November 2009 – Jamcleat

23 November, 200922 November, 2009

Chainsaw Massacre

I had planned to do an article about the successful resuscitation of my 14 year old McCulloch chainsaw. The bad news is that the operation was not successful and the patient is mostly dead. I asked my friend and former neighbor Doug if he had any ideas. Doug restores antique small engines and knows a lot about these things. His advice was throw away the McCulloch and get a Homelite.

So that is what I did. Hurricane Ida blew through here with a bit of wind and a lot of rain.

A dead pine tree blew over.

And an Austree that had previously been laid low by ice apparently became waterlogged at the top because it fell down after the rain had stopped. They needed to be cleaned up. And with a clear direction on the chainsaw front, I went looking for a Homelite.

Lowe’s did not have them. They had Paulen (budget) and Husqvarna (pricey). I had used a neighbor’s Paulen while my saw was waiting repair and with the Homelite recommended, decided to keep looking. WalMart does not appear to carry chainsaws. Home Depot had Homelite and Echo. The price to replace the 14″ saw was $99. The 18″ saw was on sale at $130. A $20 savings. Since the saws now have a nose guard that must be removed if you are cutting through wood longer than the blade, and I had sometimes been frustrated by the 14″ blade, I went with the 18″.

The end result was I was able to clean up the mess and spend two days carrying stuff to the brush pile.

22 November, 2009

Hokenhagen

Despite the lack of evidence, politcos of all stripes will meet in Copenhagen next month to divey up the worlds wealth. Ostensibly, they are going to cool the earth by reducing carbon emissions. Some are calling it Hopenhagen. But the real reason they are meeting is to transfer money from the richer countries to the poorer countries using some phoney-baloney carbon credit scam. But while they have been trying to get it together, the world has changed. The poor countries used to include India and China. “Not any more” as Inspector Clouseau would say. Nontheless, they would like to be on the receiving end of the wealth transfer. It is more like HopeIgetsome. Oh, and did I mention that somehow this is going to cool the earth.

18 November, 200918 November, 2009

Sarah Palin Comeback?

Friday’s Wall Street Journal has an op-ed editorial wondering if Sarah Palin is ready for a comeback. Hey guys, to make a comeback, you have to have been somewhere. Sarah Palin is nowhere, nohow. Possible Commander-in-Chief? Not. Should I count the ways? Abuse of power. Deriliction of duty. Desertion. Sarah Palin is one way that the Republicans could lose in 2012 after the taxpayers get the bill for the current session of Congress. They could run one of my cats and win. But not if they run a quitter.

9 November, 20099 November, 2009

TPS replacement

No, not the TPS report from Office Space but the throttle position sensor in my daughter’s 1993 Olds Ciera.
The Check Engine light was on last time she was here. We read it out with the Actron CP9135 scan tool . The code 22 indicated that the voltage on the TPS was low. Since this is a 1993 Oldsmobile Ciera, replacement was probably indicated.
She brought the part with her for this visit.
The TPS on this 3.3 MFI engine faces down toward the upper radiator hose pipe. No clearance for a normal screw driver. If we had had a flat ratchet offset style driver, that would have been ideal. Lacking that, after disconnecting the battery and removing the air cleaner and its mounting plate, we used a needle-nose vise grip to break the 2 screws loose. Then used a #1 Phillips tip in a holder to get them out. Replacement was a matter of holding the screws in the TPS while aligning the paddle that is pushed by a similar paddle on the throttle shaft. Starting both screws by finger, running them in with the mini screwdriver and snugging them with the vise grip. Reconnect the battery and test. Put the air cleaner mounting plate and air cleaner back on. Clamp the air inlet hose where the strap had broken and done.

8 November, 2009

Honduras III

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has achieved victory. Under her plan, Honduras will hold its previously scheduled election on schedule with the candidates who were qualified for the ballot before the fuss earlier this summer. The Honduran congress will vote (again) as to whether former president Zelaya can serve out the rest of his term.
I still think that this is a case of the US meddling in Central American affairs. A big black eye for President Obama. Of course wanna-be member of the President-for-Life Club, Hillary Clinton needed to establish a precedent. Thank goodness for the good sense of the Hondurans.

7 November, 20098 November, 2009

Model Railroad

I have for a long time been, what the serious model railroader would call, an “armchair model railroader”. That is someone with big plans for a model railroad but somehow never builds the model.
My mini-vision was to model the 4 under/aboveground rapid transit systems (Red Line, Green Line, Blue Line, Orange Line) with the heavy rail commuter lines of the Boston MBTA in a coffee table. I really will do it if if I have any money after I retire.
Armchairs aside, somehow in one week I have got news of the worlds smallest model railroad and perhaps the world’s largest.
The smallest is a model in a model world.
The largest is the model layout where the basement is the bedrock. This is the real thing. Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway bought a big chunk of BNSF , Burlington Northern Sante Fe railroad system.
Think about a 1:1 model layout. No need to go down to the basement to see this one. If you live in the West, drive to the nearest grade crossing.
Thousands of miles of tracks. No need to dog-bone or fold an oval. These tracks are all with engineered minimum radius.
Think about it. Track, yard, tunnels. The whole she-bang. No plaster-of-Paris mountains. These mountains are real rock.
No need to schedule an “operations night”. Operations are 24×7.
I will sometimes pick up a copy of Model Railroader . Always good articles about how to build great scenes, how to scratch build a handcar, mix the right paint color for the Carolina Piedmont Railroad . Sometimes computer programs to assist with keeping trains on schedule and delivered to the right siding.
But I suspect Mr. Buffet will be looking for the balance sheet, expense and revenue summary, cash flow statement, sales projection. Stuff like that. He will be more interested in talking with the CEO, COO, and the CFO than the man or woman that drives the choo-choo.