Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Lee192233]

@svk whats a job you can turn off??

I’ll be on “vacation” in a deer blind and get phone calls from work. Or be at the beach with the wife and kids.

One time, I pulled the car over and got out because I didn’t want the family to hear my vocabulary

The worst, I was pulling into the cemetery to bury my grandmother, boss calls with “where are you, I have Mr XYZ in my office and he is upset”

I came uncorked. Lost my mind!!! The day prior he and I drove his truck towing my trailer showing him the trailer brakes work just fine and it’s not his truck but his trailer. He went home, tied his broken trailer again and then came back convinced it’s his truck.

I must have dropped the F bomb 20 times all F him, that mother F

Whole time boss had me on speaker. Never had to deal with Mr XYZ again. Boss asked him if he and I really took that drive together then excused him from the dealership then apologized for forgetting why I took the day off. I hung up and the. Apologized to my wife and kids for daddy talking like that.

I wish, WISH I could turn it off for a week….

As others have said you need to turn it off if possible. You're gonna have a heart attack getting that angry. Just don't answer if it won't get you fired. I had to get it through my thick skull that it can wait or they'll figure it out when I'm gone.

I am the shop manager so I only have to deal with the 3 techs. My brother is the service manager so he gets to deal with John Q Public and that sucks...there are some real dandies out there. If they have an issue but treat us with respect we're gonna bend over backwards to fix it. However, if people are a**holes my brother tells them he doesn't appreciate being treated like that and offers a complete refund and tells them we don't want/need their business. 90% of the time they change their tune and let us help them and make it right.

The public sucks to deal with and I feel for you. I'll send a prayer your way.

 

[chipper1]

As others have said you need to turn it off if possible. You're gonna have a heart attack getting that angry. Just don't answer if it won't get you fired. I had to get it through my thick skull that it can wait or they'll figure it out when I'm gone.

I am the shop manager so I only have to deal with the 3 techs. My brother is the service manager so he gets to deal with John Q Public and that sucks...there are some real dandies out there. If they have an issue but treat us with respect we're gonna bend over backwards to fix it. However, if people are a**holes my brother tells them he doesn't appreciate being treated like that and offers a complete refund and tells them we don't want/need their business. 90% of the time they change their tune and let us help them and make it right.

The public sucks to deal with and I feel for you. I'll send a prayer your way.

Yep.
I send it to voice-mail rightaway, that way they think I have no signal lol. Voice-mail is a great way to screen calls.
Many times I'm running equipment and just don't hear, if need be, soon as I get the voice-mail I'll call right back. I've had this number for 25yrs, it's not like I don't return calls.

 

[chipper1]

Had these 3 guys come through my food plot tonight. Shame I can't hunt tomorrow...View attachment 1215839View attachment 1215840View attachment 1215841

Dandys.
Pretty sure this is the same one I had in the crosshairs of the .17HMR (gotta remember the HMR part ). There's a bigger 8 running around my neighbor got a few pics of behind his place, which is two doors south, i have permission to hunt the 2.6 acres next to me(south) and the 5 behind his and my property that he owns. The bottom picture is one that was taken a couple weeks ago about 300yrds from my place. Would have liked to have gotten that!

 

[Lee192233]

Dandys.
Pretty sure this is the same one I had in the crosshairs of the .17HMR (gotta remember the HMR part ). There's a bigger 8 running around my neighbor got a few pics of behind his place, which is two doors south, i have permission to hunt the 2.6 acres next to me(south) and the 5 behind his and my property that he owns. The bottom picture is one that was taken a couple weeks ago about 300yrds from my place. Would have liked to have gotten that!
View attachment 1215916
View attachment 1215918

The rut has started here...they were chasing last night. The little guys were chasing around for a couple days but the big boys finally came out to play last night. I think the timing will be right for next Saturday. Our property has a creek running through and the bucks like running it when they're cruising for does. I'll throw my doe decoy out and see what happens.

Good luck if you get out!

 

[chipper1]

The rut has started here...they were chasing last night. The little guys were chasing around for a couple days but the big boys finally came out to play last night. I think the timing will be right for next Saturday. Our property has a creek running through and the bucks like running it when they're cruising for does. I'll throw my doe decoy out and see what happens.

Good luck if you get out!

