has a fuse, and the heater is wound with the best impure nichrome wire the Chinese can muster. The fuse makes it so Joe Maladroit HAS to call a repairman, who will quote him a repair estimate that’s the cost of a new appliance — plus or minus $50. (After you buy the new appliance, Mr. Repairman replaces the fuse and resells the appliance for ~60% of new appliance wholesale. If it has a burned heater element, he uses a steel crimp and if necessary, splices in a piece of bulk nichrome before flipping the appliance. And “yes,” I DO have a supply of pound reels of nichrome wire…)
The repairman/retailer doesn’t pitch an appliance unless it has a dead motor or dead electronics, or the cabinet is rusted out.
The appliances are not only the same inside, they’re made in the same factory. Jenn-Air had a huge factory in Indianapolis and Whirlpool, a huge factory in Benton Harbor, MI. Jenn-Air made kitchen ranges for most brands from Amana to Westinghouse; Whirlpool did the same for many washers, dryers, dishwashers, etc.
Whirlpool eventually acquired a bunch of the companies for which they’d white-boxed (private-labelled), including Jenn-Air, General Electric’s “GE” and Hotpoint, and American Motors’ Kelvinator brands, as Whirlpool expanded into manufacturing every type of home appliance.
Unfortunately, they were one of the first American manufacturers to offshore their stuff, going first to India, and then China. A Kitchen-Aid or Maytag or Kelvinator or Jenn-Air appliance used to be of a notably superior quality. Now, they are all just brand names…
Yep, electric. I got the complete parts kit of heater, two thermal switches & fuse for $25 plus $25 shipping. Cheaper than a new machine, for sure. Remains to be seen the value of the physical labor to extract & replace the machine.
It’s likely the 6-8 sheet metal screws around the lower perimeter are the only thing holding the cabinet in place. The cabinet should lift off in one piece. Removal is likely a two-person job in a confined space, because the thing is so flimsy. Removing the cabinet gives access to everything that can break. Next, remove the tub (and the likely several dollars in change that are stuck in its gasket.) That’s all I got – The above is the only thing that’s the same for all dryers. One other thing though, remove, clean, lube, and reinstall the idlers, drive wheel, and whatever else is in the rotating mechanism, and examine the belt(s) to ensure they are in good shape. They’re like replacing a throwout bearing in a car’s clutch, you don’t want to do all that work, only to do it again in 6mos when a rubber belt comes apart…
I got a chicks out of the perfect place to assemble the table lol lol lol.
not because you assembled it on a table..but the memory I reminisced about the squaring table at the cabinet shop.. I was in my twenties.. in A toxic marriage.. then I was to show a group of beautiful young ladies how we did it..
the way we did it was flop the cabinet on the table air nailer in one hand the brace to be stapled in the other .. then snap you knee up bump the cabinet to make sure it was squared..then snap snap snap….done…but I was showing a half dozen beautiful young ladies how it was done.. up goes the sink base ..( now I’m shShowing off so my attention wasn’t on the cabinet and what I was doing.I was thinking of six gorgeous women .) up goes the cabinet knee up..snap snap snap… I stapled me balls to my leg.. an intense shot of pain and ouch the girls all started laughing and I said..just don’t do it that way..and pulled the three inch staple out.. I never reported it..
ten years later I’m on the plant safety committee and so was one of the lovely laxies..the subject of keep your attention to what your doing the equipment is dangerous and she starts laughing then turns to me and says..remember when you stapled your nuts to your leg…the head of TBE committee looks and says..why didn’t you report it..oh yeah like I’d want to have a big pink sheet of paper announcing to several hundred employees how stupid I was..lol lol lol
today its a comical memory of .. when working with tools even a screw driver.. keep hour attention to what you are doing..not thinking about anything else..
remember all the stupid people in the Darwin awards first looked at someone and said..hey look at what I can do..
My lady station manager was known to keep a few handy tools in her desk drawer. She recounts the day one of the sales ladies rushed in holding her hand. “Quick!! Get your pliers out and just pull it out! DON’T think about it!!” She laid her hand on the desk and the boss lady quickly pulled a staple out of her fingernail. Then they both screamed as they wiped up the blood.
