What did you do today?

[PStechPaul]

Today I drove downtown to Mercy Medical Center to get my first Covid vaccination. My appointment was for 11:50 and I arrived at about 11:35 to encounter a line of 20-30 people ahead of me. After about 20 minutes of standing the line moved by about two people. I would not have been able to stand much longer, and at that rate it'd be late afternoon before I got in. Fortunately I found a chair and was able to sit for five minutes. Then someone came by and apologized for the wait and said they had to get another delivery of vaccine. Finally the line moved and I got my shot around 12:15 and left by 12:30. No reaction so far at 6:45 PM. Appointment for second shot April 15 9:20 AM.

At home I went to use my stove and found that the propane tank was empty, so I hooked up the spare. No gas appeared at the stove. I double checked the connection and valve, but still no joy. This was a "Blue Rhino" trade-in from Food Lion, and this is the second time I've encountered a defective tank. I have an old regulator somewhere and if I can find it I might take that to the store so I can crack the valve and see if it will release gas.

[sarge41]

So far, I went down and got stuck for Covid shot #1. Gave up on the state sites, and got it through the local large medical facility that just got their vaccine supply finally.

It was looking like I'd have to make a 6 hour drive to get it, but this was only 15 min from the house. In and out in 20 minutes including the 15 min wait for reactions.

No problem, other than that Bill Gates chip seems to have been programmed so that bad 70's pop music runs through your head.

J Tiers: Good for you for getting Pfizer. Since my wife and I got Pfizer shots about 1 1/2 months ago, I have watched the news for Pfizer and have learned that their meds are exceeding their own projections. I'm glad that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Sarge41

[rkepler]

Taking a break from my 2 1/2" scale RGS #1 I made a 40th birthday gift for my son. Here's the initial fit-up:



and the final after all welding (remembering to foam wrap the 'present' first):



3/16 sheet ends and 3/8 welding fill rod bars I'm unlikely to ever use. I figure that after his stealing my scotch for so many years I'd let him jailbreak some of his own.

[Arcane]

Today I saw my first insect in 2021. It was a moth and it flew into my garage just as I was about to close the door. It was 17^oC here today also.

[DennisCA]

I've slept and shivered a lot the last 24 hours. Got the coronavirus shot on thursday.

[J Tiers]

I've slept and shivered a lot the last 24 hours. Got the coronavirus shot on thursday.

Was that #2? I got the first one Monday (Pfizer) and had mostly just a little soreness in the arm. The second is supposed to be when it really hits, because you have some immunity.

Our neighbor had the virus almost a year ago, and got her first shot recently. Knocked her for a loop, she was feeling pretty lousy after it. I guess some immunity lasted longer than the three mnths that is claimed after having the virus.

If it clobbered you, maybe you had the virus a while back and never knew it.

[DennisCA]

I got the 1st jab and it was Astra Zeneca. And who knows, maybe it did, but I never felt sicker than a mild cold in the last 6 months. That was after everyone else in my family got sick half a week before me and did covid tests that where all negative. Since I figured I caught it from them and they did not have covid I didn't bother getting tested that time, passed in a couple of days.

[MattiJ]

I think I found my new favourite for tig electrode sharpening: cheapo chinese resin bonded wheel on cordless angle grinder. Sharpened 30 electrodes and barely made a scratch to the wheel. Doesnt heat the electrodes and grind result is much smoother than crazy coarse cubitron belt.

Yeah, don’t try that at home.. small 3” resin bonded wheel seem to survive cordless grinder rpm’s

[Bented]

Drinking beer and designing a fixture to hold the work when cutting keyways in tapered bores on a keyseater.

[PStechPaul]

Next day after Moderna vax shot, my arm is rather sore, and I haven't had much energy. About all I could do was walk the dogs up the hill to the meadow, rest a bit, and back down. Legs felt heavy. Seems a little better now.

[Tundra Twin Track]

Today I saw my first insect in 2021. It was a moth and it flew into my garage just as I was about to close the door. It was 17^oC here today also.

I seen my first spider at about 6000 ft elevation a few weeks ago,was helping a friend get his Stuck Snowmobile out and there was a Spider crawling across the Snow.

[Arcane]

I seen my first spider at about 6000 ft elevation a few weeks ago,was helping a friend get his Stuck Snowmobile out and there was a Spider crawling across the Snow.

I've heard of snow snakes but never snow spiders!

[PStechPaul]

This afternoon I loaded my dogs in the back of my 2009 Honda Fit and prepared to back out of my driveway. When I engaged the clutch, there was a loud rattling sound and the vehicle did not move. My first thought was a broken exhaust component, although that would not affect movement. Then I thought it must be the clutch, but the noise stopped when I disengaged it. Finally I figured that it must be a broken drive axle, and coincidentally a few weeks ago I got a recall notice from Honda stating that some vehicles had a manufacturing defect where the rustproofing under the rubber boots did not adhere properly and allowed the shaft to rust and eventually fail. My place is well known to cause bad rust on vehicles like my 1999 Saturn, so now after having my Honda for a little over 2 years it also has succumbed to the elements. Fortunately replacement axles are only about $100 from NAPA and Autozone, although the Honda dealership should replace it free. The notice said they had not yet gotten the parts needed and they would contact me when available.

I suppose I am very lucky this happened in my driveway before I even got on the road. I've had several instances where fairly major failures have happened in a parking lot or my driveway. Now I just need to arrange for a tow, and meanwhile I can use my 1989 Toyota 4WD pickup. I was actually planning to take both vehicles to my mechanic this week.

The rusty Saturn:



And the truck:

[PStechPaul]

Here is a video showing what probably happened to my car:

[J Tiers]

Gosh, not a bit of shop work or machining, a little hand fabrication.

I finished clipping old foliage out front, had a multi-hour zoom meeting of a community group that I am on the board of, cleared the neighbor's drain in the outdoor basement step area, raked out leaves etc from a neighborhood flower circle, and had a good outdoor yak with neighbors down the block afterward, complete with New Glarus "Spotted cow" beer (recommended, if you can get it).

The only shop work was fabricating a scoop to help clear the drain with out of some left-over conduit. The drain had about 4 feet of dirt packed-in (yes, "feet"), so after digging out what I could (almost a gallon of wet dirt) I used a hand-cranked snake to get through the rest, then kept pouring water in while I cranked the snake, until I could pour a 5 gal bucket down as fast as I cared to without overflowing.

I'll have to get her a proper grate to go over the opening.