Right after posting that I went to the kitchen to grab another cookie my boy made, man they're good. Anyway, looked out and there was a doe and a yearling that come here nearly every day. She looked a bit twitchy and I thought she saw me, but I kept watching. She walked towards the pond area and then I saw a nice sized spike following, may have a pic coming as they all went right by the cam.
Not 100% I'll have space is my problem right now. The boy and my lovely bride went to butcher a hog this morning, we should know more by the time they get that in and the freezers cleaned out this week.
They're about to turn on quickly though.
Earlier this week during the high winds I saw the biggest buck I've seen this yr off the expressway. Just as wide of a rack as the one above, but a good bit taller, very nice!

 

[GrizG]

This milling technique is unique! Looks like it yields good results but takes skill and endurance!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP88ES2qo/

 

[JimR]

Yep.
I send it to voice-mail rightaway, that way they think I have no signal lol. Voice-mail is a great way to screen calls.
Many times I'm running equipment and just don't hear, if need be, soon as I get the voice-mail I'll call right back. I've had this number for 25yrs, it's not like I don't return calls.

When I was working I always had my volume turned down and the vibrate function turned off on my phone. When I would get a chance or a break I would look at my phone. This was a definite if I was on a service call out of State.

 

[farmer steve]

I have to answer when the boss calls or she gets pizzed.(Mrs FS).

 

[sean donato]

@svk whats a job you can turn off??

I’ll be on “vacation” in a deer blind and get phone calls from work. Or be at the beach with the wife and kids.

One time, I pulled the car over and got out because I didn’t want the family to hear my vocabulary

The worst, I was pulling into the cemetery to bury my grandmother, boss calls with “where are you, I have Mr XYZ in my office and he is upset”

I came uncorked. Lost my mind!!! The day prior he and I drove his truck towing my trailer showing him the trailer brakes work just fine and it’s not his truck but his trailer. He went home, tied his broken trailer again and then came back convinced it’s his truck.

I must have dropped the F bomb 20 times all F him, that mother F

Whole time boss had me on speaker. Never had to deal with Mr XYZ again. Boss asked him if he and I really took that drive together then excused him from the dealership then apologized for forgetting why I took the day off. I hung up and the. Apologized to my wife and kids for daddy talking like that.

I wish, WISH I could turn it off for a week….

brother, you gotta shut that phone off. Everyone needs some "me" time without having to worry about work stuff.

 

[SS396driver]

Wife told me to come out to look at the sunset . She was taking pictures of the sunset I took this

 

[bob kern]

brother, you gotta shut that phone off. Everyone needs some "me" time without having to worry about work stuff.

Yep if they expect a fella to be on call 24-7 , I would renegotiate pay!

 

[MustangMike]

Been very busy the last few days. On Friday, went up to work on the cabin with my friend Harold. Today, I cut down two leaners to help my grandson with an Eagle Scout project.

Cabin pictures first. 1) inside the bathroom, outside door on the left. 2) I'm doing the soffit. 3) Outside door. 4) Outside door open (from outside). 5) Both doors open, from inside cabin.

We put in 2 doors (one outside, one inside). I also did the soffit and put furring strips in to space the hard insulation from the ceiling.

Now I just need to find some young volunteers to help cut and install insulation. Us old guys (Harold and I are both over 70) have been carrying too much of the workload.

Note: Every time I open this, the pictures are in a different order!

 

[MustangMike]

I helped out my grandson with his Eagle Scout project today. He will be installing a kiosk for a hiking trail (for those in the area, at Rte 202 and Joe's hill road parallel to the bike path).

Had to remove two leaners. They were tall, but not too big in diameter. The bark was off, and at first, I assumed they were just dead Ash. As I started cutting, I thought I forgot to sharpen my saw. Then I realized, they were dead, hard, Black Locust.

I took out a five-foot length from each of them, and they were both still standing, but the small one fell after I took out the second 5' length. However, I took out 4 -5' lengths from the larger one and it was still hung up (Black Locust to Black Locust).

So, I got out my rope and rope winch, but even with the bottom five feet in the air, it did not come down! That Black Locust is strong as heck (I'm being very polite). So, we hooked it up to another tree (changing the direction) and the result was the same! So, I grabbed the rope with the bottom of the tree airborne and yanked it back and forth a few times and it finally moved a bit and started to come down!

Then we lowered the bottom back to the ground, and I had to cut 3 more 5' sections before it finally fell!

Was glad I had the equipment to get it done, but it was a bit of work!