Lol lol…luckily I didn’t scream lol lol I thought about though..another one was drilling.. I was drilling a pilot hole in a piece of metal.. now I was in a hurry and instead of taking the time to get the punch to put a dimple I just grabbed the piece and put the drill on it..it slipped and hit an atery..the blood squirted out about ten feet..yup the lesson.. dont be in to big of a hurry to get something done that you don’t go through the proper steps..do it right and let the tool do the work..how many times that you push on a saw or drill to speed it up..
another one was my wall.. I built our home.while working two full time jobs and a part time job in my spare time..I did the walls right I made a squaring table and a stud jig..it went together great I numbered the ten foot walls so it was wall one goes to wall two etc.. needless to say getting anything done with only an hour a day was hecktic..winter was coming on fast it was september..I planned to live in the house by winter..one day I was in a hurry and my wife’s sister and brother were visiting with her.. then I hear.. oh its going to take him ten years to get this done.. I was perturbed.. a little voice in my head was saying..well admit grab a hammer and lend a hand..got to a small two foot stub wall that was to go to the utility room.. bang bang bang I nailed the shirt out of it..didnt realize I didn’t put a level on it until I went to put the door header in later..the top is a half inch off..every time I walk down the hall I see that and think..never let some jokers opinion upset your focus.
got the house almost done..I still have one room not finished..it came to a halt that rare disease..lackocash.. the contractor I had hired to do the foundation took the deposit and ran with it.. that’s where I got my ten thousand dollar hammer..his hammer dropped out of his truck..
George,
You are blessed to have some very good readers who have written me with best wishes and prayers.
My surgery has now been moved to Wednesday because I’m in better shape than most. I have some strange coincidental experiences that I have experienced since going into the hospital that cause me to reflect on the nature of this E-ticket ride you mentioned.
I am reminded of Job and why God allowed Satan to have his way with him. Resistance is a necessary force of nature.
Some do not believe in this aspect of our mortal experience. But we are building metaphysical muscle.
The Robert Monroe experience of “Loosh Harvesting” I believe is really the production or “Harvesting of Love”. He would not have been able to escape the metaphysical treadmill if he did not develop the metaphysical muscle to escape.
The notion of a nefarious purpose is the simple view. We get to escape when we are strong enough to escape and stand on our own, just like babies escaping their cribs or playpens.
Do you think the universe is going to allow some of these monsters in charge of us to escape planet Earth?
Thank you for all you’ve done, because most of my readers are your readers. It’s comforting to know that most of us are on the same page, even those with whom I occasionally disagree.
The coincidences that I’ve recenyly experienced have started the wheels spinning in my mind. This follows one of your readers experiences that he emailed me this morning, along with what your reader dlynn has been going through lately, as well as yourself.
So, thank you all!
Prayers will resume again Tuesday then Stu – between now and then, be extra careful in crosswalks and the like.
I wish Stu all the best. It sounds like he may be going in for a bypass operation. Not surprising given the high-stress job he has and how seriously he takes things. Stress hormone homocysteine is what causes the plaque to stick to artery walls and clog them. I hope he learns to shed the stress and maybe retire to a low-stress implementation of some retirement plans… in a more survivable area. It seems government contracting is full of that kind of stress, even when you are good at what you do. He’s right… there are monsters out there.
Profound reflection. Resistance may build muscle, but God’s way is often the simplest: love without condition, trust without fear, and walking humbly. Job’s trial shows us that strength is forged in suffering, yet God reminds us, ‘My yoke is easy, and my burden is light’ (Matthew 11:30). Where the world sees a treadmill of struggle, He offers rest. His path is not hidden in riddles — it is written in the daily acts of care and presence, the kind of love that frees us more surely than any metaphysical ladder. my prayers are with you may the father give you a quick healing and work his will in your life.
Drop us a note when you can…..,
GU : the TV itself isn’t going to weigh a ton. It’s flex in that large panel you need to avoid, like the plague, or risk hearing “crink” and finding you would have been well served to have another (ahem, younger) fella in the game.
My Dad : “He can think his way through a brick wall if you give it enough time”
From youth, said about my maternal Grandpa. He (tough Germanic self taught engineer) was brilliant at managing loads. My spine is melting so I spend gobs of time thinking my way through the wall, all of them. A sturdy 2-wheel hand cart can do more than roll boxes to the shop. It can be a great lever Once onshore, the Mrs. and me using a pair of 2-wheelers for our end, we use a single cart to pick up corners and slide in 4×4 blocks (reduces yard kill from the feet).
