One Day and the Next

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Scholastic Action Shooting Program

Ruger is offering a 1999 production, New-In-Box P90 pistol in .45 ACP.  This is a manual-safety pistol, and you aren't going to find a new one anywhere else.  CLICK HERE to read all about it and to place your bid. This fine pistol will sell mid-day, February 28, 2018.   $730.58

The Hard Part; Rest In Peace, Little Hobbs

Sweet little Hobbs came to live with us on the third of February.  We knew he would be with us until the end, and that it probably would not be long.  His owner is elderly and was not able to handle a dog with bladder cancer and the infirmities of old age.  Hobbs was surrendered to a municipal animal shelter in Wisconsin.  A volunteer for Midwest Schipperke Rescue pulled him out of the shelter and transported him to Illinois, where Michele Kasten picked him up and brought him to us.

We took him to our Vet the next day and found that he also had congestive heart failure and that his time with us would be brief.  Hobbs had only one tooth, so we provided him with a diet of soft food, turkey heart treats, and pressure-cooked chicken and beef cut up into tiny bits.  He loved feeding time.

Hobbs liked to go out for walks. Of course, he did not walk fast, and he paused frequently.  He liked doing his business outdoors, and he liked sniffing around the trees, checking to see if any other boy dogs were in his territory.  We always gave him turkey heart treats after his time outdoors, and he really liked that.

This morning when I woke him his little tail did not spin like a helicopter.  I took him out and he did his business, but he didn't walk.  He settled down on his blue blanket and just breathed all day until he couldn't.  He did wiggle his tail one more time for me while I was rubbing his ears and talking to him.  We wrapped him in his blue blanket and buried him next to Sheba.  Hobbs was a good little dog.

Tuesday Torque: 25 Horsepower IHC Engine

I attended a remarkable crankup over the weekend.  The host has one of the most complete collections of International Harvester engines in the country, and if they aren't already running, most of them could be made to run with a few day's work.  We will be sharing some of the photos and videos over the next few weeks, just so you can have a little sample of this collection.  The first engine we will show is this 25 HP International that was restored over a period of three or four years.  The story behind the acquisition is as fascinating as the engine.  This engine has been watched by the current owner for many years, and also by others.  Retrieving it from the wild had to be done when opportunity struck, and if a crane had not been available it would still be moldering away.

Fatherlessness and Psychiatric Drugs...

Well Worth Reading, the causes behind mass shootings.

Meadows Mill and 6 HP M

Back To The Old Grind! Video by Jeff Boyer

YouTube has changed their rules for monetizing again, and the new policy is a killjoy for hobbyists who share their videos.  You now must have 1100 subscribers to qualify for monetizing, and you may not be allowed to monetize a video until it has 1000 views.  A typical engine video will get 20 to 50 views in a day right after you post it, and then it may keep going or it may not get views for a long time.  Post regularly, and some of your videos will get a lot of views.  Some might get 50 in a year; you never know. The little checks YouTube sends to your bank account are great encouragement to keep sharing what we see at engine shows, and it makes the hobby more enjoyable.  If you like engine videos, please subscribe to the channels of the guys who make them and check them regularly to see what they post.  It doesn't cost you a thing and you will be encouraging them to keep posting videos for all to enjoy.  To see who posted a video and to subscribe, all you have to do is click the YouTube logo on the lower bar of the video when it plays. The Subscribe button will be below the right side of the video.

Bring Enough Hammer!

I had to drop a tree on the pond bank the other day.  It was going off center toward the pond, I did not want it to get any worse.  I carried my things down from the garage, and just grabbed a Hudson Bay axe for pounding wedges, not realizing how large the tree actually was.  Just a bit of frustration followed when the axe would just bounce back off the wedges.  Grabbed a bigger hammer, put it on the ground. 

Weekend Steam: Daylight 4449!

Thank You, Merle!  You are a great spotter!

Hobbs Is Enjoying Life Here,

but we have a constant feeling of dread.  Little Hobbs is sixteen, with bladder cancer and heart disease.  He's not quite toothless; he has one.  Susan cooks special meals for him, and I carry him out multiple times every day.  I quit letting him walk out last week because he had a heart attack while meandering around outdoors.  I thought he was a goner, but I did chest compressions on him and he started breathing again.  He has blood in his urine because of the cancer, and we know his days are numbered, but he is enjoying his warm bed, laptime, chicken dinners, and turkey heart treats.

Ruger's Auction To Benefit The Scholastic Action Shooting Program

Ruger is offering a fine one this week.  It is a New Old Stock 77/22, blue steel and walnut in .22 Long Rifle, made and test fired in 1985.  It will sell mid-day, February 21, 2018.  CLICK HERE or on the photo to read all about it and to place your bid.  $760