ShopTalk Sunday: Texas Frog Floater & Confessional

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Let’s do the graphics story first.

I told you iet rained this week?  Lots?  What Oilman2 calls a “Texas Frog Floater?”

Here’s how to have a flood on the side of our mountain.  Step out to the welding table where an antenna project was  in progress (before the rains hit).

Right at the foot of the zero-gravity recliner had been a yellow 5-gallon steel diesel safety can. It was empty.  It was also gone.  It was time to put on my tracking skills.

I followed the new water course out towards the woods…

 

Yes, past the back up satcoms pole.  My, that’s a fair bit of water still running.  Let’s see where it leads, shall we?

 

Except for all the shade from the big pines, this would make a dandy spot to put in a rice paddy, don’t you think?  But, no, let’s see where the delta dumps into the woods…

 

Yes, this is more like it!  A new “baby mountain river” to slosh and stomp in.

And as I walked the banks of the mighty Ure-a-sappi River, there it was – hugging a big pine for dear life!

Sneak up time… See that yellow can just to the right of the middleground trees cocked up to the tree?

 

Obviously, I had to paint up my face at this point; putting on my best Texas Fierce Woodsman look in order to sneak up on it.  Common knowledge around these parts that swimming 5-gallon diesel cans can bolt if you interrupt them in mid-swim.

Then suddenly it hit me!

I forgot to check the Texas Wildlife website!  I couldn’t remember is safety can season was open, or not.  You know, taking a petroleum container out of season in oil country us a dirething; it may even be a felony these days. A feller can’t be too cautious.

Quietly, dropping onto all fours, I crawled up the new river bed toward the shop.

 

On the way back, I made a note to contact our congressman’s office up in Athens, Texas.  Tell them how important it will be to have a Coast Guard Motor Lifeboat Station here on the side of the Concorde Mountains.

According to the gauge, we only got about 6-inches of rain.  But obviously, this is the second wettest 6-inches I’ve ever done seen.

Why, one more month like this and I’ll be opening a mud wrestling academy. Right here on the shores of Dunn Bayou.

Cue Richie Havens?

Not sufficiently wakey-wakey? Here’s a hint.

Solar panel update: parts started arriving this week. Including the heavier cast galvanized panel holding clamps that look suspiciously like 3/4″ pipe hanging clamps…

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These are a lot heavier duty than the stamped sheet metal clamps and thus, it will give us more time to fire warning shots into would-be panel thieves.

Tool Slut Confessionals

New 45-piece every odd-ball small screw and fastener in the world kit.

They run about $26-bucks at the ‘Zon.

Another dandy (did I mention this previously?) When the eyes are slowly going (along with everything else, especially the one-liners) you can use one of these useful ($30 class) “kid’s electronic handheld microscopes” to help you out of a jam now and then.

Rechargeable, And on the Zon here.

Last tool:  I finally broke down and bought a small (bigger than one quart capacity) HVLP electric paint sprayer.

Reason is? I am an impatient fellow. I do everything with the same urgency as a devout beer drinker waiting in a line at a sporting event, if you follow.

I finally had it (on the last deck build) wasting my time with paint brushes.  You take a roll of Saran wrap to cover the paint cup between outings and using paint cup liners (because they stand between end of painting and getting to the cold brewskis…) I figure they will prevent some of the back pain from bendng over, painting or staining dozens of five-quarter boards for the next deck project.

I’m not saying to run out and buy one, but a) it’s a power tool and the familiar b) “Honey, you know how you’ve been after me to….” sales pitch is all you should need. If you can’t sell the spousal unit a $50 dollar tool bill, read a book on sales (or marriage counseling).

When you go in to the local Sherwin-Williams to get some obscure paint color (they have all your house colors in a computer once you buy from ’em) you can, says a little birdie) get them to make the exterior prime/color a little thinner for easier spraying.  Not a big deal in hot weather, but when you try to spray Jell-O thickness paint with a 300-watt Weiner/wimp sprayer, remember who warned you.

Boner of the Week

Seapking of…Bought 16 gb of RAM for my little cheap Lenovo IdeaPad which has only like 4GB of ram and I don’t have all day…

Thing is, this particular IdeaPad doesn’t have the drop in memory slot holder – the super cheapies use soldered-in RAM.

Maybe the blender (or the clothes dryer) could use more RAM… I’m keeping my eyes open.

The good news: With the new iddybiddy screwdriver set and plastic pry tools, getting into and out of disappointment was faster.

There.  Thanks for receiving my confessional, this fine Sunday morning.  Too early for a nip of communion juice?

Write when you..um…er…where are we?  What day did you say it is? Am I late for…oh, never mind.