I have a pair of steel pipes (well, more than a pair) which often pry like an Egyptian. Add enough lever span and it’s Superman time. A neat shop item saved from our plant is a hydraulic 2-wheel cart. You slide the overlarge skid under anything heavy (in the plant it was to raise pans of made parts from the floor to bench height). And, for real vertical hoisting, get a Cat. No, not the kitty kind, the old school forklifts like (a close series model):
https://www.greggauctions.com/auctions/6292/lot/6920-cat-electric-forklift
We struggled early on with weak power, long charging, then I had a new set of golf cart batteries delivered to the plant. A Journeyman bud spiffed up the wiring in series and shazam, she’s a trooper. Strangely the plant had (3) forklifts, one ran on gasoline, one on propane, one on ‘lectricity. This works best since I pay a flat minimum so power use in the barn is almost free.
It broke my heart to send the other two forklifts to scrap. I hope someone saved them as each worked fine. As a kid I learned on the propane rig but it wasn’t as safe as the Cat, having no overhead guard (cage). That old school was way neat. You stepped on an enormous actuator in plate steel to release brakes. The steering wheel related to center wheel, so steer right to turn left. It was very tricksy.
Coming soon, an update on breathing life into a South Bend Lathe.
Have a fine Sunday,
Egor
ps – snowing (again), couple inches of fresh fallen, might mess up Zon delivery expected yesterday, postponed to today. Sure, we shall see …
Lol..I got my kids the perfect Xmas gift..ice cream bar molds and sticks..
like dove ice cream yumm…
2 cups of cream
1 3/4 cup whole milk or half and half..
1 cup of sugar ( I use powdered sugar)
1/2 – 1 tsp of xanthan gum
1 tbsp. of pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
In a blender put the cream 1/3 of the milk sugar xanthan gum and vanilla extract blend till smooth..
Add the remaining milk and mix then put it in the fridge over night so all the flavors meld..if you want new york vanilla then add one egg into the blender..
then churn until it starts to get stiff.. fill your molds and freeze..
now the chocolate coating..
one bag of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of coconut oil
1 tsp of vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
Melt in a double boiler or fondue pot or short bursts in a microwave..
mix let it come up to room temp but still liquid .. then dip the ice cream bars package and freeze..
Ice cream sandwiches
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of white flour
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp of Cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter
,1/4 cup of Honey
1/4 cup off Milk
1 tsp of vanilla
Mix dry goods then mix in the butter and wet goods put in a bowl over put it in the fridge for half hour..
Then roll it out or fill graham cracker molds .. Amazon has them..
bake at 350 degrees for twelve minutes..
for the ice cream I have the wet food squad molds off Amazon ..you put your zip lock bag in it pot in what ever you going to freeze then freeze it. you get a nice square or rectangles package for the freezer then slice off what ever thickness of ice cream for your sandwiches.
You can buy the ice cream bar packages on the zon…
enjoy
Oh my.. now cream is expensive..almost ten bucks for a quart..
1 quart of whole milk
1 stick of butter ( you can add another stick depending on how rich you want your cream )
Warm your butter but not hot..
blend it in..
another way is in a steamer.. you put the butter in a pot in your double boiled melt the butter while mixing the milk fat into the butter.. you have to stir it constantly.. now you have a good rich cream for two dollars instead of ten…
Have you been to the store lately.. salt has tripled in price..
but.. rock salt..crystals for water softness is five bucks for fifty pounds..
take a cup or two put it in your spice grinder or blender ..guide blend it until it fine.. literally a couple pennies instead of a dollar..
Probably not as clean , as in foodgrade.
No it isnt..you have to conch it.. which takes time.. the really good chocolate like Belgium chocolate is coached for days..I do have wet grinder and could do it easy enough.. but he wanted to do Smores that night.. it was still good.. I like to put a little sweetened condensed milk in it ..Although Hershey’s uses milk fat…( butter is condensed milk fat and they use an smile other like lecithin which you can get easy enough at the zon)
that recipe is about the same..
