I think Myron is right...

by the way, this is a great picture of you...

V.

I'm not happy with the way I look... but it is what it is at this time.

I try to do it right the first time... I hate doing it over.

*makes a face... we're both in that boat Fem...

V.

True.

I spent more than a quarter century working in IT as a Systems Analyst. Oh, it's true. Twice a year, though, I get documents I designed, programmed in and implemented from a former employer. I left there 13 years ago; my old forms are still in use."...all it would take is one glich and it would be gone"You got that right! I have a server in my basement with backups of every computer in the house (don't make me count). It's backed up to an external drive, as are my big laptop I use constantly and my new _little laptop has a 1 terabyte backup drive sitting by my elbow. They used to be $100 or more; I bought this one from MALL*WART for $15. I just had to change it over from Mac to PC -- about five minutes work for me and two hours for the computer.

This computer stuff confuses me mostly... but give me something I can handle I can manipulate it into what I want.

IIRC, you have issues with dyslexia (apologies if I got that wrong). I have Attention Deficit, myself; if I wasn't Obsessive Compulsive (OCD) into the bargain, I'd probably have become a ditch digger (and I'd be permanently disabled).

I can't learn from videos, even computer stuff. Sit me down and let me do it, and I've got it.

Reading it in a book doesn't work well for me, seeing it done helps a lot. But if I can get my hands on it and someone offering hints and I've got it.

14 plus years in it foundry work.. Pretty good chance memory i made or cpus i made is in something out there... Really no diff than the machine work i do now... Its all transitory we die... Stuffs rots or rusts. So much of our crap is a little illusion we the evolved monkies put onto the reality of things.

It's all part of life.

neat, new inverter welder

Gonna be hardfacing the leading edge, or is that the sorta area where it'd just crack off?

All leading edges will be hardfaced as well as the sides... it helps things live longer in the pit.

How do you hardface it?

Nice pic btw

Hardfacing comes in stick and wire forms so you just run a bead in your wear area. The trick is you run the bead at an angle to the flow of the material something in the order of 45 to 90 degrees.

Hey thanks for the faves my friend.

I love your smile, this made my day. *hugs*

Why thank you hugggz

Yeah know all about this kind of needed reinforcement. One can never overbuild track hoe buckets. In this case more is better. Too little you tear the bucket apart or it wears through real easy. My father operated heavy equipment for a good portion of his life and he taught me many valuable lessons o maintaining and repairing everything I might rent or own. Repairing things and maintaining them makes them last long and operate trouble free. fix the small, inexpensive things before they become massive, money eating nightmares. it also saves on lost work do to down time.

Indeed teeth repair is truly simple, knock out the retaining pin, pull tooth, slide new tooth on, insert pin, tap into place with hammer. Now when some nit has pried to hard on something or mistreated the teeth in some other fashion it ain't so easy! Alot of fancy language gets involved concerning said so and so operator and how careless they were and how they should have known better than to be so abusive to such an expensive delicate piece of machinery. Alot of hammering, pushing, prying, torching, grunting., etc...etc... and of course more down time. So yup pays to treat your expensive things with love and care. We are talking things that cost upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars to even a million on some of the larger machines.

Indeed trades are way better than colleges for sure cost less by far and gets you into a real job in short order. Also it is way easier to fix real material things than a glitched program. I had so many crashes while I was in my graphics course at college and it always sucked if your forgot to back it up. My college proff had saying back it up always and often on at least three different sources. As to trade sshool traing I recommend you watch Mike Rowes commencement speah on trade schools on youtube. He hits the nail straight on the head.

Good luck with your big ol bucket there. I know an awesome artist like you will do a bang up job of it.

May the Femster have most excellent day!

Mike made some wonderful points in his numerous talks. People are being conned into thinking they need college and to gey a sheep skin. How many people have that degree but it's worthless in the real world?

If you have the trades skills you can always find work.

Truly he did indeed. JHe has brain on him and lots of common sense and practical fist hand experience. Truly and are getting fleeced in the process. Um... *raises paw* guilty party of one here has a useless graphics design degree. Still have almost thirty grand in debt even though I graduated on 02'. It was over $100,000 to start with.

indeed you can and it is so much cheaper to go to trade school.

Ouch... the whole degree thing is a scam... the only one winning is the Banksters

I agree it is indeed. Espcially when one attends a private Christian college. First the college gets the money, then the banks, and loan holders once you graduate. Had I attended a public college my gi bill would have taken care of the lions share.

Thats a shame.... the GI Bill was and is a good thing... but it has it's drawbacks

Truly. It does indeed. Something else i forgot about was Vocational Rehab that I would have qualified for for my 20% disability rating I received for some injuries I incurred while I was in. It would have paid for my schooling, paid rent, paid for all my supplies including the purchase of new computer every so often, and given me a monthly stipend. I forgot to sign the paperwork that cam e with the letter notifying me that I was approved for my disability back in December of 98'. I would have had money in the bank and been debt free when I graduated instead of being almost broke and having massive debt.

Sucks

That is putting it mildly.

Oh I also want to say love your shop setup there. Every handy person needs such things.

You got to have the room to work on big equipment... Myron is planing on putting a slab down and a roof up so we are not hampered by the rain like now.

I talked Myron into getting the Everlast TIG and plasma cutter and have been very happy with them... at times I wish we had a bigger plasma cutter... but it's not often I'm cutting over 3/4 inch steel

Yup I worked at a plant here years ago that made logging equipment undercarriages and did repair work on all kinds of logging equipment. It was a massive enclosed building with sliding doors on either end. The south end was an open bay where you could fit three to four pieces of equipment and north end had six welding bays. We had massive rail hoist that could run the full length of the shop. They also had anther shop to the north that was the prep and paint booth. It was nice to be indoors for sure. So yup putting down a slab is a very good idea indeed. it keeps you out of the mud as well.

yeah those tools of convenience are truly a life saver. It cuts down on time and your work load. Indeed things that fit the job at hand are truly the best. Like having the right size tractor for the job you plan to undertake.

So I need to ask where was the shop you worked at?

A place called Madill in Kalama, WA. The parent company was based in Canada. I was a shop helper.

As I remember they were on the west side of the freeway there by the log yards.

That they were in the little industrial complex. The shop is now a marine pump manufacturer.

very "big boy" I think you can have a decent bathroom in it. if desired.

Hehe

We can say that you are engaged in the excavator's dentistry...

That is true.