The 8' x 10' cabin in the woods plan that I've been building in my head for the last several weeks has gelled. Started last weekend. I may start a thread since I took photos from the start.
The 8' x 10' cabin in the woods plan that I've been building in my head for the last several weeks has gelled. Started last weekend. I may start a thread since I took photos from the start.
At the end of last week, I was essentially out of work to do since I was waiting for IT to install the software I needed to be able to work the next job my boss had lined up for me to work next, and wasn't getting any direction on what to do until then. I realized that the guy who was supposed to be taking over working on a project I'd started but had been mostly taken off of after the fiscal year rolled was going to be out for a week so the work he was supposed to be doing wouldn't be getting done, so I decided to pick it back up and push the project along some while he was gone & I didn't have anything else to do.
I got it to a pretty good point before the weekly meeting today which the lead was expecting to be fairly pointless with the other engineer gone, but they were really pleased with where I'd gotten things and encouraged me to keep working on it until the other engineer got back from vacation. So it was nice getting such positive feedback on something that I'd gone out on a limb to do.
Getting an escrow refund for almost exactly the car insurance payment due 12/13. There's a welcome breath of fresh air during the most expensive and least profitable time of the year.
One of the burners on PW's fancy stove was acting up, and has been for some time. I determined that it's the infinite switch. So I pull it to find the part number, call my local appliance place, and do a quick google search at the same time. Local place doesn't have stock but quotes me $85, then tells me of a supplier who has one for $55 in stock. Sweet. Google search finds switches from $20 to $185! I find a place in Montréal that has it in stock for $24 and order it. Since it'll be a couple days to get here, I put the old one back in to fill the hole.
And now it's working fine.
I got a few wins today. First I'm lucky enough to work at a dealership where I have keys to the place. Along with that I have a service manager and general manager that think it's super cool that I compete in a Chevy Sonic so I can build cars here at work after hours. So that's pretty rad.
Secondly it's awesome how GM uses the same interior parts on all cars top to bottom so I was able to get rid of my skinny, plastic econobox steering wheel for a nice flat bottom camaro leather wheel and didn't lose any of my controls lol.
There's now a baby seat in the back of the FR-S.
"Racecar!"
I've been sick all week. The win is that I haven't tested positive for COVID.
Finally sold the LSJ engine I had that was in the europa when I bought it.
This is a triple win: I free up some space, I get some cash for the holidays, and I prevent myself from using it as a justification for buying another project car to stick it in. Win, win, win
In reply to RonnieFnD :
That's awesome about your managers. I'm surprised they're not all nutty about liability.
It's raining so Minnie and I are up at the shop tinkering. She's working on her new bone while I learn a little more about adjusting SU's.
Three more hours of work then 10 glorious days not working and with my work cell off. i could burst right now.
As of today, I have reached my 59 1/2 th birthday, so all of my retirement savings are available without an early withdrawal penalty!
Appleseed said:
"Racecar!"
you look nothing like I imagined. I don't know what I imagined, but you look nothing like it.
it may not seem like much, but 6 months ago...almost to the day in fact, I could barely button the pair in back. Today, I bought the pair in front because the pair in back is way too berkeleyin' big. I keep talking about it, but it's actually beginning to seem real.
There's a woman at work who has been there for several months, but I haven't really spoken to her since we're not on any of the same projects. Another coworker discovered that her boyfriend has a sim rig of some kind, so yesterday I confirmed that he plays Assetto Corsa, among other things, and also has some manner of XR4Ti race car project going. We may have a dork in the making here.
Today I was useful! Only for about 45 minutes and then I had to take a nap but that's the first time since I first got sick on Monday.
In reply to APEowner :
Be careful. Don't overdo it.
This morning my wife was browsing Target "sales" and said "Id really like to have the Bissell Little Green Machine." To which I said buy it! We now own a Bissell Littlw Green Machine. Maybe now the minivan seats won't look like someone shat on them.
I managed to thread a new transmission drive belt into place on my nearly 20 YO Craftsman lawn tractor this afternoon without drawing blood or saying too many naughty words. It helped to jack the back end up about 16" off the floor and put it on jack stands so I could get my hands up in around the transmission pulley.
The bride was impressed and bought me a nice bottle of Rye for my efforts! 
A couple of years ago, I had no familiarity with Amazon Cloud Services at all, but my place of employment had decided that's the direction we were going to be moving in. There was a moment of panic, but I realized that it's the wave of the present and future, so I went all in to learn the systems while slowly working to retire our legacy systems. I couldn't help thinking that I was working myself out of a job, but I figured knowing AWS would probably help me get a different job if it came to that.
Things happened. Management decided to retrain existing employees rather than having us pack sand. I've been working in AWS while continuing to also support and help us move off of the legacy systems.
Yesterday I passed the AWS associate level architect certification. This is the second certification I earned around AWS in the past 13 months.
We're going into a round of layoffs in January, and I'm hoping that this certification helps to keep my job or, at the very least, get me another position quickly if I do get let go.
I drove the xB on the school run this morning. Intermittent wipers didn't work. No park function either. Turns out, there's a relay integrated into Toyota wiper/combo switches that fails very commonly. Swapped the switch with the one from my parts car. Works perfectly. Little wins feel nice.
People are griping - understandably so - about rust belt issues in the Minor Rant thread. As we once again turn our thoughts to all the things we can be thankful for, I'm grateful that that's not something I have to contend with. As evidence, the seldom-seen nether regions of my not quite 38-year-old MR2.
O Lord of relatively mild winters, we thank thee. Please pass the gravy.
My grand niece is going to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar.
That seems very cool.
No idea where to put this amusing news...
The Rolling Stones is offering ticket discounts to AARP members.
Should not be surprised, I guess, but funny.
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