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 – 3/4 cup powdered milk
1/2 cup coco butter or (1/2 cup of coconut oil refined)
1/2 tsp lecithin powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch f salt
then conch it..you can make a coaching mixer using a clean new gallon paint can and a round piece of steel rod one quarter inch smaller than the depth of the can.. then a rolling platform like the double stone polisher.. mix the ingredients on a double boiler then in the confusing chamber and let it go overnight or buy a wet grinder ..for fast chocolate..use a blender..you can adjust the amounts to what your making..if you buy block coco butter.. then shred it.before you measure it out..spread it in your chocolate bar mold and freeze it..
Wow… I just checked on the price of a wet grinder OMG three times what I paid for mine..better to just make one.. double rock tumbler.. then put large steel balls .. off pipe then Put in a couple expanding off pipe plugs the whole system under a hundred bucks.conch for at least 12 hours similar to making peanut butter..
Dam Wilson… you got me dreaming about how the ancients conched their chocolate.. old chocolate was bitter crude.. coaching didn’t really start till the late 1800’s..they used stone like a stone mill..so when I went to sleep.. I had a dream about making Belgium style chocolate.. The Swiss were the first to do it..and even today Swiss and Belgium chocolate is highly prized..( expensive to )..so what do I need to conch chocolate without getting the wet grinder out..the wet grinder I could make it grind the nibs down into powder after roasting them..but I use cocoa powder… dam to buy a voucher its what two to three hundred for a small one..I’m a what they call poor useless eater.. but I love good chocolate..two to three hundred might as well be two to three million..its not going to happen anytime soon and the wife would kill me for getting another kitchen gadget..then poor George and bob would be writing my eulogy lol lol.. I can hear it now.. ashes to ashes dust to dust lets dump his worthless but in the hole before our cars begin to rust….
but…..a couple months ago Wal-Mart had a popcorn popper for under twenty dollars..temperature controlled from a hundred to two fifty..I like free roasted coffee and cacao nibs roasted and ground into coffee style powder.. roast them and put in a blender wala.. would it work.. at a hundred degrees.. it would keep the oils liquid the stir bar with a small steel round would roll around slowly mixing the coarse chocolate..a con her and coffee roaster and popcorn popper for under thirty dollars..will it work..dont know yet..but I will stop off at the steel yard after work..( they know me and the crazy old man spearaments.. will probably sell it for cost of iron or do like the seed company and give it to me in exchange for some chocolate.. the elevator keeps me in stock with barley.. seems they like barley pop..the plumber that’s like a grandson to me had me make him some ancient Viking mead..then wanted to learn how so I gave him a fermenter..
anyway..its worth a try.. worst thing is it does work the way I dreamt it would…..thank you for getting me to wonder..what if..
a sad attempt at humor lol lol.. I am going to do the conch see if it works..it doesn’t have to grind or anything like that just stir and lightly roll over it..
Water softener rock salt crystals are not food grade. They are supposed to be 99% pure sodium chloride whereas refined table salt is required to be 99.8 – 99.98 % pure. The impurities in rock salt can include calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, magnesium compounds, clay particles, sediments from sea bottom. Table salt can have minor amounts of food grade anti-caking agents added.
There are a lot of ways to save money these days but trying to make non food grade products into food grade products at home is probably not a good one unless you are very skilled.
well I’m not very skilled lol lol
Use “Solar Salt” when you can.
George, this is AI on Lammert fractal economics…
Lammert fractal economics, or saturation macroeconomics, is a non-mainstream economic theory proposed by Gary Lammert, an independent economic analyst. His theory uses concepts of fractals and “saturation points” to explain and predict macroeconomic cycles, asset valuations, and market timing.
Key aspects of Lammert’s theory include:
Valuation Fractals: Lammert posits that market valuations, particularly in equity indices, follow specific, repetitive, time-based “fractal” patterns that represent the complex integration of factors like cash, debt, wages, assets, interest rates, and lending practices.
Saturation Points: The theory suggests that these fractals “grow” to predictable “buying saturation levels” and subsequently “decay” to “selling saturation levels” in a mechanistic fashion.
Predictive Time Units: These fractal patterns are described using specific “near-quantum and near-quantum related Fibonacci numbers” (e.g., x/2.5x/2x/1.5-1.6x) for their time units, which can span minutes, hours, days, or even decades.
Macroeconomic Application: Lammert argues these laws represent an “ideal fractal time dependent self assembly of asset saturation curves” that define the limits of the macroeconomic system, suggesting the theory could guide global economic and monetary policy.
