I took a cold shower this morning.
I have our water-heater turned off due to a leak in the hot-water, 1/4 valve beneath one of our wash basins. This is the second 1/4 valve that split.
I have both valves at the water-heater turned off, both the feed and the outgoing. And I have the 1/4 open and the valve at the faucet turned on...and there is still enough pressure to have it drip at a rate of about one drop every two seconds.
I was a coward. I wet a little bit of my body. Scrubbed with a tiny bit of soap (the more you put on, the more water you need to rinse it off) and then rinsed of the scrubbed area. I started with my scalp and worked my way down.
We have a membership at a gym. I will be visiting just to take a shower if we don't get this resolved quickly.
Economics
The cheapest push-mower at the local big-box stores runs about $200. The big-wheeled version of that same mower runs about $250.
I have several "dead" mowers around.
A new made-in-Asia motor from Amazon costs $135.
The reviews say that the bolt-holes are not tapped. It is easy enough to use a slightly under-diameter nut-and-bolt and over-sized washers. Or, I can tap the holes.
I will start with the dead big-wheeled mower. I am willing to invest $135 if I can avoid spending $250.
Not having my truck to cart around my push-mower made me aware of how useful it is to have some basic equipment at the various locations I maintain.
Pecan buds on grafts are pushing
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| This tree will get a bamboo pole set next to it. Starlings, Red-wing Blackbirds and King Birds love to perch on emerging shoots and they get broken off. |
Moments like this renew my faith in my ability to graft.
Sometimes the scion was mishandled and is already dead when you graft it.
Sometimes the tree you are grafting it to has been girdled by mice at ground level.
Nut trees are considered moderately-difficult to very-difficult to graft so it is nice to get some wins in this category.
Pretty much the basic Navy Shower.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a dark plastic trash bag could work to heat enough water for the Navy Shower.
I remember in the mid nineties when the Navy shifted to what we called a shower egg.
It was an egg (ish) shaped gizmo on a flex hose. You had to push the spring loaded button in to get water flow.
In Japan in the hotels and training center we stayed at, it is a similar set up. There is a lever to press for the shower to work which runs about 30 seconds or so. For a regularly running stream, you have to find a way to position yourself to keep the lever engaged.
DeleteI happened to be browsing... but old-school push mowers, the one's where your motion powers the cutting blades around a rotary axle, can be had for a skosh more than a C-note! I believe it was a link off that 90miles guy. He's figured out how to catch a commish.
ReplyDeleteI keep a rotary mower around just for exercise sometimes. A walk is a walk and you reap a tangible benefit as well. If you have a trailer hitch, a $50 hitch rack ups your haul ability. Used,of course , for cheaper.
ReplyDeleteI have a mower that is older than I am, a mulching mower that is solid aluminum body, from the early 50s. I found it in a barn, an old Belknap Bluegrass mower with a seized engine. I put a new Briggs and Stratton engine on it, and wore that out over about 20 years. Now it has new wheels and a commercial Honda engine, and in 18" grass it hardly bogs down at all. I'll be writing that baby into my will.
ReplyDeleteThis is a decent camping shower. Fill a bucket with water (it doesn't heat, so add hot water as needed), put the pump in the bucket and turn it on.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6RJ42M2
Good for car camping, problems with the hot water heater, or washing a dog that's been skunked. The shower uses about a gallon a minute, and there's a mechanical water shutoff at the handle for repositioning.
Battery operated, USB charging, runs about an hour between charges, not that I have ever gone that long without charging it back up.
An easy way to have a warm shower: always have a gallon plastic jug of room temperature water. Pour a quart into the teapot and boil. Pour back into jug and pour 1/3rd over head. Lather up, and use last 2/3rds to rinse. Simple, easy and quick.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least a cold shower 'now' is better than the dead of winter... And congrats on getting the grafts to take!
ReplyDelete