 

[GrizG]

I was looking out the back windows at mom's and noticed a doe browsing and moving to the SW in the woods behind the house. Then I noticed some motion to the right of it maybe 50-60 feet away... I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an antler. With that I grabbed the binoculars and went outside. I snuck around the house thinking that they were both going to move to the SW inside the tree line. I figured I could get a better look from there but couldn't find them.... However, with all the thick brush I kept looking as I didn't see them break cover. I eventually moved to the other end of the house and started glassing again. Bingo! It turns out that the buck had bedded down within feet of where I saw it. It looked like a decent sized buck (especially considering all I was seeing was multiple 4 pointers, what was probably a 6 originally but now a 3 on one side and a broken off stump on the other). I held my position and the buck and doe were watching me... I took some photos with my phone.

I take this as a good sign as all the deer that move through that area end up in the woods where I hunt. One year a 10 pt. was behind the house and he's been hanging on my wall for years.
It's kind of early but that buck seemed to be exhibiting rut behaviors, e.g., trailing the doe, hanging out close by. Maybe I'll get to see a good chase through the yard!

Bedded down


Following the doe

All the dead trees you see in the photos are ash... or perhaps I should saw were ash! When all the ash were alive those woods were park like... trees with no understory. It's different now! There are lots of song birds again like when I was a kid.

 

[GrizG]

@svk whats a job you can turn off??

I’ll be on “vacation” in a deer blind and get phone calls from work. Or be at the beach with the wife and kids.

One time, I pulled the car over and got out because I didn’t want the family to hear my vocabulary

The worst, I was pulling into the cemetery to bury my grandmother, boss calls with “where are you, I have Mr XYZ in my office and he is upset”

I came uncorked. Lost my mind!!! The day prior he and I drove his truck towing my trailer showing him the trailer brakes work just fine and it’s not his truck but his trailer. He went home, tied his broken trailer again and then came back convinced it’s his truck.

I must have dropped the F bomb 20 times all F him, that mother F

Whole time boss had me on speaker. Never had to deal with Mr XYZ again. Boss asked him if he and I really took that drive together then excused him from the dealership then apologized for forgetting why I took the day off. I hung up and the. Apologized to my wife and kids for daddy talking like that.

I wish, WISH I could turn it off for a week….

This kind of stuff is a huge part of why I got out of the business. Long hours, high stress and owners who were never happy. I saw a lot of substance abuse, health problems, early deaths, and broken families among my co-workers. Apparently the pressures are worse now as my associates who are still in the business tell me management tracks their every move... It's good you keep your family as a priority.

 

[Cowboy254]

There's a bear showing up at my two son's homes and their neighbor's for the past few weeks... It was laying down under the neighbors peach tree on it's belly eating peach after peach. Took one of my son's bird feeders--all but empty but it it was taken anyway. A coyote keeps showing up too... So far nothing has gotten into the chickens.

It's been quite a while since I stopped in... It's been elder care to the max... The R part of CPR failed to materialize for me while I was waiting for EMS to arrive to tend to my father... He passed at age 90 at the end of July. He was at home and I had taken Mom to a doctor appointment in the morning. When we returned we found him on the floor... My typical day now is about 13 hours long taking care of Mom and doing household chores and fixing things at their home....

If you have elderly parents do NOT believe them when they tell you that they are fine, that everything around the house is OK, and they don't want to bother you... It wasn't until I started spending the bulk of my time at their home that I "discovered" things. I previously took care of many things I did notice... cleaning gutters, soft washing the roof to get rid of moss, washing the garage, replacing 3-way switches, etc., etc., etc.

They only had a few dishes so they hand washed them.... not really, water was leaking into the basement due to a rotted out copper waste line AND the drywell for the kitchen grey water was full and backing up the 4" DWV pipe between the house and drywell. I dug the hole and pipe trench by hand and built that drywell about 55 years ago.... Got $5 for doing it! After replacing the plumbing inside the house and constructing a new drywell the dishwasher works fine!

