How was your day

[Testarossa]

Beautiful bluebird spring day, 60F. Took Gail for our first two-up ride of the season, on the old T -- the bike we courted on. Lovely 35-mile loop. Passed half a dozen cyclists on the lonely back roads.

[oldbike54]

 Despite it all , I managed to have a pretty good day . Somehow the sky was a little bluer , the birds a little chirpier .

 Dusty

[Muzz]

Despite it all , I managed to have a pretty good day . Somehow the sky was a little bluer , the birds a little chirpier .

 Dusty

Excellent.   Too easy to get depressed about things these days.  Everything seems to be labelled a crisis, and I think that's a lot of the problem.

To quote a friend, " any day above ground is a good day.  Have an attitude of gratitude".

[Ncdan]

Great day at the river house but when I get home I’ve got to deal with the 1400 TPS....again! Although I think I have figured it out, I’m going to change the color........
Yep from red to GONE!
 

[stormshearon]

Well I found myself reluctantly in the middle of having to replace my garage door opener. When I hit the button to open it this AM to go do some yard work, the chain came off the sprocket. Upon disassembly, I discovered that the bushing supporting the sprocket had desintegrated. Oh well, off to the big box store to get two new openers (I figure the other door's opener will need to be replaced soon as well). And then comes the complication.. I have to shorten the rail as my garage has a beam running across the garage right where you need to put the opener. Which means you have to shorten the rail and the belt, which means you have to order the belt clip kit becasue no one except installers has them. Sigh.

So I had to shorten the rail 13 inches, which means the belt gets shortened 26 inches. But I can not proceed without the belt clip kit, which should be here early next week.

And I only banged the knuckles on the right hand bad enough the need bandages when the hacksaw slipped. There was some swearing as well.

But the second door opener will go much easier, as I will have done all the discovery and personal damage on the first one.

The old opener was 28-30 years old - they just don't make stuff very well anymore - 

I hope the new one lasts that long.

[zedXmick]

FedX delivery today!! Can’t wait to use it, wanted one for years.

[rschrum]

Unicorn hide?

[Lannis]

FedX delivery today!! Can’t wait to use it, wanted one for years.

Glad they're making those again, always seemed like a good idea.   I bought Darien stuff while they were out of production, but may go for one of those.

Let us know if it does what it says on the tin ....

Lannis

[bobrebos]

Put a new clutch in the old Ford F150 today along with a brand spankin new set of valve cover gaskets (slight oil leak), and a new intake manifold gasket.  The old 1990 truck is a happy truck!  lol

[nick949]

300 miles of empty road joy.  What? Not a Guzzi?

Nick

[Chuck in Indiana]

Rode the G5 for an hour one way to the manufacturer of my mower. They not only didn't have my drive belt, they couldn't find any reference to it.  Why is *everything* I have an antique?  On the plus side, changing out the stupid sure flex clutch plates cured the grabbing problem. It's the first time I've ridden it far enough to get it hot to find out.

[stonelover]

Saw my first hummingbird of the season this afternoon.  Made my day!!

[Muzz]

Rode the G5 for an hour one way to the manufacturer of my mower. They not only didn't have my drive belt, they couldn't find any reference to it.  Why is *everything* I have an antique?  On the plus side, changing out the stupid sure flex clutch plates cured the grabbing problem. It's the first time I've ridden it far enough to get it hot to find out.

When i was employed in the engineering firm I worked in I used to sell drive belts.  I think it was the Yardman that, in their deck train they ran the belt backwards over a tensioner, which meant it had to be a (very expensive) kevlar one.  They made it sit bang in the middle of the available range of available Kevlar belts.  A normal belt would last 3 months, and Yardman charged 3X the price of the available Kevlar ones I could get.

One guy came in and on hearing the story bought a normal one to keep him going, went home and modified his mower to take one of the ones I could get.  Saved over $100 per belt.

[oldbike54]

 RIP Marty and Nicole .

 Dusty

[Testarossa]

On Sunday, most of Colorado (outside the metro area) went from stay-at-home to safer-at-home, per the governor. I got an email from management to return my uniform and collect any odds and ends still in the locker room.

So on Tuesday I went over the pass (8700 feet) on the Mille. Cool, cloudy, windy at 8am and the temp dropped 10 degrees F on the north side of the divide. Still much snow above 9000 feet but roads perfectly dry and of course no traffic. This road has dozens of loopy curves but only two 30mph switchbacks. 100 miles in 90 minutes. Whee!





Mask and latex gloves in the locker room, and then I strapped my teaching skis crosswise to the H&B tail rack, making a downforce wing. Had coffee with my old friends Sven & Mary, then back over the pass in bright sun but more wind. Very glad for the stability afforded by the wing. Saw eagles, young elk, and a coyote dashed across the road. Lots of newborn lambs and calves.

Today we drove 50 miles into Montrose for what's normally our monthly shopping trip, masks on inside all stores. Breezy, cloudless, and a dozen or so gaggles of motorcycles on the road. The new rule is outdoor recreation within 10 miles of home. A couple of motorcycle shops have the spring inventory parked out front. Light aircraft doing pattern work. No restaurants open yet.

[rschrum]

Cut a big hole in the shop wall. Gonna stuff an air conditioner in it.

[Guzzidad]

   Wife is having a bathroom remodeled. Her nephew is doing the work. He doesn't speak a word of English (Cuban) but he's real good at dry wall and tile. But a plumber he ain't. Got the new shower controls and he was way in over his head. I ended up having to solder all the copper fittings and show him how to mount everything inside the wall. Got it done, no leaks. Been retired a few years now but I guess when you're married you are never completely retired.

