Candy and I drove to Perryville, MO to see the solar eclipse on April 8. My cousin, Melanie, and her husband, Norm, had come down from Wisconsin. The four of us made an outing of it. To make a long story short, the traffic made a short drive long. We left the house at about […]
SP2M Day 14 – Lake City, MN to Hastings, MN
Lake City, MN to Hastings, MN was to be one of my prettiest rides. It took me along the Cannon Valley Trail and the Cannon River. It also had my last significant climb of the trip. For all that, it was a short easy day, just 42 miles, 3:36 pedaling. With just two days of […]
My Bicycle Evolution
I have had four bicycles over the last year. It is kind of surprising because, a year ago, I would definitely not have considered myself a serious cyclist nor would I have anticipated buying multiple bikes. This is my journey. Bike #1: Trek Verve+ 2 A year ago today, I bought my first bicycle in […]
Translate Biblical Hebrew to English
When I am in my weekly Torah study class, I often find myself wondering, “That’s what the English says but what does the original Hebrew say?” As a guy who does not read or speak Hebrew, here is how I figure it out. The built-in Hebrew dictionary at sefaria.org makes it easy to translate biblical […]
Oatmeal Recipe
One of the highlights of my week is Torah study at United Hebrew Congregation on Saturday morning. Ostensibly, it starts at 9:00am but many of us grey-haired geezers show up 30 minutes early (or more!) to make oatmeal and waffles and schmooze over breakfast and coffee. The synagogue staff might have tried to dissuade us […]
Horseradish Infused Vodka Recipe
I have a new favorite Passover recipe. I know, I know; horseradish plus vodka sounds awful but trust me, it’s surprisingly good. It actually tastes kind of sweet. Ingredients Vodka Horseradish Directions Collect your ingredients and a knife and a cutting board. Or scissors. Or a hatchet. Whatever’s handy for making small-ish pieces out of […]
Dear White People
I recently discovered Hannah Drake’s blog, WriteSomeShit. Believe me, she has some powerful shit to convey. For MLK Day, please take a few minutes to read her post, Dear White People, Before You Post Dr. King Quotes To Make Yourself Feel Good… Drake writes, …before you rush to Google on Monday to search for a […]
Char-Broil Electric Smoker
On this cool, sunny morning, I am running my new Char-Broil Digital Electric Smoker for the second time. I loaded it up with a pair of chuck roasts and tonight, Candy, Kevin, and I will taste test and see which rub we like best.
Why Do We Argue About Immigration?
Did you see that Tweet storm? It said, Today, we are “protecting” ourselves… against being flooded by immigrants from the middle east. This is fantastic. … We do not need to be protected against immigrants from these countries–on the contrary we want to stretch out a helping hand, to save those who have managed to […]
Chai Tea Recipe
Mmmm mmmm good! I just brewed my first batch of made-from-scratch chai tea. Here is my recipe: 2-3 green cardamom pods 1 inch cinnamon stick 1 piece star anise 3 peppercorns 3 whole cloves 1/4 tsp coriander seeds 1/4 tsp fennel seeds 2-3 thin slices ginger root 3/4 cup water Combine the dry ingredients in […]
Binder Park Zoo
I visited the Binder Park Zoo in Battle Creek, MI this week. Beautiful zoo! More like a stroll in the park, with animals thrown in for a bonus, than a “traditional” zoo. The big bonus for me, though, was getting to feed a giraffe. 😀 I took a few photos (of course). Here is a […]
My Brother Died, a Year Ago Today
A year ago, my brother, Norman Robertson, died. I was so f—ing angry for so f—ing long that… that… that I still don’t have words. Norman should have. Norman shouldn’t have. It was all his fault. Still is. You see that, don’t you? Thankfully, I am finally done with my anger even though my heart pounds as I […]
Garage Heaters and Airplane Progress
I only have a little bit to say about my airplane this week so today’s post starts in a different direction. My friend, Don, and I got to talking last night. He is building a wooden sailboat in his garage. How cool is that?! As it turns out, it’s a bit too cool for Don to work on it […]
First Attempts at Metal Art
Having acquired a welder for working on my airplane, I got kind of distracted making some silly little projects. 🙂 Click on the pictures or, if you don’t see the slideshow below, jump to my Metal Art Projects photo gallery, where you can see larger versions of the photos.
I Made a Welding Table!
It’s done 🙂 I welded together a welding table using my flux welder. Here is the previous post, Welding a Welding Table, where you can see some of the in-process photos.
Welding a Welding Table
When I started cutting up steel for the back seat frame of my Bede BD-4C airplane, the chop saw threw off so many sparks that I singed the top of my wooden workbench. Being a bright boy, I thought that moving the saw to a metal table would be just a wee bit safer. 🙂 I went […]
8 Years, 600 Posts
I am bemused to realize that I started this blog a little over eight years ago and this is my 600th posting. I remember being nervous back then, wondering if I would be able to find anything to write about. I made a commitment to try it for 90 days and then decide whether to […]
Circular Hole Cutter
I get to use some cool tools while building my Bede BD-4C airplane. The latest acquisition has been a Circular Hole Cutter. By adjusting the arm, I can cut a hole up to four inches in diameter. In these photos, I have it adjusted to cut a hole 1.5 inches in diameter. The instructions say […]
Rudder is On!
It has been almost 13 months since I “finished” assembling the rudder of my Bede BD-4C airplane. Until recently, all of the parts have been waiting patiently in plastic bags. Over the last ten days, I have been finishing up the steel parts for the counterbalance arm, painting everything, test fitting, disassembling, adjusting, reassembling, test fitting, […]
Nut Starter Tool
One of the opportunities challenges of assembling my airplane has been starting nuts in hard impossible to reach places. Two of the nuts are in a position that is even difficult to reach with needle nose pliers. I remembered seeing a flat nut starter tool years ago which would be perfect for these nuts so […]
