The good news thread

Probably not good news for my oldest granddaughter but the rest of us got a good laugh out of it. K, school track and soccer star, in advanced STEM classes at 13, idolized by her younger sister and cousins, tried to watch videos on her new iPhone in the shower.

When I say the rest of us, I mean grandma, grandpa, aunt, and uncle. Mom and Dad are beyond pissed at the moment.
 
Got the winter wood staked and split. I spent more time than in previous years camping. Nice trip above the arctic circle with the tj and my sweetie.
Oh and got a new hot tent and foldable titanium stove the size of a laptop. Amazing technology.
Kids are doing well freezer is full. ...counting my blessings.
 
Got the winter wood staked and split. I spent more time than in previous years camping. Nice trip above the arctic circle with the tj and my sweetie.
Oh and got a new hot tent and foldable titanium stove the size of a laptop. Amazing technology.
Kids are doing well freezer is full. ...counting my blessings.
Nice! What stove is it?
 
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Pomoly titanium. Stove and pipe fit into a case the size of a laptop. Pomoly lightweight hex canvas tent.
The unit has worked well. Weight less than 30 pounds for both. I am not a fan of trailers and just leave these where my backseat used to be so I can go anytime I want.
I have another heavier setup for colder than -25c. (-13 f) It is cylinder stove from utah? Excellent for deep winter along with a snow trekker tent.
 
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Pomoly titanium. Stove and pipe fit into a case the size of a laptop. Pomoly lightweight hex canvas tent.
The unit has worked well. Weight less than 30 pounds for both. I am not a fan of trailers and just leave these where my backseat used to be so I can go anytime I want.
I have another heavier setup for colder than -25c. (-13 f) It is cylinder stove from utah? Excellent for deep winter along with a snow trekker tent.
 
Some Owen news for you.

Owen and his brother, Eli, are with grandma and grandpa for Turkey Week. We stuffed them into grandma's Little Goat, aka, the Renegade, and left for Maine from Illannoy to be with our older daughter and her family for the week.

Owens' pronunciation and sight reading have improved greatly since he started kindergarten back in September. There is still a stutter but nothing like before. Yet, if I have to hear the "We. W-E", song many more times I'll crack. He's more sure of himself, too. Sometimes I forget that he's five. Then 10 seconds later, he reaffirms it. Usually with me choking back laughter.

I had both the youngest kids, Owen and cousin Lauren, with me on the sofa last night, singing 'Puff, The Magic Dragon', which can still make me tear up 60 years later, and other kid songs. I did pull up a couple of Sinatra songs for them and Lauren said he had a 'Nice Voice'. Maybe some hope for the youngest ones.
 
Good news: I bought my 3.5 year old and 4 month old granddaughters a 2008 Toyota Sieanna AWD minivan for their Mom to drive them around in (and it only has 45,000 miles on it!). (y)

Bad news: It blew the VVT oil line as my granddaughters' chauffeur was pulling up to my house, unloading a couple of quarts of oil in about two minutes! (n)

Good news: Toyota knew this was such a prevalent problem that they extended the warranty on these things until Decmber 31, 2021. I just picked up the repaired van from the dealership, with the upgraded parts (steel lines) installed, free of charge. (y)
 
Tomorrow morning is Breakfast with Santa, sponsored by the local Lions Club. I was going to take Owen and Eli but Eli decided he doesn't believe in Santa anymore. I think I still have some stocking coal for him. Owen wants to have breakfast, but not if Santa is there because Santa creeps him out.

I saved forty bucks.
 
So much for saving forty bucks. Owen and Eli still want to have breakfast with grandma and grandpa but nowhere near Santa. So grandma, grandpa, mom, and dad are getting together for breakfast with the boys but nowhere near any Santas.

Eli's dad works for Union Pacific. Back when E was almost 4, his dad got tickets for all of us to ride the Polar Express in the Loop for Christmas. Eli about shit himself when Santa came in the train car and tried to hand him a small present. Eli was getting under that seat, away from that creepy old fat guy, whether I was in his way or not.:ROFLMAO:
 
I was out wheeling a week ago and came across two high school age boys out hunting grouse with their dogs on atv’s. Not sitting at home staring at a screen.