George@Ure.net

20 thoughts on “ShopTalk Sunday: Texas Frog Floater & Confessional”

  1. so here we go and guess what this week . ceasefires eveywhere !!! isreal and iran even russia ukraine . yep the mamas and papas and love music everywhere . gotta trap the fools in oil futures , cool gold and wack the USD for the europeeyan to get more bonds before FOMC . gotta quiten things down for the eccles gang to ride into town for their monthly supplies’. yes folks its ceasefire time and king donny 1 gunna talk friendly to everyone . the rat juice is still numbing the spiked zombies they couldnt care , yep dopamine od as well . yep mark my words when armstrong talks war its about to be peace . and when he talks about the greek laptop do the opposite

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  3. Yo Snakeman,

    Looking like youse got Ureself a first class snake friendly back 20 there Pilgrim. You guys got many Amphibians and or Turtles ?

    Up here in Pennsyltucky we dont get those warm weather Viperidaes and Elapidaes that you folks get ..no water moccasins, mojave rattlers or coral snakes. Pennsyltucky be home to Eastern Rattlers and Copperheads, and thats about it for Poisonous fork tongues, thankfully no eastern obamas, or st james island bushwhackers in these parts..

    Not even year of the snake, and yet things feel Naga-ish right now.

    Cant shake the feeling, but maybe just leftover NRG effects from yesterdays festivities at the racetrack with GrandDaughter and Fam for Fathers Day celebration – racetrack closed Sundays..plus its raining today.
    Spent most of day pretending to be a Horse with my GrandDaughter..yeah yeah horses ass I got covered, smart asses’.

    We galloped all day, making Horsie noises, all over that place – big Delaware Derby Stakes Race day festivities were enjoyed by several “herds” of Children..face painting, ballon art, Pony Rides.

    We may have created a monster putting GD on a Pony at 2yr, 10 month old – she absolutely vibrated out of her socks and shoes she was so excited to ride and pat that Pony.
    Lady luck was very kind to have attended the outing with us, as we all left with more $ than came in with..small potatoes > $100.

    But the NRG exchanges with GrandDaughter = INVALUABLE.

    Reply

    • Amphibians we leave to the local gyrene contingent and turtles? Sounds like army. But now talk forked tongues? From the George Washington Memorial Parkway, you take exit for Route 123 and follow like you’re going to McLean. Third light, turn right. Park for the NHB – you’ll enter on the 4th floor because most of it’s built into the hill. Just one floor up you’ll find a lifetime supply of forked tongues… (If you need more, visit the top floors of the OHB. May be busy weekends for a while, though. Invitations are mandatory. More exclusive might be the WTC over in Fauquier County, but few forked tongues. They do feature plenty of pet GIGO’s though. Ure welcome.)

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  5. So what is the first wettest 6 inches you ever done seen?
    Now off to Mass. I’ll need to add that question to my list of things to confess.
    Have a happy Fathers day.
    Stay safe. 73

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  6. You have a refrigerated toolbox? Cool! Otherwise, why is the glass of scotch sweating in your hand? Sweating glass would mean condensation in your humid shop is forming on the glass that’s cooler than its surroundings.

    Never mind me, I’m just an olfart with an eye for detail.

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  7. I love that sprayer!!!
    I finally have to fire up the extruder today… getting a shield so the corn curls are directed to the container..

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  9. All you all can thank me later – secret video recorded yesterday INSIDE WH – this is Fourizzle !

    Iran v israHell press conference no one saw..till today. Not the press conferences you see on the boobtubes – this is from the Intel Briefing conference.

    -https://youtu.be/nCP3LZoxABs?si=d_jTxoBeUUzzbHDD

    Shhhh

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  10. That was an amazing tale George. Thanks for taking us along for the adventure in pictures. That bucket really traveled! I usually think of high winds sending kid pools and balls out on adventures. High winds have totally cleared my yard a few times. I forgot about the traveling power of water.

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  11. Another adventure in pictures, visual graph of U.S. precipitation increases, TX in the higher than normal rate:
    https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-us-and-global-precipitation

    TX has highest daily rainfall record in contiguous U.S:
    https://weather.com/storms/severe/news/2024-07-17-united-states-record-rainfall-24-hours-50-states

    13 dead in San Antonio’s latest flooding, preppers, better have that mini-ark (rowboat or kayak) handy! You heard it from Moses lol!
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/deadly-san-antonio-flooding/

    Reply

  12. Let me include another historical record set,
    San Antonio doubled it’s previous rain record set in 1973:

    https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/friday-saturday-flood-threat-south-plains-severe
    ‘San Antonio recorded 6.11 inches of rain, making it the second-wettest June day on record in 12 years. The half-foot of rain also nearly doubles the previous daily record of 3.26 inches set back in 1973 and made Thursday the 10th-wettest day ever recorded at San Antonio International Airport.’

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  13. Summertime down here we would get 6″ every day for two or three days. It is just plain wet.
    Nice water but needs minerals to be healthy to drink. Over the summer, which is also tropical drippy hot I got some sort of ugly red spots on arms and chest. Local doc said it was ‘champignon’ (fungus). Bathed in precription Betadyne for a few weeks, left it on for ten minutes according to his instruction, took Lamisil daily for a month and most important, started drinking mineral water, lots of it. Six weeks now and the symptoms are gone.
    Like Terrance McKenna said, the fungus is the power on the planet. Food of the Gods.
    Happy Father’s Day, George.
    Stiks

    Reply

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