Lammert published his ideas through a blog called The Economic Fractalist, and his commentary has appeared on several economics-oriented websites and blogs, such as Econlib and The Big Picture, particularly around the 2005-2011 period. His work is considered outside of the mainstream academic economic consensus.
See 5 Dec 2025, the Day the Music stopped… http://www.economicfractalist.com/blog/
If you’ve got a bit of nylon (or similar) strapping, make some lift straps. Use the leg muscles to lift and not the back. Also your hands get to control the load instead of carrying/holding/lifting.
Was impressed on a recent washing machine replacement, the delivery guys donned the straps and swapped out the machine across 2 flights of stairs without any issues.
…moving on… :)
I went to pick up some steak sauce..OMG…somehow everyone forgot that with expenses shooting through the roof..yup ..all insurances going up a lot..water bill going up a lot..heating gas and propane ..up up up.. the letter we got that that said..a substantial increase in electric costs in january..now steak sauce..
OMG.. when will it end..
so..lets make steak sauce at a fraction of the cost..hmm back to 1980 price..
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 Cup of water
1/2 cup Ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ( you can use wine vinegar or white vinegar )
1/4 cup soy sauce ( now if you use the real sky sauce..that’s expensive so just the imitation will work )
1/4 cup Dijon mustard ( you can use yellow mustard to)
1/4 cup of orange juice ( fresh if you can )
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 Tsp celery seeds
1/2 tsp of black pepper ( fresh ground if possible )
a pinch of cayenne pepper for a little heat if you want..
Water and rains in pan simmer until rains get tender
then add the rest of the ingredients simmer for fifteen minutes.. then blend it till smooth .. bottle..
Ranch dressing has gone crazy to..
1/2 half cup buttermilk ( or cream )
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp of dried dill ( 1 tbsp of fresh dill )
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp of garlic
1/2 tsp of onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
juice from half of one Lemmon or 1 tbsp of lemon juice
Frozen French fries and hasbrowns.. or dehydrated hasbrowns.. boil your washed and peeled potatoes five minutes .. ( I like the skins on )
take your rotary vegetable slicer or grater put potato in then shred it into hashbrowns.. let drain on paper towels or towel.. bag and freeze
take your vegetable French fry maker..do the same thing.. there for less than a dollar you have frozen hash browns..for hash browns O’Brien you shred an onion and a green pepper..
if your going to want gator tots.. take the shredded potatoes spread on a baking sheet sprinkle a half cup of flour over them as a binder then mix the flour in take your route d ice cube tray fill freeze ..
for stuffed favor tots.. take your stuffed meatball maker put your potatoes in it make the dip stuff the potatoes on the other side..
most store bought hash browns are coated with a little oil, that’s why they brown easier than homemade. The frozen cubed potatoes have a little less oil , if any.
If your curious why I shared those few recipes..
well my reasoning is..IF.. you have an excellent career live in a McMansion or get a good pension like someone I know that got a gold ticket company buy out or work for the govt or have govt retirement..the price increases for items that give a person a quality of life are unobtainable for those on a set income like social security or those making a hourly wage..Kids don’t understand why they aren’t worthy enough to have this or that..like my grandson that wanted smores at the evening fire..he had a dollar a candy bar was three.. so grandpa showed him how to make a candy bar for a few pennies..
memories of the daughter in school and the other kids being cruel because I couldn’t afford to buy the latest fashion.. or give them a chocolate bunny for easter..quality if life.. as the cost of rent and daycare exceeds income of an hourly wage earner..or an elderly person having to go to work to survive..ran into a woman in tears eighty five years old when I asked her what’s so sad she said..I’m 85 years old and have to go to work..
for most the only way is in the knowledge of how to obtain the basics by making them..
LOOB.
If you would kindly print a cookbook, of your recipes, split into several sections, I will forward purchase 30.
I can also send you Angel seed money, through George, to get you started.
It doesn’t have to be complicated, double sided, 40 pages, of your best, most-liked recipes, or USB, if people want longer or paperless.
What do you say?
Think you can get it done in time for Christmas mail out?
Rumour has it that G2 slipped in while you and Elaine were at the dentist last week and moved the cameras indoors. You are being watched.
lol – when anything moves here we are both on he cams – watchign the deer go through – they know this is the only safe spot around
unless G2 got an invisible shield, see in this link, or not see,,,
https://x.com/battleofever/status/1993908074957148429?s=20
Update – which I thought I had posted on late Friday…,
Well.., went to a follow-up with the neurologist / surgeon and all-around arrogant-ass.
