JANUARY 2017 COFFEE POT Hot coffee with grits for the good Southerners and oatmeal for the Yanks.

[KRM]

I figured Craftsman for dead when I saw it for sale at ACE hardware.

39 heading to 41 with clouds and blustery for the day.

 

Not much on the plate for today. Will clean those bridges and prep them for paint. Think I will do them in Cast Blast gray.

 

Last I knew Dan was bleeding out the steering box. I wonder how it went. He took it in at ten for the alignment.

[submmbob]

Hello all

Last night for this shift. Hopefully it will be a quiet evening.

Kev - pitman arms, given the spline size, I guess can get really tight. Course, it is the only connection to the steering system so maybe that's a good thing:) I tried a pickle fork once designed to remove one once. Yeah, right. All it did was make dents! The rear drums on an early model VW bus are splined onto the shaft and are supposed to be torqued to something like 200+ ft/lbs. I remember my dad and I struggling to remove one of these do fix the rear brakes. When I was in college I worked for a VW shop and the owner showed me a neat technique. After loosening the nut he put a blunt edge tool on an air chisel at the end of the shaft and it just walked right off.

88 - I half to say I prefer Lowes over HD. Much cleaner and better organized and seems like more staff to help. As a former manager of an Ace Hardware I tend to shy away from the big box stores. But our last public lumberyard closed just a few years ago, so I started to use them. We've now bought a number of items for the telescope from them and I've been pleased overall. Will have to take a better look at Kobalt tools. Most of mine are from a Husky set that I bought over 20 years when all my tools were stolen. And, yes, they came from HD.

[robmcc]

That is correct about Craftsman, Sir James. Stanley/Black & Decker did purchase the line from Sears. I think part of Sears downfall was they didn't really evolve as the retail market changed, both with merchandising and customer service. That sucks Brent. As someone who has worked retail for 20+ years, it's always disappointing to hear someone getting jerked around. I know I try to do everything I can to help out a customer, even if it means taking a hit on something. There's times I've almost given away the farm, but people don't forget and especially in the days of social media, it doesn't take long to get out.

Bob - Ouch! I guess I have too much orange blood. I hope your local D-Pot is good to you. Let me know if you ever have any issues.

 

[Buckeye Riveter]

Brent...We had a nightmare this summer after we purchased from HD.  I learned that several companies use the same contracted delivery service and those contractors used my new fridge for a hockey goal.  It was seriously dented.  I'm told the Lowe's has their own delivery service and I see their trucks around town.  I know the lake house appliances were ordered from Lowe's in 2009 and there were zero problems.

As to Sears, isn't it something that people running these major retailers did not see the future?  I believe no one wanted to say something negative to the boss.  I assume no one wanted to believe that customers would learn how to run a computer.  Touch screens really changed things, too.

Chief....This software is hard to use on a laptop. Spending some time in Cleveland where we had about 4 inches of snow.  It takes them no time to get the roads cleaned, unlike those swamp rats in NC. 

Mrs. Buckeye asked me what I wanted for my birthday  next month.  I chose a trip to Stockyard Express near Oberlin, Ohio.    This way I can do the trains and the nearby candy store in one trip.  Aftwards we can eat walleye or perch at one of the fine Lake Erie establishment without the summer hoards.

Only 48 days until spring!  Everyone stay safe and those that need to get well, get well. 

Post post:  I did not type this in two different fonts.

[cheapclassics]

Good evening all,

Good day at work.  Labs went really quick.  Other stuff got all screwed up.  Buried in case reports for tomorrow.  I did less than 60 in January so how do I have over 20 waiting for me now?   Will get most done Wednesday and get caught up Thursday.  Worked on taxes tonight.  Getting bigger refund than expected, which is good.  Less paperwork for federal than state.  Go figure.   I hope everyone has a good day.

Keep on training,

Mike C. from Indiana

[rtraincollector]

Evening all

Bob I have Porter Cable for my cordless tools. I have the ones I have now ( I have two Drills one 4 years and one five years ) The 5 years also came with a Cordless Flashlight ( only problem you drop it and bulb goes and is very expensive I threw it away) 5" cicrular saw and a saw saw. Been very happy with them.

Not a lot going on here today. No train news here today. Hope all had a good day

[sir james I]

A new Feb. coffee pot is on.