That's fantastic. Sadly, only one of them will go the distance, 13 years from now:

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I'll admit I didn't know who the "cash me outside" girl was when my son sent me that meme, so he sent me this video to get me up to speed :rolleyes: :LOL:, the decay of society is exponentially picking up speed

 
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Finally got the engine swap done on this little turd yesterday.
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Replaced the 50 year old Kawasaki T50 with a 79cc Predator 4 stroke.
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When my kids used it, top speed was 8 mph. Holy shit, almost 30 now. I have the summer wheel kit on it at the moment which makes it a bloody deathtrap. I got dumped within the first fifty feet of running down my driveway. Left some skin from my knee behind on that one. The tiny semi-pneumatic wheels aren't helping. Got it out on the street and opened it up. Whoa! Ran out of road before I ran out of throttle.

We need some snow now. I wonder if putting my fat bike and snow shoes back in the garage attic would help.
 
We have Owen and Eli here for an overnighter. If grandpa had his way, they'd be outside running the Kitty Kat hard. But, ever the enabler, grandma has them parked in front of screens because it's cold outside.(It is. Last I checked, the windchill was -4F) Maybe I'll give her that one.
Anyway, being a smartass grandpa, I ask both boys if they punch each other in the nuts to see how tough they are. Without missing a beat, Eli pipes up, "Nah, I just do it for fun."
 
We have Owen and Eli here for an overnighter. If grandpa had his way, they'd be outside running the Kitty Kat hard. But, ever the enabler, grandma has them parked in front of screens because it's cold outside.(It is. Last I checked, the windchill was -4F) Maybe I'll give her that one.
Anyway, being a smartass grandpa, I ask both boys if they punch each other in the nuts to see how tough they are. Without missing a beat, Eli pipes up, "Nah, I just do it for fun."
Not sure which one I'm laughing at...Eli, or you! :ROFLMAO:
 
Been asking this gal I work with to sell me her '98 4Runner for the past ten years. She's the original owner, and has babied it from day one. This year, she has decided it's time to buy a new car, and offered to sell me the Toyota. I'm picking it up tomorrow. Here's what $4,000 is getting me...
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Good news: Toyota knew this was such a prevalent problem that they extended the warranty on these things until Decmber 31, 2021. I just picked up the repaired van from the dealership, with the upgraded parts (steel lines) installed, free of charge. (y)

Toyota is good about that...and they do it on stuff that doesn't even affect operation. My wife's '04 4Runner with 170k miles got a new dash in 2015 because they did an extended warranty program for cracking. We've got some notices of an extended warranty on her '10 4Runner about flaking/peeling paint but it hasn't been affected.

Sure would have been nice if Chrysler had taken that approach with the PCM, fuel tank, and transmission issues on 05-06 Wranglers. Hell, they were already discontinuing parts before they were 10 years old.
 
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This could have ended up in 'Piss & Moan' but I got lucky.

I've been making the engine harnesses up for the diesel powered motorcycle. There are two harnesses involved, one with two wires and one with six. With plugs on each end of the harnesses and plugs on both the engine and control box, that's 36 connections to crimp and solder.
I get the the two wire plugs completed on the engine and control box. The connectors are crimped on the harness. As I'm soldering the first connector on the harness, the tip in my Wen solder gun splits in two, making the Wen a paperweight. Four letter words start falling from mouth, mostly because there probably isn't two hours use on the damn thing. I'm in the big unattached garage. There are two solder stations in the basement of the house. There are a couple cantankerous soldering irons in one of the drawers in the big garage but I'm working in slightly cluttered and confined space. I'd rather not melt something or burn myself.
I happen to look up on a shelf over my workbench and spot the Weller 8100 Soldering Kit I bought at an antique store last summer. I paid about twelve bucks for it and only grabbed it because it was the complete kit in the original box. I figured to display it with the other old electrical crap on that shelf. I had no idea if it even worked.
I figured, "what the hell, I'll try it". Damned if it didn't start heating as soon as I pulled the trigger. That old Weller turned out to be a soldering SOB!
I wrapped up the two wire harness yesterday and the six wire this morning. As I was cleaning up and putting the Weller back in its' box, I spotted a piece of paper peeking out from under a cardboard flap. That piece of paper was the original hand written sales receipt. The receipt is dated September 8, 1956 and the kit cost $7.95. The buyer also purchased a spare tip, still in the original package, for $0.75.

I was five months old when someone bought that kit. Probably more valuable than I am, too.