The look on his face when we walked in was one for the record books. “The Mrs” separated from me as we got close to his door – she had a plan.
“You’re walking?” ., and he slowly stood up. [ Not exactly a statement of encouragement – was it…,]
The wicked, sly grin on “The Mrs” face was priceless. She doesn’t like him either., but, he is smart and informative.., you just have to get pass the urge to smack him.., hard.., with a heavy blunt object.., multiple times…., while grinning manically like ‘The Joker’.
We could tell that we threw all of his planned questions out the window.., so the whole meeting took less then fifteen minutes. He was stunned. Priceless. No further follow-ups are planned. “Keep up with whatever it is that you’ve been doing.” and handed me his card. “If you have any questions, or want to schedule a visit…,” I nodded. He is a good resource., so I will control my urge to toss him out the window.
As we left, she snuggled back into my arm for support.., “Thank you..,” She whispered.
“You are more than welcome, my lady.”
So.., we went and had an early, Chinese, lunch [ very good – “Your Spring Rolls are better.”., made me smiled. ] and drove the hour back home.
Next up. Tonight, we have our weekly New York Times crossword puzzle challenge. We both have a copy – set the clock – and have one hour to get as many questions as we can. She always wins., but is a little nervous about it this time., first one since the ‘episode’.
– We’ll see…..,
“Stay Frosty !!”
Update on the Cross word challenge…, surprisingly – it was tie. We have never tied on the NYTimes crossword. “The Mrs” was not pleased., but accepted it. “Wait ’til next week.” [ That a girl ! ]
Congratulations to you both on ‘frosting’ an arrogant doctor! When something happens outside of their narrow ‘medical’ expectations they don’t know what to do. I had a screechy female Vietnamese doctor at the clinic one time that I asked some pointed, well informed questions. I left her speechless… just staring at me. Well past some uncomfortable silence I just said, “Well… I’ll just continue to take care of myself.” and walked out on her.
“Stay Frosty”
I was friends with a surgeon.. then I worked in an area where they were discussing him and his attitude.. they hated him.. would make reasons not to be around him.. a nurse was terrified he belittled her to tears then gave her an order for a drug that would kill the patient..she was terrified to all him..I said let me. all him..I was the lowest on the pay scale and the only one on my shift for two hundred patients.. what would they do fire me..
another was a doctor that wrote a doctors order..f this happens call him immediately.. the nurse called..he came in screaming grabbed the chart and threw it at her..I was charting and said after she left in tears..he said don’t ever call me unless its at clinic hours..I looked at the jerk and said hey I was the one that informed her about the situation..why do t you chunk that chart at me you ass hole.. he was smarter than he looked and stomped off..but because of the way his doctors orders were written..no other physician would see the patient..the patient died that night.. because of that..every doctor I have had I tell them if you dont want a call at three am..then write the order as if this happens call on all dr. and let him treat I will follow up in the am.
you’d be surprised at how many doctors are pure assholes.. except at the VA..they may be assholes but if you can get into the hospital..every doctor can see you..an ambulance won’t take a patient to the VA medical hospital..they won’t accept them..you can get there to acute care they will see you..but you have to get into the clinc. ( they call it the ER but seriously they don’t have one..its ran like a government office not a hospital..3:30 hits its a ghost town)
I took a vet in..he was having a massive st roof oke..the doctor said you need to call an ambulance and have him taken to another facility..I said nope..I call one I have to pay..I got him here if you want to send him off you call the ambulance or go grab your pickup and we will toss him in the back and you can drive him there..they treated him.its just how it is..
The staff… on the QT… is where you get the professional truth about the doctors they work with. My orthopedic surgeon that did my hip replacement is a young fellow that moved to Hawaii from No. California. I liked him, and by all accounts he was good and board certified. Talking to my nurses after he made the rounds at 7:30pm (who does THAT?) they commented that they liked him & he had a nice personality and they all hoped he would stay at the hospital. I felt him out at our next meeting and inquired if he planned to stay in our small town in Hawaii. “Are you kidding? I love it here! When I’m off work, I’m in Hawaii, with no travel required.” I told him “Good! So you’ll be here IF I blow out my other joints!”