[john fish]

Saw my first hummingbird of the season this afternoon.  Made my day!!

Wow, I'm north of Morgantown and didn't think they'd be back so soon.  I haven't had a feeder out in years.  I should get one this year because I do love hummingbirds.

I did see some turkey buzzards today so Spring is on the way.

[stornello465]

Beautiful day, but found out my tranny is shot and I'm a noob so don't think I can fix on my own. Time for a new V7, I guess.

[Shorty]

68th Birthday. Spent the morning transplanting some medicinal herbs.  Got nice phone calls from siblings. Video conferenced my grandson.    Went on a nice 80 mile spin out in the sticks with some fellow retirees.   Then my local kids treated us to some roasted lamb and veggies.    Next day, the tornado missed us.    I put about 1500 ladybugs out in the garden. Life is good. 

[chuck peterson]

Yale New Haven ER for Gastroparesis..you dont wanna know...the second morphine barely made a dent

[Lannis]

  Next day, the tornado missed us.    I put about 1500 ladybugs out in the garden. Life is good.

Hard to believe that there are some parts of the world where people actually recruit ladybugs.

In spring, they come out of the woods in huge swarms here, attracted I suppose by the white painted house. 

We kill them by the millions.   I have literally hauled off 5 gallon buckets full of ladybugs that we have vacuumed up, or that have died after they crawl through the insecticide barrier that we spray around all the windows and doors.   You can't keep them out, but you can make sure they don't get more than a foot or two from where they came in.

We'd be covered in them if we didn't fight them.   They SAY they do good, but I don't know what that "good" is; I have exactly the same problem with aphids, caterpillers, and other plant-eating bugs as everyone else does ....

Lannis

[larrys]

Wow, I'm north of Morgantown and didn't think they'd be back so soon.  I haven't had a feeder out in years.  I should get one this year because I do love hummingbirds.

I did see some turkey buzzards today so Spring is on the way.

Mrs. larrys has had out one feeder for a week. First hummer showed up yesterday. She's getting the rest of the feeders cleaned up for the season as I write this. Some days there are a dozen of them at a time. We only get the green ones with the red throats.
Larry

[Guzzistajohn]

Mrs. larrys has had out one feeder for a week. First hummer showed up yesterday. She's getting the rest of the feeders cleaned up for the season as I write this. Some days there are a dozen of them at a time. We only get the green ones with the red throats.
Larry

We've been feeding hummers for three weeks here in SW Missouri. SO nice to have around!

[Shorty]

We kill them by the millions.   I have literally hauled off 5 gallon buckets full of ladybugs that we have vacuumed up, or that have died after they crawl through the insecticide barrier that we spray around all the windows and doors.   You can't keep them out, but you can make sure they don't get more than a foot or two from where they came in.

We'd be covered in them if we didn't fight them.   They SAY they do good, but I don't know what that "good" is; I have exactly the same problem with aphids, caterpillers, and other plant-eating bugs as everyone else does ....

Lannis
[/quote]       The bugs are not cheap, maybe you are sitting on a goldmine...    https://www.greenthumb.com/product/live-ladybugs/  I dunno about their effectiveness. Hell, they might fly away. lol. This is the first time I have tried them. Last year the spider mites , etc took a big "bite" outta my plants... 

[RinkRat II]

RIP Marty and Nicole .

 Dusty

       I didn't understand this till I read Cycle News this morning. Sad news. Godspeed Mr. and Mrs. Smith

      Paul B

[oldbike54]

 If you have Aphids you will have Lagybugs , mostly because Ladybugs eat Aphids by the 5 gallon bucketful .

 Dusty

[john fish]

Asian lady beetles here.  Thank goodness I found some insecticide that works otherwise I'd still be vacuuming up a hundred or so from the house (including the bedroom) every day.

edit for link:

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef416

[Lannis]

Mrs. larrys has had out one feeder for a week. First hummer showed up yesterday. She's getting the rest of the feeders cleaned up for the season as I write this. Some days there are a dozen of them at a time. We only get the green ones with the red throats.
Larry

We have 3 signs of spring, which we use for "When to Plant".   I've  been keeping records for 30 years here, since we live in a little "microclimate" due to the topology and the river which makes days like "Last Frost" vary two weeks from the rest of the county.

1) Last Frost - Latest ever was May 10th, earliest March 29th

2) First Whippoorwill - Averaging 4/08.

3) First Hummers - Averaging 4/15.   We have two feeders and a lot of flowers which the hummers like very much.  They're really busy right now.

Hummingbirds are amazing.   They have very few (and I'd bet "No" since I can't imagine one of our praying mantises getting one) predators and so have little fear of humans, and you can get them to come to a feeder in your hand.

Lannis

[Lannis]

Asian lady beetles here.  Thank goodness I found some insecticide that works otherwise I'd still be vacuuming up a hundred or so from the house (including the bedroom) every day.

That may be what we have - little round red beetles, some with black spots, some solid red.

They're not native here ... they were introduced by the Forest Service to attack some sort of other bug, but now are out of control (like every other introduction of non-native species with good intentions EVER!)   Never have seen one in the garden or on the apple trees doing me any good.   They just fight with every fiber of their being to try to get into the house and into everything you have.

Japanese Beetles we control with pheromone traps ... I get bags of them, and if I leave them too long in the bag, a bear will find them and get 5 pounds of protein in one bite.   

And the Yellow Billed Cuckoos are taking care of the tentworm caterpillars for me.   Despite spraying and burning out the nests from the fruit trees over the years, they used to just about get ahead of me, but the Cuckoos have discovered us and I have no more tent caterpillars in my trees!   Nice bird, the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo!

Lannis