View attachment 1204040

While going through papers to deal with the passing of my father I found service receipts for the boiler going back 5 years. Tech wrote "needs combustion chamber." I never heard that mentioned... I took the boiler apart to find this:

Front where the burner goes
View attachment 1204041

Back wall... the floor was completely gone.
View attachment 1204042

In process...It cleaned up well and is in surprisingly good condition. New combustion chamber sections are in place in the photo.
View attachment 1204043

I was doing a lot of end of season yard work and found more black snake sheds... I'm up to six now! My son noticed the shed from the big snake that was on the patio. It was under a workbench in the outdoor power equipment room. The big shed is on top of the 6... one was destroyed by the string trimmer and only a little piece was recovered! I'm saving them for my grandsons... Figure they'd be a good show and tell item. I sent one of my sons to school with a deer antler and a buck rub one time and various skeleton parts other times. He earned the nickname Bones in primary school.
View attachment 1204044

The on-going Blazer saga continues... I finally got a chance to revisit it... The delay wasn't a problem because mom stopped driving back around April or May at age 88. With further testing I narrowed it down to the IPC circuit. A new battery and alternator slowed the draw down from "dead in a day" to "dead in 3 days." The IPC was a bit wonky (fuel gauge for one) so I pulled it out today to ship it out for repair.

View attachment 1204045

This is the kind of stuff that is fine... don't believe your elderly parents!

Mate, I'm three weeks behind but I am very sorry for your loss. That must have been a heart wrenching experience. I'm so very sorry.

 

[GrizG]

Mate, I'm three weeks behind but I am very sorry for your loss. That must have been a heart wrenching experience. I'm so very sorry.

Thank you for your kind words. Things with Mom have calmed down a lot… medicine management was a big problem for a couple months—too many doctors at too many facilities. The property management is a big issue… major plumbing repairs, new roof, minor electrical and lots of outdoor maintenance in the past three months. Two more roofs to do in the next couple years… and the gut renovations of two houses need to be finished. I’m training my sons… so they can take care of me and my stuff when I age out (which isn’t really all that far from now).

 

[JimR]

I have to answer when the boss calls or she gets pizzed.(Mrs FS).

That's because she misses you and wants to know where you are and what you are doing.

 

[diver64]

I was looking out the back windows at mom's and noticed a doe browsing and moving to the SW in the woods behind the house. Then I noticed some motion to the right of it maybe 50-60 feet away... I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be an antler. With that I grabbed the binoculars and went outside. I snuck around the house thinking that they were both going to move to the SW inside the tree line. I figured I could get a better look from there but couldn't find them.... However, with all the thick brush I kept looking as I didn't see them break cover. I eventually moved to the other end of the house and started glassing again. Bingo! It turns out that the buck had bedded down within feet of where I saw it. It looked like a decent sized buck (especially considering all I was seeing was multiple 4 pointers, what was probably a 6 originally but now a 3 on one side and a broken off stump on the other). I held my position and the buck and doe were watching me... I took some photos with my phone.

I take this as a good sign as all the deer that move through that area end up in the woods where I hunt. One year a 10 pt. was behind the house and he's been hanging on my wall for years.
It's kind of early but that buck seemed to be exhibiting rut behaviors, e.g., trailing the doe, hanging out close by. Maybe I'll get to see a good chase through the yard!

Bedded down
View attachment 1216092

Following the doe
View attachment 1216093
All the dead trees you see in the photos are ash... or perhaps I should saw were ash! When all the ash were alive those woods were park like... trees with no understory. It's different now! There are lots of song birds again like when I was a kid.

That's fantastic. There are a few year around deer at my camp northeast of you but the major action is during the rut when they start funneling through from the north into the deer yards south of me. Many great bucks move through, hang around for some time until the snow gets too deep and then go a little lower in elevation.

 

[MustangMike]

Asian MS-660, has been a lot of work, but worth it.

I got this saw running a few weeks ago - had to go double thick on the fuel line where it goes through the case to stop it from leaking, and I put an OEM 066 decomp cylinder on it with a little port work (opened and flattened the exhaust port a bit and same to the intake, left the transfers stock).

The saw vibrated too much, so I ordered an OEM piston wrist pin and installed it with a new Meteor piston and OEM piston pin bearing. It started and ran but would not re-start and flooded easily. So, I ordered a new Asian carb from the Duke (through E-Bay) and installed it today.

The saw now runs strong, smooth, and has low vibrations and no problems starting!

I took it out back to test on one of my large Red Oak sticks. This section obviously had to be removed before milling. Not sure the diameter, but the small end is 36"!

The 28" bar got it done (going from both sides), but My Peeve would not dig into the wood, just kept removing bark, so I noodled it in place and then moved it, then quartered it. Not all of the wood was solid, but even in the solid parts, the saw pulled nicely!

I guess I'm all set on big saws now! Five running 066/660s, one big bore 660 (99cc) and one ported 661.