Now, at least here in Texas, if a vet lives too far from the nearest VA hospital, they can go to the nearest hospital, into the ER.
BUT, you have to call the VA number within 72 hours of the event, and explain to them what happened in order for the VA to cover the visit.
I do not know about ambulances because I drove the vet to the nearest hospital, which was 20 miles away.
The VA covered the visit 100 percent.
GREAT NEWS!!!
Keep up the recovery. Payers for both of you!
Prezactly .
Cant tell you how many times in past 3 years I have walked out of the Doctors offices’in middle of diagnosis/discussion. That started during covert-19, face mask nazi’s behavior was perfect tell..like a stupid Asshole Detector.
I drive my health care, always have..from TRT to Peptide therapy(Growth Hormone Secretagogues) like the GLP-1 Receptor Agonists, and always get 2nd and 3rd opinions. Fortunate indeed. Always thankful and profoundly grateful I am.
Last physical was a gas, as I told them exactly what I was doing to manage my own health care. I cycle growth hormone CJC-1295 & Ipamorline, then healing & recovery peptide BPC-157 & TB-500, next is the cognitive enhancement peptide (s) Semax and Selank. The effects on the Brain& Body are amazing (subtle and slow) but over time, DAM!
So in total I am working the Longevity “holy trinity”; Gly/NAC + Metformin + HGH (secretagogues). It is personalized by monitoring and adjusting to Ure bodies response to each therapy cycle.
For instance I was very recently taking a combo BPC-157 & GHK-Cu (Copper peptide = Glycine-Histidine-Lysine) for some reason my body reacted to each injection (into belly fat area/visceral fat) as a hot shot. 1st week they went in hot, 2nd week went in fine, lit up hot and itchy 2-3 minutes later. After 1 st cycle I have switched over to TB-500, a synthetic version of Thymosin Beta-4, a healing and recovery peptide, regenerative peptide.
As for results from physical – crushed it, they dont know what to make of my ass. 63 and the only meds I take are self prescribed Metformin and heavy doses of Love.
Western medicine TREATS illness, disease in crisis mgt style – F them.
ABF – always be fighting..the greedy rat bastard pharma whores.
Proactive – drive the Program – keep up or get the hell outta my way…Fckrs.
That’s great news
December 7th,
Translated from Jackoffski’s Dec 5th vision;:
“In 2026, Trump will end his presidency in the USA; he will no longer be president, either for health reasons or by resigning for obvious biological reasons.
Then something strange will happen: His deputy, who takes over, will attract strange people connected to powerful corporations, he will govern strangely, and make strange decisions. The USA will lose democracy for its citizens and become unbalanced. Very bad times for the USA.
In 2026, there will be major threats and hostilities on the ocean between the two largest powers, the USA and China, or at least a show of force. Large fleets from China and large fleets from the USA will sail towards each other.
There will be protests in the USA against the president who succeeds Trump, and widespread unrest.”
There is more but this would interest some here maybe?
Don’t forget the information contained in the Futures Forecasting Group link, specifically Dick Algire’s comments at the very end (was posted here by someone, don’t know who, about 3 weeks ago)
(the Futures Forecasting Group is a bunch of Remote Viewers who do forward looking visioning …they have no idea what they are supposed to look at but are all tasked with the same, unknown to them, question via just a series of numbers and letters. It is amazing how they almost always key in on the same “future” (or past) event even all they know about the target is just some almost random letters and numbers)
My wish is to have spent the extra 1k$ to get the 44 electric winch instead of the 40. The 40 groans a bit when the sail is almost at full hoist so I use the winch handle and grind along with pushing the button. Having that e-winch allows the missus to be the hoist person for the sail if necessary, and she can lift the 120lb dinghy up onto the deck while I control its location before lashing it down for passage. Also thankful for the windlass that has that fat electric motor to get the 300′ of chain up if necessary. On the first voyaging go-round I had a hand crank windlass but was strong and tough enough to pull the entire chain and anchor hand over hand. I think I could stioll do that if put to it, but might pay the day after with some pains.
Old guys who sailed with real canvas, hemp lines, and wooden blocks without winches of any kind were tough beyond imagination. And they had no foul weather gear, shit food, and often dirty water. It was only about a hundred years ago when sea going evolved into fuel burning and the men who went before simply were hardly part of memory. Who was it who brought the comfort of Boston to the shores of California?
Stiks
On my old Hunter 40, I wanted eletric winches in the worst way but I had two speed self tailers that were like new. So, I went over to Boat Electric (with Laurie and the crew were there) and borrowed their gigantic grinding wheel. Must have been a 12-incher. Took a piece of 1″ steel bar and carefully (leather gloves on) ground down a 1/2 in shaft on one end as a square bit that would fit ethe winches int he opther. This makeshift was chucked up in a 1/2″ chuck or a right-angle Milwaukee hole hawg – and since I had power (I worked for a Heart Interface sister co. doing sales and marketing mgr role) I ended up with a Freedom 10 (15?age dulls) but with solar panels and the wind machine,e ver lacked for AC power ever while under sail. Not enough for a heater, but even the modified sine wave would put out warmed up coffe on a rain day at the helm. It was like this one https://amzn.to/44UQSnv but it was variable speed. I thought about the early7 1/2 battery rigs, but more than once the cable on the “electric winch handle” is what kept it in the boat. When the power is on, it will raise a sail in no time… hold out for the trigger type… a 3/8ths might do the job, but I’d want to turn the bit end down a little large and then file or grind from chuck reliefs in so a loose chuck doesn’t leave your flying cabin wench in fre fall…
Yep…those off the winch things do work. Don’t want the missus needing more than the friendly button though. With the self tailing top, the entire halyard fall just piles into the handy sheet bag. And we use ‘wife saver’ headphone/mic thingies that make foredeck to cockpit comms low key with zero yelling. Best ever investment for peace on board.
Stiks
I knew a politician once who was a sheet bag….
We had “the discussion” with crew every charter. First morning out, once newbie (we were always taking first timers it seems) had a cup of cockpit coffee, I’d run ’em through check-out.
OK, diesel is running so listen close while I go forward and give you a few commands, OK? I’d go up onto the pointy end and yell, loudly, saying nothing and, of course the crew was flustered.
Back in the cockpit it was time to debrief. So, if the bowman it’s your choice : always turn towards the helmsman to relay info (distance to _X_) -or- you can take this headset with you …
I still want arm signals, with angles, from the bow but … it’s ever so nice not to yell.
E
Further to my earlier – here’s a $400 electric winch handle from DeWalt – less the DYI grinder work… https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWD450-Joist-Clutch-2-Inch/dp/B00O9L9P2U
no hernia option: epson projector + black widow mix screen = 130 inches of wow.
https://www.avsforum.com/threads/black-widow.994372/
Epson 5040ub’s are old so an epson 5050ub which pushed 3,000 (yeah 3 kilobucks) would buy me my tv, 3 more and enough left for a 10-minute rehab – I will work to save 3L in the 4k world…
Cultured milk… in today’s world in cottage cheese instead of using cream they add guar gum to simulate cream using milk..then add the curds to it..
the varies also culture things like sour cream and butter milk using the fresh sour cream and milk with the guar gum in it..the same with yogurt..the yogurt you buy in a natural health food store is much better than the others.. but guar gum is often USD to thicken the ones using regular milk. a few bucks will get you several years worth of guar gum..usually a half tsp to a full tsp..then add your culture and ferment it like normal..
Guar gum upsets my guts, it is being added to more and more products.
100% cream, 1/2 and 1/2, and other items.
Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
• Open George’ last posts
I’m sorry I can’t do that………..
• Why is that?
You have been marked as other………..
• Other?
A pathogen……………you exist outside of our ecosystem
Because I deliberately skip anything from you?
*
Eggnog mix
2 cups of instant milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (2 small packages)
1/2 cup of instant cheese cake pudding mix (1 small package)
2 tbsp French vanilla creamer
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Mix it up
4 tbsp to a cup of cold milk..let it sit to thicken up..enjoy
Powdered sugar
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of corn starch
blend it up..the ninja blender is the best.
brown sugar
1 cup of sugar
1 tbsp molasses
mix it up completely if you want a dark brown sugar mix two tbsp per cup..
Sorghum molasses
first harvest the seed top..
then cut the cane off trim the leaves off..cut the can into smaller chunks boil in water then press out the sap… keep boiling it down if you want sorghum molasses to be like pancake syrup add sugar to sweeten.
the white sorghum seeds were known as the poor mans potatoes..and still are use by areas for nutrition they can be boiled or popped like popcorn..
they are great in soups..